Something
by perldebugger
Summary: Genderswap!Rachel AU. Ryan Berry is looking for something. He just doesn't know what. Shelby Corcoran is looking for something too, only she knows what it is. Starts at 1x13 Sectionals. Faberry, very slow burn.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hi guys, it's my first Fanfiction, so be nice! I'm actually doing this on a request. And I'm on break from school so I'm bored. The terms were that it needed to contain at least one cliché and one twist. Or a clichéd twist or twisted cliché. You guys can decide what it turned into.**

**Anyways, it's a genderswap fic, since that's what my friend suggested. It'll probably turn into Faberry later on, or something else if anyone's got any suggestions. Probably an OC or two down the line. Starts at 1x13 Sectionals, most of the previous events happened, and will likely be alluded to in later chapters. Suggestions and critiques are welcome, just try not to flame too much. Also, no beta, so beware of typos.**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize anything here, I don't own it.**

* * *

Ryan Berry breathed deeply as he stood behind the curtains, waiting for his music to start. He was ready for this, he'd been singing this song since he was four and he had first seen it in on TV. But he hadn't been prepared to sing it tonight. He hadn't even been ready to solo tonight, fully expecting to harmonize in the background. He took one more breath and put on his show face. Every eye would be on him. The future of the New Directions depended on this performance. He needed every bit of confidence he could muster. Then he heard his opening note. He pulled the curtain open, and he started to sing.

_48 Hours Earlier_

"Did everyone know about this but me?" Ryan asked Kurt on the way back to the choir room. The group had just decided on their set list: They would be singing _Don't Stop Believing, Proud Mary_ in wheelchairs, and Mercedes would sing _And I'm Telling You_ as a solo. Of the three, Ryan only truly approved of the first one, even if Finn would be singing lead. Although he admitted that if rehearsal was anything to go by, Mercedes would kill the solo at sectionals. Singing a song in wheelchairs was just a logistical pain, no offense meant to Artie. Ryan was confident that they'd be able to win though, after all, the Haverbrook and Jane Addams glee clubs weren't as good as the New Directions were.

"Yes," he replied. "It's because you're a blabbermouth," he added, before Ryan could open his mouth.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have told anyone that Puck and not Finn was the father of Quinn's baby! It would ruin the dynamic of our team, and then we'd never win Sectionals, and then we'd lose the glee club, and I need the glee club!" _Plus Quinn would be really mad at me_.

"Of course you'd make this about yourself," Kurt deadpanned.

"Ok, so maybe that was insensitive," Ryan admitted. "But it's true!" They walked along the hall for another minute before he added, "I knew Finn was dumb, but I didn't think even he was stupid enough to believe he could get someone pregnant by hot tub. I can't believe you used to like him."

Kurt was saved from having to answer by the sight of Finn sitting on top of Puck in the choir room, whaling on his face repeatedly with the rest of the New Directions watching in fascinated horror. Mr. Schuester rushed in a few seconds later with Miss Pillsbury, quickly pulling Finn off of Puck. "That's enough! What happened here?"

Finn was fighting against Mike Chang and Matt Rutherford, who were trying to hold him back from Puck.

"Finn just walked up here and sucker-punched me!" Puck yelled.

"Don't play dumb, you're too freaking dumb to play dumb!" roared Finn.

"Who told you, Finn?" Quinn asked tearfully.

"I'd say Ryan, but he's been with me since he found out, which was like 15 minutes ago," Kurt said. Ryan glared at him.

"I heard Mercedes on the phone," Finn said, breathing deeply.

Mr. Schue stepped in, "Finn, just calm down – "

"No, they're both lying to me! I want to hear it from both of you. Is it true?" Finn demanded. "Just tell me, is it true?"

Ryan did feel sorry for Finn, but he supposed he understood why she did it. After all, Puck did have that whole bad boy rep, and he had gotten Quinn drunk, which was why they were in the whole mess in the first place. Of course, he might just be biased. He'd had a crush on the head cheerleader for a while now, but he knew perfectly well that she'd never look at a loser like him. Also, he didn't particularly like Finn. While he'd never slushied any of them, he never did anything to stop the other players. Ryan knew for a fact that Finn had sometimes watched the other football players throw Kurt, and sometimes Ryan himself, into the dumpsters before school some days.

Quinn stepped forward. "Yes," she cried. "Puck is the father."

"So…so all that stuff about the hot tub… you were just lying to me?"

"You were the one stupid enough to buy it!" Puck snarled, making Finn lunge at him only to be stopped by Mr. Schue.

"I am so sorry!" Quinn cried.

"Screw this. I'm done with you!" he yelled at Quinn. "I'm done with all of you!" He left the room, kicking over a chair as he went. Quinn soon followed.

The remaining glee members looked at each other. This left them with 11 glee club members, one short of the 12 members needed to compete at Sectionals. Deep down, Ryan was selfishly happy at this turn of events, since it meant that he would be getting Finn's solo in Don't Stop Believing. He wasn't stupid enough to show his pleasure to the other members though. Instead, he pointed out that they needed a replacement member, if only just to sway in the back. Then he exited the choir room and went after Quinn.

"Are you ok?" Ryan asked when he found the former cheerleader sitting on a bench in the wall opposite the trophy case. Quinn simply looked at him. "Right. Stupid question."

He started to leave when her voice stopped him. "I have hurt so many people. I don't even know how to fix this."

Ryan looked at her. "If you ever need to talk, no strings attached, you can talk to me," he said seriously.

"Why would you do that?" Quinn asked quietly. "I was horrible to you."

_Yes you were_. He'd never say that out loud though. "I just thought you might need a friend."

"Thank you," she replied sincerely. "Can you go now? I just really want to be alone."

Ryan nodded and left.

_Sectionals Day_

"Ok, smooth sailing so far. We're all signed in, and according to the program you have drawn performance slot number 3," Miss Pillsbury told them as they sat in the lobby of the auditorium.

"W-we-we're going l-last?!" Tina stuttured. "Isn't that bad?"

Ryan stood. "Not necessarily. From my extensive auditioning for community theatre, we want to be either first or last. If we're first then everyone has to measure up to us, and if we're last, we're freshest in the judges' minds."

"And did you get any of those parts?" Kurt asked sardonically. Ryan glared at him.

"I'm with Ryan on this. The glass is definitely half full with some very good things right now," Ms. Pillsbury tried to reassure the students.

Mercedes spoke up. "Miss Pillsbury's right, guys. I mean we're here now, no reason not to go in with some positive mojo."

About half an hour later they found that Mercedes had apparently spoken too soon. They all stared in disbelief as the Jane Addams Academy show choir sang a mediocre rendition of _And I'm Telling You_.

"It's a really popular song," Ryan said in a falsely hopeful voice, trying to console his teammates, who just shook their heads. But when the Jane Addams girls began Proud Mary in wheelchairs, they knew someone (probably Sue) had leaked their set list. They weren't even surprised anymore when the Haverbrook glee club broke out into a highly off-key version of _Don't Stop Believing_.

"Meeting in the green room in five minutes!" Ryan barked as he stood up and stormed out of the auditorium.

* * *

Shelby Corcoran, coach of Vocal Adrenaline, sighed as she waited in line at the concessionaire stand, wondering who had scheduled this event so close to lunchtime. Her team wasn't performing, their Sectionals were next week, but she'd come to here today meet to scout out Vocal Adrenaline's potential competition for regionals. She knew her kids would win next week. So far she was unimpressed with today's talent. The Jane Addams Reform School had performed a lacklustre rendition of _And I'm Telling You_, which ended with the last note accompanied by all the girls shaking their behinds at the audience. This was followed by a performance of _Proud Mary_ done in wheelchairs from some bizarre reason. Shelby had noted that the vocals were mediocre, and she knew that if this advanced to regionals, her kids would have no problem beating them. And the next team was from Haverbrook School for the Deaf. Needless to say she didn't see much competition there. The only one who could possibly pose a threat was McKinley High's New Directions. They were new though, and probably wouldn't make it far. Still, it never hurt to know the competition.

She watched idly as a man and a woman a few positions ahead of her took two large pretzels. "Nope, you're money's no good here, I'm buying," the man said gregariously. "Celebratory giant pretzels." Shelby suddenly recognized him as the director for Haverbrook's glee club, while the woman was the director of Jane Addams'. She also had a sneaking thought that what she was doing was eavesdropping. She dismissed this however, since she was hardly about to step out of the line, and she couldn't really help overhearing. They were pretty loud.

The Jane Addams director replied, "I don't feel much like celebrating."

"Why not, one of us is gonna take this thing," The man said conspiratorially.

Shelby couldn't keep herself from snorting. Luckily nobody noticed. Then the pair were approached by a small redhead with large brown eyes. "Hi," she said sweetly. "Nice set list. Of course I haven't heard your deaf kids perform yet, but I hear they're doing _Don't Stop Believing_?" Shelby listened closer, still unnoticed by the choir directors.

"Uh, who are you?" inquired the Jane Addams director.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm Emma Pillsbury, I'm the faculty advisor for the McKinley High School glee club." Ah, so that's why Shelby didn't recognize her. Although she had heard that the McKinley glee director was a guy named Schuester.

"What happened to the white guy with the geri curl?"

The redhead shook her head. "You should be ashamed. Aren't you ashamed? You're educators, actually, you know what, you're more than that. You take care of disadvantaged kids, and you're teaching them that the only way they can compete in this world is by cheating. I'm sorry, but what kind of message is that?"

They had cheated? Shelby felt what respect she had for the two directors slip. Lord knew she liked winning as much as anyone, but what was the point in winning if you were going to cheat?

"I don't know what you're talking about," the Haverbrook director denied. "_Don't Stop Believing_ is the most downloaded song in the history of iTunes. I only have one good ear and even I know that. Scarlet fever."

"Right, and _Proud Mary_?" returned the redhead. "In wheelchairs?"

"Excuse me?" A voice called. Shelby looked around at the person behind her in the line. "It's your turn."

"Right, thanks," she replied calmly. After ordering her drink, she looked around but the three glee club directors were gone. She returned to auditorium, where the Haverbrook glee club was filing out onto the stage.

Half an hour later, Shelby was ready walk out on the Haverbrook kids' cringe-inducing off-key version of Don't Stop Believing. She was seriously considering leaving, one of the McKinley kids already had, informing his teammates that they would be a meeting in the green room. Still, she was already there, might as well stay and see what they did. The McKinley glee club probably wouldn't pose much competition with their set list, but she was curious as to whether they'd stick to their poached set list or if they'd come up with something new. Although anything they came up with would be rough at best.

After another intermission, the lights dimmed, and the announcer walked out on stage. "And now our final team – McKinley High's New Directions!"

There wasn't anyone on stage as the music started playing. Shelby recognized the introduction as _Something's Coming_ from West Side Story. While she approved the choice of the Broadway classic, she knew that it was a moderately difficult song, requiring a lot of quick breathing and staccato lines. There was still no one on stage though.

_Could be, who knows…_

The voice came from the back of the auditorium. The spotlight flashed over to illuminate a young man with dark hair, walking down the aisle into the audience. It was a good decision, one that commanded the attention of everyone in the audience. The boy walked down the aisle as he sang, flirting with the audience as he went. He was good, Shelby thought. Both vocally and theatricality were present in the performance. The song suited his voice perfectly, he wasn't straining with any of the notes, making it sound completely effortless.

Then Shelby got a good look at his face, and she froze. It couldn't be. She dug her program out of her purse, where she'd relegated it after flipping through it before the show. She flipped hurriedly through the pages to the listing for the New Directions. There, second on the list, just after Arthur Abrams.

Ryan Berry.

The boy belting it out onstage was her son.

She could just stare in wonder at the performer standing up on the stage, singing the song, displaying all the hope and impatience and anticipation associated with the classic. And he wasn't just singing the song, he was _living_ it, displaying his yearning for the song's unknown 'something'. It was a performance at its finest, the kind that Shelby continually tried without success to evoke from her own students. The song was alive for Ryan, and he was projecting it to everyone, making them believe that there was something truly amazing on its way.

_It's only just out of reach_

_Down the block, on a beach_

_Maybe tonight…_

_Maybe tonight…_

_Maybe tonight!_

He belted out the last note perfectly, hand outstretched, reaching for the elusive _something_. The audience rose in a standing ovation, cheering wildly. "Ladies and gentlemen, New Directions!" Shelby hadn't even noticed that the rest of his team had joined him onstage, she was so focused on Ryan himself.

The performance continued with _You Can't Always Get What You Want_, led by Ryan and a very tall boy, and concluded with _Somebody to Love_, led by the tall boy and an African-American girl. In the back of her mind Shelby noted that the girl's admittedly impressive voice needed some refining, while the other male lead seemed strained with the high notes. She wondered why her son hadn't sung lead in the last song. She couldn't focus on her critique, however, since all her attention was on one Ryan Berry.

_I have to meet him._

* * *

**A/N: Again, reviews are welcome :D**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Again, you recognize, not mine.**

* * *

Ryan woke up every day at six in the morning. He always took a jog before anything else, since it kept him physically fit while clearing his mind at the same time. After that he returned home and took a shower. He then went downstairs for breakfast to see if it was one those rare mornings when one of his gay dads had made breakfast. Today was not one of those days, so he made himself a bowl of cereal and sat down, thinking about the events of the past few days.

It had been two days since Sectionals. They'd won of course, and they were moving on to Regionals. A smile came to his face as he thought about the trophy that now resided in their choir room.

He'd ended up with the solo after all, even after that little spat with Mercedes. And of course, that diva-off with Kurt when they sang _Defying Gravity_. Thinking back on it, he still wasn't sure how they had ended up doing that song. Kurt had ended up throwing the contest after someone had made a hate phone call to his dad. That was the only reason Ryan had won, he knew that even if he'd been good enough to sing it to a full house in the Gershwin Theatre, he still wouldn't have won the contest if not for Kurt's purposely-cracked high note. He knew that it was a popularity contest and not a singing contest, and everyone liked Kurt better than they liked him. He wasn't stupid, he knew he had an obsessive need to be right all the time, he wanted all the solos, and he was very blunt in his critiques of his teammates.

That didn't mean it didn't hurt though.

And he was trying to rein it in. He'd even given Mercedes the solo for Sectionals! Granted, he had gotten it anyway, but that had to count for something. And he couldn't really help being blunt with his critiques. He didn't tell Finn that he cracked on the high notes, or tell Mike that he couldn't even hear his voice most of the time. But at some point, they needed to know, otherwise how were they supposed to improve?

Ryan finished up his breakfast, washed the bowl and returned to his room. His dads hadn't showed up at Sectionals. Of course, not all the parents of the other kids had shown up, so it wasn't a big deal. Still it would have been nice if they'd support him. He knew neither of his dads were interested in music and show choirs. They hadn't really talked in a while, and he suspected they didn't quite know how to talk to him. He knew he didn't know how to talk to them, they had pretty much nothing in common.

Plus they were rarely in the house at the same time. Leroy and Hiram were often out on business trips. Neither of them had been home when he arrived after Sectionals, and he'd been alone in the house until his papa Leroy had gotten in a bit after 10. Ryan had been asleep when Hiram had got in. At least he assumed he'd been asleep, sometimes one or the other of his parents didn't come home. Never at the same time though, and Ryan supposed it was better than nothing.

Checking his watch, Ryan decided to start his walk to school. He arrived about 15 minutes later, only to be greeted by a cherry slushy right to the face. _Back to normal, then_.

"Nice one Karofsky!"

"What a loser!"

Ryan sighed and wiped some of the crushed ice out of his eyes, making sure to keep his head high and his back straight. He made his way to his locker and pulled out the extra clothes he kept there and proceeded to the nearest bathroom.

School dragged by, painfully slow, before the bell rang and he could leave. Thankfully he'd managed to get through the day without another slushy attack. And he'd been able to sit next to Quinn at lunch. Ok, so he had a bit of a crush on the girl, he couldn't help it. Put it down to teenage hormones. Mr. Schuester had told them there wouldn't be a glee meeting today, so Ryan made his way to Burt Hummel's auto shop.

He'd always been fascinated by engines, and when he was 12 he'd been partnered with Kurt for a history project. They'd ended up working in the office of the auto shop after school one day, and he'd met Burt, who had been happy to answer the small boy's questions, and eventually teach him a few tricks. Last summer Ryan had spent so much time at the shop that Burt had finally offered him a part-time job, which he jumped at. His dads had been out on so many business trips that he'd hardly seen them, and he didn't really have a lot of friends. He'd become pretty close with Burt over the years, which had caused some tension with Kurt. Kurt didn't have anything to worry about though, Ryan knew Burt loved his son a lot. Ryan and Burt's relationship consisted of bonding over engine work and lube jobs.

"Mr. Hummel?" Ryan called out.

"Hey Ryan, just in time," Burt called back over the noise his tools were making. "I need some help over here."

Next to music, auto work was the thing that kept Ryan relaxed. It allowed him to keep his hands busy even while he thought about other things. His Sectionals performance kept coming back to mind. He knew that song inside and out, he'd seen the movie, sung it countless times. But that day had been different. It was almost like he _was_ Tony, waiting for something. Something had always been missing from his life, and that day he'd felt something, there was something coming. He just had to wait.

* * *

At the same moment that Ryan was musing over his performance, Shelby Corcoran was thinking about the same thing halfway across town in her office in Carmel High. She'd been feeling out of sorts ever since she'd seen Ryan at the Sectionals meet. She still couldn't get over the idea that her child, her baby, had grown into the young man who had the audience enthralled during his performance.

She had been a surrogate for two gay men, Hiram and Leroy Berry, back in 1994. They had placed a newspaper add offering $30,000 for a surrogate mother. Shelby was 21, just graduating from OSU, and she needed money to go to New York. She'd dreamed for years of making it big on Broadway, and she knew she had the talent. She'd met with the Berrys, they had liked her, and the deal had been struck. She thought it was a good one. She'd felt a slight twinge when she thought that she'd be giving up her baby, but it was quickly assuaged by her belief that her baby would be going to a loving home. She quickly signed a contract stipulating that she would have no contact with the child until it reached legal age. She thought it would be fine.

She'd been wrong.

She'd finally become pregnant after a fifth round of IVF. The Berrys had paid for all of the appointments, all the supplements, pretty much everything she needed. Then she had felt her baby kick inside of her. And she fell in love. It grew more when she found out she was carrying a boy. She'd thought she had wanted a girl, but she loved the little boy growing inside her. She talked to him, sang to him. She found that he settled down whenever she started singing.

She hadn't been allowed to hold him when he was born. The two men hadn't wanted her to get any more attached than she already was. They had seen her falling in love with the baby, and they were afraid that even with the contract in place, that she would change her mind.

She had called her parents that night. She hadn't been planning to tell them about the surrogacy. But that was when she thought she could give up her baby just like that. But when she had given birth and her baby was gone… she'd needed her mom. Her parents had driven for three hours to Lima from their home in Akron in the middle of December at her call. Shelby had burst into tears as soon as they had entered her hospital room, and the whole story had come spilling out, including another secret that she'd had to keep. Her parents had cried with her, for the grandchild that they might never meet.

She'd gone to New York, as planned, but while she had starred in a few off-Broadway productions she hadn't made it like she'd wanted to. She'd gone to countless auditions, but had never gotten a big role. Several directors had told her that she was missing something, and she knew what it was. She knew she'd lost her drive, because Broadway wasn't her dream anymore.

She was missing her son.

A knock sounded on her door, jerking her back to the present. "Coach Corcoran?" It was Jesse St. James, lead singer of Vocal Adrenaline. "Everyone's in the auditorium now."

Their Sectionals competition was this weekend, and while they were sure to win, it wouldn't do to slack off just before their performance. Shelby pulled herself together and nodded at Jesse. "I'll be right there."

"Are you ok?"

Shelby glared at him. The boy shrank back a bit but remained in the doorway. He was the best singer in the glee club, and he was closer to Shelby than most of the other students. In fact he was more of an assistant than a student. Shelby contemplated telling him for a moment, before deciding that this was her problem and that she didn't need to share with him. "I'm just fine, Jesse. Go get started on the warm-ups." It was spoken as a clear dismissal, reminding him that she was the teacher here. Jesse obeyed and left the room. Shelby followed after a few minutes.

The rehearsal ended three hours later, and Shelby began to close the auditorium. She went up on the stage, running her hands over the piano, not quite playing anything in particular. She soon found herself playing the tune of _Somewhere_, ironically also from West Side Story, like the song Ryan had sung just a few days before. She sighed and closed the piano, shutting off all the lights and locking up.

She arrived at her empty home about an hour later. She poured herself a glass of wine and went up to her bedroom where she turned on some music. West Side Story soundtrack. She'd go insane if she just sat here in the silence. Opening her bedside drawer she pulled out several fuzzy ultrasound pictures, the only pictures she had of her baby boy. Gazing at them for a few seconds, she began to sing with the music. Someday, somewhere. She'd get to know her son. She just had to figure out how.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Didn't think anyone would actually read this fic. I'm not much of a creative writer. Like, at all. I'm used to writing scientific papers, though. Thank you for the reviews and follows. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Or anything in here that you recognize.**

* * *

"Slow day today," Ryan commented as he tinkered around under the hood of a pickup truck in the auto shop, a radio playing in the background. Madonna's _Vogue_, ironically. It was Friday afternoon, and they had just wrapped up the bizarre Madonna week. Ryan was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Kurt Hummel and Mercedes Jones were now Cheerios. It seemed to go against all the laws of God and man, but somehow it had happened.

Kurt hummed in agreement. He'd just come to pick up something from his dad and had ended up in a conversation with Ryan Berry. "I need to leave soon, I'm going out with Mercedes and Tina."

"Oh, ok," Ryan said awkwardly. He never got invited anywhere with the other glee club members. He started singing along as Maroon 5's _This Love_ started playing, trying to keep his mind off the fact that even though he was part of the glee club, still nobody wanted to spend time with him. Again, he knew why. He had an obsession with being the best and he had a hard time keeping his thoughts to himself. He couldn't help himself though. He needed to be, he needed the New Directions to win, and if the others wouldn't work on it, he'd have to motivate them himself. In fact, he had a suspicion that some of them were lip-synching. He'd have to do something about that.

Ryan was about to start on the second verse, when he noticed someone enter the garage. He stopped abruptly as Kurt hurriedly shut the music off and retreated into the back to go find Burt.

"Hello ma'am, how can I help –" Ryan faltered as he recognized who the customer was – the director of their rival glee club, Vocal Adrenaline. And she was staring at him. "You're Shelby Corcoran," he blurted out after a few moments of the two of them looking at each other. "You're the coach of Vocal Adrenaline."

Shelby quirked her eyebrow, seemingly pulled out of her trance. "Yes, I am," she said absently, still looking at him intently. "And you're Ryan Berry," she added, causing a surprised look to appear on his face. "I saw you at Sectionals. You're quite talented."

A large smile appeared on Ryan's face at her compliment. Finally, someone had noticed him! And not just anyone, this was _Shelby Corcoran_, coach of the best glee club in the country! _Keep it cool_. "Thank you," he said, preening slightly. "That means a lot coming from you. I mean, you've won the National title three years in a row." He stepped toward her, extending his hand. Shelby shook it, and he felt something, some kind of connection. He couldn't really explain it.

"Do you work here?" Shelby questioned.

"Yes, I've been working part-time here for a few months now. I've been around the shop since I was 11 though, and Mr. Hummel's taught me a lot about cars. I actually spend most of my time here when I'm not at school. It was either this or getting a job waiting tables at Breadstix, and I didn't want to do that. Plus as an added bonus I get to work with cars," Ryan rambled, blushing as he caught himself. "Sorry, I tend to talk a lot." _What the hell is the matter with you? Don't embarrass yourself!_ Something about the woman confused him, and he didn't know what it was.

Shelby didn't seem to mind his ramblings though, in fact he could see a hint of a smile tugging on her mouth. _That's a relief, at least she doesn't think you're a freak._ "Don't worry about it. I'm actually here for an oil change, how fast could you get it done?"

"Oh, that's easy, then." Ryan thought for a moment. "I think I could finish it in half an hour. Forty-five minutes tops. You could leave your car here, if you'd like, or you can wait in the lounge." Ryan hoped she'd stay, he needed to figure out why he was drawn to her. Maybe a chat would help.

Kurt and Burt entered the garage, the latter holding out his hand. "Hello, what can we do for you today, miss…?"

"Corcoran, and I was just telling Mr. Berry here that I need an oil change." Shelby gestured at Ryan. "He told me he could get it done in half an hour?"

Burt glanced at Ryan. "He did, did he? Well, Ms. Corcoran, that's doable, it's a pretty slow day for us. You can leave your car here and come back for it, or you can wait around until he finishes up."

"I think I'll stay, I don't really have anything else to do today," she said with a smile. Ryan smiled as well. Maybe he'd figure out what it was about her that made him feel this way.

"Ok then, I just need you to sign off on the paperwork in the office. If you give your keys to Ryan, he'll get your car on the lift," Burt said amiably.

Shelby rifled through her purse, extracting a set of keys and handing them to Ryan. She then followed Burt into the office, after telling Ryan not to scratch her car. Ryan looked at the keys in his hand and whistled. "A Range Rover? Nice! Not a lot of people around here have those."

Kurt nodded in agreement.

"Kurt, do you know who that was?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yeah. She's Ms. Corcoran. She said so herself."

Now Ryan rolled his eyes. "That was Shelby Corcoran, coach of Vocal Adrenaline. The Vocal Adrenaline. As in National Show Choir Champions for the past three years Vocal Adrenaline. Our competition for Regionals!"

Kurt blinked. "Oh."

"Yes, oh! She's the best show choir director in the country!"

"Well, be careful then. She might try to spy on us," Kurt said. He wasn't stupid. This Ms. Corcoran may just be trying to get information on the New Directions. Then he glanced at his watch, noticing that he needed to leave to meet Mercedes and Tina soon for their shopping trip. "I have to go."

Ryan paused. "Thank you for your concern, but it'll be fine. I won't tell her anything that pertains to glee." He walked outside to get the Range Rover.

* * *

Shelby read over the receipt Burt Hummel gave her and quickly signed it. Burt told her she could wait in the small lounge next to the office, or go outside and watch the two boys (mostly Ryan though) work on her car. She thanked him and entered the small air-conditioned room furnished with a couch and a coffee table. Only then did she allow herself to process what had just happened.

Ryan was here. Her _son_ was _here_. She had just met her son, the baby she had given up over fifteen years ago. And he knew about her, he knew her name, knew what she did for a living. He knew she was one of the best show choir directors in the country. She saw the awe on his face when he recognized her, and it felt amazing. But he didn't know the most important thing about her. And she couldn't let him know.

Her son was here.

She took a deep breath. She couldn't let herself get too attached. He wasn't hers after all. _Pull yourself together_, she told herself as she paced around the small room. She knew she couldn't get attached, but she also knew she'd never forgive herself if she wasted this opportunity to talk to him. Even just as a customer. _This might be the only chance you have to talk to him. Make the most of it. _She took another deep breath, and put on her show face, acquired over years of teaching arrogant and obnoxious high school students. After composing herself, she stepped out or the lounge and into the garage area, where she saw Ryan fiddling under the hood of her Range Rover.

Ryan glanced over at her, flashing her a smile. Shelby felt her heart melt. He had such an adorable smile. "Hi Ms. Corcoran, I'm just taking out your filters. Are you timing me? I'm sure I can finish in record time," he said confidently.

Shelby smiled slightly at his confidence. "No, I'm not timing you." _In fact, make it take as long as you can._ She took the folding chair that Kurt had been sitting on earlier and sat down. "So, you like cars?"

"Yes, I've always liked cars, and I can't wait to get my driver's license. Working here is my favorite pastime after my music." Ryan grinned as he set the oil to drain. "I spent a lot of time here last year, but I only really started a few months ago. Mr. Hummel needs an assistant sometimes, and Kurt – that's his son – doesn't like working here." Ryan was quite happy to talk, someone had finally noticed him and was willing to listen to him. He wasn't about to pass that up. "The last time he worked here he ruined a $200 pair of boots."

Who wears a $200 pair of boots while working on cars? Shelby wondered. Out loud, she said, "Is Kurt your friend?"

A crease appeared in Ryan's forehead. "Well, we're in glee club together," he said vaguely. "And he talks to me when we're both in here. I suppose we clash in glee club but that's just because we're both talented performers. I'm clearly the superior singer though, if I do say so myself."

Shelby had to suppress a laugh at her boy's ego. He'd gotten that from her.

Ryan chuckled nervously. "I guess that sounded pretty arrogant. He's really good, even though his voice has a different quality than mine. His range is different, and I guess that's why we don't clash as much as we could." He checked on the Range Rover. "Excuse me, I just need to get the replacement oil."

As he walked off, Shelby took another breath, thinking about what she had learned. Her son was a talented performer who like to fix cars. He was sort-of friends Kurt Hummel. She knew this was violating that damned contract, but she couldn't help herself. She just felt a compelling desire to know anything and everything about Ryan Berry. Her phone chimed, signaling a text. It was from her mom, asking if she was coming for lunch tomorrow. She fired of a quick confirmation as Ryan came walking back out lugging a container of oil which he set off to the side.

"Draining should take another five minutes," he said. "Then around ten more to get the oil and filters in."

She smiled at him. "So do you take voice lessons?"

He frowned. That wasn't good. "I used to," Ryan said slowly. "But my vocal coach, Mrs. Stanton, moved to Hawaii last year, and my dads decided that since I was entering high school, I should focus more on my studies. They said I should just join a music club at McKinley. I did, but it didn't work out. My fathers don't really understand that the arts programs at McKinley are inadequate and I can't improve with substandard teachers. Mr. Shue is great at inspiring us and all that, but he's only so-so in the technical teaching department. We don't really see eye to eye on everything. Or anything, really. And we spend half our time focusing on dancing because _some people_ have two left feet. I don't think I'm improving anymore."

Shelby heard the dejection in his voice, and she understood completely. She was a teacher herself, and she knew just how much a good teacher could bring out a student's talent. Her family had paid for voice lessons all throughout her childhood and through her teenage years. She knew Ryan was something special. He had her talent, her drive before she had given birth to him, and she knew he'd go far. She had seen his performance at Sectionals and if he could do that without an actual vocal coach, she knew he would be phenomenal if he had someone teaching him one on one.

"Have you thought about finding a new vocal teacher?" She saw his face take on a neutral expression.

"No," he said simply. "My dads wouldn't go for it. They're both businessmen, they're not really interested… they're really busy. They won't pay for extra lessons anymore." He finished replacing the filters in the Range Rover, and carefully double checked everything. "Your car's good to go, Ms. Corcoran."

Shelby blinked as she realized that the oil change was done. Her time was up. "I'll just go pay Mr. Hummel." She stood and made her way to the office, quickly settling her bill and returning to Ryan. Suddenly she pulled out a business card, offering it to him. "If you want any vocal lessons, just give me a call. I give private lessons to certain students at my house." She watched at him as he inspected the card. _Please say yes, please say yes_.

"I'd like that, but I wouldn't be able to pay for it. My dads won't, that's for sure," he said.

"You wouldn't have to pay me."

Ryan looked at her cautiously. Then a look of realization and discomfort appeared on his face. "Ms. Corcoran, I'm flattered and everything, and I appreciate your interest and you're certainly very attractive, but I don't think that would be appropriate," he said hurriedly, offering the card back.

Shelby was confused, until it clicked. _Oh God._ "Well thank you," she replied drily, trying to cover up her horror and hoping fervently that he hadn't noticed anything. "But I wasn't…ah…propositioning you. When I said vocal lessons, that's actually what I meant."

Ryan blushed brightly. "I-I'm so sorry! It's just, one of my teammates has a pool-cleaning business, and everyone knows what he actually does with those ladies who call him… I thought… That was very rude and presumptuous of me. I really didn't mean any offense," he ended anxiously.

Shelby gave a wry smile. "It's all right." _Let's just never speak of this again_.

"Why would you offer me free vocal lessons? I'm sure you must be busy with VA." Ryan asked curiously. There had to be a catch.

_I'd drop VA in a heartbeat if it meant I'd be able to spend more time with you. _"I give private lessons for special students, and I think you might be something special. I'm not usually wrong."

She saw the shock on his face, and could have sworn that he started to tear up. She knew she was about to. But like any teenage boy, he quickly blinked away any tears that might have appeared and looked up at her. "I'll think about it, although I might be busy for the next few weeks. Glee rehearsals and all that," he shot her a mischievous smile. "We'll be rivals at regionals. And I intend to win."

This time Shelby couldn't hide her smile. "We'll see about that, Mr. Berry."

"Here are your keys."

Shelby took the proffered keys and reached into her wallet, handing the boy $30. "Your tip."

"That's a big tip," Ryan said with wide eyes.

"You did finish in record time," Shelby smiled at him. "And you provided a very interesting conversation."

Ryan grinned at her. "Thanks. I'll call you once I decide about those lessons."

Shelby nodded and got into her car, quickly driving away before her face could crack and burst into tears.

* * *

**A/N: Suggestions, comments, and even violent reactions are welcome, just give me time to get a fire extinguisher.**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Quick note, not really sure about this chapter. Comment please, I'm trying to improve :) Also, no beta, so typos are my bad.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

* * *

Later that night, Ryan held Shelby Corcoran's card in his hand as he sat at his desk in his bedroom. He'd gotten home at around 7, and nobody was home. That was over two hours ago, and he was still alone in the house. Thankfully there was half a box of pizza in the fridge. Hiram was at a conference in Indiana, and Leroy was probably still at his office. At least that's what Ryan chose to believe. He was about 85% sure that his dad's weren't quite happy with each other. They bickered all the time and hadn't really spent much time together in a long time.

He didn't really know what to think of Shelby. She was surprisingly easy to talk to, and he'd found himself blabbering about all sorts of things that afternoon. He'd even told her a bit about his dads, which he never did to anyone, let alone someone he had just met. But that was a problem. She made his carefully constructed facade slip. But she's seemed interested in him, not just in his singing like most of the other kids in the New Directions. She hadn't even asked about his singing until near then end of their conversation, when she'd asked about vocal lessons. Speaking of which, should he go for them? Maybe he should stay away. If Mr. Schue and the other kids found out they'd probably accuse him of "fraternizing with the enemy" or some other crap like that. But he wanted those lessons. He sighed and placed the card on his desk, and started to get ready for bed. Maybe he'd ask his dads for advice tomorrow.

…

The next morning, Ryan woke at six and took his usual morning run. When he returned home, he was surprised by his dad Hiram making breakfast in the kitchen, whistling as he scrambled some eggs.

"Good morning," he said. "What are you doing?"

"I'm cooking breakfast, of course," Hiram replied cheerfully. "I do cook sometimes."

_Not for the past five months_, Ryan thought. He wouldn't say that out loud though. "Oh. Ok then." He sat down and helped himself to some eggs and toast.

An awkward silence fell over the kitchen as father and son ate. Ryan sighed inwardly. They hadn't really known how to talk to each other for a long time now. Neither of his fathers were very interested in his activities as long as he kept his grades up, and like any teenager, he didn't particularly care what his dads did at work. "You seem happy today," he ventured.

"Huh? Oh yeah," Hiram replied. "Last night's meeting was quite… productive," he continued with a smile.

Ryan refrained from rolling his eyes. He didn't need to know what his dad had gotten up to last night that took him until 1 am to get home. "I wanted to ask – "

"Listen, I'm going to be out for the weekend. Papa should be home later in the afternoon, probably around 1, ok?" Hiram said, finishing up his breakfast. "Wash the dishes, would you?" He left the kitchen without waiting for a reply.

"Sure dad, whatever you say," Ryan sighed. Would it really be too much for his dad to show some interest in him? Maybe ask how he was doing, or even ask about his grades? Or even maybe just finish his sentence? He'd take anything, if someone would just pay attention like Shelby Corcoran did yesterday.

After washing the dishes he made his way to his bedroom, deciding to take a shower. Checking his watch, he saw that it was only 9. Great. He'd already done his homework yesterday, and now he didn't have anything to do for the rest of the weekend. God knew he wouldn't be invited anywhere by his non-existent friends. Maybe Burt had something for him to do. Ryan needed to settle his mind anyway, and working on cars usually helped. Putting on a sweater, he left the house, making sure to lock all the doors before leaving for the shop.

* * *

Shelby sat in her car outside of her parents' house in Akron after a two-hour drive. Even now, over twelve hours later, she couldn't get Ryan out of her mind. She'd been preoccupied for most of the trip, and thinking back on it she guessed that wasn't entirely safe. But her mind kept drifting back to her fifteen year old son. He was quite handsome, although that was probably maternal bias. He stood slightly taller than her, at around 5'7". And he looked a lot like her. He had her jawline, her nose, her dark hair… but his father's eyes.

And she'd seen something in those eyes. Something sad.

She automatically knocked on the door, forcing herself out of her thoughts. "Hi mom, dad," she greeted her parents as she entered the house.

Her father greeted her with a kiss to her head. "Hi honey." Her mom wrapped her in a hug. Her parents, Tom and Sarah Corcoran, had lived in Akron for the past forty years. Shelby had grown up in this very house.

"Is Josh coming?" Shelby asked, referring to her younger brother who lived across town. He was a teacher as well, except he taught .

"Not this time," her mom replied. "He's at a conference in OSU. Anyway, how are you? You look thin. Are you eating properly? You're probably working too hard."

Shelby rolled her eyes as her father smirked. "I'm fine, mom."

Sarah eyed her daughter carefully. Something was wrong though. Well, maybe not wrong, but there was something on her daughter's mind. "Well, let's eat already. The food's getting cold." She'd do the interrogation thing later.

_Uh-oh._ Shelby almost cringed at that look on her mother's face. Here comes the interrogation. She was an excellent actor. She could bring over two dozen unruly teenagers into line with just a glare. But no matter what she did, she never could hide anything from her mom. The fact infuriated Shelby, even as it was sort of comforting to know that there was someone who knew her well enough to figure out when something was bothering her. It was more often annoying though, especially when she was a teenager and she'd just sneaked home past curfew after attending a party.

…

After lunch and the compulsory clean-up, the three of them sat in the living room, the TV turned to a football game. Shelby kept her eyes focused on the TV set, chanting silently. _Please don't ask, please don't ask, please don't ask_…

"What's going on with you?" Sarah asked bluntly. "I know something's wrong."

_Damn_. Shelby groaned. So much for subtlety. Not that anyone in her family had ever been shy with saying what they wanted to say. Even her son had it. "Nothing's wrong."

"Are you sure?" Sarah prodded. "You seem out of sorts. Don't forget, I can tell when you're upset. It's my superpower." The silence that ensued further convinced Sarah that something was eating at her daughter.

"You know you can tell us anything," Tom added gently.

Shelby knew that. They'd been nothing but supportive when she'd been a child, they'd come halfway across the state when she called them after she'd given birth to Ryan, they'd consoled her when she had failed to make it in New York. Sure, they'd been upset, but she knew they loved her. Even when she told them about… She shook her head. She looked at the curious and slightly apprehensive faces of her parents. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I met Ryan yesterday."

Her statement was met with surprise, and then realization, and finally concern. "What? How?" her mother asked, dumbfounded. She had not been expecting this. Shelby had told them about seeing Ryan at the Sectionals competition a few weeks ago, but she hadn't said anything to suggest that she'd be seeing him again anytime soon. "Did the Berrys contact you?" Her dad just stared at her with wide eyes.

Shelby shook her head, "No. It was an accident. I went to a garage to get my oil changed. He – Ryan was there. He works part-time for the owner."

"Does he know about you?" Tom asked eagerly.

"No," Shelby said, seeing the sympathetic looks on her parents' faces. "He doesn't know I'm his… He knows about my job though, he knows I'm the top show choir director in the country," she smiled, remembering the look on her son's face as he recognized her. "I talked to him the whole time he worked on my car," she continued. "He's been working at the garage for a few months now. Apparently he's really into cars. He said he doesn't take singing lessons anymore since his dads stopped paying for them."

Her dad frowned. "Why? Hard times?"

"I'm not sure, he didn't get into it and I couldn't ask without seeming like a creep. He mentioned they weren't really into arts, though." Shelby shook her head. She hesitated before continuing. "I offered to give him free lessons. He said he'd think about it."

Tom and Sarah exchanged a glance. "Dear, are you sure? What about the contract? Would you be able to handle seeing him all time and not tell him who you are?" Sarah questioned gently. She was all for her daughter getting to know her child, but she had signed a contract prohibiting that.

Shelby huffed in agitation. "I wasn't thinking, all right? I don't know if I can handle it, but I will! I have to. I need him. I can't…" _I can't give him up again_. She didn't notice the tears starting to fall, but her mom did. Sarah pulled her into a tight hug, Tom joining them immediately. "Shh," she whispered. "It's going to be fine, ok? You're going to be fine."

They stayed in their group hug for a few moments, until Shelby had calmed down. "Thanks," she mumbled, wiping at her face with her sleeve. The two parents looked lovingly at their daughter for a moment.

"Well, what's he like?" Tom demanded. "Tell us more."

Shelby laughed weakly. "Well, he likes to talk a lot. Mostly about himself, he's got a healthy ego."

"Huh, where'd he get that?" Tom wondered sarcastically. Sarah smacked her husband on the chest, gesturing for Shelby to go on.

"Well, he seems like a bit of a loner. As big as his ego is, he doesn't seem to get a lot of accolades. He looked surprised when I complimented him on his Sectionals performance." Sarah looked sad at this. "But he doesn't seem to let it get him down, though."

Privately, Sarah thought that if the boy was anything like Shelby he probably had one hell of a show face. But maybe Shelby was right, and Ryan was fine. "Do you think he'll take you up on your offer?"

"I'm not sure. He looked like he wanted to though, but he was worried about paying me." A blush spread on Shelby's face as she remembered Ryan's initial reaction to her offer.

"What?" Tom prodded.

"Nothing," Shelby said adamantly. Wild horses wouldn't be able to drag _that_ out of her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ryan was picking up some takeout from the small Chinese place down the street from his house. He'd spent the morning replacing a punctured hose in a Ford pickup that was causing the engine to overheat. The job had taken his mind off of his less than stellar home life, and he was in a relatively good mood. He paid for his food and walked home, only to stop short when he saw who was sitting on the porch. _Oh crap_.

"Where have you been?" Leroy Berry barked. "I came home expecting to get some sleep after that business trip, and I find myself locked out of the house!"

"I was out!" Ryan said defensively. "Dad said he'd be gone for the weekend. I thought you had your keys!"

"Well as you can see, I didn't," Leroy said irritably. "Now open the door."

Ryan hurriedly stepped up to the door and unlocked it. His dad entered, carrying his luggage, going straight up to his room.

"Hi to you too, papa," Ryan mumbled sarcastically. "No, I'm fine, thanks for asking." His previous good mood had evaporated quickly. Well, if neither of his parents wanted any input on his decisions, fine then. Who needed them anyways? He shook his head, straightened his shoulders, and marched straight up to his room. Then he promptly returned downstairs to get his forgotten lunch. Thank goodness no one was there, storm-outs really only worked effectively when you didn't leave anything behind accidentally. Of course, they also only worked if there was someone to see you storm out.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi everyone, I still continue to be surprised that people are reading this story. Thank you so much :) I ran out of steam for a bit since I couldn't really figure out what to do with the story. It's going to be following the timeline of events in the first season and the second as well if I manage to get that far.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

* * *

In the Carmel High auditorium, Shelby was running Vocal Adrenaline through the set list she had decided on for Regionals. They would be doing Lady Gaga and Queen's _Bohemian Rhapsody_. They would be going up against Oral Intensity and New Directions, and after analyzing their performances she had decided that they would need to resort to theatricality to beat them. Unfortunately, he students seemed to be soulless automatons with absolutely no emotion.

She wasn't completely focused on her students though. It had been a month, but she was still thinking about Ryan. She'd spent the past few weeks beating herself up for missing out on her son's life. He was fifteen now. He didn't need her anymore. But she thought that maybe she could still get to know him. If not as his mom, then as a mentor, a friend, or whatever. She'd take anything she could get. That is, if her son wanted to get to know her. What if he didn't? Shelby didn't know if she'd be able to handle it if her son didn't want her.

But if she wanted to get to know him, she couldn't keep her identity from him forever, she'd probably crack under the strain. She'd spent thirty minutes with the boy at the garage and she'd almost blurted out her secret multiple times. That was why about two weeks ago she'd called Hiram Berry to arrange a meeting.

_**Flashback**_

"We were surprised to get your call, Shelby," Hiram said, as they sat in a secluded corner of a small coffee shop. "I didn't even know you were back in Ohio."

Shelby hid a wince. "Things didn't exactly work out like I planned. I've been here for almost five years now."

"What do you want, Shelby?" Leroy said abruptly. "Our son is only fifteen, the contract doesn't expire for another three years."

Shelby took a breath. "I've already met him. I didn't mean to," she hurried on, forestalling the upset comments that the two men were about to make. "I took my car to the garage where he works, and he was there."

"Did you talk to him? Did you tell him who you were?" Leroy demanded.

Leroy always was the hotheaded one, Shelby thought. "I didn't tell him." _I wanted to though_.

Hiram put a hand on his husband's arm. "So what now? You want a relationship with him?"

"She can't," Leroy broke in. "We still have the contract. We can't sue you for accidental contact, but we will if you contact him on purpose."

_He's half mine too._ "I'm not trying to take him away from you," Shelby tried to placate Leroy. "I know you're his parents. But I've missed him for fifteen years. I just want to talk to him, get to know him. Please."

Hiram sighed. "What happened when you met?"

Shelby related what had happened that day at the auto shop. "He didn't know who I was, but he knows me as the glee coach for another school." She hesitated. "I _may_ have offered to give him vocal lessons."

"What did he say?" Hiram asked, before Leroy could get a word in. "Did he accept?"

"He said he'd get back to me," Shelby said, hiding her dejection. "He hasn't yet."

The two men looked at each other, having a silent conversation that lasted a moment before Hiram spoke. "How about this. You can talk to him, see if he wants to talk to you, but you can't tell him who you are. And if he wants you to back off, you back off."

"And he needs to initiate contact," Leroy added firmly.

Shelby thought about it, disappointed at the terms. How was she supposed to keep a secret like that to herself? And what if Ryan found out by himself? He'd be so upset and angry with her. But still, it would allow her to at least talk to her son. She could figure out the rest later. "Fine."

"Alright then," Hiram said. "We need to leave soon, we both have business appointments to get to." The two men left, leaving Shelby to figure out how she wanted to proceed now.

_**End Flashback**_

Ryan still hadn't called her back, and Shelby wondered if she'd made a mistake. Maybe she'd scared him off with that offer. Maybe he didn't like her. She shook her head, returning her focus to her students. She was glad that she'd already decided months earlier that this would be her last year with Vocal Adrenaline. She found teaching very satisfying, but she'd had quite her fill of dealing with late nights and spoiled teenagers. Her replacement –Ghouls? Goolie? Something like that – had already been chosen by the boosters, and was coming in after Regionals to learn the ropes while they trained for Nationals. Yes, she was completely sure that they were going to win Regionals. She hadn't lost a single competition with the VA in three and a half years, and she wasn't about to start now.

Although if she were going to lose, she supposed it wouldn't be so bad if Ryan's team were the one to win.

* * *

In Burt's garage, Ryan opened the hood of a Ford Fiesta, which had been diagnosed with a faulty hose that was causing the engine to overheat. He started up some random music on his iPod and set it up in his portable speaker, thinking over the evens of the past few weeks. It had been a month since Sectionals, and the weeks had gone by in a whirl of confusion and chaos. First, was the whole Glist debacle, when someone had posted a list of the glee club members ranked according their promiscuity. Ryan had come in last, of course, with a total score of -5. He hadn't really been surprised, but he was a bit annoyed.

He'd initially wanted to make some sort of statement video, but had eventually decided against it. He didn't want a repeat of the _Push It_ debacle, when the glee club – all six members of it at the time – had performed Salt-N-Pepa song accompanied by (now that he thought about it) wildly inappropriate choreography. Mr. Schue had ended up calling all their parents, and he'd gotten yelled at for almost 10 minutes straight at home. He'd also lost his computer, phone, and iPod for two weeks. He didn't want a repeat.

Principal Figgins had threatened to disband the club over the Glist, but had decided not to when the postings had suddenly stopped. Ryan paused, thinking about what had happened afterwards.

_**Flashback**_

"Why'd you do it Quinn?"

Quinn looked up to see Ryan, who had sat down next to her. Mr. Schuester had busted her, saying that he knew that she was behind the Glist. And then he'd lied to Principal Figgins about it. He'd given her lot to think about, and she hadn't noticed that she'd been in the choir room for a while now.

She was silent for a while. "Because I couldn't take it. I've lost so much. I had my family, I had the Cheerios… I was at the top of this school before all…this." She gestured at her pregnant stomach. "I didn't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to get some of it back. And I thought…"

"You thought you could get your reputation back by posting yourself at the top of the Glist."

Quinn nodded silently.

Ryan contemplated this for a moment. "Well, as someone who's been invisible for, well, all of high school and middle school, I suppose I get why you felt like you needed to be seen."

"I decided that a bad reputation was better than no reputation."

"You don't need that," Ryan said quietly. "You'll get it all back soon. You're strong, Quinn, how else could you get through this pregnancy by yourself? I don't think I'd be able to do it. If I were able to get pregnant, that is." Quinn gave a half-smile. "This will just make you an even better person than who you were," Ryan ended, unconsciously mirroring what Mr. Schue had told Quinn earlier. "On a lighter note, why did you put me last? How did I even reach negative five points?"

"Seriously?" Quinn smirked at him. "It was probably a combination of those animal sweaters you wear all the time, your obsession for show choir, and the fact that you've never been seen with a girl."

Ryan put on a mock-offended face. "I'll have you know these sweaters are incredibly cool."

"Why are you being nice to me?" Quinn said abruptly. "I know you said that you thought I might need a friend, but I've been terrible to you. I remember throwing a slushy at you at least twice this year. I don't understand why you're even talking to me."

Ryan laughed softly. "I still think you need a friend. But I think maybe it's also because I think you're more than that person who used to throw slushies at people. You haven't done it in a while. To me at least," he amended.

"That's because I had one thrown at me, remember? No one told me it's like being bitchslapped by a colored blizzard," Quinn smiled at him. "But thanks."

"Well, it's either that or I'm gloating over your spectacular fall from your lofty perch of bitchiness."

"Wait, what?" Quinn stared at him, before noticing the mischievous smirk on his face. "What the hell, Berry?" she pushed him, giggling slightly. "I almost thought you were serious."

Ryan gave a crooked smile as he stood. "It got you to laugh, right?" Quinn shook her head at him smiling as he walked out of the choir room.

_**End Flashback**_

That was also the week when Finn had posted Sue's video of herself singing Olivia Newton-John's _Physical_. Ryan smirked at the memory as he removed the damaged pipe from the Fiesta's engine. Thankfully Sue hadn't gotten around to killing them all before Olivia Newton-John herself contacted Sue, and in a strange twist of events had invited her to do a remake of the 1980's music video.

Then last week, Ryan had finally gotten around to finding who wasn't pulling their weight in the glee club. He'd bribed Lauren Zizes in the Audio/Video club to bug the choir room. Thanks to his perfect pitch, he'd been able to pick out exactly who was lip-synching.

_**Flashback**_

"I am very disappointed in you guys," Mr. Schuester scolded the kids. Ryan had given him a list, containing the names of all the lip-synching glee club members. The list contained almost half the glee club.

"Can't believe you narked on us," Finn muttered at Ryan.

"Don't blame me for your mediocrity, I can't carry all of you all the time. Regionals is in a month," Ryan snapped back.

"I'm just trying to understand what's going on here," Mr. Schue continued. "Finn, why'd you stop singing?"

"You've started giving all the male leads to Ryan. It shook my confidence, you know?"

Ryan scoffed, but kept quiet. He deserved those solos, but it wouldn't really help if he picked a fight right now, they were already mad at him. As usual.

"Ugh, what difference does it make?" Santana spoke up. "We all know I'm just here to look hot."

"My baby hormones are making me moody," Quinn sighed.

"There are so many lyrics," said Brittney.

The meeting ended with Mr. Schue telling all of them to prepare a solo, to get everyone singing again. The next day Ryan had gotten up to sing the first solo. But he hadn't gotten past the first line before his voice had started to crack, which had never happened to him before. He'd promptly made an appointment with a doctor. Neither of his dads could get out of work, so he had asked Quinn to accompany him since he thought that she was the one least likely to say no.

"I've got some bad news, Ryan, you'll probably never sing again." Ryan's jaw dropped before the doctor continued. "Just kidding, you just have severe tonsillitis and an inner ear infection.

"That was mean," Quinn commented.

"It doesn't look like the first time either, you should get your tonsils out," the doctor continued.

Ryan blanched. "I don't think there's any need for that, resting my voice and drinking a lot of herbal tea should be enough."

"This is serious, Ryan…"

"He's worried about his singing voice," Quinn interjected. Ryan shot her a grateful look.

"At least start taking these antibiotics," the doctor said, scribbling a prescription on his pad. "Unless you think they'll adversely affect your dancing moves."

"Nice bedside manner," Quinn said sarcastically as the doctor exited the exam room.

Ryan remained silent.

"Are you ok?" Quinn touched his arm when he didn't reply. "Ryan?"

He looked up. "I can't lose my voice, Quinn," he said in a high-pitched voice that probably wasn't doing his vocal chords any favors. "My voice is everything, I can't do anything else. My voice is my ticket for getting out of this town."

"Whoa, hey, stop panicking," Quinn said hurriedly.

Ryan stood up in agitation. "You don't get it, Quinn! I am my voice. I'm like Tinkerbell, I need applause to live!"

Quinn held in a laugh. "Ok, just tone down the drama, Berry. Listen to me." She waited until he was looking at her. "First of all, there are people who have much bigger problems than you." Ryan frowned guiltily. "Second, you are more than your voice. People aren't just one thing. If they were then I'd be stuck as a slushy-tossing bitch forever." That elicited a small smile from Ryan. Quinn wasn't used to trying to cheer people up, and she didn't know if it was working. That smile was encouraging, though. She hadn't noticed until now what a cute smile he had. "And you're the one who said I was more than that. So unless you're about to contradict yourself, you're more than your voice too."

_**End Flashback**_

Ryan picked up a wrench and started attaching the replacement hose into the car. The laryngitis had gone away after massive amounts of antibiotics and several days of not speaking. And he'd realized that Quinn was right, he was more than his voice. He still didn't want to lose it, though!

That hadn't been the only drama to occur this week though. Kurt's dad and Finn's mom had started dating, and Burt had been taking Finn out to do "guy stuff" all week. Ryan knew Kurt had issues with his relationship with his dad, and Ryan had seen the tension between the two of them whenever he was at the auto shop. But he was pretty sure they were ok now, after what he'd overheard this afternoon.

_**Flashback**_

Ryan's bout of laryngitis had just wrapped up, and he was headed to the auditorium to practice his part for their performance of _One_. He used the backstage entrance, but found that the auditorium was already occupied by Kurt, and surprisingly, Burt Hummel.

"- is that why you were pretending to date that daffy cheerleader, and dressing differently, and singing Mellencamp?" Ryan heard Burt saying.

"I just want you to know that I'm going to work as hard as you to make this ok." Kurt said.

Ryan knew that he probably – definitely – shouldn't be listening to this. This was a private moment between father and son. But he was scared to move, lest he alert the pair to his presence.

"You don't have to work at anything, Kurt," Burt said intensely. "Your job is to be yourself, and my job is to love you no matter what, ok? That, and a majority ownership of the tire shop, that's all we got. We stick to that, we're gonna be great."

Kurt sniffed. "I missed you dad."

Ryan backed out slowly, exiting the auditorium.

"I love you."

_**End Flashback**_

Ryan finished attaching the replacement hose and rechecked everything in the engine before closing the hood. After cleaning his hands off he went into the office to find the car's owner and to tell Mr. Hummel that he was leaving for the day.

As he walked home, he thought about what he'd overheard. He wasn't supposed to hear that, that much he was sure of. He knew he had a bad habit of listening in to other people's conversations, which was how he'd been able to get that creep Mr. Ryerson fired from McKinley. But he also knew that his habit didn't exactly endear him to the people around him, and he'd gotten into trouble more than once for eavesdropping.

He wished his dads were more like Burt Hummel. They were both so busy with work he almost never saw them. _Your job is to be yourself, and my job is to love you no matter what. I love you. _Ryan hadn't heard that last part from his dads in a while. He wasn't sure if they had ever said the first part to him ever. Trying to be the perfect son by getting high grades in all his subjects. Trying to get the New Directions to win. He'd been covering himself up with his show face for so long he didn't completely know who 'himself' actually was right now. Like most teenagers he didn't exactly know what he was feeling. Whatever he was feeling he just threw into his songs. But he did know that whatever he was feeling, he wasn't happy.

* * *

**A/N: Comments? Not too sure about the format this time around, I'm experimenting and so I'd appreciate any feedback. 'Til next time!**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey everyone, thank for all the reviews and follows! I keep getting all these notifications in my email and it's great! Just a few notes before we get to the story, you can just skip down if you don't care.**

**I decided I'm going to keep following most of the events in the original series, but I fudged up the order a bit to suit the story better. I'm planning to finish out the whole of season 1 and then get into the summer between seasons 1 and 2. Not sure if I'll continue into the second season, I guess it will depend on whether people are still reading by then.**

**Plot concerns: For the people waiting for Faberry, yes, that's still the pairing in mind. I'm trying to make the transition more natural, though, I get annoyed at fanfics where the pairing just occurs suddenly without any lead-in at all. Also, the primary focus is Ryan's and Shelby's relationship. Also, for the people who hate Ryan's dads, don't worry, I've got something in mind for explaining what's going on there.**

**Also, I found a minor flaw in this type of story. I'm finding it hard to write song scenes for the glee club, because I realized that they don't have a female lead. Any suggestions are welcome.**

**Lastly, I thought I should give you fair warning. I'm only able to write this quickly because we got a 10-day break from school (Holy Week is a REALLY big deal in my country). Once it starts up again next week, expect updates to slow down. I'm trying to get as much done now as possible though.**

* * *

"You want to name our daughter Jack Daniels? She's a girl!"

"Ok, fine whatever, Jackie Daniels."

Ryan was rooting through his locker, trying to find his books for his Math class. Quinn and Puck were a few feet away, apparently arguing over the name of their baby. He wasn't eavesdropping exactly, the pair were being really loud. At least that's what he told himself. Ryan couldn't help but agree with Quinn. Who named a baby after a bottle of whiskey?

"The name is not the point," Quinn shot back in frustration. "I told you this. I'm giving up the baby so I don't have to do this with you. This is good for you. Now you can go off, and be a rock star yourself." She walked off, leaving Puck standing in the hallway.

Ryan shut his locker and walked after Quinn.

"Eavesdrop much, Berry?" she said testily.

"You were being pretty loud." Ryan didn't really see the point in denying it. "For the record, you're right, Jack Daniels is a stupid name."

"I guess it's not stupider than Drizzle," Quinn sighed, her irritation vanishing, only to be replaced by sadness. Stupid baby hormones. "That's what Finn suggested anyway."

Ryan snorted. "Well, like you said, you're giving up the baby, so I guess you don't have to name it," he said thoughtfully. "The prospective parents will most likely want to name the baby themselves, too. My parents told me they were the ones to pick my name. They used a surrogate, so it's a bit different, but still."

Quinn had actually forgotten that Ryan was adopted. "Oh." She hesitated. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Do you ever think of your birth mom?" Quinn would never admit this out loud, but she was desperately worried that her child would hate her if she ever found out that her mother had actually wanted to give her away. Quinn knew she could hardly keep the baby, she was living in Puck's basement for goodness' sakes. But she couldn't quite shake the guilt she felt for her desire to just give the baby away.

Meanwhile Ryan was trying to figure out what to say. He hadn't been expecting a deep question. "Couldn't have asked my something easy, like what's my favorite color?" he joked, stalling for time. He thought about his birth mother quite a bit, especially whenever his dads were away. Which was most of the time. His dads had never talked about her, only saying that she was a surrogate. They'd told him that they were his real parents, and while it was true, he still wanted to find out where he'd come from. His fathers weren't musically inclined, had he gotten his love for music from his mother? Did she look like him, or rather, did he look like her?

Quinn looked away. "You don't really have to answer."

Ryan waved her off. "No, it's fine. Just caught me off guard, I guess. Actually, yes, I do think about her sometimes. What her name is, where she is now, did she want me. I would like to get to know her, but I'm pretty sure that's impossible." He paused. "Is that what you were looking for?"

"I'm not sure," Quinn answered honestly. "But thanks."

"Anytime," Ryan flashed her a smile as he held the classroom door open, allowing her to enter first.

* * *

There hadn't been a glee rehearsal that day, because Mr. Schue had apparently set up appointments with the guidance counselor, Emma Pillsbury, for everyone in New Directions after that mildly traumatizing speech from Bryan Ryan yesterday afternoon. The man had basically gone up in front of the glee club and informed them that their dreams were never going to come true, and that they should just give up.

"Hello Ryan," the redheaded guidance counsellor greeted Ryan as he entered her office and sat down on the chair in front of her desk. "Did Mr. Schue tell you why he scheduled this appointment?"

"Not really, but I guess it's got something to do with the whole 'your dreams will never come true' speech we got yesterday?"

"Uh-huh, and how did you feel about that?" Emma inquired, as she straightened up some papers on her desk. "Did that bother you?"

"Oh, it doesn't bother me at all," Ryan said confidently. "You see, my dream is to become a big star in New York when I graduate. I know it's going to happen, and it doesn't matter what anyone says."

Emma had to smile at the boy's bravado. She knew it was well-founded, she'd seen his performance live at Sectionals and had been amazed at his talent. "Well, I think that's good. You're still young, and you have the potential to do anything if you put your mind to it."

"I know. Can I leave now?" Ryan asked. Emma hid another smile. No matter how talented and unique Ryan Berry might be, he was still a teenage boy, and teenage boys never wanted to talk about their feelings.

"You've got me for the next half hour. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" _There_. Emma had caught a quick glimpse of something in Ryan's eyes. He was a good actor, though, and it only showed for a second. "Maybe something outside glee club?"

Ryan thought. He knew that she had seen the break in his mask. His conversation with Quinn was still fresh in his mind, and he was still unsettled. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk about it with Miss Pillsbury though. He liked her well enough, and he knew she wasn't allowed to disclose anything he told her to anyone else. He hesitated.

"If you're not comfortable talking with me, it's alright," Emma said gently. "But I do think you need to talk about whatever it is with someone. Maybe a friend, or your parents." This time a crease appeared on Ryan's forehead as she mentioned his parents.

"I'm fine. Just a conversation I had with Quinn," Ryan said. "She asked me if I ever thought about my birth mother and I was just a little unsettled. It's not a big deal."

Emma nodded, remembering the details of the boy's guardianship. "Okay. Would you mind if I asked what you told her?"

"I told her that yes, I did," Ryan said uncomfortably. "My dads haven't told me much about her, and yes, I sometimes wonder who she is, if she wanted me, and all that stuff."

"Have you ever tried asking your fathers about her?" Emma pressed. "Maybe they'd tell you something about her."

Ryan shook his head adamantly. "I've tried that already. When I was younger. They got annoyed. Can I go now? Please?"

Emma sighed softly. She wouldn't get anywhere further with him. "Yes, you can go now." Ryan quickly stood up. "Just think about what I said, ok? I think you should talk about this with someone." She saw him nod and quickly make his escape. She felt that something was off with the boy, but she wasn't sure what it was. Maybe he was telling the truth and he was just preoccupied with his conversation with his classmate, but she'd tell Will to keep an eye on Ryan for now anyways.

* * *

_You're living in America_

_At the end of the millennium_

_You're living in America_

_Leave your conscience at the tone_

Ryan sang along with his iPod as he finished replacing a tire on an old pickup. Burt was in the back doing some engine repairs. He'd just come from a not-so-good day at school. He'd managed to get slushied twice and he'd had to go talk to Miss Pillsbury. The only slightly good thing that had happened was his talk with Quinn.

"Very good technique Mr. Berry, but you were a bit flat on the first line."

Ryan whirled around at the voice, smiling as he saw who was behind him. "Ms. Corcoran, I didn't hear you come in. And yes, I know I was a bit flat. I had a bout of laryngitis and an inner ear infection last week, my voice isn't quite a hundred percent right now."

Shelby frowned in concern. "Did you see a doctor? What did he say?"

Surprised at her concern, Ryan answered. "I saw six, in fact, and some of them advised me to get my tonsils removed, but I didn't want them butchering my throat. Thankfully it turns out that a heroic dose of antibiotics and a vow of silence is all that it takes to cure laryngitis," Ryan finished wryly.

Shelby knew that singers often contracted laryngitis, but she wasn't too sure about not following the doctors' advice about the tonsil removal. But she let it slide for now.

"Did you need something?" Ryan asked hopefully. He liked talking to the woman, and last time had gone pretty well. "Mr. Hummel's in the back, but maybe I can help you." The two of them now stood face to face. Shelby noted that he had grown a bit taller in the month since she'd seen him. She still couldn't help but marvel over how much of his features he'd gotten from her.

"Yes, actually, my car's making this rattling noise under the car whenever it speeds up. I have no clue what it is." Shelby had noticed the noise a few days ago but hadn't had time to bring the car in until today. She'd been hoping that Ryan would be here again, and she wasn't disappointed.

"Where's the sound coming from? Back, front, sides?"

Shelby thought. "Near the back?"

Ryan hummed. "I'd have to hear it to make sure, but you might have a loose exhaust pipe. Mr. Hummel will probably want to take it for a test drive. I don't have a license yet."

"I could take you for a ride," offered Shelby.

"Oh, ok then," Ryan beamed. "Just let me tell Mr. Hummel." He quickly made his way behind the shop. It made him incredibly happy that Shelby seemed to trust in his mechanical abilities and was willing to let him diagnose her car. When he returned the two of them climbed into the Range Rover. Shelby started the engine and drove down the street. "Maybe once around the block?" Ryan suggested. "Try accelerating as much as you can so the noise comes out."

Shelby complied after looking around for any other cars. The car started making a rattling noise near the rear right side of the car. Ryan listened intently for any other unusual noises. "Well, I think I was right, I don't hear anything unusual except for the rattle. If you'll return us to the garage, I can take a look at the tailpipe."

Back at the garage Burt helped Ryan get the Range Rover up on jacks before returning to his engine. Ryan then carefully slid under the car. Shelby fidgeted a little, imagining what would happen if the jacks failed and dropped the car on her son. She knew it wouldn't happen, but still. To keep her mind off of the gruesome image, she spoke up. "How have you been?"

"I've been busy. There's been a lot of drama going on at McKinley for the past few weeks." Ryan's voice echoed slightly from his position underneath the car. "Just yesterday we had this guy at school, an old classmate of Mr. Shue's. He told us to write down our biggest dream on a piece of paper. Then he went up to Artie, crumpled up his sheet of paper and tossed it in the trash. He said that our dreams were never going to happen, and that Mr. Schue was just setting us up for disappointment."

Shelby scoffed. "Sounds like sour grapes. He's probably one of the ones who couldn't make it in the business and never got over it." Ryan was quiet. "Did you believe him?"

"No, I've known my dream since I was four. I'm going to New York as soon as I graduate, I'm going to make it big on Broadway, and win a couple of Tony's by 25. Maybe make a few movies." _I'm going to show everyone in this cowtown that I'm not just a loser_.

Shelby smiled wistfully, glad that Ryan couldn't see her face from under the car. That had been her dream once. She'd learned that people could have more than one dream, and that some dreams were bigger than others. She was disappointed that she hadn't made it in New York. But with the perspective of years she could say that even if she'd made it in New York, she'd probably never have been happy. Her most important dream now was lying under her Range Rover, fixing her exhaust pipe. If she could have that dream, losing the other one would be worth it.

"That's an ambitious dream," she said out loud. _But from what I've seen you could probably make it happen_. A comfortable silence fell as Ryan worked under the SUV. "But you know, a dream is supposed to be emotional. It's supposed to be the thing that's missing from your life, the thing that's missing when you wake up in the morning."

"I have one of those kinds of dreams too."

Shelby glanced at Ryan. Or at least what she could see of him sticking out from under her car. "Hmm?"

"Broadway's actually my second dream." He didn't know why he was telling her this. Maybe it was because it was fresh from his conversation with Quinn, and he just needed someone to talk to like Miss Pillsbury had said. And Shelby made him feel safe somehow, like she wouldn't think that what he was stupid. At least, she hadn't laughed at him yet. And again, there was just something about her that induced him to word-vomit. "There's something else I want."

"Oh?" Shelby's interest was piqued. "Would you like to share?" she inquired playfully, trying to convey that he didn't have to if he didn't want to.

Ryan was silent for a moment, and Shelby thought he wasn't going to answer. "My mom."

Shelby froze for a second. "What?" She'd probably heard wrong.

"The thing that's missing is a mom. I have two gay dads, and they used a surrogate to have me. When I was younger they said they'd mixed their…you know… their stuff… up and used a turkey baster. I'm pretty sure they were joking though. My dads never talked about her, and they became uncomfortable whenever I asked. I've always wanted to know who she is. I don't need to meet her, I guess, but maybe find out her name, something about her…"

Both of them were now thankful that the other couldn't see their face. Ryan was blushing, while Shelby had paled with a stricken expression stuck on her face.

Ryan continued rambling. "I never asked about her, I guess I don't want to find out that my mother was some teenage trollop, or worse, some skanky teenager who'd do anything for money including giving me up. And I'm scared that she didn't want me at all. It's kinda stupid," he finished lamely.

"It's not stupid at all," Shelby said in a low voice. She cleared her throat, fighting to keep her voice steady, only barely succeeding thanks to her vocal expertise. "I think your mom would be very proud to have you as a son."

Ryan slid out from under the car, and Shelby just barely managed to rearrange her face into a more neutral expression. She sent up a silent prayer of relief that the SUV hadn't collapsed on Ryan. When did she start being such a worrywart? Oh yeah, since she met her son, who apparently liked spending time under machines that weighed a ton.

Ryan flashed Shelby a smile. "I think it's fine now. I tightened the screws for the tailpipe, and there was a rock stuck in there. We should probably give it another test drive in case there's something else."

"Hop in, then."

The two of them sat quietly in the car, listening for any rattles coming from the SUV.

"Have you thought about my offer?" Shelby asked, once again calling on all her acting skills to keep her voice from shaking.

"Yes, I have actually. I would like to take you up on it, but I haven't had a lot of time between glee and this job. Also, I'm sure you're busy as well. Maybe we could try it out sometime after Regionals? One of us is going to have a freer schedule after the competition," he proposed.

"If that's what you want," Shelby said casually. Inwardly though she was a bit disappointed that she'd have to wait. Oh well, Regionals were in less than a month, then maybe she could start spending more time with her son.

No more untoward noises were heard from the engine, and Shelby drove back to the garage to pay for her repairs. She also handed Ryan another $30.

"If you keep tipping like this, you need to come here more," he said with a smile as he pocketed the bills.

Shelby smiled back. "Don't worry, if I have any more car problems you'll be my first stop."

"Thank you," said Ryan playfully, with a slight bow. "I'll see you at Regionals. We'll be the ones with the giant first place trophy."

"Keep dreaming, kid."

* * *

Shelby made it all the way back home before she finally processed what her son had revealed. He wanted to know her. He didn't hate her for having him and then just dumping him with his dads, in fact he was scared that _she_ wouldn't want _him_. She was her dream, like he was hers.

She needed to talk to someone. She needed her own mom. She blindly dug around in her purse for her cellphone, quickly placing a call to her mom in Akron.

"Hi Shelby, what's up?"

Shelby almost broke down at her mom's voice. "Mom…"

"Honey, what is it? Are you okay?" Sarah Corcoran worried. "Did something happen?"

Shelby sniffed. "Mom, he said… he's looking for me too."

"Who? Who's looking for you?" the bewildered mother questioned. "Is this about Ryan?"

Shelby nodded, even though she knew her mother couldn't see it. "I saw him again today." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "He told me… We were talking about dreams. He told me his dream was to make it big in New York when he graduates." She laughed sadly. "Then he said… that he had another dream, and it was to find his mom."

"What did you say?"

"I froze," Shelby whimpered." I didn't know what to say. The Berrys won't let me tell him who I am. I can't break the contract, but…"

Sarah sighed. "Honey, it's going to be fine," she said, trying to calm her daughter. She couldn't imagine what Shelby must be feeling right now. "Do you need me to come over there? I can probably be there in a couple of hours."

"No," Shelby shook her head. "No. I'm going to be fine. I just…I guess I just needed to hear your voice." She was starting to calm down.

"Okay," soothed Sarah. "I love you, Shelly."

"Love you too."

* * *

**A/N: Comments? Requests? Violent reactions? That's what the review box is for ;)**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey everyone, sorry, but this chapter's a bit on the short side, it's actually just a filler before we start getting into the drama next chapter.**

* * *

Shelby watched as her students went through their routines. "Again, guys! That was sloppy, it was like watching beige paint dry! From the top!"

Her students groaned but complied. Shelby knew she was considered the most ruthless show choir director on the circuit. She knew the rumors that went around about her teaching methods, and they just made her smile. But in all honesty the rumors were just that, rumors. She was strict, yes, but she didn't work the kids to death, either.

Two more run-throughs later, she could tell her team needed a break. "Ok, that was better. Ten minute break, you all need to drink a Red Bull!"

She looked at some of the observations she'd written down. Her female lead was hitting the high notes just a little too flat for her taste, and one of the kids was putting on too much vibrato, slightly throwing off the blending. And she'd noticed one of the boys had almost dropped his partner during the synchronized lift section near the end. She put down her pen and yawned. Just a few more runs and she'd send them all home.

Her mind drifted to her talk with Ryan in the garage two nights ago. Her son wanted to get to know her too. But she couldn't do anything about it, and her emotions had been all over the place. It was embarrassing. In fact, yesterday Jesse had picked up on her mood and had pestered her for close to an hour before she had finally relented and told him about Ryan.

_**Flashback**_

"I know something's up with you." Jesse and Shelby were in her office, making some finer adjustments to the Bohemian Rhapsody choreography. Shelby had decided not to hire Dakota Stanley this time. While she wasn't a very effective choreographer, she really hated the obnoxious little man, and she'd put off working with him again until it was time for Nationals.

Shelby sighed. Jesse had been hinting at her for a while now to tell him what was going on, but she didn't really know how to tell him. Shelby had taken over as coach for Vocal Adrenaline one year before Jesse's freshman year. She had found Jesse at a middle school singing competition had quickly recruited him. This was now his fourth year on Vocal Adrenaline, having won three National titles during his tenure. Contrary to popular belief, Jesse hadn't been held back from graduating in order to keep him in Vocal Adrenaline. He was however one year delayed and was almost nineteen now, since his family had spent a year abroad when he was supposed to be in the fifth grade.

The two of them were close, even for a mentor and student. Jesse highly respected Shelby's talent for both performing and teaching, and she was one of the only people whose critiques he really took to heart. Shelby thought Jesse was a cocky, arrogant kid, but she recognized Jesse's talent, and knew that he would go far if he was taught properly. And the cockiness was endearing, in a way.

"Come on, you can tell me," Jesse coaxed. He knew he was getting somewhere, she hadn't flat out told him no this time like she had the last eight or nine times he'd asked. "Maybe I can even help."

"Fine," Shelby relented. She told him about the ad she'd answered back in 1994, about the baby she'd given up. She told him how she'd seen that baby fifteen years later at the Sectionals competition, all grown up and as talented, if not more so, than she was. And she told him about the contract she'd signed, keeping her away from her child.

At the end of it Jesse was silent, processing what he'd learned about his mentor, and couldn't help but feel an irrational pang of jealousy for this boy that Shelby so obviously loved. He shook it off in a moment though, and said, "Maybe you can't contact him, but I can, if you wanted me to. Maybe I could get him to try and find you."

Shelby pondered this for a moment. It could work. She could just tell Jesse to befriend Ryan, figure out some plan to get him to figure out who she was. But then she shook her head. It was a little too Machiavellian even for her, and if Ryan ever find out that she'd manipulated him it could ruin everything. "No. Thank you, but no. It's really sweet of you to offer though."

Jesse nodded. "Well, if you need anything, you know you can just ask me."

_**End Flashback**_

Shelby came back to her senses, watching her students get back onto the stage after their short break. "All right everyone, start from the second section of Bohemian Rhapsody. Andrea, watch the high notes, and and Vicki, you don't have a solo, you don't need to use so much vibrato, you're throwing us all off. Cue music!"

* * *

That same night Ryan came home to find Leroy at home watching a movie. "Hello papa," he said as he entered the living room.

"Hello," his father answered. "Where did you come from?"

Well, that was a surprise. Actually, no it wasn't, his dads had been paying more attention to his whereabouts in the past few weeks. They still weren't quite interested in what was going on, they just asked where he'd been whenever he got home. It wasn't much, but Ryan would take any attention he could get. "I was at the garage. I had dinner on the way home."

Leroy nodded in response.

"Okay, I'm heading upstairs to do my homework. I have a biology quiz tomorrow." Ryan waited to see if his father would say anything else, but he simply nodded. Ryan sighed and headed upstairs.

He'd actually already studied the night before, but he figured another run-through of the material wouldn't hurt. He pulled out his notes and began to read, stuffing his iPod earbuds in his ears. He couldn't concentrate though. His conversations from two days ago with Quinn, Miss Pillsbury, and Miss Corcoran were stuck in his head. Someone had definitely declared it to be Talk-About-Your-Feelings Day that day.

His feelings were confusing, though. He usually just sang through them, but the neighbors, tired of his impromptu performances, had threatened to file a lawsuit. Granted, singing _It's My Life_ at 11pm on a school night probably wasn't the best idea, but in his defense he'd been hopped up on the 'vitamin supplements' Mr. Schuester's insane wife had dispensed. So no more night-time concerts in his room.

He started doodling absently. He needed to think. Miss Pillsbury had suggested he talk to his dads about his feelings, but that was just weird. Besides, they didn't seem to particularly care. He loved his dads, but he knew they weren't happy as a family. He wasn't, at least. And unfortunately he didn't know how to make it better.

Again his mind drifted back to what Quinn had asked him. He'd thought about finding his birth mother a lot. When he was younger he used to fantasize about his mom being a Broadway star. He'd had a whole folder devoted to the theory that Patti LuPone was his mother, and another on Bernadette Peters. They were probably somewhere in his room right now. He wondered what his mom looked like. Maybe he'd inherited her looks, since he definitely didn't look like either of his fathers, who were both taller than six feet whereas he hadn't quite managed to reach 5'8 yet. He was hoping for another growth spurt. And since both his dads were borderline tone-deaf he had to have gotten his love for musical theater from his mother. If he ever met his mom he imagined that they would sound incredible as a duet.

Of course he knew it probably wouldn't work out that way, he wasn't in a Lifetime special after all. The reality of it was that his birth mother was a surrogate who was paid to have him. In all likelihood she probably didn't ever want a kid, and she'd probably taken off with the money and never given another thought to him again. And besides, even if he did manage to find her, he'd probably disappoint her. As evidenced by the pretty much daily slushie facials, he was one of the biggest losers in the school, probably ranking just higher than Jacob Ben Israel and Suzy Pepper. Who would want that as a son?

But what if she did want him? He remembered what Miss Corcoran had said. _I think your mom would be very proud to have you as a son._

In that second, Ryan made his decision. He was going to find his mom.

* * *

**A/N: I'm still in the air over what to do with Jesse. Any suggestions?**

**I don't own Glee.**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello everyone, here's the next chapter. In honor of my return to classes this week, this chapter is longer than usual. I don't know when I'll be able to get another chapter up, but it'll probably this weekend at the latest. Longer note down at the bottom, since I get annoyed when the one up top is too long.**

**Don't own Glee. You recognize it, it's not mine.**

* * *

Later that week, Kurt entered the McKinley choir room announcing that they were screwed. He'd been shopping for fabric for costumes and had found that the fabric store was out of red Chantilly lace. Further investigations (namely bribing Jacob Ben Israel) showed that eighteen empty boxes of Christmas lights were found in the dumpsters behind Carmel High.

"Wait, what?" asked Mr. Schuester in confusion.

"They're doing Gaga," Kurt explained.

"That's it, it's over," Mercedes sighed.

"They're going to pull out theatricality. They know it's the easiest way to beat us," Kurt worried. "Damn them."

"What's up with this Gaga dude?" Puck asked. "He just, like, dresses weird, right? Like Bowie?"

"Lady Gaga is a woman," Kurt snapped back. "She's only the biggest pop act to come around in decades. She's boundary-pushing, most theatrical performer of our generation! And she changes her look faster than Britt changes sexual partners."

"It's true," Brittney nodded.

Soon Mr. Schuester had decided that this week's assignment would be Gaga. Half the room – consisting of the girls and Kurt – exploded into excitement, while the other boys rolled their eyes and grumbled under their breaths.

Ryan however, wasn't really into the discussion. He liked Lady Gaga fine, although it looked like the other glee guys had something to say about it. But that wasn't what had him so out of it.

_**Flashback**_

_The previous day_

After deciding that he was going to find his mother Ryan had finally made a serious effort. He'd looked through boxes full of his baby things that his dads had stored in the basement, but had come up empty. He knew all the important records, including his birth certificate and his adoption records, were kept in a box in his parents' study. He'd even looked for the ad his fathers had placed in the newspaper and looked online if he could somehow get a copy of his adoption records. Unfortunately it would take about a month and submission of identification.

After trawling through all possible options without success for the past week, he'd debated between asking his fathers straight out or trying to get his adoption papers from the study. He decided on the latter, because he didn't want to upset either of his fathers and also because he didn't think they'd give him a straight answer.

Ryan entered his parents' study as soon as he got home from school. He'd told Burt that he wouldn't be at the shop since he had a project to take care of. He was absolutely certain that he wouldn't be caught if he did it at the right time, because his dads were never home in the afternoon. He had one problem though: he had no idea where the papers were kept. He also knew he had to keep everything in place, otherwise he'd be busted and he'd probably get yelled at and have his computer, phone, and iPod taken away.

After about half an hour of searching, Ryan finally hit the jackpot – a manila envelope containing his parents' marriage license, their own birth certificates, the deed to the house and… his adoption records. Checking his watch, he saw it was nearing 4:00, and the later it got the more likely it was that one of his fathers would arrive home. Sure enough, as soon as he thought it, he heard the front door open. _Damn_.

He hurriedly pulled out his phone and used a scanning app to take pictures of the papers he needed, listening all the while for any warning that someone was coming to the study. After returning the papers to the envelope and then the envelope to the drawer it had come from, he listened carefully at the door, trying to hear where his dad was. Thankfully, he heard the sink in the bathroom running. Sending up a word of thanks for his finely-tuned hearing skills, Ryan exited the study and made his way to his room. Flopping down on the bed, he pulled out his phone and opened it.

_This is it._ Ryan took a deep breath before opening the image of his birth certificate. He scanned through the medical jargon, noting details such as length and weight. He had to zoom in to be able to read the text on the 3.5" screen, and he stopped scrolling when he reached the section on parental details. The father's section was marked unknown, since his dads had decided not to determine paternity after the turkey baster story. He took one more breath before scrolling to the birth mother's details.

_No. That wasn't possible._

He moved to the adoption file, and found the same name on the paper, accompanied by a signature authorizing the adoption. Ryan's birth mother was none other than Shelby Corcoran.

What the hell? Did she know? Ryan went over the two conversations he'd had with the woman, and things started falling into place. Those questions she'd asked in that first talk they'd had, her concern about his laryngitis in the second. He knew she'd been strangely interested in him. Then he remembered his reaction to her offer to give him vocal lessons. _Oh God_. He never wanted to think about that ever again.

She knew. She had to know, but she didn't tell him. Even after he'd told her about his dream of meeting his birth mother, she still hadn't told him. Did that mean she didn't want him? But she'd offered to teach him. Didn't that mean she at least wanted to talk to him? And she'd come back to the garage. Of course, that might just mean that the other garage in town was closed. Maybe she didn't know after all. He was so confused.

_I think your mom would be very proud to have you as a son._

Ryan flopped back on his bed. He didn't know what to do. Should he call her? He scoffed at himself. What would he say? _Hi Ms. Corcoran, it's Ryan Berry. Sorry to bother you, but I just found out that you're my long lost mother._ That would go over great. He sighed. His head hurt. He needed a nap.

_**End Flashback**_

"I'm actually a bit surprised I'm the one who found out," Kurt grumbled. "I would have thought Ryan would be digging through the Carmel dumpsters himself in his mad obsession to win. And I'm pretty sure he's friendly with the VA coach."

Ryan's focus snapped toward Kurt. He'd listened to how Kurt had found out about VA's plans, and if he were honest with himself he probably would have gone diving in the Carmel dumpsters himself, if not for his respect for Shelby Corcoran. At least a few days ago, when all of this was still relevant. Right now he wasn't quite sure what he felt about the VA director.

All eyes were now on Ryan. "You know, I'm kinda surprised too," admitted Mercedes. "I'd have thought you'd be doing some kind of 'deep background' on them or something."

"Well, you were wrong, then," Ryan shot back. "I have been in contact with the director of Vocal Adrenaline – _in an official capacity at my part-time job_," he stressed, anticipating Mr. Schuester's comments about being friendly with the competition. "But I'm not about to use that to spy on them!"

"Please, that's a total lie. You'd use anything you could to win," snarked Santana.

Ryan suspected she was right, if it had been anyone else he would have tried to get as much information as possible. But even before he'd found out just who Shelby was, he couldn't quite bring himself to spy on her, and by extension, her team. But he needed to get it together if they were going to win Regionals.

"Ok guys, enough," Mr. Schue cut in before Ryan could answer back. "You need to stop. Spying on the other teams is probably against the rules. Now, let's get started on our Gaga numbers."

* * *

Two hours later, Ryan had made up his mind. He was going to go up to Carmel to check out the Vocal Adrenaline rehearsal. He needed the New Directions to win Regionals, otherwise Figgins would cut the program. Therefore he needed to do anything he could to get the team to win, and that included spying on the opposition. He just needed someone to come with him, that way he'd be able to keep his head on straight when he saw Shelby. Maybe. A little while later, he had managed to round up Mercedes and Quinn. "You need to come with me."

"Why? What crazy scheme have you cooked up now?" Mercedes questioned. "We're still not all over that whole mattress ad fiasco you got us to do before Sectionals."

"I hate to say it, but she has a point," Quinn said. "Mr. Schue almost got fired over that." Ryan had gotten the whole glee club a deal to film a mattress commercial, only to find out that glee clubs that had performed professionally were not allowed to compete. That was why they'd ended up with Miss Pillsbury at Sectionals.

"Never mind that. We're going to spy on Vocal Adrenaline's rehearsal."

The two girls looked at each other. "Didn't Mr. Schue say we weren't supposed to not do that?" Mercedes asked.

"Mr. Schue needs to look like he's upholding the rules," Ryan said briskly. "Once we come back with more information on how to beat the VA I'm sure he won't be too mad." He really needed them to stop arguing or he was going to lose his nerve.

Quinn sighed. Might as well go and keep Ryan out of trouble. "Fine, I'm in."

Mercedes sighed as well. "If we get caught, it's your fault."

They arrived at Carmel high a while later, where they sneaked into the balcony of their auditorium.

"Can they see us?" Mercedes wondered.

"If they catch us are we going to have to go to jail?" whispered Quinn.

"Stealing their ideas is not a crime," Ryan whispered back. "Your shoes are making noise!"

"They look amazing!" whispered Mercedes as she got a good look at the stage. The Vocal Adrenaline members were clad in red-orange costumes that covered their whole bodies, complete with crown-like headdresses that covered their faces.

Ryan didn't answer as he also got a good look at the stage. Shelby was pacing the front of the stage, snapping out the music rhythm for her dancers, watching their movements intently.

That was his mom. _That was his mom_. He began to panic internally. What if she saw him? What was he supposed to do? Should he pretend that he didn't know? This was a bad idea –

"Ryan? Are you okay?" Quinn nudged him when he didn't answer.

Ryan snapped out of his mini panic attack to find the two girls looking at him worriedly. "I'm fine. Just – just shocked that their costumes are so good, that's all," he lied. _Get it together_.

"Boy, you're a terrible liar," Mercedes whispered. "But never mind that. Look."

"- you're letting the costumes do all the work. Theatricality isn't about crazy outfits! It's not enough to douse yourself in gasoline, you have to light yourself on fire to make it work!" Shelby gesticulated passionately. "Being theatrical doesn't mean you have to be nuclear explosion. It can be like, like a quiet storm. You have to radiate emotion, express what's deep inside you. That's what theatricality is truly about."

"God, she's good," Ryan whispered, almost to himself. His two companions nodded in agreement.

"Do I have to demonstrate? Funny Girl, E-flat." Shelby motioned her students off the stage and moved toward a prop mirror as the musicians started the intro.

Ryan watched intently as she moved, approving of the song choice. He'd dreamed of his mom being a singer, a performer, like him. Someone who could understand his passion for music.

_Funny_

_The guy said honey_

_You're a funny girl_

_That's me_

Ryan was mesmerized from the first line. Shelby Corcoran had an enormous stage presence. She filled up the enormous stage, drawing all attention to herself. Her movements were natural, not overstated or overdramatic. As she had said, it was like watching a quiet storm. Every syllable was filled with emotion, every gesture enhancing the performance. No fancy costume was needed, just the performer.

And that performer was his mother.

Ryan stood, moving toward the entrance to the balcony, his eyes never leaving the stage. But he was pulled out of daze by Quinn's voice. "What are you doing? Get back here!"

Quinn grabbed his arm, pulling him back to his seat. "You're going to get us caught!"

"What?" Ryan blinked, focusing on her.

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "What's wrong with you? You can't go down there, they'll see you, then they'll see us, then we're all going to go to jail!"

Ryan returned his gaze to the stage. They were right. Not about the jail part, at least he didn't think so, but about the getting caught part. Besides, as much he loved being in the spotlight, he didn't want to talk to his – Shelby with an audience present. It was going to be confusing enough with just the two of them. And he couldn't start thinking of her as his mom, what if she didn't want that? So he settled back down in his seat between Quinn and Mercedes, locking his eyes back onto Shelby.

_The fella said a funny girl_

_Funny_

_How it ain't so funny_

_Funny girl_

* * *

"Okay guys, that was better. We'll work on it some more tomorrow." Shelby ended the practice, watching as her students exited the stage. Her kids had improved technically but they still weren't getting the concept of theatricality. Costumes only went so far, they needed the emotion in order to win. Even Jesse wasn't getting it. She finished writing down some notes, and then started to put her things together. Then she exited the auditorium and headed to her car.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost missed the soft voice that called her. "Ms. Corcoran?"

Shelby turned, looking for the source. She spotted a lone figure standing against the building near her car. "Ryan? What are you doing here?" Shelby was completely surprised, although in retrospect she supposed she shouldn't be. She'd known there were some rather un-stealthy, uninvited guests during rehearsal. She hadn't been expecting it to be Ryan though.

After the VA rehearsal Ryan had managed to get up enough nerve to talk to Shelby. He managed to get Quinn and Mercedes to leave without him. It hadn't been too difficult, since it was getting late and neither of them wanted to walk home in the dark. Ryan had noted that Shelby's Range Rover was still in the parking lot, meaning that she was still in the building. 26 other Range Rovers, apparently belonging to the VA members, had been there earlier, but all were gone now. Ryan had waited for them all to leave and then had taken up position near building to wait for Shelby.

Shelby took in her son's appearance. It had been just over a week since she'd seen him, and she noted that he looked like he hadn't been getting much sleep. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

Ryan hesitated, not meeting her eyes at first. Shelby started to get worried. _What's wrong? Is he sick? What do I do?_

Then he took a deep breath and finally met her eyes. And she knew immediately that somehow, he'd figured it out. "Miss Corcoran?" Her son pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his jacket pocket. "I'm your son."

* * *

The pair stared at each other for a moment. After what seemed like an eternity trapped in their staring match, Shelby reached out and took the sheet of paper Ryan held in his hand. Finally breaking eye contact, she looked at the paper. His adoption record, or a copy at least. With her name and signature at the bottom. She looked back up at the owner of the record, to find his chocolate brown eyes staring intently at her. He didn't seem to want to break the silence, so after a few more moments, Shelby spoke. "When did you find out?"

Ryan let out a breath. "Yesterday."

Shelby studied him. _Was he mad?_ "Are you o –"

"No. I'm not okay. I'm _so_ not okay. I'm nowhere _near_ ok. I don't… why…" Ryan faltered, trying to get his thoughts in order. She knew. He'd thought that maybe, possibly she hadn't known. "You knew all this time? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Ryan," Shelby started toward him, only to stop short when he stepped back. "Let me explain –"

"I told you that day what I was looking for," Ryan interrupted. "You couldn't bother yourself to tell me who you were?" He was starting to question his decision to confront her, he needed to get out of here –

Shelby's eyes filled with tears. This was wrong, this wasn't how this was supposed to go. "Ryan, please, just listen to me," she pleaded. "Let's not do this here. Come with me, we'll go have dinner, I'll tell you anything you want to know," she offered desperately, hoping that he wouldn't leave. She needed him to understand. "Please."

Ryan stopped when he heard the desperation in Shelby's voice. He thought it over for a moment. He had blindsided her after all, and he did want to hear what she had to say. "Ok," he relented.

Shelby almost sagged in relief at his answer. "Thank you. Let's go, I'll buy you dinner and we can talk."

* * *

A few minutes later the pair got into a secluded booth in the back of a small diner. They'd placed their orders spent the time until their food arrived avoiding each other's gaze, neither of them knowing quite what to say. They had spent the car ride over here in complete silence as well, both mother and son trying desperately to compose themselves and gather their thoughts.

Again, Shelby decided to step up and break the oppressive silence. "What do you want to know?" _Crap, that sounded so impersonal._

Ryan was silent for a minute, and Shelby was about to say something again when he spoke up. "Why didn't you tell me? I don't understand. You spent all that time at the garage, I told you all about myself and you didn't tell me the most important part about yourself."

Shelby's tears had started up again at his betrayed tone, but she blinked them away quickly. She took a deep breath, composing her answer as she did. "It was part of the deal I made with your fathers when they decided to hire me as their surrogate. I signed a contract. It said wasn't allowed to contact you until you reached 18, or until you contacted me yourself."

Ryan didn't say anything as he processed the information, anger and frustration at his fathers welling up inside him. They hadn't told him that. Didn't they think that maybe he should have a say in whether he could contact his mother? He wasn't a child, he could make his own decisions!

Then a new worry occurred to him. "You signed it. You agreed. You didn't want me, did you?" he asked quietly, preparing himself for the answer.

Shelby wished desperately that she could have denied it. But she'd decided on the way here that she wouldn't lie to her son. He deserved the truth, especially after the way she'd kept her identity from him. "No, I didn't."

Ryan visibly deflated at her answer. It had been one thing to worry that his mother hadn't wanted him, but it was another thing entirely to hear her say it out loud. He couldn't meet her eyes, and so he was surprised when Shelby suddenly grabbed his hand over the table.

"Hear me out," Shelby said firmly. "When I signed that contract, I wasn't pregnant yet. I needed the money your fathers were offering to get to New York, to try to make it on Broadway. They seemed like nice guys so I went for it. I was twenty-one at the time, Ryan, I wasn't ready for a kid. I had all these big dreams… I thought it would be okay for me to give you up, since there was a family who wanted you and could take care of you." She looked at him intently. "But I was wrong. I fell in love with you when we saw your first sonogram," she continued, voice thick with emotion. "You know, I used to sing to you every night? You used to stop kicking whenever I did, it was the only way I could get to sleep sometimes."

Ryan's eyes were burning as he listened, but he couldn't cry. If he started he didn't know if he'd be able to stop. "Did you regret it? Giving me up?"

"Yes. Then no. Then so much." A tear tracked down Shelby's cheek as she spoke. "I tried… I tried to get your dads to void the contract. But…they were afraid I was going to change my mind, that I would want to keep you. I couldn't afford a lawyer at that time and I couldn't do anything about it."

The silence returned, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

"I've missed so much," Shelby murmured sadly, almost to herself. "How about you. How are you feeling?" Shelby didn't know if he was still mad at her, or if he even believed her. She'd be heartbroken if he didn't. She was starting to feel the urge to get out of here before he could hurt her. She contemplated spewing some stupid excuse and bailing. No, she needed to be the adult here. And this would probably be her only chance to fix it. She couldn't mess it up.

Ryan blew out a breath. "I don't know." His emotions were too confusing, he wasn't sure what he was feeling. And even if he did he probably wouldn't want to talk about it.

"Are you still mad at me?"

Ryan sighed. "No. I don't think so. I'm not sure. I think I was when I found out and when I realized you knew, but not right now. I don't know." He sighed again, frustrated at his inner conflict, at his dads, at his mom, at the whole bizarre situation. He couldn't be completely mad at Shelby though, it wasn't entirely her fault. Was it? "What happened after… you know, after you had me?" he asked curiously. "Did you go to New York?"

Shelby laughed lightly. "Yes, I did. I moved there about a year after I had you, and I spent almost eight years there." She paused, collecting her thoughts before continuing. "I went to countless auditions, and I did quite a few off-Broadway shows. I didn't get too far though."

"Why not?" Ryan asked. "I heard you sing _Funny Girl_ today. You were amazing. How could you not make it on Broadway?" His eyes widened as he realized what he'd inadvertently revealed.

Shelby caught the slip but decided to answer his question. "A lot of the directors I auditioned for said I did have the talent. But they always said I was missing something else, and they always ended up giving the parts to somebody else."

Ryan fell silent. Deep down, beneath all that overconfidence and bravado about making it in New York, he knew it wasn't always that simple. And there was always the niggling fear that he wasn't good enough, that he'd fail. "Did it hurt? Not being able to live your dream?"

Shelby was quiet for a bit, a far-away look in her eyes. "It felt like a broken promise. Like the Fisher King's wound. Never really heals."

"What were you missing?"

Shelby squeezed his hand, looking at him. "You. After a whole lot of auditions I realized that I'd lost my drive. I was always thinking about you, and apparently it showed in my performances."

Ryan squirmed, unsure of what to think. Did she resent him for that? "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Shelby shook her head, reaching over and tipping his chin up with her finger to make sure he was looking at her. "Listen to me. Yes, I wasn't able to live my dream on New York. But I've decided that it doesn't matter. Even through all that, I only have one regret." She looked him straight in the eyes, trying to make sure he understood. "I shouldn't have left you all those years ago. But in a way, maybe it's for the best. You've grown into such a wonderful person, Ryan. Even without me around." She leaned back.

Ryan's eyes were tearing up but again, he resolutely blinked them away. "What do we do now?"

"It's up to you," Shelby said. She closed her eyes briefly. "If you want me to leave you alone, just tell me and I will." She hesitated. "But if you're open to it, I do want to get to know you. I've already missed fifteen years of your life, and you probably don't really need a mom anymore. But maybe we could still have some sort of relationship. But if you don't want to, I'll respect that."

Ryan gazed at Shelby, seeing the sincerity in his mother's green eyes, slightly tinged with hope and fear. Hope that he'd accept her advances. Fear of his rejection.

"You know, there was always something about you." Ryan said, mouth quirked into a half-smile. "I don't usually tell other people my hopes and dreams in the second meeting," he continued wryly. Then he became serious. "I've dreamed about meeting my mom for so long. I've always wanted a relationship with my mom, I'd be insane if I turned it down. So if you want to, I'd like to give it a try."

Shelby's face broke out into a relieved smile. "Really?"

"But what about glee? We're still competing against each other, isn't that going to be weird?" Ryan asked anxiously. "And I don't know what the rest of my teammates will say if they found out who my mom was. They already expected me to use my connection to you to get information on VA, and that was when they just thought I was fixing your car –" He stopped short. _Crap_.

To his relief though, Shelby only looked amused. "Is that so? I don't suppose that's why you were in my rehearsal this afternoon, was it?"

Ryan's eyes widened. "You knew we were there?"

Shelby laughed at the dismayed and embarrassed look on his face. "You and your friends weren't exactly the epitome of stealth. I knew someone was there, I just couldn't see who. I thought that if it was someone from our competition, maybe it would be better to let them stay and see just how good my team is, funk them out a little bit," she said with a smirk.

"That's pretty sneaky," Ryan admitted. He had to appreciate his mother's deviousness, it sounded like something he might have done. Maybe they were even more alike than he'd initially thought.

"Did it work?"

"Of course not," replied Ryan, lying through his teeth. He, Mercedes, and Quinn had been properly intimidated by the precision and accuracy of the VA's dancing, not to mention their amazing vocals.

After a few moments of silence as they ate, Shelby spoke up. "Maybe we should take this slowly. I do want a relationship with you, and I hope you want to get to know me, but I think it's going to be an adjustment for both of us," she explained slowly. It might keep the both of them from getting too messed up if for some reason it didn't work out.

Ryan, who had started to wilt when she'd started to talk, gave it some thought. He supposed it wasn't such a bad idea. He could use some time to process. "Maybe we could get dinner again sometime?" he offered tentatively.

Shelby smiled. "That would be great. I'll call you. Or you can call me" She checked her watch. "I should take you home. It's getting late, your fathers will probably be looking for you soon, and you'll probably want to talk to them too."

Ryan just nodded, not bothering to correct on either point. His dads probably weren't even home yet, and he definitely didn't want to talk to them right now. He might not be completely mad at Shelby but he was pretty upset with his other two parents.

Some time later, Shelby pulled up in front of the Berry residence. She and Ryan got out of the car, once again unsure of what to say. This time Ryan was the one to speak first. "Thank you for the ride Miss Corcoran," he said.

Shelby started, surprised at his form of address. "You don't have to call me that," she began.

"I'm not really sure what to call you," Ryan admitted. _Mom_ seemed premature.

Shelby hesitated. She wanted to be Ryan's mom, but he might not be comfortable with calling her that just now. "While I'd like you to think of me as your mom, maybe you can stick to _Shelby_ for now?" she offered.

"Oh. Okay," Ryan said. "Goodnight, Shelby." He started to walk to the door when Shelby called him back. "Yes?"

Shelby stepped in front of him. "Thank you for giving me a chance," she said, looking at him intensely. "I am so proud of the person you've become." She hesitated. "Can I hug you?"

Ryan nodded speechlessly, and his mother pulled him into a tight hug.

Ryan was surprised, to say the least. His fathers hadn't told him they were proud of him in a very long time. After a second, he returned Shelby's hug. And then all the emotions he'd felt over the past few days came flooding out, and the tears finally started to fall.

* * *

**A/N: Comments are welcome as always. I actually thought about cutting the chapter in half, but I decided not to. Hopefully I did the big reveal justice, but if not, try to keep the flames to a minimum. **

**In response to several reviewers, rest assured that I never intended to do the whole adoption thing. Unless it somehow miraculously works with everything else. Honestly though, I thought Shelby's storyline was fine in the first half of the back nine, but it turned to total crap at the end of Theatricality. And I really think Shelby was too emotionally messed up to adopt a baby, she couldn't even handle her own kid. Don't even get me started on the season 3 arc. It's annoying that they got a brilliant actress like Idina Menzel and then gave her character such a sucky storyline. Speaking of, I just found out she's coming here on tour in June! Now I have to not eat for a month so I can afford tickets.**

**Also, to the guest reviewer who asked how I imagined Ryan, I didn't really have a specific actor in mind, although if pressed, maybe I'd say Drew Fuller as a teenager and with brown eyes. But Andrew Garfield works too, he's really cute ;)**

**See you guys next time!**


	9. Chapter 8

It had been almost a week since Ryan had discovered his mother's identity. Shelby and Ryan hadn't seen each other since Shelby had dropped Ryan off at his house, and neither of them had gotten up the nerve to make contact yet. They had agreed to take it slow, anyways. Ryan was still a bit wary of Shelby. Despite the aura of overconfidence he put on for everyone, he was incredibly insecure since he knew everyone considered him a loser, and he was deathly afraid that if Shelby ever found out, she wouldn't want him anymore. Who would want the school loser as a son, anyway? Even his dads – no, he wasn't going to go there.

Shelby meanwhile was scared that her son would change his mind about their relationship, that he'd decide that he didn't really need her anyway. What if he had all these expectations, and she didn't live up to them? She didn't think she would be able to live with herself if he left. But unlike Ryan, she'd immediately informed her family of the latest development. The day after the big reveal she'd made a trip to her parents in Akron to tell them the news.

_**Flashback**_

"Mom!" Shelby burst through the door of the Corcoran home. "Where are you?"

Her parents quickly came out of the living room where they'd been watching the news. "Shelby? What are you doing here?" Her dad questioned.

Her mom hit her husband gently on the arm. "Don't listen to your dad, we're very happy to see you."

Tom rubbed his arm. "Of course we're happy, honey, just surprised."

"I've got some great news," Shelby beamed, giving both her parents a quick hug. "Ryan knows who I am now!"

Her parents gaped at her for a second before breaking out into huge smiles. "That's great, Shelby," Tom said.

"What happened?" asked Sarah.

Shelby quickly relayed the entire story. "We decided that we were going to take it slow, maybe have dinner once a week," she ended.

"I'm so happy for you," Sarah gushed.

"So, when do we get to meet him?" questioned Tom.

Shelby laughed. "Maybe let him get used to me first, dad. Soon though, if it goes well."

Sarah nodded understandingly. It wouldn't do to overwhelm the boy. _Her grandson_. She couldn't wait to meet him.

_**End Flashback**_

* * *

"Is it just me, or does it feel like we have a real shot at regionals next month?" Mercedes asked happily, as she came out of class with Kurt, Tina, and Artie.

"The Ohio show choir chatrooms have all been buzzing about how Vocal Adrenaline has lost a step," Artie said.

Kurt nodded. "I agree, the judges know all their tricks. They may have Jesse St. James, but we've got Ryan. As much as I still hate to admit it, he's our star."

At that moment, said star came bursting around the corner. "You guys have to come to the auditorium right now." Ryan turned around and ran in the direction of the auditorium.

The group looked at each other before hurrying after Ryan. Entering the auditorium, they found the rest of the New Directions in the audience area, while a large group of unknown students in blue tops stood on their stage.

"Sweet baby Jesus, that's Vocal Adrenaline," Kurt breathed.

"Why are you in our auditorium?" Finn demanded.

Jesse St. James, leader of Vocal Adrenaline, stepped forward, looking at each member before settling his gaze on Ryan Berry, whom he knew to the son of his coach, Shelby Corcoran. That didn't matter right now, though. This was just business. "The blogs and chatrooms say that we, Vocal Adrenaline, are finished and that you guys are ripe to topple us. We just wanted to show you a little something we came up with a few days ago, to see if you agree with that assessment." The rest of VA started getting into position around the stage. Music started playing.

_Steve walks warily down the street_

_With the brim pulled way down low_

_Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet_

_Machine guns ready to go_

_Are you ready, are you ready for this_

_How long can you stand the heat_

_Out of the doorway the bullets rip_

_To the sound of the beat_

The entire McKinley glee club watched stonily, arms crossed defensively. Vocal Adrenaline's sound was flawless, their dancing sharp and deliberate. The choreography was far beyond what anything Mr. Schue could come up with. Ryan stood there, jaw clenched as he observed the performance. Did Shelby know about this?

_Another one bites the dust_

The VA members held their pose for a moment before breaking formation. "Thanks for letting us borrow your auditorium, guys," the lead female singer said smugly. "It's…quaint." They all walked of the stage, leaving the New Directions in the auditorium.

"It's called funkification, and it's apparently a Carmel High tradition to psych out the competition a few weeks before a big show," Artie explained. "They show us what they've got, and we spiral into a deep black funk."

Ryan was silent as they returned to the choir room, still wondering if Shelby had known about VA's 'funkification'. He didn't want to believe it, but he didn't quite know enough about his mother to put it past her. After all, he'd found that he did share her deviousness, and while he didn't want to admit it this sounded like something he might have come up with. He hoped his being on the team counted for something to Shelby though.

He hadn't talked to his dads about her yet. Leroy had been on a business trip for the last five days, and he wasn't due back until the Saturday at the earliest. Hiram was out until all hours, doing God only knew what with God only knew who. He was around in the mornings sometimes but Ryan was usually busy getting ready for school. Ryan didn't care, he was still upset with them. And neither of his fathers had bothered asking him how he was doing anyways, so he assumed they didn't particularly care. He was used to that.

Finn was talking. "We used to do the same to other football teams. Try to get into their heads before the big game, pull little pranks to intimidate them."

"The difference was our football team sucked," Puck said darkly. "These guys were golden."

"Come on guys," Kurt tried to cheer them up. "It's going to take more than that to get us into a… funk…" He trailed of as they entered the choir room to find it plastered in dozens of rolls of tissue paper.

A few hours later, the choir room was clean again, and the entire glee club had fallen into a deep funk. While they'd been cleaning up, Sue Sylvester had come in with a huge trophy, telling them that she'd let the VA students into the auditorium and their choir room, even helping them do their sound check over the weekend. She continued on to tell them that her Vegas bookie had them as 40 to 1 underdogs for Regionals, their dreams were about to be crushed and that she was turning the choir room into her personal trophy annex as soon as they lost to Vocal Adrenaline.

Ryan sat slumped at the piano. He didn't want to admit it, but those pranks and Sue had gotten to him. They needed to win, otherwise glee club was over. And the way VA had performed earlier, they didn't have a chance. Mr. Schue hadn't even decided on a set list yet, even though he'd been nagging for days. The rest of the glee club was similarly depressed. Mr. Schue was talking about regrets, saying that if they lost to VA, they wouldn't regret it if they gave it their best shot, but they would regret giving up even before the competition even started.

"That's why we need to hit them back just like they hit us," he concluded.

"So you want us to TP their choir room?" Quinn asked slowly.

Will made a face. "Or whatever the better, cooler version of that is. Maybe we could steal their school statue," he suggested.

"Their school statue is a giant bronze of a great white shark eating a seal pup," Kurt deadpanned. "It weighs three tons."

Will blinked. "Okay, how about this…" He completely missed the significant look shared by Puck and Finn.

* * *

Shelby collected her things and started turning off the lights in the Carmel auditorium. It was around nine-thirty in the evening, and she'd just ended VA rehearsals fifteen minutes ago. Contrary to the rumors touted in the show choir chatrooms, she wasn't a total bitch who kept her students at rehearsal until midnight. She knew how important it was to sleep. She was ready for some herself.

She exited the auditorium and made her way her spot in the teacher's section of the parking lot. But before she could get into her car, she noticed all of twenty-six of her kids still in the parking lot. She whistled loudly to attract their attention. "What's going on? Why are you all still here?" she asked when they all stopped talking.

Jesse spoke. "All of the tires on all of our cars were slashed."

Shelby's eyes widened. She glanced at her own tires, thankful to see that they were intact. It seemed that the culprits hadn't had the guts to mess with a teacher's car. "Do you know who did it?" Everyone shook their heads. She huffed angrily. "All right, everyone back in the building. If you can call your parents or someone to pick you up, do it now. For those who don't have rides, wait for me in front of my office. And you," she pointed at Jesse. "You wait at my office."

"What about our cars?" someone asked.

"I will take care of it. Now go." The students all scrambled to obey. Being feared was such an advantage sometimes.

She knew there was a CCTV monitoring the parking lot, and it was linked to the security office. She'd get her answers there. She stalked toward Carmel's security room to find their security guard dozing in his chair. She growled, snapping her fingers in her face, moving back as he jerked awake. "I need to see the video records for the parking lot," she said curtly. "Play it backwards, fast, starting about half an hour ago."

The guard took one look at her stormy face and rushed to do as she asked. Shelby watched the video until she found the culprits. "Stop," she ordered. Staring at the image, she tried to place the culprits. Then it clicked. One of them was the tall other male lead of McKinley's New Directions, and his companion was also in the New Directions. He'd had a mohawk when she'd seen him at Sectionals though. "I need a printout of this image."

After receiving the picture she made her way back to her office, where she found three of her students, plus Jesse. Sighing, she gestured for them to follow her. Looks like she would be playing taxi tonight. Someone was going to pay for this tomorrow.

* * *

_The next morning_

Shelby stood in the principal's office in McKinley High with the two culprits of the tire-slashing incident, Will Schuester, and for some reason, the cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester. Shelby glared at the two boys sitting in front of the principal's desk. She'd interrogated Jesse last night, finding out that they'd decided to prank the McKinley glee club that afternoon. She knew that glee clubs usually played pranks on each other before competitions; her kids had been pranked a few times themselves. She usually let them be, since she thought it was good to have a certain amount of competitiveness between the teams. Tire-slashing was considered property damage though, and she'd already been inundated with calls that morning from irate parents clamoring for the school to pay for the damage. The boosters had added their own two cents as well, pushing her to find the culprits to pay for the prank. All in all, it wasn't a good day.

"A few of my kids TP'd your choir room. You slashed the tires on the Range Rovers of all twenty-six of my performers." She looked at the principal. "Those were gifts for our win at Sectionals. That's 26 times 200 times 4 equals…I don't have a calculator," she finished lamely.

"Wait, you bought all your kids Range Rovers?" Will asked incredulously.

Shelby sighed irritably. "We have a very active booster club."

Will shook his head. "Look, nobody got hurt, it was a harmless prank!"

"That's what they said about a young man in Chicago, in 1871, who thought he'd play a harmless prank on the dairy cow of one Mrs. O'Leary," Sue interjected. "He successfully ignited its flatulence and a city _burned_, William. That young terrorist went on to become the first gay president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln."

The two choir directors looked at her in confusion.

"Enough," Figgins broke in. "These students have committed a felony. They are hereby expelled."

The two boys looked at each other.

Shelby spoke up, more calmly this time. "Look, I don't want anybody to get expelled. I won't press charges, as long as you pay for the damage. You can take it out of the glee club budget." She sure wasn't going to pay for it out of her own budget!

"That'll bankrupt the glee club, we don't have that kind of money!" Will argued.

"We'll get jobs," one of the boys, the tall one, said quickly. Shelby looked at him. "We'll get jobs. Give us a month. We'll pay you back, Miss Corcoran, I promise."

"Fine," Shelby replied. She knew it would be pretty much impossible to get over $20,000 in a month, but at least she'd be able to tell the boosters and parents something. And she really didn't want anyone to get expelled over this.

The principal smiled. "Miss Corcoran, you are as wise and magnanimous as you are beautiful."

_What?_ Shelby frowned uncomfortably and glanced at Will Schuester, while Sue Sylvester cocked her head and narrowed her eyes at Figgins. Deciding to let it pass, Shelby nodded and exited the room.

"Thank you," said Will as she passed him.

Shelby made her way toward the school entrance, students parting left and right around her. She wondered if Ryan was around here somewhere. He hadn't made contact since their dinner last week and she'd been thinking about him since that night, afraid of overstepping her bounds and scaring him off.

"Shelby? What are you doing here?"

_Speak of the devil…_

"Hi Ryan," Shelby smiled at the boy, who was wearing a sweater with an owl on the front. Cute, in a nerdy way, she supposed. He didn't seem to know about the prank his two teammates had pulled. "It's nothing, just some things I had to discuss with Mr. Schuester and Principal Figgins. And for some reason, Sue Sylvester was there."

"Yes, she does like to get into things that aren't her business," Ryan said.

"I need to get back to Carmel. Are you going to be at the garage today?" Shelby asked. She had to arrange for new tires for all her students. She didn't know if Burt Hummel had a hundred Range Rover tires in stock. Hopefully he did.

Ryan looked at her curiously. "Car trouble again?"

"Not exactly," Shelby said vaguely. "Do you know if you've got tires for 26 Range Rovers in stock?"

Ryan gaped at her for a second in surprise. "Oh. I know we have some in stock, I'm not sure we have 104 of them though. I'd have to check. And yes, if you're going to be there I'll definitely try to make it," he flashed her a smile, which Shelby returned.

"All right then. I'll see you later," she touched his arm quickly before exiting the building.

Ryan looked after her thoughtfully. He still wasn't sure if he believed that Shelby had been in on the VA's funkification, but he hadn't been able to get up the nerve to ask her straight out. He'd been too surprised by her sudden appearance in the school. Oh well, he'd see her again this afternoon. The thought broke him out his funk slightly until –

_Splat._

Ryan shut his eyes as bright blue crushed ice dripped down his face. Yeah, the funk was back.

* * *

That afternoon Ryan hurried to the garage after the glee meeting, where he'd found out why Shelby had needed 104 tires. Puck and Finn had apparently decided to retaliate for the TP'ing of the choir room by slashing every tire on the VA members' cars. "Mr. Hummel?" he called.

"In the back!" Burt yelled.

Ryan made his way to the back where they kept all the spare part. "Do we have 104 Range Rover tires here?"

"That's a lot of tires. Who's asking?" Burt inquired as he opened the record book containing their inventory listings.

"It was Shelby Corcoran," Ryan answered. "She was at school today, she asked me if we had enough tires for 26 Range Rovers. I didn't ask her why, though."

"Huh. Well, we've got 28 in stock right now," Burt said after finding the correct listing. "If we place the order before five today we can probably get them delivered tomorrow. Miss Corcoran has to come here and sign for it though."

"She said she'd be here sometime this afternoon." They heard someone pull up outside. "That might be her now." Ryan hurried out. Sure enough, Shelby was just getting out of her car.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," she teased him. Looking him up and down, she noticed something. "You got a haircut," she commented. "I didn't notice this morning."

Ryan ran his hand through his dark hair. It wasn't a buzz cut, but it wasn't very long either. "Well, you did better than my dads, I got it three days ago and they still haven't noticed," he said ruefully. No need to tell her that he kept it short because it was easier to wash out frozen ice that way. "Anyways, I already asked Mr. Hummel about the tires. We've got 28 in stock, but if you place an order he can probably get the rest delivered by tomorrow."

"I guess over 100 tires was a lot to ask," Shelby said wryly. She saw Burt Hummel come out of a door in the back of the garage. "Ah, Mr. Hummel, there you are. Ryan says you can get the tires by tomorrow?"

Burt glanced at Ryan, amused. He suspected his assistant might have a bit of a crush on the older woman. "He works fast. Yes, if you'll fill out an order form I can get the tires delivered from the supplier in Columbus tomorrow. Mind if I ask why you need 104 tires all at once?"

Shelby sighed. "Juvenile prank. Someone slashed the tires on all my students' cars." Burt nodded, he thought it might have been something like that. "Can I have the form? I'll fill it out now."

Burt handed her a clipboard with the order form attached to it. "Do you need a pen?"

"No, I've got one."

"I need to tell you though, even if I can get the tires here, we still need to get your cars here," Burt paused. "But that many tires, it might be easier to bring 'em to wherever the cars are. And it's going to take a while change that many. Did you want us to do it, or were you going to have your students do it?"

Shelby considered. "I hadn't really thought of that. I'm not sure if my students know how to change tires. Would you be able to assist?"

"I could, but not all at once," Burt admitted. "It's probably going to be an all-day thing, soonest I could get to it is Saturday. But if you like, Ryan can probably get it started sooner, maybe give a demo, and then some of your students could help him out?"

Shelby looked questioningly at Ryan, who hesitated. 104 tires were a lot. And it was Vocal Adrenaline, pretty much the New Directions' archnemesis. He looked at Shelby. "Okay," he said. "But only because it's my job. And you better tip really well," he added so that only Shelby could hear him. The amused smile on her face told him she'd heard.

"Ok then, I've got some stuff going on in the back, just give the form to Ryan when you finish. If you have any questions he can answer them," Burt said.

"Yes, I've noticed he's very good at his job," Shelby said smiling at Ryan, who smiled back proudly. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Hummel."

Shelby sat down on a bench and looked over the form. Ryan sat down beside her and watched as she started writing. "You're left-handed," he noted, happy to learn anything he could about the woman who had given birth to him.

Shelby glanced at him. "Yes," she agreed. "I know you're not though, I watched you when you were fixing my car. What size are the tires I'm ordering?"

"Oh, I can fill out the product details if you want, you just have to put your name and contact details and stuff like that."

"Good," said Shelby in relief. "I know absolutely nothing about cars."

Ryan had to smile at that. That was one thing he hadn't inherited from his mom. "Can I ask you something?"

Shelby was in the middle of writing down her mobile number. "Sure," she replied absently.

"Did you know about the prank VA pulled yesterday? I mean before they did it," he amended. "I'm sure you know about it now, but –"

"Was I in on it, you mean?" Shelby guessed shrewdly. Ryan nodded guiltily, not meeting her eye. Shelby chuckled at him. "No, I didn't know what they were planning. But I do know that some of the other show choirs pull pranks too, not just the VA. And I think what your teammates did in return was a little extreme, don't you?" She said sternly.

"For the record, it was just Puck and Finn who did that, the rest of us didn't know," Ryan said defensively, before he noticed the teasing glint in Shelby's eyes. "That's mean," he pouted. "I thought you were really mad at me."

Shelby smirked, reaching up to ruffle his dark hair. "It's called acting. I think I'm pretty good at it, what do you think?" Ryan relented, his pout replaced by a smile. "Anyway, I'm done with the form," Shelby said, handing him the clipboard. "Do your thing."

Ryan took the clipboard and started filling in the missing information. "So," he began awkwardly. "Are you free tonight? I thought maybe we could have dinner?" He really wanted to spend some time with his mom, maybe break out of this funk her team had him in.

Shelby couldn't contain a full smile from breaking out. Her son wanted to spend time with her. It was an amazing feeling. "As a matter of fact, yes, I'm free tonight." She thought for a second. "Meet me at Breadstix around 7?"

"Okay. Thanks," Ryan smiled as well.

"Don't be silly, you know I've always got time for my son." His smiled widened even further when Shelby wrapped him in another hug, ruffling his hair again before she left. He could get used to this.

Neither of them noticed Kurt and Mercedes watching the two of them from around the corner of the garage, eyes wide at what they'd just overheard.

* * *

**A/N: Hi guys, this chapter's up sooner than expected because my professors cancelled classes for some reason and exams got pushed back. No complaints from me though :))**

**Once again, comments and questions are welcome. I don't own Glee or anything else you recognize here.**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hello everyone, this chapter's longer than usual, it was actually two chapters but I decided to merge them instead. More notes at the bottom :)**

* * *

The next morning, Ryan walked down the stairs for breakfast after his jog. He found his dad Hiram sitting at the table eating some toast and reading the paper. He looked up when Ryan came in. "Good morning," Hiram said absently.

"Hi," Ryan answered vaguely, pulling out some cereal and a bowl.

Hiram put down the paper and looked at his son. "Who brought you home last night?"

Ryan froze. Shelby had dropped him off last night after dinner at Breadstix. He hadn't thought that his father might have been watching. He still hadn't told either of his dads about meeting Shelby because he didn't know how they would react. He silently debated with himself. Did he want to get into this right now? After a few more moments of dithering, he made his decision. Might as well get it over with now, while his dad was interested. Hiram had always been the calmer one of his two parents and it would likely be easier to talk to him first.

"It was Shelby Corcoran. She's the coach of Vocal Adrenaline," he said guardedly. "Do you know her?" Ryan watched his dad closely, wanting to see if Hiram would deny it. To his surprise, Hiram simply looked right back at him, blue eyes meeting brown.

"I think you know the answer to that," Hiram sighed tiredly. He'd been dreading this since their meeting with Shelby several weeks ago. "Did she tell you?"

Ryan bristled. He was still very upset at his parents for keeping this secret from him. "No. I looked at my adoption records in your study," he boldly admitted. "You should have told me."

"You never asked."

"You didn't think I'd want to know who my birth mother was?" Ryan countered angrily. "And I did ask! You two just said she was a surrogate and that was that! You wouldn't even tell me her name! If you don't want me around, didn't you think that maybe you could have pointed me in her direction? At least she likes having me around, and she lives just half an hour away, for goodness' sakes!"

Hiram blinked, surprised at the intensity of his son's reaction. He suddenly realized that he didn't know what to expect from his son, because _he didn't know his son_. He'd become so engrossed with his job and other things that he hadn't been paying attention. Now that he thought about it he couldn't remember when he'd last had a real conversation with Ryan. There was one point in his son's rant that he thought could address though.

"What do you mean we don't want you around, of course we want you around!"

Ryan laughed disbelievingly. All of the frustration he'd felt toward his parents and their lack of attention for the past three years or more was now rising to the top, and he just couldn't keep it all in anymore. "Really, dad? Really? You're never home, you're always out at work or whatever it is you do. And when you are home, you never talk to me! I could talk and talk forever but I don't think you listen, you don't even try! I told you yesterday at breakfast that I had something coming up in a week. Do you even remember what it was?"

Hiram guiltily racked his brain trying to remember what had happened at breakfast. He'd been watching the news…he remembered Ryan had said something about one of his school activities…more guilt flooded into him as he realized that he didn't know exactly what activities Ryan was into. He knew it was arts related; drama club, choir, something that involved performing.

Ryan sighed, knowing his dad had no clue what he was talking about. "Shelby told me about the contract. She said she tried to get out of it but you wouldn't let her."

Hiram shook his head. "We told her when she contacted us that she could have contact with you as long as she didn't tell you who she was."

Ryan gaped at him. "What are you talking about? She said the contract included a part that said she couldn't contact me until I was 18, or unless I found her," he said distractedly. "Wait, what do you mean she called you?"

Hiram's face took on a confused expression. "She called two or three weeks ago, setting up a meeting. She told us she'd seen you at the garage where you work, she wanted to tell you who she was. Your papa didn't want to let her see you again, but we decided she could talk to you if she promised she wouldn't tell you who she was." Hiram paused. "Didn't she tell you that?"

Ryan shook his head. "Why would you do that? I was so upset with her when I found out, I thought she didn't want me," he said in a betrayed tone. Then he shook himself slightly, straightening his posture. "You know what, never mind. You haven't cared about what's been going on in my life for a long time now, maybe it should just stay that way." He turned his back on Hiram and stormed up the stairs and into his room to get ready for school.

Hiram stood in the living room, rooted to the ground in shock. He needed to talk to Leroy.

* * *

Kurt and Mercedes walked to the choir room early that morning. Mercedes couldn't wait to share what they'd seen at Burt's garage yesterday with the rest of the glee club. Kurt wasn't so sure though. He knew what it was like to not have a mom, and if he could have a chance to get to talk to her again he wouldn't want everyone questioning him and getting all up in his business. Unfortunately he knew Mercedes was one of the school's biggest gossips and the secret wasn't probably going to stay a secret for long.

They entered the choir room, finding that almost everyone in the glee club was already there. The students were still in a funk from Vocal Adrenaline, though, and the atmosphere was very depressing. The two latecomers sat down just as Mr. Schue entered the room, immediately going up to the whiteboard and writing down a single word.

"Funk." Mr. Schue underlined it. "This is how we're going to beat Vocal Adrenaline. They've never once done a funk number. They're a collective, synthesized, soulless machine. Funk's power is in its passion, its emotion, and Vocal Adrenaline doesn't perform with any. So that's your assignment, you're going to turn McKinley High into funkytown!" He riffed the last word as the students laughed.

Mercedes spoke up smugly. "Don't worry about it, I've got this one covered."

"Cool," Mr. Schue smiled. "But if anyone's wants to come up and prepare a funk number, go right ahead."

Then Quinn said, "Has anyone seen Ryan? He isn't here."

"Hey, you're right," Puck agreed. "But it's just because nobody's said anything obnoxious in over five minutes."

Mercedes decided that this was the perfect time to spread the gossip. "Kurt and I heard some big news yesterday outside his dad's auto shop," she said conspiratorially. "Ryan works there, right? We saw him yesterday. You all ready?" she paused. "Ms. Corcoran, their coach? She's Ryan's mom."

"Are you serious?" Will asked in shock. Mercedes nodded, as well as Kurt, albeit a bit reluctantly.

"We're screwed," Puck said. "He's going to jump ship to Vocal Adrenaline."

Quinn scoffed irritably. "You don't know that." Maybe he was right. But Ryan had put a lot of time and effort into improving the New Directions, she didn't think he'd leave just like that.

* * *

Due to his argument with his dad that morning, Ryan had subsequently been late for class. He'd talked to Quinn at one of their shared classes and had discovered that there had been a glee club meeting that morning that he'd missed. He decided not to worry about it though. Funk was really more of Mercedes' style, or even Kurt's because of his quirkiness. He'd leave this one to them.

During rehearsal everyone had been sneaking glances at Ryan. When the rehearsal had ended, and Mr. Schue had left, Ryan looked around at the other kids. "Why are you all looking at me? Is there something on my face? Did someone stick a note on my back again?" He reached around and felt for anything stuck on his back.

"Is it true that the coach of Vocal Adrenaline is your mom?" Tina asked. Kurt facepalmed. _Way to lead into it, Tina_.

Ryan froze. "What – How did you find out about that?"

Everyone turned toward Kurt and Mercedes.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Mercedes said she and Lady Hummel saw you and Ms. Corcoran at the garage shop yesterday," she explained sassily as Ryan glanced at the two with an upset expression on his face. "We actually thought you'd be over at Figgins' office by now, finishing up your transfer to Carmel and VA. Let's face it, Midget, we all know you want to win, and that you're probably gonna leave us all hanging if it meant you'd come out on top."

Ryan almost growled. He'd been shoved against the lockers in the hallways twice already and had barely managed to avoid being slushied on the way in here. He'd had a pretty bad day all in all, and he really didn't think he could take much more right now. "First of all, you can't call me Midget anymore, I'm taller than you now," he said glaring at Santana. "It worked two years ago, but not anymore. Secondly, just because _you'd_ dump us like one of your used boytoys doesn't mean I will. My loyalty is to the New Directions. Of course I'm not leaving, I'm the one who puts the most effort into making this team better, I'm the one who has the most to lose if glee club gets cut!" he seethed.

He calmed himself with some difficulty before he could say something he'd regret. "And for your information, the identity of my mother is none of your business." He turned to Kurt and Mercedes. "I'm very disappointed that you chose to gossip what you overheard about me. I know you don't like me but I'm still entitled to my privacy. If the places were reversed I wouldn't have done that to you." He shot everyone a withering glare and proceeded to execute a perfect storm-out, leaving eleven kids shooting slightly guilty looks at each other.

Ryan marched straight down the hallways of McKinley, still upset. How could they think he'd just abandon them like that? Didn't they know him at all? After more than six months together in the glee club they should know how invested he was in the New Directions. He'd poured so much of his time and energy into every performance.

He shook his head, trying to clear it. He'd told Shelby yesterday he'd meet her at Carmel High. They had decided that it would be easier to transport the tires to Carmel rather than towing 26 flat-tired Range Rovers back to the garage. He exited the school building and cut across the parking lot. In his preoccupation, he didn't notice the dozen or so round projectiles that started flying at him from behind the dumpsters.

* * *

About an hour earlier, Jesse St. James had called together a meeting of the senior Vocal Adrenaline members in the Carmel choir room. Shelby had ended their afternoon rehearsal at about three in the afternoon, but had told them to stay, because they were all going to have to pitch in to replace the one hundred plus tires.

But all twenty-six members were still furious at the damage done to their vehicles. Shelby had already told them that the McKinley glee club would be paying for repairs, but that didn't change the fact that they had no transportation until their tires were fixed. And of course it was a matter of pride. They couldn't just take it lying down. Those New Directions were just a bunch of upstarts, and they needed to know they couldn't get away with messing with Vocal Adrenaline. If they wanted to escalate, then VA would fight back.

That was why nine senior members of Vocal Adrenaline were now waiting behind the dumpsters in the McKinley parking lot with a few trays of eggs, ready to ambush the first member of New Directions who was unfortunate enough to pass by.

"Hey, someone's coming," Andrea Cohen whispered, spotting a lone figure walking quickly across the parking lot. "Everyone get ready!"

Jesse carefully peeked out from behind the dumpster to take a look at their target. His stomach dropped as he saw who it was. Shelby was going to kill them if they hurt her kid. "Guys, wait –"

He was too late.

* * *

Ryan stopped cold as he felt something small smash into him. Turning around, he found several more projectiles coming toward him. Recognizing them as eggs, he instinctively shut his eyes and raised his arms in an attempt to keep them from hitting him. When eggs finally stopped flying, he opened his eyes and saw several members of VA surrounding him, including their lead singer Jesse St. James standing at the front of the group. A couple of the other kids were holding now-empty egg cartons. Jesse was the only one left holding an egg. Jesse looked at Ryan and hesitated.

"Come on, Jesse," urged Andrea, Vocal Adrenaline's female lead. Jesse looked at her and glanced back at Ryan, who glared back at him defiantly. Jesse gave in. The others were watching him, and he couldn't appear weak in front of the other VA seniors. He smashed the egg hard on the boy's head. Putting on his most arrogant air, he folded his arms across his chest. "You can go tell the rest of your little glee club that you mess with Vocal Adrenaline, you're going to find out why our school statue is a three-ton great white eating a seal pup."

Ryan couldn't see clearly anymore, and it wasn't just because of the egg that was dripping down his face. Snarling, he quickly stepped forward shoved Jesse hard in the chest. "What is your problem?!" he bellowed. Ryan glared at the older boy, unmindful of the small height difference. "Didn't you already do enough damage?! Just leave us alone!"

Jesse was taken by surprise, but he quickly shoved the younger boy back. "You're the ones who slashed all our tires!" he said angrily.

"Only two members of our glee club did that, and they've already promised to pay for the damages they've caused," Ryan yelled at Jesse, shoving him again. In the back of his mind he knew it was a bad idea, but he'd had it with everyone today, and he just couldn't stop himself. "You just can't handle that we're going to beat you, you're about to lose your title and now you're just using every tactic you can to scare us because you know we're better than you! You are pathetic!" He turned his back on Jesse and started moving back in the direction of the school.

_Who the hell did this kid think he was?_ Jesse thought angrily. He looked around at the other VA members, who also looked really mad at the telling-off they'd received from the sophomore. One of them, a tall blond guy named Tyler Carter, had a particularly furious look in his eye. Before any of them could react, he had grabbed Ryan's shoulder and decked the smaller boy in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Oh my god!" one of the female seniors exclaimed. "Tyler, what the hell!"

_Uh-oh._ Jesse thought quickly. This was spinning out of control. Shelby was going to murder them and dance on their graves. The other kids' expressions had instantly turned from angry to panicked. And they didn't even know exactly what they'd done, or who they'd done it to. Some of them were getting ready to run. _Oh shit, someone was coming out of the school. _

"Hey!"

It was two of the members from McKinley's glee club. Jesse saw one of them go back inside, presumably to get a teacher. _Time to leave_. "Let's go," Jesse said urgently. "We have to go!" Everyone scrambled off, just as the other New Directions member, the pregnant blonde girl, reached Ryan, who was just getting up.

* * *

_Owww_… Ryan's face hurt. He put his hand on his face as he sat up, feeling for any damage. Nose was fine, jaw working… ouch. He touched his left eye gingerly, wincing.

He saw Quinn leaning over him. Perfect, now she'd think he was a total loser again. "Are you ok? Mercedes went to go get the others."

Ryan blinked a few times and looked up at her. "My face hurts," he said childishly. Quinn held out a hand to help him up.

"What are you covered in? Are those eggshells?" she asked, wiping off her had on her jeans.

"Yes," Ryan sighed as they walked back into the school building. His previous fury had subsided and was now replaced by resignation. "It was Jesse St. James and some of the other VA members. They said it was payback for that tire-slashing Puck and Finn pulled." He started to head for his locker before remembering that he hadn't been able to bring extra clothes this morning because he'd been distracted by his dad. He sighed. Now he'd have to go all the way home to change.

Just then some of the other glee kids came down the hall. "What happened?" Finn asked, taking in Ryan's appearance. Ryan guessed he didn't exactly look great, he still had eggshells stuck everywhere and he was relatively sure that his eye was swelling up.

"Some of the seniors from Vocal Adrenaline decided that the tire-slashing incident was too much for their honor to bear," he said ironically. "Jesse St. James also said, and I quote, 'You mess with Vocal Adrenaline, you're going find out why our school statue is a three-ton great white eating a seal pup.'" He snorted. "So I shoved him, and then he shoved me back, and then I shoved him back. Then I yelled at him and this other kid up and punched me in the face when I tried to leave," he finished blandly. "Then they ran."

"You need to get cleaned up," Quinn said.

Ryan sighed. "No, it's fine, I'll get cleaned up at home."

"I can get you some stuff," Puck volunteered. "There's some extra clothes in the guys' locker room, you could clean up there too."

Ryan hesitated for a moment before agreeing. "Okay."

A few minutes later, after a quick shower, Ryan was dressed in the spare clothes Puck had found for him. Puck had even found him a baseball cap so he could hide the black eye that was starting to form. He exited the boys' locker room and headed to the choir room, where he found the rest of the New Directions waiting for him. Ryan raised an eyebrow, waiting for whatever they wanted to say.

Finn stepped forward. "Look, we just wanted to say we were really sorry for what happened in the choir room."

"Yeah," Mercedes continued. "It was wrong of us to get all in your business. It's none of ours who your mom is or what her job is or if you want to see her."

Kurt nodded, "That goes for me too."

"Even if she's really scary when she's mad," Finn added, while Puck nodded in agreement, remembering what had happened in Figgins' office the other day. He'd never admit it but Shelby Corcoran was pretty intimidating.

Now Santana spoke. "Yeah, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said all that stuff about you dropping us to join VA, and whatever."

Ryan put on his best poker face. "Thank you," he said. "Apology accepted. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I was still processing, I guess. I just figured out who she was a week ago, and it's still pretty new. And I need you to know that I'm not leaving McKinley unless I have to. Sure, we may not always get along but, where would you be without me? We all know I'm your star," he said jokingly. In all honesty he knew they'd get right back to their old standby of taking him for granted within a week. But he couldn't help it. He had some kind of pathological need to be accepted, and this was the closest he'd probably ever get.

The other kids smiled in relief when he accepted their apology. They wouldn't admit it, but he was their star, and they knew he was the one who kept New Directions together. They needed him, though they'd deny it to the grave.

"Now we need to figure out a way to get back at those punks," Puck said viciously.

Just then Mr. Schue entered the room. While Ryan was in the locker room Artie had told him what had just happened in the parking lot. "None of you are going anywhere," he interrupted. "That's exactly how we got into this mess in the first place."

"But Mr. Schue, we can't just let them get away with that!" Finn argued.

Kurt nodded. "He's right. Ryan's annoying but he's ours and only we get to mess with him."

_And they were back to talking about him as if he wasn't there. Did they even think about what they were saying?_ Ryan rolled his eyes.

Mr. Schue looked at Kurt strangely but continued. "You're right, we can't let them off just like that. I've thought about it, and here's what we're going to do…"

* * *

In Carmel High, Shelby checked her watch one more time. 4:10. Ryan had said he'd meet her in her office at around 3:30, and she was starting to worry. She looked up when she heard her phone chime, signaling a text message.

_Shelby, change of plans. I can't make it this afternoon, but I'll be there tomorrow morning, whatever time you want. Sorry. –Ryan_

She sighed. It wasn't really a problem, but she wished he'd told her earlier. She almost felt like she'd been stood up. She smiled wryly at the thought.

She was just about to get up to the choir room to tell her students to go home when her office phone rang. Picking it up, she answered. "Hello, Shelby Corcoran speaking."

_"Miss Corcoran? It's Will Schuester, from McKinley High?"_

Well, that was a surprise. "Yes, I remember who you are. What can I do for you?" Maybe he'd finally realized that his students weren't going to earn the $20,000 they needed to pay for the tires in a month.

"_There's been a bit of an incident here at McKinley."_ That got her attention. _"It seems that a few of your Vocal Adrenaline students came over here and egged one of mine. Then there was apparently a bit of a fist fight."_

What? Her students were supposed to be in the auditorium. Then she had a really bad feeling. "Which of your students was it?"

She heard Will sigh over the phone. _"It was Ryan Berry."_

Shit. So that was why he wasn't coming today. "Is he okay?" she asked numbly.

"_He's says he's fine, but he's probably going to have a nice shiner soon, one of your kids got him pretty good. He didn't know all the names of your students, but he said there were maybe eight or nine, including Jesse St. James."_ Will hesitated. _"I know about your relationship to Ryan," _he said gently.

That woke Shelby up. "What?"

"_Some of my glee kids saw the two of you in Burt Hummel's garage yesterday. They overheard a few things."_

"I see. Well, thank you for your call. Do you know where Ryan is now?" She needed to go see him, reassure herself that he was okay. Make sure that he wasn't angry with her.

"_I think he said he was heading to the garage."_

"Thank you, Mr. Schuester. Don't worry, I'll deal with the students involved." She hung up. Her team was so dead. She sent out a mass text informing them that they all needed to be at the auditorium at 6pm sharp. No exceptions.

But first she needed to see her son.

* * *

Ryan was fiddling with the engine of an old sedan when he heard Burt shut down one of the noisy machines he was working with. "Miss Corcoran, what can I do for you?" he heard Burt ask.

Wonderful. Even though he'd automatically put up his show face in front of the rest of New Directions after the incident, his pride had taken a big hit today with the egging, and his funk was back in grand style. He knew his teammates were feeling guilty over ambushing him about his mother's identity. He also knew that it wouldn't stick. They always talked about him as if he wasn't there; the only reason they put up with him was because of his voice. But he had still accepted their apology. He was pathetic.

Now his mother was going to see what a loser he was. It apparently wasn't enough that the rest of the glee club saw how he couldn't defend himself, now his mom was going to see. She'd probably turn right around and never want to his useless self again.

"Hello, Mr. Hummel, I just came to see Ryan. He was supposed to come to Carmel earlier to get started on the tires but then he changed his mind. I just wanted to arrange a new meeting time with him for tomorrow."

_Couldn't she just have texted?_

Burt frowned. "Oh, okay then. Why don't you go into the office, it'll be quieter. Ryan!" he called his assistant. "Miss Corcoran needs to talk to you in the office."

Ryan sighed. Wiping off his hands, he pulled down his baseball cap over his eyes and followed his mother to the office. "Hi Shelby," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Shelby asked. "Will Schuester gave me a call this afternoon. He said some of my students had pulled another prank."

_Crap, she knew_. Ryan became defensive. "It's nothing, all right? I'm fine." He tried turning away but Shelby managed to catch his arm. She used her other hand to tip the baseball cap up. Ryan heard her suck in a breath as she took in his brand-new black eye.

"That doesn't look fine," she said sternly. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened! I'm fine!" Ryan was getting agitated. Why was she asking all these questions?

Shelby for her part was taken aback. "Look, I'm just trying to help –"

"I don't need your help!" Ryan couldn't take it anymore. He was so frustrated with everything that was going on right now, and something had to give. "I just need you to back off, okay? Why do you even care? You left me behind before! I've been fine before you came back here, just leave me alone!"

Shelby's face immediately took on a neutral expression, show face coming up instinctively to hide her hurt. "All right," she said numbly. "I'm going back to Carmel, since you don't need me right now. Don't worry about the tires, you don't need to come tomorrow morning if you don't want to. Put some ice on that eye." She stood stiffly and walked out of the office.

As soon as she was gone Ryan deflated. What had he done? He didn't know what had just happened, but he did know he'd messed up. Big time. And Shelby had left him.

He'd just ruined everything.

* * *

Shelby drove back to Carmel High in a bit of a daze. Returning to her office she sat down. What had just happened? She went through the conversation in her mind, but she couldn't figure out what she had said to set Ryan off. She just knew she needed to fix it. _You left me behind before. I don't need your help._ She folded her arms on her desk at buried her face in them, closing her eyes.

She'd been right. He didn't need her anymore. And it hurt. She'd thought she had built up a thick skin over the years, taking rejection after rejection after rejection in New York, coming back home to Ohio with nothing to show for it. But Ryan's words had cut straight to the heart of all her fears and regrets. Her child didn't need her anymore…She had thought of her baby every day for the past fifteen years. But now that she'd finally found him it seemed it was too late.

* * *

Half an hour later Shelby made her way the auditorium after her mini pity party. Now, she was in full Angry Coach Mode. It wasn't difficult to slip into character. Not only had her students disobeyed her orders to leave the McKinley glee club alone, they had gone and hurt her kid! Okay, so they didn't know he was her kid, but still! And Jesse didn't even have that excuse. Her students had to know that it wasn't right to go over to another school and start beating up other students, this wasn't West Side Story after all. This had gone way too far.

When she got to the auditorium she found her twenty-six students on the stage. They all fell silent when they saw her come in, watching warily as she came up onto the stage. They all knew that the quieter and calmer their coach became, the more precarious their situation was. Shelby glared at them hard, noting with satisfaction how they all shrank back.

"I seem to recall that I asked you all to stay here this afternoon," she said ponderingly, as she paced slowly across the stage. "Do any of you remember that?" She saw several tentative nods from some of the students. "Hmmm. That's good. So I assume you all stayed here this afternoon, then." She caught the fleeting guilty looks from several of the senior members of the team. _Gotcha_.

"So would anyone like to explain the call I got from the coach of New Directions? He is under the impression that some of my students went over to their school and ganged up on his lead singer."

No one spoke. Silence rang throughout the auditorium, thick and heavy in the atmosphere. Shelby fixed her gaze on Jesse, who stared back at her with a perfect poker face. His eyes shone with apprehension though; he wasn't good of an actor to hide that just yet.

Shelby stopped moving and folded her arms. "What made you think you could get away with this? I explicitly told you that you would take no further action against the McKinley glee club. And yet you thought it was all right for you to go and throw eggs at them? And as if that wasn't enough, you decided to throw fists around?"

She paused to glare at them. "One more notice. Yesterday I was able to secure the delivery of the replacement tires for all of you. They're in the parking lot right now. Unfortunately, the mechanic can't get around to fitting them onto your cars until this weekend. I was able to get his assistant to agree to assist us today, that's why I told you all to stay. However, as someone assaulted him with several trays of eggs, he was not able to make it here." She stopped as she saw looks of realization cross her students' faces.

The students seemed to grow smaller and smaller with each word that escaped their coach. While only nine members of the team had actually gone to McKinley, all of them had known about it, and they knew that their coach deemed them all equally culpable. If there was one thing their teacher never stood for, it was defiance of her orders, and though no one knew exactly why, she seemed extra pissed this time. They watched Shelby in fear, dread growing with every second. They knew this was going to be bad.

They weren't disappointed. "Since it seems that you can't really seem to follow my orders, I have decided that to improve our performances, I will be hiring back Dakota Stanley to polish up all three of our routines." She bit back an evil grin at the gasps and whimpers she heard from her students. She may have hated Dakota but her students hated him even more. "And since you obviously don't want or need any help, and you have loads of spare time, I have decided that there will be no need to have the mechanic replace your tires. Instead of spending your time throwing things at people, you can all go ahead and change your tires yourselves." One more glare to silence any complaints. Aside from a few mutinous looks, there were none. "Lastly, I know exactly which of you were behind this whole egging incident, as you neglected to remember that our parking lot has CCTV monitoring which caught you leaving the premises. So step forward now."

Reluctantly the nine senior students including Jesse stepped forward, looking like they wanted nothing more than for the stage to swallow them up. Shelby stared at them impassively. She'd actually been bluffing with the CCTV footage, she hadn't even thought of it until about five minutes ago, but it had worked. "Everyone else, leave. Make sure you're here for rehearsal tomorrow, you know Mr. Stanley doesn't like to be kept waiting," she clipped out. The uninvolved students all but ran from her stage.

Turning to the students remaining on the stage, she looked at them grimly for a moment. "Since you're all seniors, and with us being so close to Regionals, I'm not going to kick you off the team." She saw them relax slightly. "But words cannot express how disappointed in you I am right now. I have been your coach for over three years, I know how ruthless this team is because I'm the same. But I didn't think you would go so far as to assault another student nine on one."

She paused, taking in the guilty, fearful expressions on all bar one of her students. "I will be holding any letters of recommendation I have written for you, as your coach I have that prerogative. I will be watching you very closely over the rest of the year. You mess up again and you can kiss those letters goodbye." She looked at the now shocked faces. "Now leave. Except for you, Jesse."

Jesse stayed standing on the stage, expression still schooled to one of neutrality. He couldn't quite meet Shelby's eyes, though.

Shelby leveled him with a hard glare. "How could you do that?" she said, voice cold as ice. "You knew who he was, you knew how important he is to me. I would have thought you respected me enough to leave him alone, but apparently I was wrong. I know you were the one who headed the whole thing, you're the only one the others would have followed. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Jesse shook his head slightly. It was all he could do to keep himself from running away in terror and shame from the furious woman in front of him. He knew he'd screwed up royally. He shouldn't have disobeyed Shelby's orders, he shouldn't have bowed to the peer pressure, he should have tried to stop the others somehow.

Shelby shook her head. "Didn't think so. You had better watch yourself around me. Now get out of my sight."

Jesse quickly made his escape, more than eager to put as much space as possible between them.

As soon as he was gone Shelby made her way to the piano on the stage and sat down tiredly. There, all done. Her kids would think twice before crossing her again anytime soon.

If only things with Ryan were so simple.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, you probably expected some of that already. Hopefully you're not too mad. That said, I can't really have a story without any conflict, it would get really sappy and boring. Not to worry though, the next chapter's halfway done, and it should be up in a couple of days at most. Reviews and constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Here's the next chapter. I don't own Glee or anything else you recognize.**

* * *

Ryan sat down at the piano, running his hands over the keys. Mr. Schue had decided to go with his original idea of funking VA out with their own performance. He had instructed some of the other glee guys to go over to Carmel and leave notes on the VA members' cars, telling them to show up at the McKinley auditorium on Friday afternoon. It was now Thursday afternoon, and the glee club had just finished fixing up their funk number. After working out some rudimentary choreography they'd decided that they'd improvise tomorrow, since the whole point was to do the complete opposite of Vocal Adrenaline's robotic style.

Ryan hadn't been able to concentrate though. Fortunately he didn't have any solos for this song, since the focus was mainly on Mercedes' and Kurt's voices, and none of the other kids had noticed. Mr. Schue had agreed with his assessment that his style and voice wasn't particularly suited to funk.

He'd really messed up yesterday. He knew that. He was furious with everyone, with his dads for not caring, with his team for treating him like garbage, with Kurt and Mercedes for telling everyone about Shelby, with St. James and the rest of Vocal Adrenaline for ambushing him in the parking lot. The only person he wasn't mad at was Shelby, and of course, he had ended up venting at her. He shouldn't have yelled at Shelby. Everything had just been building up the whole day, and she just wouldn't stop pushing, she didn't get that he didn't want to talk, he just wanted to forget the egging had ever happened. Now she probably never wanted to see him again after what he'd said.

"Are you okay?" A voice shook Ryan out of his depressed musings. He looked up and saw Quinn coming toward him.

"Yes…no…maybe," he flubbed, trying to dispel any trace of sadness from his face.

"Pick one of the above," Quinn joked. Ryan gave a small smile. "Look, you know we're really sorry about yesterday, right? We – at least I – didn't think you'd actually leave us for VA."

Ryan smiled at her gratefully. "Well, thank you. You should probably sit," he said, getting up and dragging a chair next to the piano. Hopefully she was sincere about what she said. He knew the others would get right back to ignoring him until they needed his voice again.

Quinn sat down on the offered chair, studying him as he sat back down on the piano bench. He was wearing a red argyle sweater today, hair slightly mussed as though someone had run a hand through it. He _was_ sort of cute, if he'd just wear something other than those granny-sweaters. Secretly she'd always admired how confident he was, even though everybody didn't really like him. Since joining glee she had seen how the others ignored and belittled him until they needed him to sing. She'd had a taste of being invisible since she'd gotten pregnant and she didn't know how he did it every day for years now without falling apart. She certainly knew she'd never throw another slushy again. But after spending some time with him in glee and that time in the doctor's office when he'd gotten laryngitis, she could see the sadness lying beneath the mask of almost-arrogant overconfidence.

"Do you need to talk?"

Ryan looked at her curiously. "Are you offering just to be nice? You don't need to do that, you know. I know nobody likes to listen when I talk."

Quinn winced at that. It was true, whenever he was talking in glee half the group seemed to tune him out. "No, I just wanted to help. You said I could talk to you if I need someone to talk to, so I thought I'd return the favor since you look like you need someone now. I thought you might need a friend."

Ryan looked at her morosely. "I messed up, Quinn. I messed up really bad." He sighed, turning his gaze back to the piano keys. "My m – Shelby came over to Mr. Hummel's garage yesterday. Apparently Mr. Schue gave her a call. She saw this," he gestured at his black eye, "and she just kept asking if I was ok, and who did it, and I just wanted her to back off, and I yelled at her."

"What did you say?" Quinn asked, slightly surprised that he was actually telling her all this.

"I told her that I didn't need her help, and that she needed to back off," he said despondently. "Then she left. And she hasn't called. And now she probably hates me and never wants to see me again."

"Why'd you yell at her in the first place?"

"I don't know, okay?" he said in frustration. "She just kept pushing." He looked down, before continuing in a muted mutter. "And I didn't want her to see me after I got a black eye. It's bad enough that you all saw."

Quinn sighed. _Guys and their stupid egos_. "I think you should talk to her. If it makes a difference, I don't think she hates you. She's probably just hurt that you said you didn't need her. But I don't think she could hate you." She unconsciously put a hand on her stomach. "She's your mom."

Ryan noticed though. "Is that how you feel about your baby?" he asked quietly.

Quinn was silent for a while, and Ryan was about to apologize for overstepping when she said, "I'm giving this baby up for adoption. I know I can't take care of her myself, I'm not stupid. But I know I could never hate her." She stopped for a moment. "If anything, I'm scared she'll hate me for giving her up."

Ryan shook his head. "No. She'll understand that you were trying to give her her best chance. You're trying to do what's best for her. She won't hate you for that." He fell silent.

Both of them stayed quiet for a few moments, deep in their own thoughts. Then Ryan broke the silence. "So how is baby Drizzle? Or is it Jackie Daniels?"

Quinn laughed. "It's neither of those, actually. Puck wants to name her Beth, remember? And the doctor said she's fine. Healthy."

Ryan did remember. He had sung backup with the other guys for Puck when he'd sung _Beth_ to Quinn in front of the rest of the glee club. "And how about you?"

"I'm…good," Quinn replied. "Mercedes let me move in with her last week, and I'm doing so much better now that I don't have to put up with living in Puck's basement anymore. His mom wouldn't feed me bacon."

Ryan smirked. "What a tragedy."

Quinn hit his arm. "Hey, you're not supposed to mess with pregnant people and their cravings," she said playfully, She looked at her watch and said regretfully, "Mercedes is probably leaving soon, I should go find her."

Ryan nodded, standing to help her up. "Thanks."

Quinn tilted her head. "For what?"

"For, just, listening to me. It helped. A lot, actually." He gave her a smile.

Quinn smiled back. "Not a problem. That's what friends are supposed to do, and we're friends, right?"

Ryan's smile grew even wider. "Right."

* * *

Meanwhile, Shelby was in her office, grading some English papers. While she was primarily the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, she was also the sophomore English teacher. She had actually started out at Carmel as the English teacher, since she had majored in Education at OSU, with a minor in English studies. Then she had inherited Vocal Adrenaline from the previous coach, who had decided to retire to Florida after six years, during which he had never gotten VA past Regionals.

She was just plodding through a reaction paper written by one of her about the Shakespeare film they had watched last week, and the paper was fairly blushing red from all the grammatical and spelling corrections she'd written. In a way she was happy for the work, though, since it kept her mind away from wallowing in misery from her failed relationship with Ryan. Suddenly her phone rang, and she jerked up, surprised. Checking her phone, she saw that it was her younger brother Josh. Slightly disappointed for some reason, she pressed the answer button. "Hello?"

"_Hey big sis, mom told me to call and ask if you were coming up here on Sunday. We're apparently having a barbeque."_

Shelby blinked, at a loss for a moment. "What? Oh. Right. Ah, yeah, sure, I'll be there." She'd already told her family about Ryan figuring out who she was, and they were all eagerly waiting for stories. And maybe even the first visit.

"_You ok? You sound weird." _Josh had noticed the preoccupation in his sister's voice. _"Do I need to kill someone?" _he joked.

Shelby laughed slightly, then sighed. "No, nobody needs killing right now." Except maybe her students. She paused. "It's Ryan."

Her brother immediately became serious. _"What happened? Is he alright?"_ Concern for the nephew he'd never met shone through his voice.

"He got in a fight yesterday. With some of the VA kids."

Josh whistled. "_Is he mad at you?"_

Shelby sighed again. "Yes, but not the way you think. You got time for a story?"

"_Anything for my nephew. And you too, I guess,"_ he added as an afterthought.

Shelby rolled her eyes before launching into the whole story of what had happened. "Now he's mad at me," she said unhappily. "I was just trying to find out what happened exactly, since apparently Ryan was the only one there and I hadn't interrogated my VA kids yet. And now he doesn't want me anymore," she ended pathetically.

Josh bit back a laugh. _"Ok, drama queen, let's turn it down a bit. I think maybe you just pushed your kid a little too hard,_" he said thoughtfully. _"Wait, listen,"_ he added quickly when Shelby indignantly started to break in. _"Remember that annoying kid who lived a few houses from us, back when I was in middle school? Sammy Hart?"_

Shelby thought. "Vaguely. Wasn't he the one you 'accidentally' pushed into a poison ivy patch?"

"_Yes, but that's not important," _Josh said hastily._ "The important part here is that he's the one who almost broke my nose in 8__th__ grade. I'm willing to bet Ryan reacted the same way I did when you questioned me."_

Now Shelby definitely remembered that. Their parents were out of town for the day, and of course her brother had chosen that day to come home with his nose gushing blood like a faucet. She had rushed him to the hospital in a panic. He'd never told her who had done it until now, though. And he'd gotten really mad at her when she'd tried to ask.

Now that he mentioned it, he'd acted exactly the way Ryan had.

"You know what, you're right," she said in surprise. "How'd you know that?"

"_Your teenager's ego took a hit. He lost a fight. Then you come along and start asking all these questions, like what happened, is he okay, who was it. Of course he's going to lash out,"_ Josh said matter-of-factly.

Why the hell would he do that? "So you're saying this is a guy-pride thing?"

"_Most likely. You should just let him cool off a bit. Maybe talk to him tomorrow." _

"That can't be it. He was really upset." Shelby stopped for a moment before continuing in a small defeated voice. "He said he didn't need me."

Josh sighed. _"Look, we both know teenagers say a lot of stuff they don't really mean. You should know, you're a high school teacher. That said, he's probably still a little off-balance from meeting you. I think that's another part of this. He's not used to you yet, and maybe your pushing the issue was too much too soon. But I also think he didn't mean to yell at you. He probably feels really bad now, I know I did after I yelled at you in the waiting room. You need to go talk to him. He's not going to admit it, but he probably just needs a good hug."_

Shelby laughed at him. "Oh, is that what you wanted when you had that nosebleed?" She checked her watch. "Listen, I need to go. I have a VA rehearsal. And I re-hired Dakota Stanley," she said, making a face.

"_Isn't that the obnoxious midget who insults everybody? Why would you – oh, I get it. Nice punishment,"_ Josh said appreciatively. "_Ok Shelbs. I'll just tell mom you'll be here around 10 on Sunday, yes?"_

"That's fine," Shelby agreed. "And Josh?"

"_Yeah?"  
_  
"Thanks."

"_No problem."_

Shelby hung up the phone, thinking about what Josh had told her. Could it really be that simple? If it was, then this whole thing was just a misunderstanding. Maybe her son still wanted her in his life. She made her decision – she would go over there to McKinley after school tomorrow to talk to Ryan. She was going to fix this somehow.

But for now, she needed to resign herself to a three-hour session with Dakota Stanley yelling at everything and everyone in sight. Oh joy.

* * *

_The next day_

Ryan stood on the stage of the McKinley auditorium, head held high as he surveyed the Vocal Adrenaline students who were seated in front of him. "Welcome back," he said haughtily. "We've invited you here in response to your escalation of our little feud. In an attempt to put an end to it, we've decided that the only to funkify you is by performing a style that you can't possibly pull off. Afterwards, you can be the ones to decide the veracity of the rumors going around in the chatrooms." He gave them a cocky smirk before going to the back of the stage to join his teammates.

One rousing rendition of _We've Got the Funk_ later, the New Directions walked off the stage, leaving Vocal Adrenaline sitting in their auditorium with stunned looks on their faces.

"See you at regionals, punks," Puck said offhandedly.

In all the commotion, nobody noticed Shelby standing at the back of the auditorium, watching everything with a slightly amused look on her face. Her students had finally been outclassed in their funkification mind games. While this might pose some problems with their performance, she felt that they deserved it. She backed out of the auditorium before her students could see her to go and find Ryan.

But halfway down the corridor, she ran into Will Schuester.

"Miss Corcoran? What are you doing here?" He sounded shocked and almost apprehensive.

Shelby quirked an eyebrow. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that all my students disappeared and are now in your auditorium for some reason," she answered, smiling when a slightly guilty look appeared on his face. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. Nothing wrong with healthy competition. But I'm actually here to see Ryan."

"Ah," Will said, a bit relieved that she wasn't upset with him. He'd seen her horns come out in Figgins' office after the slashing incident and didn't particularly want to get in the way of that. Then he hesitated, remembering that Emma had told him Ryan seemed to be having some problems lately. "Actually, do you mind if I talk to you about him for a bit in my office? As his teacher, of course."

Some surprise appeared on Shelby's face at the request. "Oh, okay then," she replied uncertainly, following Will as he led her to his office, where he offered her a seat. "Okay, I think I know what this is about, and don't worry, my reconnection with Ryan isn't some sort of plot to mess you guys up just before Regionals." Shelby said, trying to allay any worries Will might have about her effect on his glee club.

"I'm not worried about that," Will said seriously. "I'm a little worried about Ryan. He's got all of the best of you. He's strong-willed, dramatic, wildly talented."

"Go on," Shelby gave a sly smile.

"But he seems…a bit troubled, lately," Will continued carefully, watching as Shelby's smile faded. "He spoke with our guidance counselor a few weeks ago, and she said that he mentioned you. And he was a bit…upset when the other glee kids found out about the two of you. I'm just worried that he's a little too invested in this, and I'm also worried that you're not as committed to this relationship as he is." Will leaned back, having said his piece.

Shelby was getting more and more upset as Will talked, her feelings tripping all over each other in her mind – concern (was her kid okay?), relief (her son wanted this too!), and annoyance (what business was it of this guys'?) battling for supremacy in her mind. Of course, she didn't let it show.

Instead, she said to Will, "I'm not really sure that's any of your business. My relationship with my son isn't your concern. You don't know anything about me, who are you to say that I'm not committed to our relationship?" She paused, looking at his guilty expression. "You're right, we're having a bit of a rough patch. But my son is important to me, and I'm going to be around until he tells me explicitly to leave. Now, thank you for your concern, but I'm going to find my son now."

She stood up and executed a perfect storm-out, leaving Will alone in his office, marveling at the resemblance between the mother and the son.

* * *

While Shelby and Will had been having a little chat, Ryan had returned to the auditorium to get the sheet music for the number they had just performed, which he'd left on the piano. He stood in front of the instrument, shuffling through the stack of papers on top of it absently. Shelby hadn't contacted him since he'd yelled at her to back off two days ago, and he hadn't been able to get himself to contact her. Quinn had said that Shelby probably didn't hate him. But his insecurities had flared up once more, and he couldn't quite get himself to believe that Shelby would still want him after he'd basically told her to leave.

Ryan turned around as he heard someone behind him. His heart sank as he saw Shelby coming toward him. Shelby walked over to the other side of the piano and leaned on it, studying her son. Ryan looked back at the sheet music on top of the piano. He shook himself slightly, putting on his show face, giving his mother a small smile. "I think I know why you're here. To say goodbye."

Shelby started to panic internally. Did that mean he wanted her to leave? He looked perfectly composed, but she could see the sadness in his eyes that she'd seen the first time she had met him. "Is that what you want?" she asked, afraid of his answer. When he didn't say anything, she spoke again. "Because I really wanted us to work. I still want us to work." She looked carefully into Ryan's eyes as she spoke, and she caught the spark of hope that appeared at her words.

Encouraged, Shelby continued. "Look, I'm not going to pretend I'm happy with what you said back in the garage." Ryan looked away guiltily. "But, maybe it was partly my fault as well. Maybe I was pushing a little too hard with all the questions. We're just getting to know one another and you're probably not completely comfortable with me yet. So if I overstepped, I'm sorry."

Ryan shook his head. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have said what I did. It was just a _really_ bad day and I everything was just building up. But I shouldn't have yelled at you." He paused, looking down. "And I was scared of what you'd think about the fight," he admitted in a small voice.

"I'm not mad," she assured him. "Not at you anyways."

They both stood there quietly for a while facing each other. Then Shelby said, "I meant what I said. I really do still want a relationship with you. But we're both still finding out where we stand with each other. You were right. I did leave you. And I think the problem is while I'm your birth mother, I'm not your mom." Then she added, "At least, not yet. I haven't earned it yet. But I want to be, if you'll still let me."

Ryan came around the piano to hug Shelby, which she was quick to return. This was the first hug he'd ever initiated with his mother, and it felt…right. Safe. They held it for a few moments before they pulled away, both blinking back tears.

"That was a very good funk number," Shelby said. "My soulless automatons have never been able to pull off a funk number, but I guess you knew that, didn't you?" She gave him a slight smirk.

Ryan gave her his own mischievous smirk. "We decided that the only way to funk you guys out the way you did us was to do something you couldn't do. Did it work?"

"Not on me," Shelby claimed. "We're still going to win. But you may have gotten to my students though. But no hard feelings. They deserved it."

"You know, it's always been a dream of mine to sing with you," Ryan mentioned. "Unfortunately the only music I have here right now is Lady Gaga's _Poker Face_ and I think that might just be a little awkward."

"No, _Poker Face_ isn't exactly the most appropriate choice for the two of us to sing together," Shelby quipped dryly. She'd sing it with him if he wanted her too, but _Poker Face_? "I tend to associate that song with other things. Baked goods and all that. But maybe I can come up with something." She sat down at the piano.

"You can play?" asked Ryan, visibly impressed. "I took lessons when I was younger, but then I decided to stick with singing."

Shelby nodded. "I can teach you, if you'd like," she offered.

Ryan smiled broadly. "You sure are offering me a lot of lessons," he joked. "First with the singing and now with the piano. Are dance lessons up next?"

"No, it's actually acting lessons next," Shelby deadpanned, before laughing at him. She thought for a few seconds before she came up with a song, then she placed her hands on the keys and started playing. Ryan smiled, recognizing the tune. Perfect. Shelby nodded at him with her own smile.

_All I knew this morning when I woke_

_Is I know something now, know something now I didn't before_

_And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago is green eyes and freckles_

_And your smile in the back of my mind making me feel like_

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now  
_

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now  
_

_I just want to know you, know you, know you_

Shelby joined him on the chorus, smiling widely at him, both of them singing every word with sincerity.

_'Cause all I know is we said hello  
_

_And your eyes look like coming home  
_

_All I know is a simple name, everything has changed  
_

_All I know is you held the door  
_

_You'll be mine and I'll be yours  
_

_All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

Ryan let Shelby take the next verse, leaning on the piano watching as she played and sang to him.

_And all my walls stood tall painted blue  
_

_But I'll take 'em down, take 'em down and open up the door for you_

_And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies the beautiful kind  
_

_Making up for lost time, taking flight, making me feel like_

Ryan joined in with Shelby, harmonizing on the chorus and moving into the bridge, both voices melding perfectly as though they'd been singing together for years instead of for the first time. He came over to sit next to Shelby on the piano bench as she scooted over to make room for him.

_Come back and tell me why  
_

_I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time  
_

_And meet me there tonight  
_

_And let me know that it's not all in my mind_

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now  
_

_I just want to know you, know you, know you_

_All I know is we said hello  
_

_So dust off your highest hopes  
_

_All I know is pouring rain  
_

_And everything has changed  
_

_All I know is a new found grace  
_

_All my days, I'll know your face  
_

_All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

They sat next to each other as they finished the song, leaning on each other, staying in that position for a while.

"Time for me to go," Shelby sighed. They both stood. "Vocal Adrenaline has rehearsals."

Ryan nodded, looking adoringly at his mom. Shelby walked toward him, putting her hand on his cheek. "You are really, really good, Ryan." Then she walked out of the auditorium, leaving Ryan standing at the piano looking after her.

* * *

**Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in posting. Real life problems, like exams. Hope you liked the chapter.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hi everyone, this chapter's another sort of filler. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, all my writing skills are being funneled toward laboratory research papers and ethical debate outlines at the moment. Probably sometime next week though. Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows, I continue to be surprised that people are enjoying my writing. You guys really make my day.**

**You know the drill, if you recognize it, it doesn't belong to me.**

* * *

_Two days later_

"Mr. Schue!" Ryan called, seeing his teacher walking into the building.

"Hey Ryan, what's up?" Will asked, noting that the boy seemed a lot happier than he had last week. After thinking about it, he'd decided that Shelby had been right that hers and Ryan's relationship had been none of business, and it looked like Ryan was happier for it.

"Well, as you know, Regionals are this weekend and we still don't have a set list, while Vocal Adrenaline has been working on theirs for weeks now. I propose we meet this afternoon, and try to come up with something so we can start rehearsing as soon as possible." Ryan had actually been pestering the teacher for a few weeks now. Didn't he know that they needed to practice if they wanted to win?

"You know what? You're right. I'll do you one better. Tell everyone that after class, we're going to meet at my apartment. I'll order some pizza, and we can start nominating songs for Regionals."

Ryan smiled. "Great. I've got a few songs in mind –" He was cut off by the bell for first period.

"You should get to class," Will said. "I'll see you later."

* * *

Later that day the glee club was all gathered in Will's small apartment. The pizza had just arrived, and Quinn went into the kitchen to get the paper plates. She paused at the window, gazing out into the falling rain, thinking about everything that had happened this year. It had been a big year for her. She'd started out at the top of the school, with the perfect boyfriend, perfect family, her life had been great. At least from the outside. Then Puck had gotten her pregnant, she'd lost her spot on the Cheerios, she'd lied to her boyfriend and screwed everything up, and she'd been kicked out by her parents.

"Are you okay?"

Pulled out of her thoughts, she turned and saw Ryan, who had followed her into the kitchen. "It's been a long year," she answered. There were some good things that had happened this year too. She'd joined the glee club and made some real friends, like Mercedes. And he'd become friends with Ryan somehow. If you'd told her at the beginning of the year that she'd ever be civil with Ryan Berry she'd probably have laughed and thrown a slushy in the news-bearer's face.

"Yes it has, hasn't it?" he said thoughtfully. He was still unused to Quinn Fabray talking to him. He'd had a crush on the blonde ex-cheerleader for a long time now, but he'd always known it was hopeless. He was the school's biggest loser after all. But now she actually talked to him, she even considered him a friend, and his crush had grown even more after getting to know the actual person underneath the bitchy façade she used to have.

They stood next to each other, looking out the kitchen window.

"Do you guys need some help with those plates?" Will came into the kitchen, breaking the silence.

Quinn and Ryan looked at each other. Quinn said, "I'm not due for another month, I think I can handle a stack of plates." She walked out of the kitchen, Ryan following her.

"Right," Will said embarrassedly. "I'm…uh…yeah."

Back in the living room, everyone was quiet, all staring at the pizza.

"Doesn't anyone want any pizza?" Will questioned. He knew what was wrong of course. The club had just found out that Sue Sylvester was on the panel of judges for their Regionals competition, pretty much guaranteeing that they were going to lose. Still, he needed to cheer these kids up somehow, they needed to at least try to win. So he clapped his hands. "All right then. Thank you for coming to the first annual New Directions Regional set list nominations party."

Artie looked up. "What's the point, Mr. Schue?" he asked tiredly. "Coach Sylvester's one of the judges. She's going to crush us."

"Hey now, you don't know that," Will argued.

"Yes we do," Santana said bluntly. "She told us at Cheerios practice."

"Yeah, she said, 'I'm going to crush glee club'," Brittney confirmed.

"The whole freaking year," said Puck dejectedly. "All that work for nothing." He looked at Tina beside him when she sniffed.

"I'm sorry," she said sadly, trying and failing to hold back tears. "I just really love you guys. You know how many FaceBook friends I had before glee club? Two. My parents." She gave a slight laugh. "Ryan was right, being part of something special made me special. I just can't believe it's going to be over in a week." She finally gave in to her tears at the end.

Ryan was trying to hold back tears himself. Finn spoke up. "Hey, who says it's gonna be over?"

Mercedes scoffed. "Please. You think Puck and Santana are even gonna acknowledge my existence when we're not in glee club together anymore?"

"She has a point," Puck nodded.

They all sat there quietly for a few moments, wallowing in misery. Then Ryan shook himself. "No. We can't give up. We can still win this. Vocal Adrenaline doesn't have any heart, that's how we're going to beat them. We can't just think about losing this club. We have to think that we're going to do everything we can to save it." He needed this club to get it together, they needed to win this. And it wasn't just for himself this time. It was for the other kids. They needed this club as much as he did, even if they would never admit it.

Will nodded. "Ryan's right, guys. If you give up now, it's like we're just handing Vocal Adrenaline that trophy. I told you before, even if we lose, we'll never regret it as long as we give it our best shot. And that's what we're going to do." He clapped his hands, rousing the students from their depressed slumps. "Come on, everyone start suggesting songs."

A couple of hours and three pizzas later, they had finally decided that they were going to do a set list composed of Journey songs, ending with Don't Stop Believing, the song that the six original members of the New Directions had sung way back at the start of the year. They had all thought that the Journey medley was appropriate, since as Mr. Schue had said, "Life is just one beginning and one ending. All the rest is just a whole lot of middle. And who cares what happens when we get there, when the getting there has been so much fun?"

* * *

The next morning, Hiram Berry sat in the living room, holding a mug of black coffee. He'd never liked putting cream or sugar in his coffee, it diluted the flavor.

It had been two weeks since he'd had that fight with Ryan at breakfast. The boy was still angry with him, and they hadn't talked since. Leroy was due to arrive any minute now, which was why Hiram was sitting in the living room at one in the afternoon, rather than at work. He really needed to speak with his husband.

The two of them had been together for close to 20 years now. They'd met in college, where Leroy was majoring in Business and Hiram in Accounting. The two of them had gotten together in Hiram's senior year and Leroy's sophomore. Neither of their families had been very supportive, and they hadn't had contact with either family for several years now. About four years into their relationship they'd decided that they wanted a child. They hadn't wanted to adopt, though, they had wanted a child that was biologically from one of them, and so they'd decided to hire a surrogate to carry their child. Several rounds of IVF later, the pregnancy was finally confirmed and a few months later, their child was born. But they soon realized that the idea of having a child was totally different from the reality. 3am feedings, hour-long crying sessions, dirty diapers – the two men had no idea how to raise a child. Their jobs soon became an escape from their homes, rather than the other way around. Later on they began paying for all sorts of lessons – singing, dancing, acting, you name it – because they didn't know what to do with him.

Suddenly Hiram was jerked out of his thoughts by the front door opening. He sighed as he heard Leroy coming into the living room.

"Hello, Hiram," Leroy greeted him. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at work."

"We need to talk," Hiram said abruptly. "Ryan met Shelby."

Leroy was confused. "I know that," he said. "She called us, remember?"

"That's not what I meant," Hiram replied unhappily. "He knows who she is."

"What?" asked Leroy angrily. "We told Shelby not to tell him! We need to make good on that contract, we're calling our lawyer – "

"She didn't tell him," Hiram interrupted. "He found out by himself. He sneaked into the study and found the adoption records."

Leroy sank down on the sofa. "Oh."

Hiram nodded. "I talked to Ryan a few days ago. He was…upset…to say the least," he said wryly, remembering the yelling and storm-out that their son had executed. "He wanted to know why we didn't tell him."

"We didn't need to tell him, he didn't need to know, we're his parents, aren't we?" Leroy argued unconvincingly.

Hiram sighed. "We haven't really been much of parents." He told Leroy about his argument with Ryan. "When's the last time you had a real conversation with him?" he asked.

Leroy leaned back, stumped. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember. Hiram nodded. "I couldn't remember either." The two of them fell silent. They couldn't remember when they'd last had a real honest-to-God conversation with their son.

"Why are we doing this?" Hiram asked quietly. "We both know we aren't happy. We shouldn't have enforced that contract…" he trailed off.

Leroy stayed quiet. It was true. They had fallen out of love with each other a long time ago. Both of them suspected that the other wanted to end things between them, and each suspected that the other was straying. But they were afraid of rocking the boat. And even if neither of them were really close to their son, deep down neither of them wanted to hurt him by splitting up. And of course, there was the problem of who would take custody. So instead, they stayed in their miserable status quo.

"You know what, just let him have his relationship with Shelby," Leroy said shortly. "God knows I'm still pissed at her, but he's her son too. More so than ours, in a way." He knew his behavior was insanely contradictory. Truthfully he didn't know what he wanted. He didn't particularly feel close to Ryan, but for some reason he didn't want Shelby to have him either.

Hiram sighed. His husband hadn't been able to get over what had happened all those years ago. He looked at his husband, blue eyes meeting grey. "We're going to need to talk to Ryan, though. He's still very angry with us, and we have to get over it sometime." He had an idea of what they could do, but he wouldn't bring it up for now. Maybe later.

Not necessarily, Leroy thought privately. He hadn't really talked with the boy in a long time, it wouldn't matter very much if they weren't talking now. Out loud he said, "Then we'll talk when he gets home. Where is he anyway?"

"I'm not really sure," Hiram admitted. "Probably at the garage, but I don't know."

"Well, I'm going to have a nap. I'm still on LA time," Leroy said, yawning.

Hiram simply nodded.

* * *

At McKinley, Ryan ran into Quinn just as she was exiting the ladies' room. He flashed her a big smile. "Hello Quinn."

Quinn returned the smile. "Hi."

"So, what did you think of the set list we came up with last night? Personally, I would have gone for less Journey and something a little more classical, but the theme does make sense. Also, the style does seem to suit the team as a whole. And I'm more than glad to share the solos with everyone else, so that everyone gets their own time in the spotlight," he rambled as they walked to class.

Quinn simply listened to him in amusement, impressed at how he was able to say all that without stumbling over his words. He was wearing another one of his dorky sweaters over a white collared shirt today.

"So how have you been? You seemed a little preoccupied last night," Ryan said.

"Oh." Quinn thought for a moment. "I guess I'm fine. Or I would be if I didn't have to go to the bathroom every ten minutes," she said with a dry smile. "Baby bouncing on your bladder tends to do that." She winced a bit as her baby gave another kick. She grabbed Ryan's hand. "Here, feel."

Ryan suddenly found himself with his hand on Quinn's stomach. Then he felt something pushing against his hand. "Wow," he said in awe.

"Not as wow when it happens in the middle of a movie. Mercedes and I were watching a one last weekend and I swear we spent more time with the movie on pause than we did actually watching it, because I had to run to the bathroom all the time."

Ryan laughed lightly, and Quinn couldn't help thinking that he looked really good when he was laughing. Where did that come from?

Ryan meanwhile saw an opening, and getting his nerve together, he decided to go for it. Trying to seem casual, he said, "Well, maybe in a month or so, when you don't need to go to the restroom all the time, maybe we can go watch a movie. Celebrate your being able to see one without pause."

Quinn almost stopped walking. Did he just ask me out? She wondered. Surprisingly, she found she was okay with it. "Are you asking me out?" she asked playfully, trying to make sure they were on the same page.

Ryan fidgeted a bit. "Yes? Maybe?" His confidence was dwindling by the second, and he was sure she was about to laugh at him and brush him off. _Come on, get it together. You can do this._

In truth, Quinn almost did laugh. He looked adorable when he was confused. "Okay. Ask me again when this is over, and I will take you up on that."

"Don't worry, you don't have to – wait, what?" Ryan could hardly believe his ears.

"I said okay." This time Quinn did laugh at him.

"Okay," Ryan said, a goofy smile appearing on his face.

They walked together in companionable silence before Quinn asked, "Did you talk with your mom?"

"What? Oh," Ryan pulled himself out of his euphoria. He'd just gotten a date, sort of, with Quinn Fabray! "Yes, we talked. She actually came over here during our funk performance. She was here to find me and she caught the last part of the song."

"Was she mad?"

Ryan laughed. "No, she was fine with it. She said VA deserved it, and that it was a very good performance. We've decided not to meet for while though, until Regionals. Try to keep the spying business to a minimum," he said wryly, before hesitating. "Thank you. You know, for what you said. You were right, she didn't hate me."

Quinn smiled at him. "Not a problem." She looked at him. "You know, I'd give you a hug, but we probably shouldn't squish the baby," she teased.

Ryan gave her a quick pout before laughing. "Rain check then. You can hug me when we go watch our movie after Drizzle-slash-Jackie-Daniels-slash-Beth is born."

"Deal," Quinn laughed, nudging him in the shoulder.

* * *

Ryan walked home a few hours later, when he entered the house, he found both his parents sitting in the living room watching TV. "Hello dads," he said stiffly. He wasn't quite as angry with them as he had been earlier in the week, but he was still upset. They should have told him that Shelby had talked to them, and they shouldn't have prevented her from telling him who she was.

"Ryan, come in here, we need to have a talk," Hiram said.

"I already told you, there's no need," Ryan replied scathingly. "You never wanted to talk before, no need to talk now. I'll just go upstairs so we can all not talk in peace."

Honestly, Leroy was fine with that, but it would probably be better to get it out now. "Were you with Shelby?"

Ryan turned to him, growing angry. "No, why? Are you going to tell me to stay away from her? Because I won't. She at least pays attention to me, unlike the two of you."

"No," Hiram interjected. "The opposite. You can spend all the time you want with her, we won't stop you."

"Oh," said Ryan, a bit confused. "Ok. Can I go now?"

Both of them nodded, unsure of what more to say, and Ryan went upstairs to his room, all three wondering what had happened.


	13. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone, finally got some time to write something other than essay answers :) Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Glee isn't mine. Duh.**

* * *

_Regionals Competition_

"A mash-up of Josh Groban and Olivia Newton-John? Somebody tipped them off about the judges!"

It was the Friday, the day of Regionals, and the first team, Oral Intensity, was onstage performing. The New Directions quickly confirmed that the competition had been rigged somehow, as the panel of judges contained, coincidentally, Josh Groban and Olivia Newton-John, along with Sue Sylvester and news anchor Rod Remington.

"Guys, we can't get distracted," Ryan tried to keep the team's morale up. "We need to focus."

"Even though we know we can't win?" asked Santana.

Will walked into the backstage lounge where they were all congregated in time to catch the question. "Yes," he said firmly. "If winning is what this is all about, then I have to apologize to all of you. I've failed you. We should just all go home." He quickly thought of something to take away the nerves. "Besides, we've got something that the other teams don't." He looked around at them expectantly.

"What?"

He waited a beat. "Finn's dancing!" That got everyone to laugh. "Come on, Oral Intensity's gonna be done in two minutes, bring it in!"

* * *

_Just a small town girl  
_

_Livin' in a lonely world  
_

_She took the midnight train goin' anywhere  
_

_Just a city boy  
_

_Born and raised in south Detroit  
_

_He took the midnight train goin' anywhere_

_A singer in a smoky room  
_

_A smell of wine and cheap perfume  
_

_For a smile they can share the night  
_

_It goes on and on, and on, and on_

The kids' nerves had all vanished during the first song they'd performed, and they were giving this their best shot. Each of them had decided that they were going to leave it all on the stage tonight, leaving no room for regrets.

_Don't stop believin'  
_

_Hold on to the feelin'  
_

_Streetlights, people_

_Don't stop believin'  
_

_Hold on  
_

_Streetlights, people_

_Don't stop believin'  
_

_Hold on to the feelin'  
_

_Streetlights, people_

The New Directions finished their set to a standing ovation from the audience. Beaming widely, they bowed and rushed off the stage.

"That was awesome!"

"We've got this thing in the bag!"

Quinn and Ryan were the last two off the stage, laughing happily. Then Quinn stopped abruptly as she caught sight of someone waiting for them as they exited the stage. "Mom?"

"Quinnie!" the woman said with a nervous smile.

"I should go," Ryan said awkwardly.

"No," Quinn said quickly. "Stay."

Ryan looked uncomfortable but acquiesced, coming to stand beside her. Mrs. Fabray glanced at him, but quickly returned her focus to her daughter.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Quinn asked softly. "Is dad okay?"

Mrs. Fabray looked at her daughter. "I came to see you sing," she said, smiling tentatively. "You were wonderful." She laughed slightly, trailing off when Quinn looked away. "I'm sorry that I missed the other times you performed, were there a lot?" Quinn stayed silent, a strange look on her face. Mrs. Fabray persevered. "I left your father. Kicked him out actually. He was having an affair with some tattooed freak."

Quinn opened her mouth to say something but shut it again. Ryan looked at her worriedly. Was she okay?

"Quinnie, I want you to come home with me. I can turn the guest room into a nursery." Mrs. Fabray nervously waited for an answer from her daughter. "Sweetie, please say something."

"My water just broke."

* * *

A few minutes later Quinn had been rushed to the hospital escorted by her mother and the New Directions sans Ryan. He had been torn between going with Quinn and staying to see Vocal Adrenaline's performance, until Quinn had told him to stay, saying someone needed to keep an eye on the competition.

"Thanks Finn. Tell Quinn I'll try to drop by to see her later…Yeah, see you soon." He ended his call with Finn and entered the backstage lounge. Vocal Adrenaline's first number, Queen's _Bohemian Rhapsody_, had just finished. He found Shelby in the lounge mixing herself a cup of coffee.

"Congratulations," he said, causing his mother to look up.

Shelby smiled. "Thank you, Ryan."

"But we beat you today," he continued simply. He watched as Shelby folded her arms and looked at him with a slight smile. "Jesse's a good singer but he doesn't have any heart. Vocal Adrenaline's best days are behind it. So I have a proposition." He walked closer to his mother. "Come teach at McKinley."

Shelby let out a surprised laugh. She hadn't been expecting that. "Excuse me?"

"You could co-direct with Mr. Schuester," Ryan explained eagerly. "We'd be unstoppable!"

Shelby laughed again, then sighed, shaking her head. "Ryan, this is actually my last year with Vocal Adrenaline. I can't do it anymore, I'm tired of coaching show choir. I'm tired of teaching from eight in the morning to ten at night. I need a life." She crossed her arms across her chest. "I sent in my resignation months ago, but it took meeting you to figure out what I wanted. I need some balance. I need a house, and a garden, and a dog." She looked him in the eyes. "I need a family."

"Oh," said Ryan, crestfallen. "Are you leaving?"

Shelby hesitated. "The plan was to go back to New York, and then figure things out from there."

"Oh." Ryan shook his head slightly. She was leaving. She didn't want to stay with him after all. He quickly assembled his show face, hiding his sudden hurt. "Well, good luck in New York then," he said neutrally, starting to turn away.

But Shelby quickly caught his arm, holding him in place. "You don't understand. That plan was before I found you, rather, before you found me. It's different now. I'm staying, I can't leave you again."

Ryan stared at her for a moment before smiling in relief. "Good. Because I can't lose you again either," he said, running his hand through his hair awkwardly. "I might have overreacted there a little."

"Just a little?" Shelby teased, before becoming serious again. "I told you, I wanted a family. And you're my family." She reached up and ran her hand playfully through his hair. "Where's the rest of your team?"

"Quinn just had her baby," Ryan informed her. "Everyone went with her but they said they'd be back for the awarding."

"Oh," said Shelby, surprised. She supposed all that dancing had caused her to go into labor. "Is she okay?"

"She and the baby are both fine. Finn called just before I came in here. It's a beautiful baby girl." Ryan exited the room to meet the rest of New Directions outside, leaving Shelby alone in the room.

* * *

Later, Shelby stood on the stage next to Jesse St. James, waiting for the judges' results. Finally, the judges came out, led by Sue Sylvester who was carrying the results cards.

She started to speak. "Thank you all for coming. As you all know glee club is such an important – and I honestly can't even finish that sentence, so let's just get to it." Shelby saw Will Schuester roll his eyes out of the corner of her vision. "The 2010 Midwest Regional runners-up, from Fort Wayne, Indiana, the not-at-all-stupidly-named Oral Intensity!"

Cheer's erupted from the audience as Oral Intensity received their award. The two other teams clapped politely for the runners-up.

"And now, your 2010 Midwest Regional show choir champions…" Sue paused, and Shelby could have sworn that she didn't want to say it for some reason. "Vocal Adrenaline!"

Shelby's students erupted into happy cheers as the audience stood up and clapped. A broad smile broke out on her own face before she saw her son's absolutely crushed face. Suddenly she didn't feel like celebrating. Her own smile almost slipped off before she caught herself. But everyone was watching, and she couldn't appear like she had wanted to lose. So she did what she did best, turning to her team and putting on her best congratulatory smile. She was an actor after all, so she acted the part of the triumphant coach, trying to get Ryan out of her mind for now.

* * *

About half an hour later Shelby re-entered the lounge to make sure she hadn't left anything behind. There was a note on the refrigerator that told everyone to make sure to collect everything before they left and she needed to make sure none of her students had left anything. Being a coach was like being a glorified babysitter a lot of the time. But upon entering the room, she stopped in her tracks. Ryan was in there too. He looked up when he heard her enter.

"Hi," Shelby said softly. She didn't know what to say. She was the reason he was upset, and she couldn't do anything about it. They had agreed not to harbor any hard feelings no matter who won, but she knew perfectly well that it wouldn't work out that way. They were both too competitive, too emotional, too dramatic.

"Hi," Ryan replied shortly. What was he supposed to say without sounding childishly bitter? Congratulations? He'd already said that earlier.

They stood there awkwardly, neither knowing what to say.

"Shouldn't you be with VA?" Ryan asked bluntly, just to break the silence. "Aren't you having some kind of victory party?"

Shelby shook herself. "Oh, they went out to have their party by themselves. I don't usually get involved. Hopefully this time won't involve 2am bail-outs."

They fell silent again.

"Look, I – "

"I don't – "

They both started to speak at the same time, and they both stopped at the same time too. Another awkward silence descended.

"Are you okay?" Shelby finally asked, desperate to get rid of this awkwardness.

"No. Usually if you have to ask, then the answer is probably no. Thanks to you and Vocal Adrenaline, our glee club is now officially over. Principal Figgins said that if we didn't at least place at Regionals he was cutting our funding and giving it to the Cheerios."

Shelby was quiet as she processed this news. Her son must be furious at her. By winning, she'd just taken away something that made him really happy. "How mad are you at me?"

Ryan was silent, and Shelby was afraid he wasn't going to answer, that he was too angry with her to even talk to her. Then –

Her son sighed, finally looking at her. "Not as mad as I should be. I guess I'm mostly just disappointed. And we sort of expected this when we found out that Coach Sylvester was one of the judges. She hates the glee club for some reason, plus, our funding is going to the Cheerios if we get disbanded." He stood up from his seat on the couch. "Besides, nothing we can do now. And I've decided that our relationship is more important to me than this competition. I don't want this to get between us."

Shelby could have laughed with relief. "Where's your team?" she asked. "Did they go back to the hospital?"

Ryan shook his head. "Most of them headed home, or went out with their parents."

"Didn't your dads come?"

Ryan almost laughed at her. "No, they don't really care about these things. They're a little too busy with work."

Shelby frowned at this. Couldn't they have gotten some time off to support their only son? "Well, if you want, we could go have dinner or something," she offered. "If you don't have anything else to do, that is. I understand if you don't want to talk to me right now, considering the circumstances –"

Ryan gave her a small smile, his first since the results had been announced. "You don't have to do that, maybe you want to go celebrate with your students," he said, cutting off her ramble.

Shelby shook her head firmly. "I want to. You're my kid, I'd rather spend time with you any day."

Ryan's smile grew. "I wanted to stop at the hospital to see Quinn, though," he said. "I can meet you afterwards somewhere?"

"Or I can take you there myself," Shelby countered.

"You don't have to –"

Shelby shot him a fake glare. Ryan raised his hands in surrender. "Okay then."

* * *

A few minutes later they were on the way to the hospital, and Ryan was telling his mother about Babygate and all its related drama as Shelby drove. She _so_ did not miss the drama of high school. It was even more complicated than when she had gone. She soon pulled into the hospital parking lot. "Do you know which room she's in?"

Ryan nodded, "Mercedes texted it to me."

The pair made their way into the hospital and located Quinn's room, where they found her with her mom. "I'll just wait outside," Shelby told Ryan, who nodded and entered the room.

"Hey Quinn," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just pushed a watermelon out of…you get the idea," she said dryly.

Ryan winced. "Okay. Wrong question. How's Drizzle?" he said jokingly. "Is she okay? Did you give her a real name yet?"

Quinn glanced at her mom, who nodded. "Maybe we could go down to the nursery to see her. If you want to."

"I'd like that," Ryan said sincerely. It would be nice to see the baby who'd brought so much drama to the glee club. "My mo – Shelby's outside, though. Would you mind if she came with us?"

Quinn was a bit surprised, but she did have something she wanted to ask the Vocal Adrenaline coach. "Did she bring you here? Aren't you mad at her for winning?"

"Like I told her, I decided that I didn't want this to come between us. After some deep thought, I came to the conclusion that I value our relationship more than winning a contest." He smiled wryly. "But yes, I'm still a little upset with her and the rest of Vocal Adrenaline."

Quinn shook her head, smiling slightly. "Let's go, then."

Soon they were on their way to the hospital nursery, with Shelby and Mrs. Fabray trailing behind. Shelby didn't quite know what to make of the other woman beyond the perfunctory polite hellos. Ryan had told her that Quinn's parents had kicked her out, and that Mrs. Fabray had just come to talk to Quinn for the first time in months when her water had broken. Of course it wasn't her place to judge but after missing out on her son for fifteen years she couldn't understand how anyone could kick their own child out of their home.

The group stopped at the window to the nursery. "There." Quinn pointed out her baby to Ryan.

"Wow," said Ryan in awe. It was hard to believe that that baby had come from Quinn. He smiled, noticing the soft blonde hair on the baby's head. "She sort of looks like you."

"Does she have a name?" Shelby asked, also looking at the infant, something strange in her voice.

Quinn shook her head, ignoring Ryan as he glanced at her. "Mom, could you get me something from the cafeteria? I'm getting a bit hungry."

Mrs. Fabray nodded. "Sure Quinnie."

"I'm going to get a drink too," Ryan said. "I'm parched, I forgot my water bottle in the car. Do you want something?" He asked Shelby. When she shook her head, he left with Mrs. Fabray, going in the direction of the hospital cafeteria, leaving Quinn and Shelby gazing at the babies in the nursery.

"I saw your name on the adoption list," Quinn said bluntly. "When we – Puck and I – were looking at prospective parents."

Shelby looked at her in surprise, thinking of what to say. "I put my name down a while ago. Maybe last year. It was before I found Ryan." She looked back at the window. "I need to take my name off though. I don't think it would be right now that Ryan's around," she said, almost to herself. "It wouldn't be fair. To either of them."

The two of them were quiet for a while, waiting – Shelby wondering if Quinn would ask, and Quinn wondering if Shelby would offer the information. Finally it was Quinn who spoke. "How did it feel? When you…when you gave up your baby?"

Shelby kept her gaze on the window. "It felt like I was leaving a part of myself behind." She paused, collecting her thoughts. "I told Ryan that I regretted it. Then I didn't. Then I did." She finally turned to Quinn. "It's confusing. But the important thing is that you do what you think is best for your child. When I gave Ryan up I wasn't ready for a baby. I couldn't have taken care of him the way his fathers did. I can't tell you what to do, Quinn. But I can tell you, that's what being a mom is, it's putting the needs of your child first, before your own."

Then they saw Ryan coming back from down the hall holding a bottle of water. "There was a vending machine a few corridors down. Your mom's probably still in the cafeteria," he informed Quinn. "She said we could go back to your room if you wanted."

Quinn nodded absently, still digesting Shelby's words. "We should probably head back."

The three of them walked back to Quinn's hospital room quietly. When they got back, Ryan asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Quinn glanced quickly at Shelby, who was looking at her as well. She returned her gaze to Ryan. "I'm putting her up for adoption," she said quietly. "I've actually been looking at prospective families, and Puck and I have narrowed it down to three candidates. We're going to have to talk some more, we thought we'd have a few more weeks to decide."

Ryan nodded thoughtfully. "When are you getting discharged?"

Just then Quinn's mom entered the room, carrying a paper bag of food. "The doctor says she'll be good to go by tomorrow, if there aren't any problems."

Nodding again, Ryan looked at Shelby, then back at Quinn. "We should go, let you have some rest," he said to Quinn. "We're having dinner somewhere."

Quinn smiled, happy for him. In a way, the relationship between Ryan and Shelby gave her hope, that maybe someday she'd be able to meet her daughter, maybe even have a relationship with her in the future. The far off, distant future. The pain was too close right now. "Don't forget that rain check," she called after him.

Ryan turned. "I won't," he answered with a bright smile as he and Shelby left, saying their goodbyes to Mrs. Fabray.

* * *

"So what's up with that rain check?" Shelby asked Ryan slyly when they got to the restaurant where they had decided to have dinner. She'd seen the way he had looked at Quinn in the hospital.

A slight blush appeared on Ryan's face. He kept his face straight though. "A few days ago Quinn was telling me how she couldn't watch a movie all the way through because she had to get up every few minutes to go to the bathroom, because of the baby. So I said that maybe afterwards, we could go watch a movie, to celebrate. As friends," he added unconvincingly.

Shelby smirked. "Okay, sure. I completely believe you. Are you sure you get all that stage makeup off? You seem to be redder than usual."

The blush intensified. "Fine, I _may_ have a crush on Quinn," Ryan admitted. He took a sip of his drink, trying to cover up his embarrassment.

Shelby had to suppress a grin. Her son was so cute when he was embarrassed. But she let it go for now. Wouldn't want her kid to spontaneously combust. "I actually thought you might be gay, what with your dads and all."

"Would you have had a problem with that?" Ryan had been dealing with homophobes messing with him because of his dads, and he really hoped his mom wasn't one of them.

"Of course not," Shelby said, a bit surprised. "I was a surrogate for a gay married couple after all."

"Right." He'd forgotten about that. That was awkward. "Sorry. A lot of people don't like my dads because of it. We're in Ohio after all."

Shelby brushed it off. "It's fine."

The two of them were quiet for a while as they focused on eating. Neither of them wanted to bring up the competition, it had been an unspoken decision in the car on the way here that that particular topic was off bounds for a while. Truthfully Shelby was still scared that he was mad at her for winning Regionals, and after that whole mess that had happened between the two of them just before Regionals, she wasn't entirely sure how far she could push him.

"What did you and Quinn talk about when I was at the vending machine?" Ryan asked suddenly.

Caught off-guard, Shelby thought about her response. "Post-pregnancy questions mostly," she answered slowly. It was true, in a way. She wasn't sure if she should tell him about her adoption application. He hadn't reacted very well when she'd told him of her initial plans to move back to New York, and she didn't want a repeat of that. Maybe some other time.

"Oh." Ryan wasn't really all that interested in that. A thought occurred to him. "You know, I meant to ask. What happened with VA's tire crisis? I know Mr. Hummel didn't do the changing."

Shelby smirked. "Well, I told all of them that since they had so much time on their hands, they could just go ahead and change the tires themselves. You should have seen them the weekend after the tire-slashing, more than half of them were clueless about how to change their tires, they were out there for hours," she said happily. "I may have also re-hired Dakota Stanley to polish up some of their moves."

Ryan couldn't help his laugh either. "No wonder they're so scared of you."

"Hey, you mess with my kid, you're going down."

Ryan smiled, touched. "Thanks."

* * *

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows, they make my day every time I get an email notification. Keep them coming. Any suggestions are welcome as well, it's been pointed out that I've made the two Berrys very unlikeable, I'm going to need something good to dig myself out of that. while I've got something in mind, any comments would be great. 'Til next time!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Hey everyone, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

"Hello Quinn, I didn't know you'd be back already," Ryan smiled at her as she entered the choir room, where he was standing at the piano sorting out some of his music. It was the Monday after Regionals, and it was back to school as usual. Mr. Schue had told them that Figgins said they had to vacate the choir room by tomorrow. It was going to be just enough time for them to practice one more song. "I thought you might take a few days from school."

"I'm fine," Quinn answered, returning his smile. "The doctors said it was fine."

Ryan studied the blonde. She did look fine. He wasn't used to seeing her not pregnant anymore, and she looked a little strange without the baby bump she had sported for the last few months, but she did look fine. Physically anyways. He could see the tiredness in her eyes, and he sensed that she was a bit off somehow. "Are you sure? You know you can talk to me if you need to."

Quinn's smile turned sad. "Talking seems to have become our thing. We need to find a new line," she quipped. "I'm fine. Just…tired." She was quiet for a moment. "Puck and I decided on a family yesterday."

Ryan looked up from the papers he was sorting, his hand going up to his hair. "Oh. I see," he said, unsure of what to say.

Quinn came over to lean on the piano opposite him. She picked up some of the papers, fiddling with them as she continued to talk. "Simon and Julia Waterson. They're from Dayton." She paused, and both of them stood in silence for a moment. "They gave me their number. They said if we wanted, they were willing to let me and Puck see her from time to time. Or they said they could send pictures."

Ryan looked back at her. "What did they name her?" he asked curiously.

Quinn smiled softly. "Beth. Puck told them what he wanted to name her, and they agreed."

"Well, at least it wasn't Drizzle," Ryan said lightly, smiling when Quinn chuckled. "Are you taking them up on their visitation offer?"

"I'm…not sure yet," Quinn said slowly. "Maybe someday. It's too soon right now."

Ryan nodded absently. He still wasn't sure what to say. So he decided to change topic. "Well, I was thinking, we have one more session in here. I thought we could get together one last time, sing one more song to Mr. Schue. he put a lot of work into glee club, and now it's just…over." Even if Ryan and Mr. Schue hadn't always gotten along, Ryan recognized that Mr. Schue had tried his best to inspire them and guide them. He'd helped them a lot this past year, and it seemed right that he should have their last song.

"I think that's a good idea."

* * *

A couple of days later, Ryan was fixing up another car back in Burt's auto shop. He hadn't been able to spend much time here in the days leading up to Regionals. It was relaxing to be back.

They had ended up singing _To Sir, With Love_ to Mr. Schue in the auditorium. Carefully attaching a new brake pad to the car he was working on, Ryan thought about his conversation with Quinn. He was truly happy for her. True, she'd seemed tired and sad, but she had also seemed peaceful now that she thought about. More relaxed. She had been understandably stressed over the past nine months, and it looked like she was genuinely happy with her decision to give her baby up for adoption.

And he was glad that she'd found Beth a family that had offered to let her meet her child. He couldn't help but wonder how different his life would be if his own fathers hadn't set up that contract. Logically he knew it was for their protection, that they were afraid Shelby might back out on them. But then he remembered all the times he'd been teased for not having a mom, and his resentment returned in full force. If they weren't going to pay attention to him, they could have at least given him the option of meeting his mom.

Ryan hadn't seen Shelby since the night after Regionals when they'd had dinner, but they had texted here and there. And it had only been a few days. He didn't want to seem too clingy. The dinner had been nice, but both of them had been a bit on edge, Ryan because he was still upset about losing, and Shelby because she was scared that Ryan might change his mind and get angry with her and VA for winning.

But that had actually turned out all right. By some miracle, New Directions had been granted one more year of funding. He actually liked how his life was right now. He'd found his mom, who seemed to care about him. She always seemed to make time for him, even if it was just for a quick text message. And he had a friend in Quinn, which was much more than he'd had at the start of the year. He even had a sort-of-date with her to look forward to. And the glee club had been granted a stay of execution. It was almost hard to believe how well everything was going.

* * *

That same afternoon, Shelby was in her office grading quiz papers. She had called off Vocal Adrenaline's rehearsals for the past few days to give the students – and herself – a bit of a break before they started preparing for Nationals, which were in about a month. She was already starting to brainstorm song selections, but she wanted her students' input before she decided on anything.

She had also met her new assistant director for Vocal Adrenaline, Justin Goolsby, yesterday. Or was it Dustin? Never mind. He'd been selected by Carmel High's principal and the Vocal Adrenaline booster club in preparation for her stepping down as coach at the end of the year. She hadn't seen him teach yet, but her first impression of the man wasn't that great.

_**Flashback**_

"Everyone, read the last three chapters by tomorrow. There will be a quiz," Shelby announced to her English class. The collective groan that arose was masked by the bell marking the end of the class. Shelby quickly gathered up her things and exited the room. It was her last class of the day and she just wanted to leave. Students may not realize it but the teachers love the end-of-class bell as much as they do.

"Hey Coach." She was greeted by a man with black hair, wearing a black leather jacket and chewing some gum. "I'm Dustin Goolsby, I'm going to be taking over Vocal Adrenaline when you retire next month." He stuck out his hand.

Shelby shook his hand stiffly. So this was the next coach of VA. "Nice to meet you." She stepped past him, walking to her office.

"Great to meet you too," he said breezily, falling into step with her. "I've got loads of great ideas for the team. When are you holding rehearsals?"

"Actually, I called off rehearsals for the past few days. We've just won Regionals, and the students could use a break."

Dustin nodded. "Of course, of course. I was watching, excellent performance by the way. Although, a few more tweaks could make it better."

"Well, I would be happy to hear your suggestions next week at rehearsals," Shelby said diplomatically. Might as well try to work with him. "The next one is on tomorrow at 3 in the auditorium. We'll be working on our set list for Nationals." She stopped at her office door. "I'll see you then," she ended in a clear dismissal, entering her office.

"All right, I'm looking forward to it."

_**End Flashback**_

Shelby was still reserving judgement; for all she knew, Dustin would be an excellent coach. She was planning to let him run one of the practices by himself, see what he had to offer and how he was with the students. But the man was sort of obnoxious, and she had the sense that he'd be willing to use any underhanded tactics to win. She knew they needed a new coach, but Vocal Adrenaline was her team and she didn't want to leave it in the hands of someone who wouldn't be able to keep up the record she had made.

She had just finished grading the last paper when she heard her mobile ring from inside her briefcase. Digging it out, she saw that it was her mom. "Hi mom."

"_Hi Shelly, are you coming here this weekend? Your dad and I thought we could celebrate your win at Regionals."_

Shelby sighed in amusement. "You do know it was my students who won and not me, right?"

_"Psh. Semantics. The coach is part of the team isn't she?"_

"Sure, I'll come up if you want."

"_Good, good. Now, do you think there's a chance you can bring Ryan up with you?"_

She knew it. Her mom had been pestering her to try to bring Ryan to Akron to meet them for a while now. Actually, she'd been doing it ever since Shelby had told her that she and Ryan were trying for some kind of relationship. "Mom, you know it's not that easy…"

Shelby could almost hear her mom roll her eyes at the other end of the line. _"I know it's not that easy, but maybe you could talk to him, see how he feels about it,_" Sarah wheedled.

"I know, but it's not just Ryan I'd have to ask, I'd have to ask Hiram and Leroy too, and we're not exactly the best of friends at the moment."

"_Just try, okay? I want to meet my first, and so far only, grandson."_

Shelby sighed. "We'll see, okay mom?"

"_Okay honey, but I wish you'd hurry up and bring him already. Otherwise we'll be forced to come up there. Love you."_

"Love you too." Shelby ended the call and leaned back in her chair.

She hadn't talked with the Berry men since that meeting at the coffee shop where they'd warned her against telling Ryan who she was. She wasn't scared of them anymore, the contract was pretty much void since Ryan had found her by himself. But they were still his parents, and she knew she needed to respect that. They had been the ones to raise him and care for him since he was born after all, which was why she needed to talk to them first about taking to Ryan to Akron.

* * *

_A few days later_

"Did you get slushied again?" Quinn said as she spotted the Ryan exiting the boys' bathroom with wet hair.

Ryan sighed. "Cherry. My least favorite, since it's really hard to get out of clothes." He stuffed his wet clothes into his bag. "Anyways, I wanted to ask. Are you busy on Friday? I thought maybe we could catch that movie." He gave her a hopeful grin. "If not, it's fine though, we can go some other time," he started to ramble.

"Okay, calm down. Yes, I'm free on Friday." Quinn used to find it annoying when he rambled, but after actually talking to him she'd noticed that he only did it when he was nervous. She'd started to notice a lot of things about him in the past couple of months. Like how he ran his hand through his hair when he didn't know what to say, and how his whole face would light up when he was really happy, which wasn't that often. She doubted anyone else in the glee club noticed. Sadly, they didn't really seem to pay attention to anything about him other than his voice.

A grin appeared on his face, and Quinn watched as his eyes brightened. "Great! You can pick the movie, I'm not really sure what's in the cinema right now. Maybe we can meet somewhere for dinner, before the movie?"

Quinn gave him a teasing smile. "Aren't you going to pick me up?"

Ryan's smile faltered a bit. "I would, but I don't have a driver's license yet," he laughed nervously. "I just turned 15, remember?"

Quinn frowned slightly. "I actually forgot that. How did we end up in the same grade anyways?"

"My dads entered me into preschool a year early," Ryan explained.

Just then Santana and Brittney came up to them. "That's probably because they couldn't stand you anymore," Santana said offhandedly. "Hey Quinn, Midget."

Brittney gave them a wave. "Hi guys."

Ryan sighed. "Hi Britt. Again, Santana, you can't call me Midget anymore, I'm at least an inch taller than you." He didn't give any sign that he was affected by what Santana had said, but Quinn noticed him wince slightly when Santana had spoken.

"Whatever," Santana sassed.

Ryan nodded at Quinn. "Well, I need to get to class. See you later." He walked off.

As soon as he was gone Quinn whirled on Santana. "That was really rude."

"What?" Santana stared at Quinn. "If you haven't noticed, I'm rude to everybody. Seriously though, what did I do now?"

"You can't just tell people their parents can't stand them!"

"Hey, it was a joke," Santana said defensively. "Besides, he knows I didn't mean it. You know how things just pop out of my mouth sometimes."

Quinn roller her eyes. "Just because you don't mean it doesn't give you automatic rights to say whatever you want," she said irritably. She turned around walked off in the direction of her next class.

Santana looked at Brittney, who said absently, "Yeah, sometimes you're really bitchy. But that's okay. I like it."

* * *

Later that day, Quinn found Ryan at the lockers just before they headed to their common class. "Hey. Are you okay?"

Ryan looked at her. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I thought maybe you got upset at what Santana said this morning. You know it's not true. She just says stupid things sometimes."

Ryan sighed. "No, it's fine. It doesn't matter." He paused. "Just having a fight with my dads. It's nothing."

Quinn glanced at him. "Is it about Shelby?"

"Partly. I don't know. I haven't talked to them properly in a while." Try in years. He cleared his throat. "We'll fix it." Eventually. Probably not.

She looked at him speculatively for a moment before entering. "Well, if you're sure," she said dubiously. "Anyways, I was thinking maybe we could meet at Breadstix before the movie on Friday. Then we can watch the movie." She was actually looking forward to this date.

Ryan smiled. "Sure."

* * *

After classes, Shelby looked up from the papers she was grading when she heard a knock on her door. Thank God, she was just about ready to start shredding some of these essays her students thought were fit to pass as homework. "It's open!"

She was surprised when Ryan walked in. "Hi Ryan, what are you doing here?"

He stood in the doorway. "I can come back later if you're busy," he said shyly. "The garage is closed today and no one's home at my house."

"Well, come in," Shelby said, waving her arm at him. "I'm glad you're here, I was about to stab my eyes out with my red pen. There are just no words to describe the absolute horror that is grading English papers."

Ryan had to chuckle at his mother's dramatics as he entered the office and sat down. "They can't be that bad."

"Wanna bet?" Shelby put her pen down. "So, I doubt you came here to commiserate with me on my students' lack of writing skills. What's up with you?"

Ryan smiled. "I'm going to a movie with Quinn on Saturday," he said happily.

Shelby gave him a smirk. "Ah, so you've cashed in your rain check?"

"Yes, I have." Ryan was determined not to blush this time around. "We're having dinner then we're going to watch… well, something. I'm not really sure what's playing now."

"Sounds like a date to me," Shelby teased. "Is it your first?"

Ryan rolled his eyes at her. "Fine, _maybe_ it's a date. I'm not sure if she thinks it's a date." He paused. "I don't suppose you can give me any tips?" he asked hopefully.

Shelby blinked at him, surprised. Why was he asking her for dating advice? He'd probably be better off asking one of his dads about that. "I'm not exactly the best person to ask," she said dryly. She hadn't dated in…a while. She'd had flings here and there, but nothing serious. "You should probably ask your dads about that."

She almost missed the quick frown that crossed Ryan's face when she mentioned his fathers. "Something wrong?" She'd spoken with Hiram a couple of days ago, and he hadn't given any indication that there was anything wrong with Ryan.

"No, we're fine." Ryan didn't really want to get into it right now, he'd had pretty much his fill of talking about his dads with Santana and Quinn for today. For the rest of the week, actually. "So, tips?"

Shelby looked at him closely before deciding to let it pass. It probably wasn't that serious anyways. "Hmmm. Well, just pay for dinner, pay for the movie, don't spill anything on her dress. And wear a nice shirt I guess," she added as an afterthought, after glancing at the knitted sweater he was currently wearing. "Let me ask you something. Do you really like those sweaters that you're wearing?" Shelby didn't have anything against her son's clothes, she was just curious.

Ryan looked surprised. "I don't know, I guess not." He hesitated. "I don't really have much of a fashion sense," he admitted. He pondered for a moment. "I think my dads used to get me these sweaters years ago, and I suppose I just stuck with them because I didn't really know how to shop for myself." Plus it didn't matter if they got ruined by slushies since he didn't particularly like them.

"They don't go shopping with you?" Who in their right mind let a teenage boy shop for himself? Shelby wondered. Everyone knew most of that species had absolutely no clue what to do in a clothes store. They ended up buying the stupidest, gaudiest clothes available, or they bought nothing at all and wore the same clothes for years until they were outgrown or worn out. It seemed her son was of the latter variety.

Ryan shook his head. The last time he'd gone out with either of his fathers was several months ago, and it hadn't been for shopping.

Shelby stood up. "Well, come on, we're going shopping."

"What?"

"I'm taking you shopping. If you don't like those sweaters there's no reason to be wearing them. I'll help you pick something out for your date too." Shelby started putting away her things.

Ryan fidgeted. "Yeah, I don't really have any money on me right now…"

"My treat," Shelby assured him.

"You don't have to –"

Shelby leveled a fake glare at him. "I want to." Her face softened. "When I was pregnant with you I always wanted to dress you up as a baby, even if I knew I wouldn't get to keep you. Of course, I didn't know if you were a boy or a girl so I sort of imagined stuffing you into little dresses," she teased him.

Ryan huffed at her before asking, "You didn't find out my gender in advance? Weren't you curious?"

"Oh, we found out. But you wouldn't cooperate until about seven and a half months into the pregnancy. By then we'd actually gotten used to the idea that we were just going to be surprised." She checked her files. "I just need to go get something in the choir room. Stay here." She exited the room, leaving Ryan alone in the office.

Ryan stood up and glanced around the office. His mom wouldn't be too mad if he looked around, right? He took in the numerous trophies that lined the wall. Not as many as the ones that decorated Sue Sylvester's office, but there was still a respectable number. Above each of the three National level trophies in the room there was a picture of the Vocal Adrenaline members who had won it, with Shelby in the center holding the enormous trophy.

Then he shifted his attention to the desk. It was relatively neat, not Ms. Pillsbury's OCD neat, but pretty organized nonetheless. There were two framed pictures on the desk. He picked one up, noting with surprise that it was of himself. After studying the picture for a moment, he decided that it must have been taken at Sectionals a few months ago. That was the black shirt and red tie that had comprised their costume, and it looked like he was in the middle of his solo.

"I got that at your Sectionals competition."

Ryan turned around and saw Shelby watching him affectionately from the doorway. "Did you take this?"

Shelby shook her head, walking over to him and taking the picture. "There was a photographer taking pictures of all the competitors. He takes professional shots of Vocal Adrenaline, so I asked him if he had any copies of the New Directions' lead singer. He sent me this." She looked down at the picture. "This is actually my first picture of you. Besides the sonograms," she amended, her voice turning a bit distant.

Ryan didn't really know what to say to that, so instead he looked at the other picture on Shelby's desk, which showed Shelby and three other people. "Who's that?"

Shelby glanced at the picture and smiled. "That's my family," she explained. "That's my mom, Sarah, my dad Tom, and my younger brother Josh."

Ryan picked up the picture, looking intently at it. "Do they know about me?" He looked up at her.

Shelby nodded. "Yes, they do. They actually really want to meet you soon, they've been nagging at me to take you to Akron to meet them," she said wryly, remembering her mother's constant hints.

"Oh." Ryan ran his hand through his hair. He looked back at the picture. He hadn't really thought of the possibility that Shelby had a family. Of course he knew she'd have a family, he just hadn't considered them as real people. They were more of an abstract idea. But now he knew he had grandparents, and an uncle.

Shelby watched him, unsure of his reaction. What did 'oh' mean? Deciding not to get into it right now, she turned back to the task at hand. "Well, put down the picture and let's get to the mall. We're going shopping."

* * *

**Thanks for all the comments, guys! I'm glad you're still enjoying this story, hope you liked this chapter too. Next chapter will hopefully be up sometime this week, barring real-life problems.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone, here's the next chapter. You know how it goes, I don't own Glee and all that…**

* * *

"Here, try these on."

Ryan took the proffered shirt with a light sigh and trudged back to the dressing room. He had obviously never been shopping with a mom before, and so he hadn't been prepared for the ordeal of trying on clothes one after the other, modelling them for his mom, and then deciding whether they - mainly Shelby - liked it or not. It took _forever_. He couldn't take much more of this, if they didn't take a break soon he was going to start banging his head on the dressing room walls. He didn't know if anyone could be driven insane by a shopping trip, but he thought he was about to come close. He pulled on the shirt Shelby had pushed at him and went outside to show his mom. After receiving a nod of approval he returned to the dressing room to change _yet again_.

They had been shopping for two hours, and Ryan had acquired several new shirts, a few new pairs of pants, and a jacket, and a face that managed to be tired and jumpy at the same time. If Shelby didn't wrap this up soon, he was going to make a run for it.

But then at the same time, he thought it was kind of nice. He had told Shelby the truth, he didn't have any fashion sense at all, and the last time Kurt had 'helped' him he had turned out looking like an idiot. It wasn't a nice memory. It was a new experience to have someone care about how he looked, unlike his dads who didn't particularly care. And he had to admit, his mom was a pretty sharp dresser, so she must know what she was talking about.

Still, enough was enough. "I don't suppose we can stop soon?"

Shelby meanwhile had noticed the flighty look on her son's face, and decided that it was time to quit for the day before he broke down. She could sort of remember how it felt, her mom used to drag her out on shopping trips like this when she was Ryan's age, and she usually whined all the way through. She supposed she should count her blessings that her son wasn't a very whiny child, or at least he wasn't showing it right now. "Okay, how about we take a break?" she suggested, smirking at the relieved look that appeared on Ryan's face.

"Oh thank God."

* * *

The two of them ended up having dinner in a small restaurant at the mall. "So," Shelby began as they waited for their food, "Do you and your dads have any plans for the summer?"

Ryan shrugged. "Not really. We usually just stay here in the summer. Neither of them really like to take time off work. Last summer I spent a lot of time at the garage, I'll probably do that again this year. Anyways, how's Vocal Adrenaline doing? Do you have a set list for Nationals yet?"

Shelby studied him for a moment, deciding if she wanted to pursue the topic of his dads. Something told her that was a sensitive topic right now though, so she went with the subject change. "Of course we have a set list," she informed Ryan. "And rehearsals are going fine, thank you. I've got a new assistant, Mr. Goolsby. He'll be taking over as coach next year." She smirked. "I actually let him supervise the sessions with Dakota Stanley."

Ryan laughed. "That's kind of mean," he said reprovingly. "Although Dakota Stanley's an evil little man, I can see why you wouldn't want to work with him. Did you know we tried hiring him to choreograph us for Sectionals?"

"No," Shelby said, intrigued. "How did you afford him? He charges $8,000 per number, plus a bonus if you place. The only reason we can afford him is because of the booster club."

"Huh," Ryan said. "You know, I'm not really sure. I remember we had a car wash, but now that I think about it I'm not sure how we made $8,000 from that. That was a really strange week, I think that was when Mr. Schue and some of the other teachers formed an acapella group."

"Was it any good?"

"It was, actually, but they only performed twice. He actually asked three of the glee club boys, myself included, to join in on the second one. Some of his members quit and he needed more singers."

"How did you do? What did you sing?" Shelby asked curiously.

Ryan's mouth quirked up in a half-smile. "Standing ovation. Of course, the audience was a PTA meeting, and we sang _I Just Wanna Sex You Up_, so it was an easy-to-please crowd."

Shelby almost choked on her water. A bunch of male teachers and students sang _I Just Wanna Sex You Up_ to a crowd full of moms? That was…weird…

"You know, Mr. Schue only had us pick the set list about a week before Regionals," Ryan said.

No wonder they ended up losing, Shelby thought privately. No matter how good a team was they still needed rehearsal time to smooth out any kinks in the performance and to make sure all the singers blended properly. Out loud she said, "Then your performance was even more impressive, if you only had a week to prepare."

"I kept telling him we needed one earlier, but he doesn't listen to me."

Shelby frowned at that. That was another mistake on Will Schuester's part. She had learned early on in her coaching career that she needed to listen to her students' suggestions. They could have good ideas a lot of the time, and her kids respected her more since she actually took their comments into account. "Well, maybe he had a good reason for it. He's your coach for a reason."

"Maybe. He's good at inspirational pep talks, anyway. His rapping is…atrocious for lack of a better word," Ryan smiled as he remembered Mr. Schue's rendition of _Ice Ice Baby_.

Shelby laughed. "He raps?"

* * *

Shelby drove Ryan home at around eight-thirty. She pulled up to the Berrys' house, frowning when she noticed that none of the lights were on. "Isn't anyone home yet?"

Ryan shook his head as they both got out of the car. "Dad's out on a business trip and I don't know when Papa's getting home. Don't worry, I have a key."

Shelby looked at him doubtfully. "Are you sure? I don't really want to leave you alone…"

Ryan smiled at her. "Don't worry about it, it happens a lot. I'll be fine." He hesitated, seeing the slightly worried look on Shelby's face. "He might be home by nine," he said. It wasn't exactly a lie. Leroy _might_ be home by nine. Of course, it would probably be later, but that didn't matter right now. He didn't want his mom to worry.

He was too late on that count though. _What did he mean it happened a lot?_ Shelby wondered worriedly before relenting. "If you're sure," she said reluctantly. "You call me if you need anything, okay?"

Ryan nodded. "Thanks, mom," he said, before he could catch himself. He froze and looked at Shelby. Was she upset? Was it okay for him to call her that?

If the large smile on Shelby's face was anything to go by, then yes it was. "You called me mom."

Ryan fidgeted a little. "Yeah. I usually think about you as my mom now. I don't have to call you that though if you don't want me to, maybe you don't want me to –"

He was cut off mid-ramble by Shelby wrapping him in a hug. "Of course you can call me your mom. I'd be honored if you called me that."

Ryan quickly returned her hug. "Okay then."

The two of them broke apart, with identical smiles on their faces. Then Ryan said, "I'd better get inside. Thanks again for taking me out, mom." He unlocked the door and dropped all of his stuff inside the house.

Shelby nodded at him. "Bye honey," she said. "See you soon, okay?" She got into her car and started the engine, starting the drive back to her own home.

When she got home, she poured herself a glass of wine and sat down in her living room. She had dropped almost $300 at the mall today, including dinner, but she didn't care about that right now. Her baby thought of her as a mom now, she thought delightedly.

Her happiness was slightly dampened when she remembered that Ryan was alone at his house right now, and at the fact that he seemed to be used to it. She was pretty sure fifteen-year-olds weren't supposed to be left alone at home often, especially not at night. And she was worried about his reaction whenever she mentioned his dads. She'd noticed it over the last few weeks. She had assumed at first that the Berrys were upset that she and Ryan were forming a relationship, but now it seemed like more than that.

She pulled out her phone, sending a text to Ryan. _Your dad home yet?_

A reply came in after a minute. _No. But I'm fine. Don't worry too much ;)_

_I'm your mom, I'm supposed to worry. Get used to it._

A few minutes later Shelby's phone chimed again. _He's coming in right now. Night, mom :)_

Shelby smiled. Even seeing it in a text message made her happy. _Goodnight_.

* * *

The next day found Hiram Berry working on a company audit when his phone rang. "Hello, Hiram Berry speaking."

_"Hi Hiram, it's Shelby Corcoran."_

Well that was a surprise. He hadn't heard from Shelby in a couple of months, ever since that time in the coffee shop. There was a slight pause as he processed. "Hi Shelby, what can I do for you?" Wait, that sounded like he was talking to a customer.

It seemed that Shelby thought so too. _"This isn't a business call, I wanted to ask something about Ryan," _her voice came out.

That didn't sound good. "What is it?"

"_I wanted to ask if it was okay for me to take him to Akron sometime, maybe in a few weeks. To meet my family. My mom's been asking for a while now, since I met him actually…"_

She sounded a bit nervous. He supposed she had a reason, he and Leroy hadn't exactly been friendly when they'd last met. The last thing they would have wanted back then was for Ryan to make an even bigger connection to Shelby. He thought quickly. He actually had a business trip to go to next weekend, and he was leaving on Friday. He knew Leroy didn't particularly care if Ryan went somewhere, especially after their talk last week.

"_Hiram? Are you still there?"_

He suddenly realized he'd been quiet for a while. "Yes, I'm here. Uh, yes, sure, you can take Ryan. This weekend if you want, or anytime, I suppose. I'll ask Leroy to make sure, but I don't think he'll have a problem with it. So if Ryan wants to go with you, I guess you can take him."

"_Really?"_ Shelby sounded surprised. _"Okay. Thanks."_

"Is that it?" He needed to get back to work.

"_Yes, that's it."_

"Okay then," Hiram said. "Bye Shelby." He hung up the phone. He had no doubt Ryan would want to go with Shelby. This just further convinced him that the idea he wanted to bring up with Leroy was the right one. He hadn't had the time to bring it up with him yet, but he would soon. He turned his focus back to his work, quickly burying the thought of Shelby and Ryan at the back of his mind. He could think about that later.

* * *

Shelby hung up the phone, happy and a little confused. She had actually been expecting a bit of an argument, the two men hadn't been shy about letting her know they didn't want her around their son. But instead she'd just gotten permission to take Ryan to meet her family at any time. But she'd gotten the feeling that Hiram didn't particularly care. She was getting worried about her son, it was obvious he was having problems with his dads, but she didn't know what she could do about it, if anything. Maybe she should talk with them face to face again.

A knock sounded on her door. "Hey Shelby, the kids are in the auditorium waiting for you," Dustin Goolsby said from the doorway.

She sighed internally. "I'll be there in a minute. Tell them to start vocalizing." For the first time she just couldn't wait until Nationals were over. It didn't help that she found her new 'assistant' incredibly annoying. He was capable enough as a coach, though not quite up to her standards. He hadn't caught some of the minor slip-ups in rehearsal a few days ago, and he was a lot more laid back than she was. Hopefully he'd be able to keep up VA's soon-to-be four-year winning streak.

* * *

Back at McKinley, Ryan was having his end-of-the-year meeting with Miss Pillsbury. All the students were scheduled to talk to her just before classes ended, which was in a couple of weeks.

"Well, Ryan, you seem to be better since our last appointment," Emma Pillsbury noted to the student sitting in front of her desk. "You don't seem to be as preoccupied." She offered him a pump from the bottle of hand sanitizer sitting on her desk.

Ryan smiled slightly at the redhead. "I admit, I was upset when we lost at Regionals, but that's to be expected. However, in light of the second chance the glee club has received, it won't do any good to mope about what happened. I intend to come back for next year's competition, and this time, we'll win," he ended confidently.

Again, Emma couldn't help but smile at the student's confidence and at his precise speech. "That's a good attitude to have. How about outside of glee club? Mr. Schuester told me you had the chance to meet your biological mom, how did that go?"

Ryan's smile grew. "Well, we did hit a rough patch about a week before Regionals, but we're fine now. We've decided that we're going to try to build a relationship. We're taking it slowly right now, but it's fine. Shelby's great. She's the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, and while I was upset with her for winning at first, I decided that I wasn't going to let a competition get between us."

Emma noted that Ryan was much more willing to talk this time around. She couldn't be sure if it was because of his new relationship with his mom or something else, but it was good. "Do your fathers know about your relationship with your mom?"

She saw the boy's smile fade a bit. "Yes, they know," he said shortly. "I actually met her a few times before I found out who she was. Apparently my fathers prevented her from telling me. They made her sign a contract before I was born, stipulating that she couldn't make any contact with me until I was 18, or if I found her first."

Ah. That would explain the irritation then. "Maybe they thought it was what was best for you. Sometimes our parents try to do what they think is right for their kids, even though it doesn't make sense to the kids a lot of the time."

Ryan shook his head. "Maybe. I think they're just selfish. They don't pay attention to me, and then they tried to keep my mom away from me." He stopped, looking warily at the guidance counselor. He hadn't meant to say that.

Emma caught the look. "What do you mean?" She watched him closely for a reaction, but was disappointed when his face blanked.

"Just that they spend a lot of time at work," Ryan answered. "They aren't interested in the arts."

Emma remembered that his parents hadn't attended the Sectionals performance, which she had chaperoned. Granted, not many other parents had attended, but some had. She knew from Will that the parents of most of the other glee kids had attended Regionals, though. "Did they attend your Regionals competition? Pretty big event, right?"

"No. They didn't." They hadn't even remembered that he _had_ a competition. "It's okay though. My mom took me out for dinner afterwards." Ryan smiled at the memory. "And we've been going out every so often. We just had dinner last night, as a matter of fact. She's a bit busy with getting Vocal Adrenaline ready for Nationals."

It looked like something deeper was going on with him and his fathers, in Emma's opinion. But just from the past minute she could tell that Ryan wasn't going to say anything more about them, and without anything else, she didn't have any cause to investigate further. "Well, that's good then. I hope it goes well with the two of you." She straightened some papers on her desk. "Did you think about what I said last time, about finding someone to talk to? Maybe now that you've struck up a relationship, you can talk to your mom."

Ryan smiled again. "We do talk. And yes, I took your advice. I've become friends with Quinn Fabray."

That was a surprise to the counselor. But she wasn't opposed to it at all. Maybe the two would be able to help each other out. "That's good, it's always good to make more friends." She looked in the eye again. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?"

Predictably, Ryan shook his head. "I'm fine. Can I leave?"

Emma nodded at him. "You can leave."

Ryan quickly made his exit. He actually sort of liked the redheaded guidance counselor. She tried to help them whenever they came to her, like the time she had volunteered to chaperone their Sectionals competition, pushing back her wedding to Ken Tanaka to do so. Although her advice was sometimes a bit off, like when she'd suggested to Quinn and Finn that wearing sunglasses would make them look cool. It didn't, they just looked stupid.

He knew she had seen him react when she mentioned his dads though. He hadn't talked about Shelby with either of them since his fight with Hiram, instead limiting their conversations to the usual "Good morning" and "Pass the potatoes" on the rare occasions when they ate together. All in all not that different from usual, except that now he was acting coldly toward them rather than trying to gain their attention. While he wasn't really as furious with them as before, the resentment was still there. They were always busy with work and then never paid attention to him when they were around.

Still, he was happier now, even without glee.

* * *

Meanwhile, across town, Hiram and Leroy were meeting for lunch. "What's this about, Hi?" Leroy asked. Hiram had been the one to ask if they could meet, since he wanted to talk.

"Can't we just have lunch together once in a while without an interrogation?" Hiram said unconvincingly. They hadn't had lunch together like this in a very long time, what with both of them occupied with work as they were.

Leroy knew that as well, and he simply looked at his husband tiredly.

Hiram sighed. "Fine. It's about Ryan."

* * *

**Thanks once again for all the comments, favorites, and follows. I'm trying to set up for some stuff to move the story along, it's getting too quiet for me, we need a little conflict. That's probably going to take place in the next chapter or the one after that. This one is a filler, I guess. Anyway, I could use some prompts, maybe tell me some stuff that you'd like to see happen. See you next time!**


	16. Chapter 15

Ryan looked up suddenly as Santana and Brittney sat down in front of him at lunch. "What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously.

Santana glared at him. "Listen up, Hobbit. I heard that you're going out with Quinn tomorrow night."

Ryan's eyes widened. "Who told you that?"

"You just did," she said triumphantly, taking a Tater Tot from his tray. "Now, Quinn's my girl, okay, so you hurt her, Imma have to go all Lima Heights on your ass."

"Okay, what does that even mean?" Ryan asked, watching as Santana helped herself to his lunch. "Anyways, you don't have to worry about me hurting Quinn, we'll be fine."

"Just so we're clear, I have razors in my hair. So she better be fine, or I will cut you."

"What are you doing?" Quinn cut into their conversation. "You two never sit here," she said suspiciously to Santana. She put her lunch on the table and sat down next to Ryan.

"Santana was just threatening to go Lima Heights on Ryan if he hurt you on your date tomorrow," Brittney said conversationally.

Quinn whipped towards Santana. "Excuse me? How did you even find out about that?" Quinn pressed. "Nobody knows."

Santana simply shrugged. "He told me so himself."

Quinn looked at Ryan, who raised his hands in an 'I'm innocent' expression. "She tricked me! She said she'd heard that we were going out tomorrow, and I may have accidentally confirmed it." He hesitated. "I know you probably don't want anybody to know, so I'm sorry, okay?" he ended anxiously. At least she wasn't mad that Brittney had called it a date.

Quinn softened. He was probably scared that she was going to back out on him. "It's fine," she said.

"You look nice, Ryan," Brittney said suddenly. "Did your mom get you those?"

The other two girls simultaneously took another look at Ryan, who stared at Brittney, suddenly slightly self-conscious. "Yeah, you do look different, Berry," Santana agreed. "Not as stupid as usual. Where'd you get the new threads?"

Quinn had to agree as well. She'd noticed some time ago that Ryan was quite cute, but these new clothes just enhanced that. He looked _hot_. If he'd dressed like this before she'd have noticed him a lot sooner for sure.

"Uh, yeah, my mom got them for me," Ryan said confusedly. He'd never had a bunch of girls paying positive attention to his outfit before. It was usually mockery. "How did you know that, Britt?"

The blonde shrugged.

"Okay…I need to go, I'm supposed to meet Zizes to finish our science project," Ryan said, standing up. "See you later."

The three girls nodded at him as he left. Santana turned to Quinn. "Well, at least he's smarter than Finnocence. And he's not as much of a dick as Puck," she said grudgingly, as she poached one of Quinn's Tots.

"Aren't you going out with the 'dick'? Never mind," Quinn rolled her eyes. "So glad you approve."

* * *

The next day Ryan stood in his room, nervously getting ready for his date. He looked at the clothes Shelby had bought him a few days ago. Since it was a casual date, she had advised him to wear the dark jeans and one of his new polo shirts. A few minutes later, he went downstairs. Passing the study, he glanced inside and saw Leroy, who was working on his computer. "I'm going out," he announced.

Leroy barely glanced up. "Sure. Home by 10."

Ryan rolled his eyes. He was frequently home past his official curfew, but his dads rarely noticed. "Ok." He exited the house, making sure he had his keys, and started the quick walk to Breadstix. When he got there, he looked around. He checked his watch and found he was slightly early, so he decided to take a table and wait for Quinn. His phone chimed a few minutes later with a text message. _Break a leg, kid ;) – Mom._

Ryan smiled as he read the text. She'd remembered. Sending back a quick reply, he glanced at the door, where he saw Quinn entering, wearing a dress and a light cardigan. He let out a quick sigh of relief that she hadn't stood him up. Not that he thought she would, but there was always that niggling anxiety. He stood up as she approached, offering her a smile. "Hey Quinn. You look really nice," he greeted her. "Not that you don't always look nice, you look great all the time actually…" Oh god, he was starting to ramble.

Quinn gave him an amused smile, thinking again that he looked cute when he was nervous. "Thanks, Ryan." She looked him over. "You look pretty good too," she noted with slight surprise. She still wasn't used to him dressed like this, before yesterday he'd always been in those nerdy sweaters at school. She'd always suspected he'd look good if he dressed up a bit, and here was the evidence right in front of her.

Ryan smiled. "Thanks." He pulled her chair out for her before sitting down himself, taking the menus a waiter offered them. After ordering he looked at Quinn. "So, do you have anything planned for the summer?"

"Not really," Quinn admitted. "We usually go to Chicago over the summer to spend a few weeks with my grandparents. But with the divorce and everything going on…"

Ryan winced. "Right. Well, I don't exactly have any plans this summer either. I just can't wait for classes to end. Can't say I'll miss the daily slushy facials," he said wryly, picking up one of the complimentary breadsticks.

Quinn chuckled at that. "No, I guess not." Their food arrived soon, and they started to eat. "Usually I go to cheerleader camp in the summer," Quinn said thoughtfully. "But since I'm off the Cheerios there's not really much point."

"Aren't you planning to go back?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure yet." Quinn wasn't really sure if Coach Sylvester would let her back on the team, even now that she wasn't pregnant anymore. And after everything, she wasn't sure that she wanted to.

"Well, I suppose you don't have to decide until next year, so you've plenty of time to think it over," Ryan mused. "I actually used to take a lot of lessons during the summer. Singing, dancing, things like that. But my dads stopped them last summer. That's why I started spending a lot of time in Kurt's dad's garage."

"I heard about that," Quinn said. "How long have you been working there?"

"Well, I officially just started last year, but I've been hanging around there for a few years. I like fixing the cars, and I'm a pretty good mechanic, if I do say so myself," Ryan said with a smile.

Quinn smiled as well. "I might have to see that for myself," she said. "My car could use a tune-up."

"Bring it over anytime," Ryan smiled, happy to have the chance to show off his skills. "I love working over there, it's really relaxing."

As they finished up their meals, Quinn asked, "Any idea what we're watching tonight?"

"As a matter of fact, no. We both know Lima is perpetually behind on film releases, so I thought we'd just go see what was playing at the theater and decide there."

"Fine with me." Quinn didn't have any particular preference. She took a sip of her soda as Ryan called for the check. After paying, they left Breadstix and headed to the moviehouse, where they scanned the Now Playing list.

"Not much choice, is there?" Quinn said dryly. The offerings consisted of two horror movies, a cartoon, and a romantic comedy. "I'm not really into horror, so it's either the cartoon or the rom-com."

"Rom-com it is," Ryan decided. "Unless of course you'd like to spend an hour and half with a bunch of ten year olds," he said, pointing out a large group of kids milling around the lobby.

Quinn agreed, and they went up to the booth to get their tickets. "You're not even going to offer to pay," Ryan said jokingly.

"Of course not," Quinn bantered back. "The guy always pays on the first date."

Ryan relaxed, smiling widely. _Thank god, she considered it a date too. _"As you wish, milady." He turned to the cashier. "Two please." They headed over to get some popcorn and sodas and then entered the cinema.

The movie finished a couple of hours later, and while it wasn't anything spectacular, there were a few good scenes, and the pair enjoyed watching together. "So, how was it, being able to sit through a whole movie without a bathroom break?" Ryan asked Quinn teasingly.

Quinn laughed. "Very refreshing." She checked her watch. "We've still got time for a coffee, if you want," she said. She didn't really want to go home yet. "I'll even pay if you like," she teased.

"Let's do it, then," Ryan said, grandly offering her his arm. "But as you said, the guy always pays on the first date, so this is still on me."

Another hour later, the two of them were standing at Quinn's porch. "I had a really nice time tonight, Ryan," Quinn said sincerely, giving him a light hug. She really did like him, she found him very sweet and thoughtful, which was a huge step up from Finn (who had just been really obtuse) and Puck (she wasn't even going to think about that one). And his good looks didn't hurt either. Seriously, those new clothes made him look pretty hot. "We should do it again."

Ryan laughed lightly. "I really hope you had a nice time, otherwise Santana's probably going to murder me on Monday," he said cheekily. Then he gave her a big smile. "Seriously though, I had a great time too, and we should definitely do this again." He hesitated nervously. _Come on, you can do it._ Picking up his nerve, he stepped close to Quinn and placed a kiss on her cheek, close to her lips. Then he stepped back and smiled at her again. "I'll see you soon."

Quinn nodded, smiling as she watched him walk off her porch. She absently put her hand up to her cheek where Ryan had kissed her. It was still tingling. Yes, she definitely wanted do this again.

* * *

Ryan was ecstatic as he went back home. That had gone great, Quinn had even said she wanted to do it again! Yes! He finally made it home. He checked his watch. 11:14. He opened the door carefully. His dads were probably asleep but no need to tempt fate. He entered the house and locked the door, quietly climbing the stairs to his room, where he flopped happily onto his bed, still high on his successful date and the accompanying ego boost of Quinn wanting a repeat.

Then he went into the bathroom to shower and change, but not before pulling out his phone and sending quick text to Quinn. _Goodnight Quinn :)_ – Ryan

He received a reply less than a minute later. _Night Ryan. See you soon ;)_ – Quinn

* * *

The next morning Ryan was still in an incredible mood from the previous night. "Good morning, dads," he said cheerfully, as he entered the kitchen to find both his fathers sitting there eating some toast. True, things were still a little weird between him and his dads, but he was just really happy today.

Leroy looked up, surprised. "You're in a good mood," he observed. "What happened?"

"I had a date last night," Ryan said proudly. "And it went really well."

"Ah," Hiram said. That would explain it. "Good for you then." He took a sip of coffee. "Who was it?"

"Quinn Fabray. She used to be captain of the Cheerios, but she's not anymore, and she's in glee with me," Ryan rattled off as he made himself a bowl of cereal. He added some milk and sat down to eat his breakfast.

"That's nice." There was a slight lull. "Have you seen Shelby recently?" Leroy asked casually, ignoring the look Hiram shot at him.

Ryan's guard immediately went up. "I saw her a few days ago." He hadn't told either of his dads about the impromptu shopping trip. "But we haven't been meeting that often. She's busy with work, her glee club is competing in Nationals this week. Why?"

"It's nothing," Leroy said, returning to his paper.

Ryan quickly finished breakfast, and then he stood up and put his used bowl in the sink. "I'm probably going to be at the garage, or maybe the music store, all day," he informed his father. "How about you?"

Leroy looked up at him. "Oh, I have a meeting later. I think your dad's got something too." He received a confirmatory nod from his husband.

"Okay," Ryan said. "Bye, see you later, I guess."

Leroy studied the boy's retreating form. God, when had he gotten so big? Hiram was right, he hadn't been paying attention to him, hadn't paid attention in years. Honestly he didn't feel like Ryan's dad. His mind went back to his conversation with Hiram just a few days ago as he made eye contact with his husband. Shelby's return to their lives had dragged up so much.

_**Flashback**_

_Late October, 2006_

"Dad, which one of you is my biological father?" Ryan had just come home from school, and was now talking with Hiram in the kitchen, where they were having a snack. "We've got a family tree project for history, and while I'm going to put both of you in, I've been curious for a while now, ever since we learned about the basics of reproduction in science class. Everyone has one biological dad. Which of you is mine? I know it can't be both."

Hiram smiled, amused. "No, it can't," he agreed. "See, as you learned in class, two guys can't have a baby. So we hired a surrogate to help us have a child. What we did was we did was we mixed up our sperm in a turkey baster, and then we used that to fertilize the egg. In effect, your biological father could be either one of us."

"A turkey baster?" Ryan wrinkled his nose. "Why a turkey baster?"

Hiram hid a smile at his and Leroy's little joke. "You'll find out in health class in a few years."

Ryan looked at him. "Well, can't you find out who it is?"

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're from one of us. And we're both your dads."

Later that day, Hiram brought up the conversation with Leroy. He'd come home late that day, which was becoming a more and more frequent occurrence for both of them. They had had many chances to move up in their respective jobs, but each offer would have required them to move, and neither of them felt that they could uproot their little family. The two men had gradually started drifting apart as they spent more and more time away at work.

"I told Ryan the turkey baster story today," Hiram said jokingly. "He was asking which of us was his biological father."

"What did you tell him?" Leroy asked.

"I told him that it didn't matter who it was, we're both his fathers," Hiram replied, with an exasperated look at his husband.

Leroy hesitated. He actually wanted to know the answer. Since the beginning he'd felt that any child they had couldn't be properly theirs unless he had actually come from them. It was why he'd been against adoption in the first place, and why they had decided to use a surrogate. It had been his idea that their child had to be biologically theirs. "You know, maybe we should try to determine paternity," he suggested. "I mean, Ryan wants to know, and honestly, I'd like to know too. Just out of curiosity," he added quickly, seeing the look on Hiram's face. "It won't change anything if he's yours or mine, he'll still be our son."

Hiram had eventually agreed, and they sent in some samples to a laboratory for paternity testing without Ryan's knowledge. A week later the results returned: "Based on genetic profiling, the test concludes that neither candidate A nor candidate B is a biological parent of the subject."

Both men were in shock. Their son wasn't theirs.

It explained a lot, once they recovered enough to think about it. Ryan had brown eyes. Leroy had grey, Hiram had blue, and they remembered that Shelby had had green eyes. They'd always wondered about it but they had shrugged it off, since they didn't exactly know that much about genetics. And Ryan didn't look like either of them at all, but they had attributed it to Shelby's DNA, since he looked so much like her.

After the revelation, Leroy had grown even more distant from Ryan, paying even less attention to the boy than he had before. The whole point of the surrogacy was to have a child that belonged to them, and he was furious with Shelby for lying to them. She had to have known, it must have been her fault; there wasn't any other way for this to have happened. Hiram, while also upset that their son wasn't biologically theirs, wasn't quite as affected as his husband. The way he saw it, Ryan was still theirs in a way. But he still didn't know how to connect with him. Ryan meanwhile wasn't told of the test results, and didn't have any idea what was going on. And the three of them grew further and further apart.

_**End Flashback**_

Leroy knew it was wrong to feel the way he felt. Ryan was their son, no matter whose DNA he had. They had raised him for fifteen years after all.

But it wasn't the same. It had been important for them, for him especially, that their child be theirs in both the mental and physical sense. Before that test result had arrived, they hadn't been doing very well with Ryan, both of them had admitted that. They hadn't known what to do with a child, hadn't wanted to give up their careers for him. They weren't cut out to be parents, but they had discovered it too late. But there had been that feeling that their son belonged to them. The paternity test had removed that. Leroy had insisted to Shelby a few weeks ago that Ryan was his and Hiram's. But deep down he didn't know who he was trying to convince more – Shelby or himself.

Hiram sighed. "Have you thought about what I suggested?"

Leroy looked at him before nodding. "You're right. We need to talk to Shelby."

* * *

"No, no, no! You guys are making me want to barf! Everybody off the stage, start over again, from the top!" Dakota Stanley yelled.

All the Vocal Adrenaline students knew better than to complain. Dakota could make the meanest among them cry with his comments. Also, as much as they feared him, they were much more afraid of their coach, who was still pissed at them for the egging prank they had pulled. True, she had cooled off since, but it had been obvious that she wasn't going to tolerate anything else from them right now. Strangely, she'd seemed to get even weirder when they'd won at Regionals.

Two more runs and countless insults later the students were finally given a ten minute break. Dakota walked up to Shelby and Dustin, who were watching from her table in the audience section. "Kids have been letting themselves go, each of them needs to lose at least five pounds."

Internally counting to ten, Shelby answered in a saccharine voice, "Thank you for your input, but we can't realistically do that in the three days we have before Nationals. Do you think you could somehow bring yourself to work with them as they are now?"

Another hour of gritting her teeth later, Shelby was back in her office, having left her rehearsal to Dustin. She rubbed her head, trying to get rid of the headache caused by her arguing with the diminutive choreographer. Her eyes fell on the picture of Ryan on her desk. She'd gotten a text from her son early that morning about his successful date with Quinn Fabray. Shelby wasn't sure yet how she felt about the girl, she'd gotten pregnant at sixteen after all, but she wasn't going to judge. For now. She had seemed all right when they had met at the hospital, anyway. Hopefully Ryan had good judgement when it came to girls. She'd been completely happy for him when she'd heard how the date had gone. Of course, she hadn't doubted he'd do fine, if he was anything like his father he'd have been completely charming. She picked the picture frame up, looking at her son's expressive brown eyes.

_**Flashback**_

_Early April, 1994_

"There we go, all done," Dr. Gail Thomas smiled at Shelby after the procedure, writing some notes down on her clipboard. "We'll find out in a few weeks if it was successful." The two of them were in the fertility clinic for the fifth round of IVF treatment. Hiram and Leroy were waiting outside.

"Thanks," Shelby said to the doctor, before hesitating. "Can I ask you something?"

"You want to know why the pregnancies aren't catching?" The older woman asked knowingly, half-smiling at Shelby's slightly abashed expression. "Don't worry, it's a common concern. I've told all three of you before, the chances of successful implantation are affected by several factors. Your test results all came back normal. Your eggs are perfectly viable, no abnormalities with any of your other 'equipment'." She paused for a moment before continuing, flicking through her files. "However, there are some DNA fragmentation issues with the donor sperm. It's making it a bit difficult for a viable pregnancy to occur."

"Is this ever going to happen?" Shelby needed to know. She couldn't stay here forever, if this wasn't going to work out she'd have to find some other way to get to New York.

Dr. Thomas hesitated. "It's possible for implantation to be successful, but it's going to take a few tries," she said gently. "I've told you this before."

"I know," Shelby sighed. "Thank you, doctor."

A few days later she was back home in Akron for Spring Break. She'd opted not to go out on a road trip with her college friends, citing the fact that she needed to finish up her work since she was graduating from OSU that year. So there she sat outside a small coffee shop, wondering what she was going to do if this surrogacy deal didn't work out. Of course she could always get a teaching position somewhere, but that wasn't what she wanted. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice that someone had approached her table.

"Anyone sitting here?"

Shelby looked up immediately to see a man with short dark-blonde hair and warm chocolate brown eyes looking at her with a slight smirk. Her eyes widened, lighting up with recognition. Smiling, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

The smile widened. "You remember me, at least." He pulled out the seat opposite her and sat down. "I saw you sitting here and I thought maybe we could catch up."

_**End Flashback**_

Shelby's phone rang, jolting her out of her memories. Checking the caller ID, she saw that it was Hiram Berry. She was suddenly concerned. He'd never called her before, he wouldn't be calling her if nothing was up. She quickly pressed the accept button on her the mobile.

"_Shelby?" _Hiram's voice filtered through the speaker._ "I thought you were at work, I was just going to leave a message…"_

"I'm on break. What's wrong? Is Ryan okay?"

"_Nothing's wrong,"_ Hiram hastily assured her. _"We just wanted to ask if you were free for a meeting with Leroy and myself sometime this week. I guess it's not too urgent, but we need to talk to you. About Ryan."_

Shelby hesitated. This week was going to be hectic. "I'm going to be in Colorado with my team in a few days for a competition. The soonest I can meet you two is Saturday afternoon, maybe around four."

"_That's fine,"_ Hiram said. _"You can come over to our house. I'm sure you know where it is, we've seen you drop Ryan off once or twice, not that we have any problem with it," _he added. _"Don't tell him though, it's sort of…a surprise."_

Well, that wasn't worrying at all, she thought sarcastically. But still… "Okay. I'll see you then," Shelby agreed. She had to find out what it was about, at least.

"_Great,"_ said Hiram. _"See you on Saturday."_

* * *

**Hey everyone, it's been a while. I've been really busy the last couple of weeks – exams, papers, car breakdowns, parents coming to visit – you name it, it's probably happened in the last two weeks. Rest assured, I have no plans of abandoning this story, I've just got one more week of exams before summer break, and I'll hopefully have more time to write. Anyways, I hope you liked this, someone suggested this little story twist to me, and I thought it would explain Leroy's and Hiram's behavior pretty well, and move the story along too. Maybe give me some feedback on how you want the story to proceed. See you next time!**


	17. Chapter 16

"Hey Mom, how's Colorado?" Ryan asked his mom through the phone. It was the day of the National show choir competition, and Shelby and Vocal Adrenaline were in Colorado for the competition.

"_It's cold, the air's too thin, and I'm worried everyone's going to pass out from lack of oxygen in the first verse," _Shelby answered dryly as Ryan laughed at her. _"Seriously though, we're fine. Just the normal pre-show jitters."_

"I'd wish VA luck, if only I wasn't still a bit sore over the egging incident," Ryan joked.

He could almost hear Shelby pout at him over the phone. _"You could at least wish me luck."_

Ryan smiled. "I guess I could."

"_That's it? Nothing? I'm hurt,"_ Shelby said in a fake wounded voice.

"Hmmm…" Ryan pretended to think about it. "Fine. Break a leg. Even though you're not really performing."

"_Wow, thanks," _his mom replied sarcastically. _"So much love."_

"Yes, that's me. All about the love," Ryan smirked. "But seriously, I hope you win. It is your last competition after all, might as well go out with a bang."

"_Thanks, Ryan."_ Shelby checked the clock. _"We're on in ten minutes, I better make sure everyone's done throwing up."_ She gave a dramatic sigh.

Ryan laughed, "Okay. Bye."

He hung up the phone, checking the clock as he did so. 15 minutes until his next class. It was the last day of class for the year, and summer vacation officially started in one hour and fifteen minutes. Finally. Ryan was looking forward to two months free of slushies, lockers, and dumpsters. And as a bonus, glee club was starting up next year.

"Hey, nice outfit, Ryan," a voice said from behind him. Turning, Ryan spotted Mercedes, Tina, and Artie coming toward him.

"Thanks, guys," he smiled, spinning flamboyantly. "My mom got it for me."

Mercedes nodded approvingly. "If she got you to finally stop looking like an eight year old, she'd got my respect."

"Thanks…I think…"

"Hey now, I thought he looked pretty fine!" Artie interjected.

Tina laughed at him. "Sorry Artie, but you wear sweaters and vests, you're not really much of fashion authority."

"Yeah, you dress like Mr. Shue," Mercedes agreed.

The two boys laughed. They soon split up, heading in different directions. Ryan ended up in front of his locker, checking it to see if he'd left anything important in there before school closed up for the summer.

"Ryan!"

He looked up to see Quinn walking toward him. He gave her a wide smile. "Hi Quinn," he said happily. They'd talked here and there after their date last week. Nothing important, just little chats, but he was profoundly relieved that he hadn't messed up on their date. "Ready for summer?"

"Completely, I can't wait for the last bell, I've got history last and you just know Mrs. Curtis is going to give a pop quiz on the last day of class," she said disgustedly. "How about you?"

"I've got biology."

"Lucky." The biology teacher was one of McKinley's younger teachers, and one of the most lenient.

Ryan chuckled. "Yeah, I suspect he'll be waiting for the final bell even more eagerly than the students."

Quinn watched him as he searched his locker. She'd had a really good time on their date last week, and she was waiting for Ryan to ask her out again. Not to blow her own horn, but she knew she was really attractive, and Ryan wasn't immune to her. But this time, unlike with Finn, she actually wanted him to ask her out. With Finn she'd only gone out with him because of his status as the school's star quarterback. With Ryan though she actually liked _him_, not his reputation.

"I wanted to ask you something."

Quinn looked at Ryan inquisitively. "What?"

Ryan took a breath. "I enjoyed our date at Breadstix and the movie last week, and from the text you sent that night and the fact that you're still talking to me, I decided that I wanted to go on another one. A date, I mean. If you want. Maybe dinner again, or another movie, or whatever you like."

Once again, Quinn was amazed at the volume of words that came out of his mouth. But she did get the gist of his ramble – he was asking her out again. "Okay."

"Okay?"

The bell signaling the next class rang. Ignoring it, Quinn stepped close to Ryan and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Okay." Then she walked off in the direction of her classroom, leaving Ryan standing in the corridor wearing a goofy grin.

* * *

An hour later the Nationals competition in Colorado was over. "And this year's National Show Choir Champions are… for the fourth year running, Vocal Adrenaline!"

Confetti blew all over the stage as Vocal Adrenaline burst into cheers along with the audience. Shelby herself was clapping enthusiastically for her team, shaking the hands of the other show choir directors as they approached to congratulate her.

She rented one of the conference rooms in the hotel she and VA were staying at, since past experience had taught her that it would be easier to organize the afterparty herself and know where all the kids were, rather than allowing them free reign. That had been quite the debacle two years ago, involving the police, a broken shop window, a $1300 bill and twenty-four hungover minors.

About half an hour into the party, she whistled loudly, catching the attention of her students. "Listen up! Everybody needs to be back in their rooms by midnight. You won't like it if I catch anyone out of bed afterwards. You know the rest of the rules." She looked at all her students, making sure that they understood. "Also, everyone needs to be up by 7am tomorrow, we're leaving at 8. Other than that, have fun."

She exited the conference room, leaving the students to their party while she retired to her own room. God help them if any of them had hangovers in the morning. She checked her phone when she got into her room and found that she had a text message from Ryan.

_Well, what happened? Did you win? – Ryan_

Smiling, she sent back a reply. _Of course we did! – Mom_

_Congratulations! I've got news too, I asked Quinn out again, and she said okay! – Ryan_

Shelby had to laugh at her son's elation over asking a girl out for a date. _Then congratulations to you too :) - Mom_

* * *

Two days later Shelby pulled up in front of the Berry residence. She and her students had gotten back to Lima late the previous afternoon, and she had promptly fallen asleep as soon as she got home. Then she had woken up early that morning, and had been wondering all day what the Berrys wanted to talk to her about.

She'd been a bit worried about Ryan for a while now. It hadn't been anything he'd told her outright, it was more on the thing he let slip. Like the fact that he said he often arrived to an empty home at night. And that the Berry men hadn't bothered to come to either of Ryan's competitions. And the way he clammed up whenever she asked about his fathers. Maybe she was reading too much into it. But she'd been working with teenagers for years now, and something just felt off. She wasn't a guidance counselor, but she had had a few students with not-so-great home lives in her years as a teacher. One had been bad enough that CPS had gotten involved. She wasn't getting that sense with Ryan, otherwise she'd have talked to Hiram and Leroy a long time ago, but there was something strained whenever her son talked about his adoptive parents. It didn't quite sit right with her.

She looked at the house for a moment before getting out and walking up to the door. Taking a second to compose herself, she rang the doorbell, and the door was opened a few seconds later by Hiram. "Hi Shelby, come in," he said, standing aside to let her in to the house.

"Hello Hiram," she greeted him civilly, stepping into the house. This hadn't been the house they were living in when she had been carrying Ryan. They had actually been living in Columbus back then, which had worked out well since she was still attending OSU in the beginning of the pregnancy. "Is Ryan here?"

"No, I think he's at the garage," Hiram answered. He wasn't entirely sure though. "He probably won't be home until this evening."

A few minutes later, Shelby, Hiram and Leroy were sitting in the living room, looking at each other a bit awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Shelby decided to start. "I was a little surprised by your call, I didn't think you wanted anything to do with me after our last encounter," she said, referring to their coffee shop meeting months ago.

The two men had the decency to look slightly abashed at their behavior. "No, that wasn't our best impression, our behavior left something to be desired," Hiram said. "But all that aside, we wanted to tell you that we, Leroy and I, are getting a divorce."

Shelby eyebrows went up. "Okay," she said uncertainly. "I'm not sure how that's any of my business. Except for the part about what's going to happen to Ryan."

"That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about," Leroy cut in. "We want to know if you want custody of Ryan."

Shelby looked between the two men in shock. That was the last thing she had expected. "Excuse me?"

Hiram glared at his husband. They had decided that Hiram would be the one to do most of the talking. Cooler heads and all. "That wasn't exactly how we wanted to say it. We've noticed that Ryan seems a lot… happier… since he met you. And we thought that since you expressed an interest in being a part of his life, maybe you'd like custody of him."

Still in shock, Shelby tried to clarify what he meant. "You mean like partial custody? With you?"

The two Berry men looked at each other. "Actually, more like full custody," Hiram admitted. "We would legally dissolve the contract and transfer guardianship over to you."

Shelby felt her mouth drop open. "Why?"

Hiram sighed. "We feel that it would be best for Ryan if he stayed with someone who could give him the … attention and support that he needs." He looked at Leroy. "And the two of us don't know how to do that. We never did. We found out really soon that we didn't know how to be parents, and I suppose we were too selfish to learn."

"I don't understand," Shelby said, starting to get over her shock. "You're giving him to me? Because…because what? Because you're too 'selfish' to be his parents?" She was starting to get upset.

The two men didn't really know how to answer her. "So what's your answer?" Leroy asked. "Do you want him or not?"

"How long has this been going on?" Shelby asked, ignoring him. "I knew there was something going on between you two and Ryan, but I didn't think…" she trailed off.

"Of course we care about him," Hiram insisted. He knew he shouldn't be giving up on Ryan. But he hadn't been lying when he'd said they were too selfish to have a child. "But we don't know how to do this. There were so many opportunities we turned down, so much we wanted to do, and we couldn't do it, _can't_ do it, with a child – "

"So he was just an inconvenience to you?" Shelby said angrily. "The reason I agreed to be your surrogate was because I trusted that you would take care of my baby! He was supposed to be happy with you, I thought you wanted him, I thought I was helping you build your family, but now I find out you never really wanted him?" She was just building up steam when Leroy cut into her rant.

"We know he's not ours."

Shelby immediately froze in shock, anger disappearing instantaneously. They knew. She hadn't been sure before. "How?"

Leroy scowled as Hiram shifted in his seat. "DNA test a few years ago. We decided we wanted to find out which of us was actually his father. Imagine our surprise when we found out it was neither."

"What happened?" Hiram asked.

Shelby looked at him guiltily for a moment before looking away. "I made a mistake…it was a few days after that fifth round of IVF, my…old friend…was in town when I went to Akron during Spring Break," she said quietly.

"You should have told us," Hiram said. At least she knew the guy, it wasn't some one-night stand like they'd initially thought. "We could have figured something out."

"I didn't know for sure he wasn't yours until after I gave birth to him," Shelby said agitatedly, standing up. "And then I only saw him for a second, then you disappeared with him. You didn't even let me hold him before you left. And I had signed that damned contract, and I wasn't allowed to contact you. I couldn't even find you, how the hell was I supposed to tell you?"

The two men looked at each other, unable to say anything.

"Besides, it shouldn't have mattered. For all intents and purposes, he is your son. You had him from the time he was born, you raised him for fifteen years. Biology shouldn't matter that much," Shelby continued heatedly.

Hiram sighed guiltily. "Look, we know we messed up as parents. That's why we think it's best that you take him. We get that you're angry – "

"Oh, I haven't even started!" Shelby seethed. "How long has this been going on? Why did you just decide to give him to me now? If you knew you didn't want him, why didn't you find me earlier? Do you even care about him at all? He told me you didn't even attend his singing competitions this year, did you even know about them?"

"We've been busy with work, he knows that. He told us it was fine," Hiram said defensively.

"It was not fine, you should have seen him after the Regionals competition, he was miserable and you two weren't there for him! He's your child, you're supposed to care!"

"Okay, we're not the only ones who did something wrong here," Leroy cut in angrily, standing up as well to match Shelby. "Fine, so we don't know what's going on with him right now. But we contracted you to have _our_ son. You lied to us, he is not our son, so you know what, you can have him!"

_Crash!_

All three of their heads whipped toward the source of the noise to see the subject of their heated argument frozen near the front door next to a broken vase. Shelby's stomach dropped. "Ryan…"

The boy didn't even look at her, focused as he was on Leroy. Without saying a word, Ryan turned and bolted out of the door, slamming it hard behind him.

Shelby quickly ran after him. "Ryan!" She yanked the door open, looking left and right to figure out where her son had gone. Finding no sign of him, she turned around to find Hiram and Leroy just starting to get up from their seats in the living room. "Do you know where he went?" she asked, glaring at the two men angrily when she only received blank stares in return. "Aren't you going to go after him?"

Hiram looked at Leroy uncertainly before shifting his gaze back to Shelby. "We don't know where he's gone. He'll be back later," he said unconvincingly.

Shelby fixed both of them with an ice cold glare. They weren't even going to try to find him? "We'll finish this later. I'm going to find my son."

* * *

_An hour earlier_

"Hey Midget."

Ryan looked up from the engine he was working on to find none other than Santana Lopez watching him. "What are you doing here? Are you following me?" he asked suspiciously.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, 'cause I've got nothing better to do during summer break besides stalk singing trolls."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Well, why are you here then? Are you hiding a slushy behind your back?"

"Cool it, Hobbit, I don't do slushies outside school. I'm here for a tune-up. This is a garage, right?"

"Right," Ryan said, shooting her another suspicious look. "Mr. Hummel's in the back, you're going to have to talk to him. Let's go."

The two of them made their way to the office, and a few minutes later Ryan was working on Santana's ride while Santana sat off to the side, using her mobile phone. Ryan wasn't quite sure if she should talk to the Latina cheerleader. She'd been one of the people to make his last two years of high school miserable, ordering slushies to be thrown at him, sometimes throwing them herself.

"Quinn told me about your date."

Ryan glanced at Santana warily. "Oh?" Was that a good thing? If Quinn was going around telling people, that was a good thing, right? But you never could tell when it came to Santana.

"Yeah," Santana nodded, eyes still fixed on her phone. "Wouldn't stop talking about you, in fact. It was kind of annoying. Then she told me you asked her out again."

Ryan bent down over the engine, smiling to himself. "That's good. Right?"

"It means I don't have to kill you," Santana said casually. "I'm not saying anything stupid, like giving you my blessing or whatever, but I guess you're better than Finn or Puck. And if you repeat that to anyone, I'll deny it. And I'll get the football team to drown you in slush when school starts up."

"I understand." Ryan started tightening up some of the engine parts.

"Same goes for if you mess up with Quinn. And if you knock her up, I will castrate you."

Ryan blanched at this. Knowing Santana, she'd do it too. "I won't hurt her, okay? I really like her, I don't want to mess this up. And –"

Santana held up a hand. "Okay, stop right there. That's fine. If you wanna go on and on about how hot you are for Quinn, go tell her yourself, I don't want any of that."

Ryan smiled at that. "I was just going to say your car's done."

Santana blinked. Then she scowled at him. "Whatever." She stalked back to the office to pay Mr. Hummel, then came back and took her keys from Ryan. "Thanks," she said grudgingly.

"You're welcome."

Ryan decided to go home soon after Santana left. That girl was confusing. She acted like she didn't care about anything but herself; she was truly a bitch at McKinley. But he'd seen the way she was with Brittney. She was almost a different person – patient where she was usually pissy, gentle when she was normally abrasive. And she seemed to really care about Quinn as well.

When he reached his house, he stopped short. There was a black Range Rover on the curb outside of his house. Shelby's Range Rover. What was she doing here? He walked up to the car, checking if there was anyone inside. Finding nobody, he decided that Shelby must be in the house with one or both of his dads. That might not be good. He went up to the door, unlocking it quietly. From the doorway he could already hear voices from the living room. He moved closer, trying to stay out of sight, trying to hear what they were talking about. If they were talking about him, he definitely wanted to hear. He took up position next to a table near the entrance to the living room.

"–you didn't even attend his singing competitions this year, did you even know about them?" Ryan froze when he heard Shelby's angry voice. What was she so upset about? His dads hadn't attended any of his events for a while now. Sure, it was disappointing, but he'd learned not to let it get to him too much. At least that's what he told himself.

"We've been busy with work, he knows that. He told us it was fine." That was his dad. Yeah, Ryan knew that all right. They were always busy.

"It was not fine, you should have seen it after the Regionals competition, he was miserable and you two weren't there for him! He's your child, you're supposed to care!" That was Shelby again. That wasn't right, he told himself unconvincingly, as he reached out to steady a vase that was on the table. He hadn't been completely miserable… oh, who was he kidding, of course he was.

Then he heard Leroy speak up. "Okay, we're not the only ones who did something wrong here. Fine, so we don't know what's going on with him right now. But we contracted you to have _our_ son. You lied to us, he is not our son, so you know what, you can have him!"

In his surprise, Ryan's hand jerked, sending the vase toppling to the floor with a loud crash and attracting the attention of all three of his parents. Paying no attention to the mess now on the floor, he stared at Leroy, gaze frozen on the older man's face. He couldn't hear anything else as he tried to process what his father had just said, he wasn't quite sure he remembered to breathe. _He is not our son…you can have him_.

He needed to get out of there, he had to leave. He turned sharply and ran out the door, slamming it behind him, not even registering the sound it made as it crashed into the frame. He just knew he needed to move, he needed to get away.

* * *

**Hello everyone, here's the next chapter. Not sure about how it came out, I sort of wrote it to take my mind off of my upcoming finals. Good news is, the semester's almost done, so more writing time! Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up in a couple of days. I've got a questions though, do you prefer long chapters that take time to come out, or short chapters that come out more often? Reviews please, I read all of them :)**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hello everyone. In the spirit of *MY EXAMS ARE OVER*, I give you the next chapter. Hope you like it :)**

* * *

Half an hour later, Shelby fired off yet another text to her son. _Ryan, come on, where are you?_ She must have sent a dozen messages by now, and the boy still wasn't answering. She was in her car, driving around the area near the Berrys' house trying to find Ryan. So far she'd come up empty. How far could he have gotten, she wondered. She know he was on foot, he couldn't have gone very far. A few minutes later she sent another message – _At least text me back so I know you're not dead_.

It was getting dark, and she was getting more and more worried. She was going to kill the kid if she ever found him for causing her to stress this much. Sure, she'd hug him to death first, but then she was going to murder him. Redundant, and probably counterproductive, but she wasn't quite thinking clearly right now. She drove slowly past a small deserted playground, looking for – there. There was a lone person sitting on one of the benches. She looked more closely. _Yes_. Finally.

Wait, what was she supposed to do now? All her frustration had suddenly morphed into relief, but now she didn't know what to do. It came as a surprise, since she was a naturally decisive person, but when it had to do with her son, everything was different. For a moment she understood what Hiram had said, about not knowing how to be a parent. But no, she wasn't going to be like them, she'd messed up enough. Her son deserved better.

_Come on, get it together_. Should she go up there? He might be mad at her too. He might run again. Yes, she should go up there. But did she sneak up on him or announce her presence first? What was she supposed to say?

After dithering in her car for a while, she finally cut the engine and got out, wincing at the loud sound the car door mad when she closed it. The figure on the bench didn't react though.

Shelby hesitantly moved toward the bench. She was soon standing next to the bench her son was sitting on, but still he didn't look at her. He just sat there, arms across his chest, almost hugging himself, with a vacant look in his eyes, features set in a stony mask of neutrality. Shelby sat down, relaxing slightly when he didn't protest. She almost asked if he was okay, when his words from a past conversation came to mind. _If you have to ask, then the answer is probably no._

For a time mother and son just sat there side by side, gazing straight ahead. One unsure of what to say and one not having anything to say.

Finally, when the silence was almost unbearable, Ryan spoke. "My dads used to bring me here when I was younger," he said distantly. He still didn't look at Shelby, instead seeming to see something far off. "It was usually Hiram who brought me, but sometimes Leroy did too."

Shelby didn't miss the way Ryan addressed his fathers, but she stayed quiet. Both because she wanted him to talk it out, and because she didn't know what to say to that.

"I was maybe eight the last time," Ryan continued. "I remember I was with Leroy. We spent maybe half an hour over there at the swings." He fell silent again. Then, "What happened?"

_Back at the house or back when he was eight? _Shelby didn't quite know what he was asking, and Ryan seemed to realize this. "Today," he corrected himself. "Why were you at the house?"

_Oh. Right._ "Hiram called me a few days ago. He said they wanted to talk." _And talk they did. _"So I said I'd meet them as soon as I got back from Colorado." Shelby couldn't figure out if she should try to get him to look at her, or if she should touch him or something.

Ryan tightened his arms around himself. "I don't understand," he said, almost plaintively. "He said… he said I wasn't their son."

Shelby sighed internally. So he didn't actually know the truth about who his dad was. "I…"

"I mean, adoptions work all the time," he continued despondently, not paying attention to her, face still perfectly set. "Well, not all the time, but I know parents can bond with kids that aren't theirs biologically, can't they?"

Wait, did that mean he did know? Shelby was confused. She didn't know what to say. Wow, she sucked at this.

"I was trying to be a good son, why don't they want me? I don't know what I did wrong…" Ryan trailed off.

Shelby snapped out of her confusion. Standing from the bench, she knelt down in front of her son and took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "Listen to me, it's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong." She looked him in the eye, trying to make sure he was understanding her. She almost winced at the anguish she saw in the boy's eyes, visible even through his straight face. She wasn't sure where all her words were coming from, but she knew he needed to understand this. "I can't pretend I know what your dads are thinking, but it isn't your job to earn their love. They're supposed to give it to you unconditionally, you're their child."

Ryan's teary gaze bored hard into his mom's fierce green eyes. "You heard him. I'm not. I thought… I knew we weren't fine, but… they don't want me," he said morosely. He broke his gaze away. Santana's offhand comment from a couple of weeks ago came to mind. "They probably did enter me into school early because they couldn't stand me anymore."

Shelby's heart broke for her son as she took his hands. "I'm sure that's not true," she tried, but based what Hiram and Leroy had said earlier, there might be some truth in that statement.

Ryan gave a choked laugh, but still his face didn't break. "The kids at school don't like me, they think I'm annoying and arrogant and insane and that I'm a loser. Why should my parents think any different?"

Shelby shook her head firmly. "Hey. I'm your parent too, and I love you. You hear me? I love you," she said, squeezing his hands for emphasis. He needed to believe her. She'd loved him every single day for fifteen years after his birth and six months before.

Ryan stared at her again, searching her eyes for any hint of deception. He found none. He could see nothing but love and sincerity in his mother's eyes. "It's not fair," he whispered.

"No, it's not," Shelby agreed sadly. She'd been cursing the two Berry men to hell and back in her head the whole time she was looking for Ryan. How could they do that to her baby, how could they treat him like he was just an inconvenience? The only reason she'd been able to live with herself was that she knew that the baby she'd given up was being raised by two loving parents, and it had shattered her to find that it hadn't been true.

Finally Ryan's mask broke, his face crumpling as he finally allowed the tears to fall. Shelby just pulled him into a hug, letting him get it all out as he buried his head in her shoulder. The mother and son stayed in that position for a while, until Ryan calmed down enough to pull back. Shelby just watched him sadly, wiping at his cheek with her own hand, her own eyes brimming. She couldn't imagine how he felt. She'd been blessed with parents who had always loved her and supported her in everything, and a wave of self-loathing shot through her as she realized that her son hadn't grown up with the same because of her own messed up decisions. "I'd ask if you were okay, but we both know the answer to that," she said, trying to inject some levity into the situation.

Ryan gave her a watery smile. "No. I'm nowhere near okay." He looked at her. "Sorry about that," he said embarrassedly, gesturing toward the damp spot on Shelby's sweater, swiping furiously at his eyes.

Shelby let out a light chuckle. "Don't worry about it." She stood up slowly. She'd been in that kneeling position for a while now, she'd probably be sore in the morning. She didn't care, though.

But Ryan did. "Are you okay? I'm sorry –"

"It's not your fault," Shelby cut in before the boy could get around to blaming himself for everything. "I'm fine." She sat down next to him on the bench again. "We need to talk, but I'd prefer it if we talked somewhere other than a deserted park. So maybe we could go out, have dinner somewhere we can talk. Or we can go to my house." A thought struck her. "Or maybe you want to go home first, talk to your dads –"

"No," Ryan said suddenly. "No. I don't…I don't want to see them right now. Either of them."

Shelby nodded. He needed to talk to them too at some point, but she could tell Ryan wasn't in any shape to do it now. "Come on."

Shelby opened the car door for Ryan, closing it after he got in. she took a second to send a quick message to Hiram that she'd found Ryan. A reply came back a few seconds later. _Ok. – Hiram_. Ok? That was it? Her annoyance with Hiram and Leroy flared up again. She got into the driver's seat and started the engine. "Where do you want to go?"

Ryan sighed tiredly. "I… don't know. Just not home."

Shelby looked at him for a moment. He looked tired. "Why don't we just go to my place, we can just order a pizza or something?" she suggested. It might be better to be somewhere they could talk in private.

Ryan nodded, and Shelby started driving. The whole ride was spent in silence, since Ryan wasn't quite in the mood to talk, and Shelby was again unsure of what to say. What did you say to a kid who had been for all intents and purposes abandoned by his parents? About twenty minutes later they pulled up at Shelby's house. They got out of the car, and Shelby soon had the door unlocked, allowing Ryan to enter first.

Ryan entered the house, quickly taking a look around. This was his first time in his mom's house and he was curious. The dining room was off to his right, and it held a table big enough for six people. To his left was the living room, which contained a few couches and a large TV.

"Make yourself comfortable," Shelby told him. "Do you want anything, water or… ice cubes… I'm sorry, I don't have anything right now," she ended apologetically.

Ryan had to smile at that. "Water's fine." He followed Shelby into the kitchen, leaning on the counter. "Your house is nice. But it doesn't look very lived-in." He glanced at his mom, worried that he might have offended her. Fortunately she just had a small smile on her face.

"You're right, I don't really spend much time here. I work a lot." She handed him a glass of water "I meant what I said, back at Regionals. I need some balance, I need to work less. Spend more time on more important things." She looked him over. He looked really tired now, as if her counter was doing most of the work at keeping him up. He didn't really look like he was up for a deep talk right now. She turned around and picked up the house phone. "What do you like on your pizza?"

"Oh, I'm not really picky. But I am allergic to shellfish, so nothing with shrimp."

Shelby didn't know that. "Good to know." She hesitated for a moment. "Do you want to stay the night? I've got a spare room, you can stay there if you want."

"I don't want to bother –"

"You wouldn't be a bother," Shelby insisted. What was with this kid, always thinking he was bothering her? She _wanted_ to help him. Although after today she was starting to get it.

She watched as her son hesitated again. "Okay," he finally said.

"Why don't you go take a shower, maybe clear your head a bit? The food will probably be here when you finish," Shelby suggested. Maybe a bit of a break would do him some good. "I probably have some of Josh's clothes around here somewhere."

Ryan nodded. "Okay." He followed Shelby upstairs to the bathroom that was connected to the guest bedroom.

"Towels are in the closet, I'll leave some clothes outside."

He nodded again, and started to enter the bathroom. Then he turned around, just as Shelby was about to leave the room. "Mom?"

She turned back around. "Hmm?"

"Thank you."

* * *

Ryan entered the bathroom when Shelby left. He slowly went to the sink and splashed some water on his face. _Okay. Okay. Calm down. You're going to be fine._ He turned off the water, leaning on the sink looking at the mirror.

_Who are you kidding, they don't want you, the other kids were right, you're useless, nobody would ever want you_, a small voice spoke up in the back of his head.

He looked unhappily at his reflection. Then he shook his head. _No. Shelby wants you. Your mom wants you. She said so._

_She can still change her mind. Your dads did._

He turned away from the mirror, stripping and getting into the shower. He turned the water as hot as it would go. For a moment he just stood under the water with his eyes closed, letting the spray hit him as he started to relax. He took a deep breath. Then another. He shook his head, trying to clear it. _She won't change her mind_, he told himself firmly. It had been three months since he had met Shelby, two since he'd found out who she was. He trusted her by now. _She said she loves you_.

He finally stepped out of the shower, drying himself off with a towel from the closet. Stepping out into the guest bedroom, he found a small pile of folded clothes on the bed. He pulled them on, not minding that they were a little too big. His uncle must be larger than him. He looked up and saw his reflection again in a mirror on the dresser. He needed to talk to Shelby now, if he put it off he'd never be able to do it. Another breath. _She loves you. You'll be fine._

* * *

About twenty minutes later Shelby heard a knock on the front door. The food was here. She got up to pay the delivery boy, and she had just returned to the living room with the pizza when Ryan walked in, hair still wet, drowning in an sweater that was maybe two sizes too big. "Sorry, Josh is a bit bigger than you," Shelby told Ryan.

"It's okay, I know I'm not really that big or filled out right now," Ryan said ruefully. While he wasn't quite back to his usual self, he felt slightly better after his shower.

A few pieces of pizza later, silence fell again as the two sat down in the living room. Shelby suddenly remembered sitting in the Berrys' living room not four hours ago, with the same sense of not knowing exactly what to say. This time Ryan broke the quiet. "We seem to spend half our time in awkward silences," he joked weakly, drawing a nervous laugh from his mom.

"We do, don't we?" Shelby sobered and looked at her son. "We have two options right now. We can get into it and talk, right now. I'll answer any questions you have. Or, we can just watch a movie and put it off until tomorrow. Honestly, I think you might be too tired and confused to talk right now," she said gently. "If you really don't want to go home tonight, you can stay here, and we can talk tomorrow."

Ryan shook his head. "No. I'm fine. I need to know now."

Shelby nodded. Time to get down to it. "Do you know why I was there this afternoon? At your house?" She'd told him at the park, but he was pretty out of it and she thought he might not have registered it. When Ryan shook his head, she continued. "Like I said, your dads asked me over a few days ago to talk. Hiram told me…that they were splitting up."

Ryan's eyes widened slightly. "Oh." He wasn't sure what to do with the news. He knew his dads hadn't been happy, and this wasn't really much a surprise. If he really thought about it, it was a surprise that they'd lasted that long. "I guess I'm not too surprised, they've been… not happy for a long time now. I'm pretty sure one of them is having an affair. Probably both of them. I didn't think you'd care enough to yell at them for it." He suspected he knew what had been going on, but he didn't quite know how to bring it up.

"No, that's not why I was upset," Shelby told him. "They also asked me… if I wanted custody of you."

Ryan's mouth fell slightly open. That wasn't what he'd thought. "Oh," he said again. Then in a small voice, "That's why you were mad? Because they wanted to give me to you?" _Because you don't want me? _

Shelby quickly realized how her words had been taken. She looked Ryan in the eye. "No. That's not why I was mad. You need to know that I've always wanted you, I've always wanted to part of your life. You need to remember that. You'll always have a home here with me if you want. Always."

Ryan quietly processed what his mom was saying. It was hard. His whole life had been spent with his fathers, who it turned out didn't really want him, and had just offered to give him away. Yes, Shelby was his mom, but that didn't necessarily mean she wouldn't do the same thing eventually. He needed to think about it. But there was something else. He paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Why were you fighting? If it wasn't about the divorce, or custody, why were you yelling at each other?"

Shelby sighed, a bit saddened that Ryan hadn't said anything about coming to live with her. They needed to talk about it sometime, but she knew this part was important too. She futilely tried to organize her thoughts. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Her son was supposed to have a happy family. "What did they tell you about which of them is your biological dad?"

Ryan kept his face straight. This was actually what he'd been expecting. "They said they didn't know which of them it was," he said slowly.

"Do you know?"

Ryan eyed her speculatively before nodding.

Shelby studied him for a moment. "How? If they didn't tell you?"

"We studied blood types in biology last year," he explained. "The school offered a blood typing kit. My blood type is AB+. Then we studied how it's passed genetically. I was always curious as to which of my dads was, you know, my real dad. So I asked them what their blood type was. They're both type O. According to my biology teacher it's impossible for a type O person to have a type AB child, no matter what the other parent's blood type is."

"Oh." Science wasn't really Shelby's strong point, but she remembered one of the science teachers at Carmel discussing something along those lines. "I'm AB+ too."

"Plus my eyes," Ryan said thoughtfully. "We learned about that too, in science class. One of my parents has to have brown eyes like me. I thought it was you. Obviously it's not, so I guess that just confirmed it even more." He paused. "What…what happened?" Both of them could hear the underlying question – _Who was it?_

Shelby sighed. But she'd already resolved to tell him the truth. He deserved it, especially after what had happened today. "You know your dads hired me to be their surrogate. But I didn't get pregnant until after the fifth round of IVF. I thought it wasn't going to happen, if nothing had happened by the next round I would have told them that they needed to find someone else."

"But it still didn't work, did it?" Ryan questioned.

Shelby shook her head. "I asked the doctor after the fifth procedure, she said there was some kind of problem with your dads that lowered the chances of a successful pregnancy." She paused, remembering. "About a week after that I went home, to Akron. And…James was visiting Akron too. He was my high school boyfriend when I was in my junior year, but he was a year older than me. He left Akron when he graduated, that's why we broke up."

She looked at Ryan, who was just listening to her story. When he didn't say anything she continued. She was actually relieved, she wasn't sure if she could get through this if he started asking questions. "Anyways, that was the first time I'd seen him since high school, and we started catching up, and…things happened." No need for too many details right now. Or any details at all. "Then a few weeks later I found out I was pregnant. I thought… I thought it – you – were from the IVF. But when I saw you, in the delivery room, eight months later, I knew it wasn't. You know, I never got to hold you? Your dads didn't want me to get attached. Well, more attached," she amended. She blinked back the tears that were starting to form. She had to finish this. "But for a moment, you looked at me, through all the nurses that were swarming around. You turned your little head and you looked right at me. And I saw your eyes. You've got James's eyes." She stopped again, clearing her throat before continuing. "I wasn't able to tell Hiram and Leroy. I didn't see them again after you were born, they just left with you. The money landed in my bank account, and that was that."

Another silence descended. Ryan just sat there on the sofa, processing what Shelby had told him. He'd been right, his dads weren't really his dads. In the back of his mind he registered that he had a biological dad out there somewhere, but he pushed the thought aside. This wasn't the time, there were more pressing matters to deal with. He wasn't sure what to think. His dads had been in his life forever, they'd taken care of him since he'd been born. But…_He's not our son_. Leroy's words came back to mind again. They didn't want him.

He was so confused. And upset. And so many other things, he couldn't even start to make sense of them.

A few moments later, Shelby spoke up. "…Are you okay?" Wrong question. Obviously he wasn't. But…there wasn't anything left to ask.

Ryan just looked at her for a moment. "I'm…not sure." He was quiet again. "I guess I need some time to process."

Yes, that might be good, Shelby thought. For both of them. "Okay." She hesitated before offering. "Do you want to go home? I can take you. Or like I said, you can stay here for the night," she said tentatively.

She watched as her son hesitated again. "I'll stay," he finally said.

"Would you like to go to sleep?"

The boy nodded slowly. "Yes, I think that would be best."

Shelby nodded as well. Standing, she started toward the stairs, stopping Ryan when he started to clear up their plates from dinner. "Don't worry about it, I'll do it later."

"But –"

"No," she insisted gently. "You need to rest, you need some time to think. I'll clean up later. Saying you look tired would be a complete understatement." She smiled at him when he nodded. They both went upstairs. "Is the room I showed you earlier okay? There's another one if you want."

"It's fine," Ryan told her. "It's actually a bit bigger than my room at ho – my room." Looks like it wouldn't be home for long. "And it's got an adjoining bathroom, so that's a plus," he said quickly, trying to cover up his slip.

He wasn't quite successful, and Shelby smile turned sad. The two of them entered the guest room, Shelby inwardly thankful that she kept the room in pristine condition. "Will you be okay in here?"

"Yes, I'll be fine," Ryan said, shaking his head with a small smile at his mom's hovering. It was kind of nice.

"Okay. I'll… leave you to it then," she said. She was at the door when Ryan called her again. "Mom?"

She turned with an inquisitive and amused look. This was the second time he'd called her back tonight just before leaving. "Yes?"

Ryan crossed the room and gave her a hug, surprising Shelby. She was usually the one to initiate hugs. She returned it quickly though. They held the hug for a few moments, then Shelby patted him on the cheek and left the room. Just as the door closed, Ryan whispered, "I love you too."

* * *

Almost two hours later, Shelby couldn't sit still, let alone go to sleep. It was closing on eleven pm, she'd washed all the dishes and straightened up the already-straight house, but she couldn't calm down. She pulled out her phone, pressing the first number on speed dial and waiting for it to pick up.

"Shelby?"

"Hi mom," she said with a nervous laugh. Yes, her mom was her first speed dial. Sort of pathetic for a 37-year-old woman, but that wasn't a topic for now. Her mom sounded surprised. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, you just don't usually call this late. What's up?"

She gave another nervous laugh. "Do you have time? It's going to be long."

"What happened? Is something wrong?"

"No…yes…" Shelby blew out a breath. "I met with Hiram and Leroy Berry today."

Sarah's interest suddenly peaked. "What? Why? Is something wrong with Ryan?" She hadn't been able to meet her grandson yet, but she was concerned. He was family.

Shelby let out a sharp laugh. "Oh, I don't even know where to start." She stood up from the couch and started pacing.

"Okay, start from the beginning. Why did you meet with the Berrys?"

The whole story took almost half an hour to get out. "… and now Ryan's upstairs sleeping in my bedroom, he doesn't want to talk to _them_," Shelby ended venomously. "Mom?"

For a moment Sarah couldn't talk, she was so upset about how her grandson had been treated. "I'm here."

Shelby suddenly sank down onto the couch. "I messed up, Mom," she breathed out. "This is all my fault, I shouldn't have left him… What if he realizes that… what if he doesn't want to come live with me? What if he doesn't even want to see me anymore?" Her breathing was growing more and more rapid and shallow by the second.

This snapped Sarah out of her silence. "Shelby? Hey," she said worriedly. "You need to slow down." Her daughter had been asthmatic as a child, and sometimes still had severe attacks. Rare, but frightening when they did occur. "Take a deep breath."

Shelby followed her mother's directions, taking several deep breaths. "Okay…okay, I'm good. I'm good." She was calming down, feeling a bit better now that she'd been able to tell someone.

"Good," Sarah said, relief clear in her voice. "Now, you can't think about all that. You need to think about Ryan here. His life's just been turned upside down, he's going to need something stable, and you're going to need to be that for him."

Shelby nodded, taking another breath. Her mom was right, this was her chance to make things right. "Okay."

"Do you need us to come over there?"

Shelby considered for a moment. "Maybe wait a few days. Until we get this straightened out. Ryan hasn't met you yet, I don't want to bombard him with new people all of a sudden. Or I'll ask him. Is that okay?"

"Don't worry, we get it completely. Now, you need to get some sleep yourself. You're going to want to get all the adoption documents out, and get a good lawyer as soon as possible. You should talk to Paige. And you're going to have to talk to the Berrys again sooner or later."

Shelby knew that, but she didn't know how to feel about it. Part of her wanted to go up to them right now and scream at them, the other part wanted them to stay away from her and her son forever. "Okay. I'll do it tomorrow." She sighed. "Thank you. For… everything."

"I love you, Shelly."

"Love you too." She hung up the phone, then went upstairs in the direction of her room. On the way she passed by the guest bedroom, and she couldn't resist peeking in. Ryan was fast asleep on the bed, curled up into a ball with the covers up to his ears. Shelby entered the room and sat down in a chair that was next to the bed. After a few moments of watching her sleeping son, she gently smoothed back his short hair and leaned over to give him a kiss on the head. "I love you."

* * *

**It's a bit later than I expected to get it out, my family went on a trip. Think Little House on the Prairie, tropical-style. No internet. Anyways, I'm glad most of you liked the last chapter, I'm hoping you liked this one as well. I've got quite a few things in mind for the upcoming chapters, and seeing as classes are out for the next few weeks, I'll hopefully be able to get them out faster. We'll see. **

**For the people hoping for more Faberry, I am too, but sometimes the chapters seem to write themselves, and that relationship seems comfortable with the slow burn thing I've got going on. I might have said this before, I don't like it when relationships progress too fast, it doesn't feel real. That said, Quinn will come more into the story in subsequent chapters. Also, a few people have asked about Ryan's bio dad. He's an OC, and he'll be coming, but not for a while probably.**

**I've had the pleasure of receiving the longest review I've ever gotten, from dgronison, and that, plus the other reviews and favorites and follows, made me smile for the longest time. My sister thought I was going crazy. So send more reviews guys, it's true that they make authors write faster (as long as they're not flames, I guess). And I do like to take your suggestions into account. See you next time!**


	19. Chapter 18

The next day Ryan woke up disoriented. That wasn't his ceiling. And he wasn't in his bed. Then the memories of what had happened last night came back. Right. He was in his mom's house, since his dads didn't want him anymore. Perfect. He checked his watch. 5:42. He just lay there for a few minutes, trying to decide what he wanted to do.

Yesterday had been…bad. _He is not our son…you can have him_. Leroy's words rang heavily in his mind. Ryan had known for a long time that his dads weren't exactly happy. He'd known for about a year that they weren't his biological parents. But it was one thing to suspect that your parents weren't happy, it was another thing completely to hear them say that they didn't want you.

And then there was Shelby. She'd finally confirmed what he'd figured out last year, that his dads weren't his real dads. In the biological sense anyways. He still thought of them as his dads, even if they apparently didn't return the sentiment. They hadn't even tried to find him last night, whereas Shelby had apparently spent almost an hour and trying to find him, and then even took him home with her for the night.

His mom wanted him. She wanted him to come live with her. Ryan had been wondering about his mother for ages, ever since he was old enough to figure out that most of the other kids at school had a mom. Even after two months it was still surreal sometimes that they'd found each other. And she'd been wondering about him too, all this time.

Sighing, he got up. He fished his phone out of the pocket of his jeans, which were lying on the floor. 15 messages. He winced as he scrolled through them, seeing that most of them were from his mom, the last one telling him to text to tell her he hadn't died. There was one from Quinn, just a quick hello. He'd figure that out later. And one was from his dad, and it simply said, _Where are you?_

He scowled at the short text message. What did he care? They'd basically given him away. Then he stood up resolutely. He needed to talk to them. A few minutes later he was dressed in his own clothes, ready to go home and talk to his dads. He'd even made the bed, fixing up the room so it looked exactly like it did when he first entered, not wanting to inconvenience his mom any further.

Stepping out of Shelby's guest room he looked around. Judging from the quiet, his mom was still asleep. For a moment he debated whether to wake her up or to just sneak out, before he decided to compromise by leaving a note in the kitchen. Shelby had told him he wasn't a bother, but he knew he was. Everyone treated him like one anyways. Quickly writing a few lines to his mom, he quietly crept out of the house, starting the walk back to his own home.

Less than half an hour's walk later he was standing outside his dads' front door. Pulling his keys from his pocket, he entered the house quietly. Walking slowly across the corridor to the stairs, he froze abruptly as he saw Leroy on an armchair in the living room.

The two stared at each other for a few moments, in the style of deer caught in the headlights. Finally Leroy said awkwardly, "I didn't think you'd be back so early."

Ryan simply gazed back at him, jaw clenched, trying to get his thoughts into order when all he could hear were Leroy's words from the other night.

Clearing his throat, Leroy tried again. "Your dad should be down in a while. Why don't you sit down."

Ryan finally managed to get his movements into gear, walking slowly toward the couch farthest away from Leroy. Right on cue, Hiram came into the living room. "Oh, Ryan. You're here," he said, sounding surprised.

"Yes, this is my home, isn't it?" Ryan said softly.

His fathers looked at each other. "Yes, of course," Hiram answered as he sat down opposite Ryan. The three of them sat there uncomfortably for a moment. "Where were you?" Hiram asked.

"I was at Shelby's house. You know, my mom. The one who actually looked for me last night," Ryan said pointedly.

The two men looked at each other guiltily. Shaking it off quickly, Leroy asked him, "Did you two talk?"

Ryan nodded. "We did, actually, she informed that the two of you are about to separate officially."

"That's it?"

"No. That's not it."

Hiram sighed. Shelby had obviously told the boy about their offer to give her custody. "Look, Ryan, we were just thinking about you here. You're obviously not happy, and we aren't either. This seems like the best thing for all of us."

Ryan was quiet. He had so much he wanted to say. _Why don't you want me anymore? Is it my fault you're not happy? Did I do something wrong? Did you not want me from the start? Can't we at least try to work this out?_

But he couldn't get it out. He wasn't sure if he was hurt, or sad, or furious, or resigned, or some combination. And he didn't know how to say it, didn't know how he was supposed to talk to the men who he considered as his parents, who didn't think of him as their son. Who were giving up on him.

Instead, he said, "Maybe you're right. Maybe it is for the best. We can all go our separate ways." He finally got his acting gear into order – he got into character, putting on a mask of indifference and acceptance to hide the fact that he was completely crushed by his parents' rejection.

Relieved smiles broke out on Hiram's and Leroy's faces, happy that their son seemed to be taking it in stride. "Yeah," Hiram said. "We'll all be able to get a new start."

"The only problem is Shelby," Leroy interjected. "She didn't tell us if she was willing to take you."

Ryan waved a hand unaffectedly. "She said she's fine with it. In fact she might be digging out her records right now." He knew no such thing, but it just came out. Maybe just so he had something to say, maybe partly by wishful thinking.

Hiram nodded, believing him. "Well, we've gotten our lawyer to set it up already. Are you going back to her later?"

Ryan hesitated uncertainly, his mask slipping slightly. He wasn't sure. But she'd said it was fine for him to stay, right? "Yeah, I'll be there later."

"Tell her she can contact us to get all the papers signed. It should be really fast, we can get a judge to sign off maybe by next week."

Next week? That was…really soon. Ryan stood up abruptly. "I'll tell her. I need some stuff in my room."

Leroy nodded. "You've got your keys, right? We've got a breakfast meeting with the Max in an hour, we should leave." Max Ross was the Berrys' lawyer, having held the job since before Ryan was born, and he'd be handling the divorce and custody proceedings.

Ryan nodded. "I'll lock up when I leave." Without waiting for a reply he robotically walked up the stairs and into his room, sitting down on the bed. A week? Such a short amount of time for his whole life to change. He looked around the room. The walls were covered with posters of singers, Broadway posters, and other memorabilia. This had been his room all his life, and soon it wouldn't be his anymore.

He glanced out the window. Then back down as his phone chimed.

_Call me if you need anything. – Mom_

* * *

_A while earlier_

Shelby slowly blinked her eyes as she woke up. Groggily, she checked the clock on the bedside table. Just a little past seven. Too early. She was about to fall back asleep when her eyes suddenly flew open, the events of the previous night rushing back.

Ryan had stayed in her guest room last night. Leroy and Hiram had offered her full custody of her son. She got up, knowing she had a lot of things to take care of today. But first she had to check on her son. Getting dressed quickly, she made her way to the guest room, only to stop short when she found it empty, with the bed made.

Had she just imagined last night? What happened? Wait, there was a pile of clothes on the bed, the ones she had given to Ryan last night. Okay, so she hadn't been imagining things. Going downstairs, she entered the empty kitchen. Then she noticed a note propped up on the counter against the coffee machine.

_Mom,_

_Going home for a bit. Thanks for last night._

_Ryan._

Well, that was short. Shelby didn't know if she should be upset with Ryan or not. At least he'd thought to leave a message. She went back to her room with the note. Picking up her phone, she sent her son a text message.

_Call me if you need anything. – Mom _

Pocketing the phone, she then went to her study, pulling open the drawer where she kept all her important documents. Taking out an envelope, she pulled out her copy of Ryan's birth certificate, the adoption documents, and finally that accursed contract. She hadn't taken these papers out since the day she'd put them in here, they were only a reminder of what she'd given up. And now her own signature at the bottom of the contract seemed to be mocking her, a painful reminder that what had happened to her son was her own fault.

But she was going to fix it. She knew she couldn't take back the last fifteen years, no matter how hard she wished. But she could help her son now. She had to.

Her phone lit up with a text message. _Can you please come get me? They just left. – Ryan_

Shelby started to get irritated. They left him home alone again? After last night? She started typing out a reply when another message came in.

_You don't have to, I'll be fine if you're busy. – Ryan_

Shelby sighed. He really needed to stop doing that. She sent her reply as she picked up her keys and got into her car. _I'm on my way_.

A few minutes later Shelby pulled up to the Berrys' house. She lost no time getting out of the car and ringing the doorbell. When nobody answered, she tried the door, and upon finding it unlocked, let herself into the house. "Ryan?"

She took a look around. She wasn't entirely sure of the layout of the house, she'd only been in the living room. She passed the kitchen, the study and came to a set of stairs. Going up, she peeked into the first room she came across. Thankfully it was Ryan's and not Leroy's and Hiram's room.

Ryan was still sitting on the bed, fiddling with his phone. Knocking lightly to alert him of her presence, Shelby went in. "Hi."

Looking up at her, Ryan replied nervously, "Good morning. I, uh, thought you were still asleep when I woke up. I didn't want to wake you."

"It's okay." Shelby sat down in a desk chair, which was in front of a desk overflowing with music sheets. She studied her son. "Thanks for the note, but you could try being a little less cryptic next time. I can understand big words, you know."

Ryan blushed slightly. "Sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking properly." He offered her a conciliatory smile.

"What happened? Did you get to talk with your dads?"

Immediately Ryan closed off, mask snapping into place. "Yes, I did. They said this was a new start for all of us. But he said you didn't tell them you'd take me."

Shelby frowned, going over the argument she'd had last night with the two men. "I didn't?"

Ryan shook his head, silently praying that she wouldn't take back what she'd told him last night. He didn't have anywhere else to go if she didn't want him either.

"I thought I made it clear. I told you, I'll be overjoyed if you came to stay with me," Shelby informed her son, who almost fell back on the bed in relief. The voice in the back of his head had been telling him it might have been a mistake, that Shelby would change her mind.

Ryan gave his mom a small smile. "Okay. They said you can call them to get the paperwork signed this week."

Shelby blinked. "This week? That's really fast, I thought it would take longer."

"Is that a problem?" Ryan asked anxiously.

"No, of course not," Shelby assured him, smiling. "I want you with me as soon as possible, and I just thought we'd have to wait longer."

"Oh. They're having breakfast with Max Ross right now. He's their lawyer."

Right. Shelby vaguely remembered the name from fifteen years ago. He'd been the one to draw up the adoption papers and the contract. That reminded her, she'd need a good lawyer this time around. She wasn't going to screw up again. Good thing her future sister-in-law, Josh's fiancée, was a lawyer. Then she noticed Ryan's eyes darkening. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"Don't give me that, there's obviously something," Shelby prodded.

Ryan was quiet for a while, before he spoke again. "They said they already had this set up for a while. They should have told me," he said lowly.

Shelby sighed. She got up and sat down on the bed next to her son.

"You know what they told me this morning?" Ryan continued. "They said they were just thinking about me. Why didn't they do that before?" he said, getting more agitated. He stood up. "They haven't paid any attention to me in years, why start now? They're just thinking about themselves, I'm just some damned inconvenience to them! A new start for all of us? They're just being selfish, and they can't even tell it to me straight!" He was furious now, pacing across the room.

Shelby had finally had enough of her son's rant. She stood up and grabbed Ryan's shoulders, forcing him to stop. Thankfully he didn't have much of a height advantage yet. "You are not an inconvenience to anyone, okay? I'm not going to pretend I don't think your dads are being selfish, because I do. But they're right in that this is a new start." She sat both of them down on the bed. "Look, I'm happy to be getting a chance with you. It's what I've wanted for years."

Ryan immediately deflated. He turned away from her, burying his head in his hands. "They're giving up on me," he whispered quietly. "Eventually you will too."

The mother shook her head even as her eyes filled with tears, heart breaking for her son. "I won't," she said vehemently. "Just give it a chance. Give me a chance. Please." Shelby was so afraid her son wouldn't let her in. She put her hand on his shoulder.

Ryan looked at her then, brown locking with green as they stared at each other. Finally, he gave Shelby an almost imperceptible nod before leaning against her in a hug.

Shelby wrapped her arms around her son, rocking the two of them gently. After a few moments she placed a kiss in his hair and pulled back. "I'd like you to move in a soon as possible. You could move in today if you wanted to."

Ryan looked up at her in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'll have to talk to your dads soon though. How about you go change, we'll go have breakfast somewhere?"

"Okay." Ryan disappeared into the bathroom across the hall with a change of clothes.

Meanwhile, Shelby took the time to check out Ryan's bedroom. The dark yellow walls were covered with various posters, including ones for Broadway musicals. And also what looked like a hand-drawn schematic of an engine, which she supposed wasn't really a surprise given her son's car-fixing hobby. The bed was made, probably a product of not having been slept in, while the desk was cluttered with random music sheets and the odd textbook. There was a large bookcase on one wall, half of it filled with books and the other half with various CD cases. It looked like her son had an eclectic taste in music, like her. Pretty much every musical genre was represented in the shelf.

One thing surprised Shelby though. There weren't any pictures. When she was a teenager her room had been a bit like this, with posters and music sheets all over, albeit a bit messier. But she'd had pictures of her family and friends up on the walls and on the dresser. Even in her bedroom right now she kept pictures.

"Ready." Ryan had just emerged from the bathroom, looking much better than he had before. He glanced around self-consciously. "What do you think?"

"It's nice," said Shelby, smiling at him. "Not a fan of the yellow walls though."

"Yeah, me either. But it was too much of a hassle to repaint them, and they never had time. So I just covered them up."

Shelby had started to notice that he hadn't referred to Hiram and Leroy as his dads since last night. "Well, when you move in you can redecorate one of the guest rooms however you like. You haven't seen the second one, right? You can pick."

A grin spread across Ryan's face at that. "Really? I can do whatever I want?"

Shelby was pretty sure she'd agree to anything if she could keep that smile on her son. "Within reason, of course."

* * *

Soon the two of them were having breakfast in a small diner. Shelby was eating a sandwich while watching in awe as Ryan demolished a large stack of chocolate-chip pancakes after eating a platter full of eggs, bacon, and hash browns. He seemed to eat more than Josh did when he was a teenager, and that was saying something. "How can you eat all that and not die?"

Ryan just shrugged. "I don't know," he said after swallowing.

"Well, at least you've got manners."

The teenager smirked at his mom before taking a large, loud slurp of his chocolate milkshake. Shelby rolled her eyes.

The two of them sat in companionable silence while they finished their meals. "Hey, I wanted to ask you something," Shelby said. At Ryan's curious look she continued, "My parents – your grandparents – really want to meet you. Actually that's an understatement. They've been pestering me since we met. Would you like to meet them? We can go to Akron when we finish up. Or is it too soon? I guess it's a bit of a surprise." She wouldn't push him if he wasn't ready, but she thought it might be a good distraction.

Ryan busied himself with the milkshake straw as he considered. He'd never really had grandparents before, and he was curious. But what if they didn't like him? If they were anything like his mom though, it should be fine, right? He nodded slowly. "Okay. I'd like to meet them."

Shelby smiled. "Great! I'll just text your dad for permission." She didn't miss the slight shadow on the boy's face when she mentioned Hiram. She'd done it on purpose. She didn't comment though, she just pulled out her phone and sent of a text.

_Taking Ryan to Akron today. – Shelby_

A reply soon came. _Ok. I'll call later about the paperwork. – Hiram_

"He says okay," Shelby informed her son. "We can have lunch there, and be back around seven later. The drive takes a couple of hours."

Soon they were on their way to Shelby's parents' house in Akron. The trip was mostly spent with Ryan flipping through radio stations until Shelby told him to stop, singing along with the radio when they finally agreed on a station, and then – "Are we there yet?"

Shelby looked at her kid incredulously. "What are you, six?"

"No, it's just taking a while," Ryan said defensively.

And here she thought she'd missed all his annoying childhood moments. Shaking her head in amusement, Shelby answered, "No, we're maybe fifteen minutes away."

Thankfully Ryan managed not to ask the question for the rest of the trip. Shelby finally pulled into the driveway of her childhood home, saying, "_Now_ we're here."

She looked over at Ryan, only to see him looking at the house thoughtfully. "What is it?"

"What if they don't like me? If I'm not what they're expecting?" He hadn't meant to say that out loud. His mom seemed to induce word vomit from him at the strangest times.

"They already love you, don't worry so much." She got out of the car, going around to the passenger's side and pulling Ryan out gently. "Look, if it gets to be too much, we can leave anytime, okay? But I just want you to give them a chance."

She pulled him into a quick hug before pulling him over to the front door. She was excited to finally show off her son to her parents. She'd texted ahead to tell them she and Ryan were coming, and it was hard to tell who was more excited. Before they even got halfway up the walk, the door opened and both Shelby's parents came out.

"Hi, Shelly!" Sarah said brightly, quickly wrapping her daughter in a hug before passing her to Tom. "Hello, Ryan," she greeted softly.

"Hello Mrs. Corcoran," Ryan said shyly, sticking out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Sarah waved his hand away, pulling him into a hug. "You can call me Grams." She pulled back and looked him over, marveling at how much he looked like Shelby.

Tom chuckled and pulled his wife back. "Give the boy some room to breathe, dear." He offered a hand to his grandson. "Great to finally meet you, kid," he said as they shook hands.

Ryan smiled at him. So far, so good. He liked his new grandparents. Much better than Hiram's or Leroy's parents, anyway, who were really uptight, and whom he hadn't seen in ages.

Shelby smiled as her parents finally met the grandson they'd been wanting to meet for fifteen years, ever since they'd found out about him. "Where's Josh?"

"He's not here yet, he's wrapping up his students' grades for this semester." Sarah checked her watch. "He should be here soon, though. Let's go inside."

The four of them went into the kitchen. "You two hungry?" Tom asked. "Your Grams has been cooking for the last two hours, ever since your mom texted her."

Sarah pushed her husband playfully. "I have not."

"Ooh, cake," Shelby said, trying to pinch off a piece only to have her mom slap her hand away. "Hey!"

Ryan and Tom sniggered, immediately stopping when Shelby glared at them. "You did not just see that," Shelby informed her son sternly, as Sarah herded everyone into the living room.

"See what?" Ryan said innocently. He was fascinated by the byplay between the three family members, so very different from his own family life with Leroy and Hiram.

Tom winked at him. "Smooth," he said approvingly.

Just then they heard the front door open. "We're here!" they heard a voice yell.

"We're in the living room," Sarah called. A few seconds later, two more people entered.

"Ryan, this is your uncle Josh, and his fiancée Paige," Shelby made the introductions.

Josh put out his hand. "Hello, Shelby's spawn," he greeted. Shelby hit him on the arm, none too gently. Ryan just grinned and took the proffered hand, instantly taking a liking to the man. "Hello." He smiled at the two latecomers.

"Nice to meet you," Paige said, smiling. "Don't mind this clown, he's like that with everybody."

"Let's go eat," Tom interjected.

A few minutes later everyone was seated around the dining table eating lunch. Ryan took some time to study the people around him – his new family, he realized with a sudden warm feeling. His grandfather, Tom, was sitting at the head of the table. Tall, slightly gone to seed, with dark brown hair like Ryan and Shelby, only Tom's was streaked with grey. He had hazel eyes and a deep voice, probably a bass, Ryan decided. He had a habit of listening to people's voices, analyzing their vocal ranges. His grandmother, Sarah, was sitting across from him. She was a few inches shorter than her daughter, and she had Shelby's green eyes and the same curl to her hair that Shelby had. Their voices were also similar, with Sarah's being slightly lower. Uncle Josh had a slightly higher tone than his father, baritone, perhaps. He was broader than Ryan, and he'd inherited Sarah's light brown hair and Tom's hazel eyes. Last was Paige, his soon-to-be aunt, who had short dark red hair and bright grey eyes. She had a lighter voice, soprano for sure, but different from his mom, who had a unique tone that he could probably pick out of even a large choir.

"Hey, Ryan, Shelby says you're a singer, like her," Josh said, pulling his nephew out of his observations.

"Yes, I am," Ryan grinned. "I'm in our high school glee club. We made it to Regionals, but then we lost to Vocal Adrenaline."

"Boo," Josh said, making a face at Shelby, who just rolled her eyes at her younger brother.

"It's fine," Ryan said quickly. "It just means we'll beat them next year. Plus they won't have mom coaching them anymore. We're sure to win."

Everyone had to smile at the teenager's confidence. "Liking the confidence, kid," Josh complimented him. "I wonder where you get the ego from…" His eyes wandered pointedly to Shelby.

"From his equally bigheaded uncle, I'm sure," Paige commented dryly, earning a pout from her fiancé and a laugh from everyone else.

"I love you, Paige," Shelby said happily.

Ryan had to grin. This family was really cool, and he could hardly believe he was going to be a part of it. And that they wanted him in it.

"You should hear him sing," Shelby bragged. "He's amazing."

Ryan beamed at the compliment. He didn't get them very often, even counting the ones grudgingly given by the other glee club members.

"High praise from the Ice Queen," Josh commented.

"Well then, maybe you can sing us something later," Sarah suggested, forestalling an argument between her two kids.

"Sure!" Ryan answered, never one to miss an opportunity to show off.

Shelby watched, happy that her son was getting along well with everyone else. As she'd hoped, the trip seemed to have distracted him from the situation with his fathers, and he seemed to be back to his old self for the time being.

"You follow sports?" Josh questioned.

"Not really," Ryan admitted. "Never got into it." In truth he'd been really put off by the bullying of the sports players in middle school and high school. Especially the football and hockey players, who had put him off the sports altogether. "Baseball, I guess." The school didn't have a baseball team, and the sport hadn't completely been ruined for him. "Formula One sometimes."

"Shelby mentioned you worked in a garage," Tom said.

"You failed to mention this to me Shelly," Josh said reproachfully. He turned to Ryan. "You should take a look at my car. It's been overheating."

"It's almost as old as Ryan, you should get rid of it already," Shelby grumbled.

"We can't all afford brand-new Range Rovers, Bee-Bee," Josh teased, using his old nickname for his sister. "And besides, I like my car."

"I'll take a look at it later, if you like," Ryan offered.

Josh grinned cheekily at his sister. "See? We're going to be best friends, right, Ryan?"

* * *

Soon, the three guys were outside trying to fix Josh's car, while the three ladies stayed inside, having no interest in the car whatsoever. Shelby took the opportunity to talk to her unofficial sister-in-law. "Paige, I need some help. I need a lawyer."

Surprised, Paige asked, "What happened?"

"Did Josh tell you about Ryan?"

Paige nodded. "The surrogacy deal and the contract? Yes, he told me about it."

"Ryan's dads – the men who hired me as a surrogate – they want to give me custody. Full custody." She told the whole story to her mother and Paige, all the way up to what had happened this morning.

Paige whistled. "Wow. That's quite the story. Do you have a copy of the contract?"

Shelby went to her bag and pulled out the papers. She'd brought them in the hope that Paige would come today.

The lawyer perused the papers, and then thought for a while. "Fortunately, the case should be quick, since you're the biological mother and the Berrys' are willingly signing over custody. This contract is pretty much void, since Ryan already found you by himself. When are you meeting with the Berrys? You can send me the papers before you sign anything. Or if I'm free I can come to Lima for the meeting."

"They're supposed to call this afternoon," Shelby replied. "It'll likely be sometime this week though."

"Good, I'm relatively free this week. Also, it's Lima, you can probably get a judge to sign off pretty quickly."

"Thanks," Shelby said gratefully. That was one worry off her mind.

* * *

"The coolant hose is broken," Ryan announced. "I can patch it, but it's only going to hold for a few days, you should get it replaced. And your battery's dying."

"How can you tell all that?" Josh demanded, peering into the engine next to his nephew. "It all looks the same."

"There's a leak, it's dripping, see?"

"Oh."

"Are you planning to do this after graduating? The garage work?" Tom asked curiously.

"No," Ryan answered, grinning at him. This was something he was used to talking about. "I'm going to New York as soon as I graduate. The plan is to get into Broadway as soon as possible, win a few Tony's by 25."

Tom smiled fondly at him. "You're just like Shelby. Got all of her confidence, too."

Ryan closed the hood of the car, smiling. This was one of the few times he hadn't been laughed at or patronized when he'd told someone about his life plans. Was this what a supportive family felt like? It felt… great.

"How about personal life? You got a girlfriend?" Josh nudged him.

Ryan colored slightly. "Sort of. I don't know, we've only been on one date. But we're friends. And we've got another date soon."

"Cool," Josh grinned at him. "You should –"

"Oh no," Tom interrupted. "Rule number one in the dating game, don't listen to anything this joker tells you."

"Da-ad," Josh whined pathetically, making Ryan laugh. And here he thought his mom was the dramatic one. "Seriously though," his uncle said thoughtfully, "Just be yourself, girls like that stuff. The ones who don't generally aren't worth dating to begin with."

"Thanks," Ryan said. "That was…surprisingly helpful."

"I try."

* * *

A while later, it was time for Shelby and Ryan to head back to Lima. The mother and son had given the family a quick concert, after which Ryan had received another bout of compliments. It was a great ego boost, he could seriously get used to this.

"You need to come back soon, okay?" Sarah told him, giving him a hug. Josh and Paige had already left a few minutes earlier.

"I will. It's up to mom, though."

Sarah turned to her daughter expectantly. Shelby rolled her eyes in amusement. "Yes, mom, we will be back. Soon." She gave Sarah a hug as well.

"Good."

Tom gave Ryan a quick pat on the back. "See you soon, kid."

Ryan smiled back at him. "See you."

Soon, Shelby and Ryan were in the car on the way back to Lima. Shelby glanced at her son quickly. "So, what did you think?"

Ryan grinned back at her. "They were great," he replied sincerely. "I liked them. All of them. A lot." Then his grin faded, face turning a bit more pensive. "You're lucky," he said quietly. His relationship with his own family had never been as easy, as dynamic, or as loving as the ones he'd observed between Shelby and the rest of the Corcorans. He couldn't help but compare.

Shelby shot him another quick glance. Trying to keep it light, she said, "Hey, now you are too. You're one of us now." This caused Ryan to smile again. Then he gave a huge yawn.

"You can take a nap if you want," Shelby told him.

"I'm fine," Ryan answered, through another stifled yawn. Why was he so sleepy suddenly? Maybe it was all the emotions catching up to him, he wasn't sure.

A few minutes Shelby pulled up to a red light, and she took another look at her son, which caused her to smile. Ryan was slumped against the car door fast asleep, mouth slightly open. He was adorable when he was asleep. And he looked…peaceful. Younger, reminding Shelby of the baby she'd seen for those precious few seconds all those years ago. The light turned green, pulling Shelby from her observation.

A couple of hours later Ryan woke up to his mom shaking him awake gently. "Wha…"

"We're back in Lima," Shelby informed him. "You fell asleep. You've got drool on your chin."

His hand immediately flew to his face. "Sorry."

"What for?" Shelby asked, confused. "Anyway, I need to know if you want to stay come home with me again, or if you want to me to take you to your place."

"I want to stay with you. If that's okay." Ryan's insecurities started up again.

"I told you, that's more than okay. The problem is, you need some of your own clothes, unless you're planning on sneaking out again at the crack of dawn." She gave him a mock stern glance.

"Right," Ryan said, coloring slightly. That was a problem. One that he was still too fuzzy to solve.

"How about we stop by your house, and you can get some of your stuff?" Shelby prompted.

"Oh." He wasn't too sure about seeing his dads again. But he needed his things. "Okay."

"Good, because we're here already."

Ryan blinked, finally recognizing where they were. Shelby had just pulled up outside of his house.

"Do you want me to go in with you?" Shelby asked him tentatively. He had a worried look on his face that she could only attribute to his seeing Hiram and Leroy again.

Ryan hesitated before answering. "Yes, please."

Shelby nodded, and the two of them got out of the car. Ryan tried the door, only to find it locked. He dug around in his pockets for his keys, and was just about to put them into the keyhole when the door opened, bringing them face to face with Hiram.

"Hi," he said, eyeing them warily.

"Hello," Ryan muttered. Shelby just nodded at Hiram coolly. "We're just – ah – I just needed to get some stuff."

"Oh, okay." Hiram stood aside to let them both in.

"Why don't you go ahead, I just need to talk to your dad for a moment," Shelby suggested. It wasn't completely a suggestion though, it was partly an order. Ryan, recognizing it, quickly went up to his room.

Shelby watched him go, then turned to Hiram. "I've talked to my lawyer, and I've got all the papers. Does Wednesday morning work for you?"

Hiram looked at her uncomfortably. "Yeah, that's fine. Look, I –"

Shelby held up a hand, stopping him. "I don't want to hear it. I don't want to fight with you again, I just want to do this as quickly as possible."

"Okay," Hiram nodded. He could do that. He was relieved, actually, he and Leroy both wanted this done with minimal fuss. "I'm glad you're taking him, he'll be happier with you."

H_e was supposed to be happy with you too._ She didn't say that out loud though. While she was still incredibly upset with the two men, a part of her was selfishly happy about how this had turned out. She was getting her son back. She just wished he didn't have to go through this.

Just then Ryan came back down carrying an overnight bag. He looked between his mom and his dad. No, not his dad. Not according to them anyway. "Ready."

Shelby nodded at him with a smile. Turning back to Hiram, she said, "See you on Wednesday, tell me where and what time."

Hiram nodded, following the other two to the front door. He cleared his throat. "Bye Ryan."

"Goodnight," Ryan said uncomfortably, before following his mom to her car.

The two of them got back to Shelby's house a little after nine-thirty that evening after a quick stop to have dinner.

"I think I'm going to bed, I'm kind of tired," Ryan said when they got into the house.

Shelby nodded. "Okay."

"I had a great time today." Ryan told her. "Your family's incredible, they're so different from Hiram and Leroy, and I haven't seen their parents in years."

"I'm glad you liked them," Shelby said sincerely, before giving him a smirk. "You have to, they're your family now too, and I have a feeling you're going to be seeing a lot of them."

Ryan chuckled. "Good night mom." He gave her a quick hug, which she reciprocated.

"'Night."

Ryan went up to his room, taking a quick shower and changing into a set of pajamas. He stood in front of the mirror again, in the same pose as the previous night, staring at his reflection. He felt a lot better this time around though. His mom really wanted him to come live here. Obviously he was still upset about his dads, but having his mom soothed the worst of the pain. And he'd found some more family, who also seemed to want him around.

He headed out of the bathroom and sat down on the bed, checking his phone.

* * *

Meanwhile, in her own home, Quinn Fabray was also getting ready for bed. She'd spent the day at home with her mom. Since her mom had come back after Quinn had had Beth, the two of them had steadily been trying to reconnect – or rather, connect in the first place. They hadn't had the best relationship even before Babygate. Judy Fabray was more obsessed with maintaining their "perfect family" image, playing the role of the perfect wife and mother when she was anything but. Quinn's relationship with her mom had improved, she supposed, but she knew they had a long way to go before she could get over her mom allowing her father to kick her out. And there was the slight problem of Judy being a functional alcoholic. She was getting some help, but it was hard. On both of them.

Quinn was brushing out her blonde hair when she heard her phone chime. She picked it up.

_Hello Quinn. Sorry I didn't answer your text message last night, some intense events occurred last night and I wasn't able to see your message until this morning. – Ryan_

Quinn had to smile. Trust Ryan to sound like a dictionary even in a text message. She typed out a reply.

_It's ok. Do you need to talk? – Quinn_

A reply wasn't long in coming. _Maybe. I'm staying with my mom right now. – R_

His mom? That was a surprise. _That's good, right? – Q_

The reply took a few minutes to arrive this time. _My dads are giving her custody of me. – R_

_What happened? – Q_

_A very long story. Suffice it to say they decided they can't be my parents anymore and thus they're giving me to my mom. – R_

Quinn stared at the words on her phone in surprise. What was she supposed to say to that? She involuntarily flashed back to when her own father had kicked her out. She'd had to go through the rejection of her own parents not too long ago, and she wouldn't wish that on anybody, least of all Ryan. Before she'd gotten to know him better she had thought he had the perfect home life, with loving parents. Apparently not.

_Quinn? You still there? – R_

Quinn glanced back down at the phone, jerked from her thoughts. _Yeah, I'm here. – Q_

_I should let you get to bed. It's getting pretty late. – R_

Quinn glanced at the clock on the wall. _I'm going to be in the park in front of the elementary school tomorrow morning. You should come. I kind of miss seeing you around – Q _

_The great Quinn Fabray misses me? I'm flattered ;) – R_

_Seriously though, that would be great. – R_

_I miss you too. – R_

Quinn rolled her eyes in amusement. _See you around 10? – Q_

_Ok. Goodnight, Quinn. – R_

_Night Ryan – Q_

* * *

**Hello everyone, this chapter's pretty long, I couldn't figure out where to cut it. Anyways, thanks again for all the reviews, and I noticed we broke 100 followers last week :) Next chapter is maybe 40% done, we're long overdue for some fluff, so we'll see if I can't get some in there. See you soon!**


	20. Chapter 19

"Good morning," Ryan greeted his mom as he entered the kitchen, fresh from a shower.

"You're cheerful," Shelby noted, pouring some milk on her bowl of cereal. "Are you always up this early?" She had gotten up at around 7:30 to find another note propped up on the coffee maker, telling her that Ryan had gone out for an early morning run.

Ryan nodded as he sat down at the table, pulling an empty bowl toward himself. "I've found that it's important to have a good fitness routine, and I like running. It clears my head. So I wake up every day at six for a run." He poured the cereal into the bowl and added the milk.

Shelby just stared at him. Six-thirty? It seemed she had found the only teenager in Ohio who actually _enjoyed_ getting up in the morning. She shook her head. "What are your plans for the day?"

Quickly finishing up his cereal, Ryan poured another bowlful. "I wanted to go over to the park this morning, if that's okay with you," he said, looking at Shelby anxiously. "Quinn's going to be there."

Ah. So that's where the good mood was coming from. This was good, Shelby thought. Maybe Quinn could keep him from brooding about his dads too much. "No problem with me. I can drop you off on the way to the grocery. We need food, otherwise we're going to be living on my ice cubes for the rest of the week."

Ryan quirked his mouth in a smile. _We_. He was included there. "You don't have to do that, I can walk."

Shelby sighed. "Okay, look. I think we need to get something straight. When I offer to do something for you, it's because I want to do it, and I'm okay with it." She paused at the unreadable look that appeared on her son's face. "I've noticed you tell me a lot that I don't have to do things for you," she continued gently. "You want to tell me why?"

Ryan fidgeted a bit. He was quiet for a while. "My dads didn't really like going out of their way to do things for me," he said softly. "They got annoyed sometimes when I asked them for stuff, so I guess eventually I just stopped."

Shelby nodded. She'd suspected it had been something like that. "Well, I'm not them. I want to do things for you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not your driver or your personal assistant. But you can ask me for things. And when I offer, you don't need to worry that you're inconveniencing me. Okay?"

She watched as Ryan thought it over. "Okay."

"Good."

* * *

"Good morning, Quinn," Ryan said happily as he approached the blonde girl who was sitting on a bench, texting on her phone.

"Oh, hi Ryan," Quinn answered with a smile. She patted the bench next to her, inviting Ryan to sit down, which he did.

"I didn't see your car in the parking lot, I thought you might not be here yet."

"My mom got a job as an administrator somewhere in town. She dropped me off." Quinn's mom had gotten a good alimony once the divorce was finalized, but they couldn't live off of it forever so she had found a job.

"Right." Ryan looked around the park. It was a Monday morning during summer vacation, and it was a nice day. The place had quite a few people in it. Mostly children, and some parents. Quinn followed Ryan's gaze, which was directed towards a small boy, maybe five or six, trying to cross a set of monkey bars some distance away, while a man, probably his father, stood underneath him, ready to catch the boy if he slipped.

"You okay?" Quinn questioned, watching as Ryan's face turned thoughtful, and almost sad. She looked at the pair that Ryan was watching, quickly figuring out what was going through his mind. She may be blonde, but she wasn't an idiot. She'd managed to keep up a 3.81 GPA this year, while being in the Cheerios and the New Directions, and she'd been pregnant for most of the year.

Ryan glanced over at her. "Hmm?" The question registered in his mind, a bit late. "Oh. Yes, I'm…fine."

"What happened the other night?" Quinn asked curiously. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said quickly. Sure she wanted to know, but it wouldn't be right to push either.

Ryan gave her a half smile. "I think we've been doing this long enough that we can push a bit," he said jokingly. Then he turned serious. "Like I said, long story."

"Well, I'm here to listen, that's our thing, right?" Quinn said teasingly.

Ryan was quiet for a while, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "I got home the other night, and my mom was there. With both my dads. She was yelling at them about something. Then Leroy yelled back at her, that I wasn't – wasn't their son, and that Shelby could have me," he finished.

Quinn took in a sharp breath. "Wow. When you said intense, I guess you really meant it."

Ryan just nodded. Slowly, the events of the past couple of days came out. "…So now I'm living with my mom," Ryan concluded. "My dad – Hiram – said legal proceedings could be over as soon as next week."

The two teenagers sat in silence for a few moments before Ryan broke it. "Does it get easier? Being left by your dad?" The last part was said softly, almost cautiously.

Quinn stayed quiet, gathering her thoughts. "I don't know." It had been incredibly painful, being rejected by both her parents when they had found out she was pregnant. And she hadn't had anywhere to go, besides to the boy who she had tricked into believing that he was the father of her baby. "But…I think it got…better…when my mom came back for me." Even if it had been months later. "At least you've got your mom."

"I guess so," Ryan said.

Quinn could hear something in his voice though. "What?"

Again, Ryan was quiet. "I'm scared she'll change her mind. She'll get tired of me, like my dads did," he said softly, not meeting Quinn's eye. "I know it's stupid."

"I'm not going to lie, I do think that's kind of stupid," Quinn said slowly, thinking back to her one conversation with Shelby Corcoran, back in the hospital just after she'd had Beth. Even in that short talk they'd had, Quinn could see how important Ryan was to the woman. "But I get why you feel that way." She'd be lying if she said she wasn't afraid that her own mom was going to just up and leave her again, and she told him so. "So maybe I'm being kind of stupid too."

"I'm pretty sure you're not stupid, Quinn."

Quinn smiled at him. Then she said thoughtfully, "Maybe we just have to figure out if we trust our moms enough to not leave." She thought about her own situation. It was different from Ryan's. Her mom had spent years cultivating the perfect family image, she and Quinn had never been close. All her parents wanted was for her to keep up her grades, her position in the Cheerios, and her vow of chastity. Beyond that, they hadn't really cared much. But…her mom was trying, wasn't she?

Ryan turned to Quinn with a light smile. "Maybe you should become a therapist."

"Thanks?" Quinn snapped herself out of her musings. She didn't really want to deal with it right now. "Did you talk to your dads?"

"Not really," Ryan admitted. "I tried, yesterday morning. But…it wouldn't come out. I had all these questions I wanted to ask…but we don't know how talk to each other anymore. We never did."

Quinn could totally understand that. "I haven't talked to my dad either," she confessed. "I haven't even seen him since…"

The two teenagers sat lost in thought for a few minutes. Then Ryan spoke up. "We're quite the pair, aren't we? At this rate we're going to have to get real professional help."

Quinn smirked at him. "You always needed professional help."

"Hey!"

"It's not natural to be that obsessed over glee!"

Ryan gave her a rueful smile. "Maybe not," he allowed. "But you have to admit, all my nagging and whining got everyone to step up, didn't it?"

"True, I guess." All his nagging did get the team to improve, and the other kids had had to step up their game to get solos from Ryan. "And you did manage to tone it down a bit after Sectionals."

"That was because I was a bit preoccupied with my mom. Anyways, all that aside, do you have any plans for the rest of the day? Maybe we can spend it together?" Ryan said hopefully. "I still owe you a date," he flashed her a charming smile.

Quinn couldn't help but smile back at him. "Yeah, you do. But I told Santana and Britt I'd meet them at the mall for lunch. You should come."

"Oh, ah, I don't think Santana likes me all that much –"

"I'll make sure she behaves," Quinn promised, smirking at him. "And besides, she said you were better than Finn or Puck. Coming from her, that's pretty much a rave review."

"Thanks," Ryan said drily. "Although I can't quite bring myself to be thrilled that I rate higher than the boy with _three_ left feet and the boy with roadkill on his head."

* * *

"Hey Quinn! Quinn, over here!"

Ryan and Quinn looked across the fast food area of Lima's mall to see Brittney waving at them, Santana sitting next to her eating some fries.

"Hi Brittney," Quinn said. "Hey Santana."

"Hey Q. Hobbit." The Latina cheerleader answered, nodding at the two of them.

"Santana, Brittney," Ryan greeted them, unfazed by Santana's nicknames for him. He'd grown used to them over the years.

He and Quinn sat down opposite the other two. Quinn snagged a fry from Santana, earning a quick glare. "You shouldn't even be eating those, what would Coach Sylvester say?" Quinn said nonchalantly.

"It's summer, she doesn't get a say," Santana said. "Where'd you find him?"

"I'm right here, and I'm not actually a stray cat that was picked up from the roadside," Ryan grumbled.

"Whatever."

"Lord Tubbington brought home a stray once," Brittney interjected. "But then it disappeared. Lord Tubbington sat on him."

The other three teenagers spared her a confused glance. Quinn shook her head. "Food. Let's get food."

A few minutes later, everyone had ordered from the limited selection available in the food court. Quinn eyed Ryan's tray. "Are you sure you can finish all that?"

Ryan gave her a confused look. "Yes, why?"

The tray was completely piled with food. "If you can eat all that why are you a midget? Where does it all go?" Santana asked blankly.

"Maybe he's on his period, I eat a lot when I'm on mine," Brittney suggested, causing the others to stare at her again, Ryan blushing slightly.

As Santana quickly explained to Brittney why Ryan couldn't be on his period, Quinn and Ryan dug into their meals to avoid the awkwardness.

"So what are your plans for the day?" Quinn asked. "I was just going to hang around in the mall, not much to do in the summer."

Ryan thought. "I didn't really have any plans," he admitted. "I usually stay at the garage when I don't have anything to do."

"You can hang out with us," Brittney said brightly. "We were just going to go around the mall, maybe catch a movie."

"Yeah, you can stay," Santana agreed.

Ryan smiled. This was pretty much the first time he'd been asked to hang out somewhere with anyone. "Okay then."

The four of them spent the rest of the meal chatting about inconsequential things, Ryan happily joining in. Soon, they finished up and the group window-shopped for a while before walking to the cinema area of the mall. After a bit of squabbling over what to watch, they eventually settled on a thriller/suspense movie, bought their snacks, and entered the cinema.

Soon Ryan's phone chimed. It was his mom. _Where are you? – Mom_

_Watching a movie with some friends. – Ryan_

_Oh ok. Call if you need me to pick you up later. – Mom_

_Ok, thanks._

Ryan put his phone away just as the movie started. The movie turned out to be pretty good, and during one of the intense moments, Ryan found himself holding Quinn's hand. He nervously started to back off, before deciding to go for it. He never did anything less than one hundred percent, after all, so he put his hand solidly on Quinn's. Thankfully she didn't pull away, instead she turned it over and gave his a quick squeeze back. Ryan didn't know what happened in the next ten minutes of the movie.

* * *

"Q, you need a ride home?" Santana asked. The movie had just finished and the group was walking out of the mall.

"Yeah, if that's okay."

"No problem. How about you, Berry? Your dads picking you up?"

Ryan flinched slightly, something that didn't go unnoticed by Quinn. "Oh, I'm staying with my mom right now actually. I think she might pick me up if I ask."

"Is that because your dads aren't your dads?" Brittney wondered. Ryan and Quinn shot her a shocked look, while Santana just looked confused.

"Uh, how did you know that?" Ryan asked cautiously. He was pretty sure nobody outside his family knew besides Quinn. "Did you tell her?" he asked Quinn. He wasn't accusing her of anything, he was just confused.

"No, I didn't," Quinn answered him. She was just as confused. "Britt, who told you that?"

"Nobody."

"Okay, okay, hold up. They're not your dads? How are they not your dads?" Santana asked.

Ryan shot her an irritated look. He _so_ did not want to get into this now. "That's sort of private –"

"Anyways, we can give you a ride, right Santana?" Quinn shot her friend a pointed look.

"Only if Santana's okay with it, she's driving," Ryan said quickly. Yeah, so he was still a little scared of the Latina cheerleader, sue him.

Santana shrugged. "Yeah, sure, whatever." None of her business. She was curious though. She led them to her car.

Ryan ended up sitting in the back of with Quinn, Brittney riding shotgun. "How's the car handling?" Ryan asked Santana. They were riding the same car he had fixed up just a few days ago.

"Better," Santana told him. "Imagine my surprise when I realized that the singing troll really did know his way around an engine."

"Thanks, I think."

* * *

Meanwhile Shelby was at home, getting some dinner ready. She wasn't exactly a gourmet chef, but she could cook, despite her mother's belief in the contrary. She just opted for take-out most of the time since she worked late. And she didn't really like cooking just for herself, since she ended up with a ton of leftovers. It worked pretty well sometimes though, if she cooked one large casserole she had food for the rest of the week. It was probably going to be different now, she thought, with Ryan in the house. Especially since the boy seemed to be a bottomless pit.

Just as she put the tray of lasagna into the oven, she heard the front door open. He must have gotten a ride from someone. She set the timer and left the kitchen. "Hi Ryan."

"Hi mom." It had been a few weeks, but both Ryan and Shelby still smiled whenever he called her 'mom'.

"How was your date?"

"Oh, it wasn't a date, not really. I met Quinn in the park, and then we went to the mall to meet Santana Lopez and Brittney Pierce. We had lunch there, and then we watched a movie."

The two of them went into the kitchen, where Shelby started clearing up. "What did you watch?"

"It was a thriller movie. What are you cooking?" Ryan asked, looking around.

"Lasagna."

Ryan's face lit up. "Great!" A beat later, he commented, "I didn't know you could cook."

Shelby sent him a mock offended look. What was with all these people thinking she couldn't cook? "Of course I can cook. I survived by myself in New York for years, thank you very much!"

Ryan raised his hands up in surrender. "No offense meant! But in my defense, you only had ice cubes in your fridge the other day. That fact didn't really lend itself to the idea that you could cook."

"Very funny," Shelby deadpanned. "Help me clean up."

Ryan obliged, loading the dishes in the washer just as Shelby directed. "Okay, I'm going up to my room." _Before you make me do anything else._

Shelby nodded at him, and Ryan quickly exited the kitchen. Up in his room, Ryan thought back to his talk with Quinn in the park. _Maybe we just have to figure out if we trust our moms enough to not leave._

He had immediately thought about all his interactions with Shelby, ever since he'd first met her. One thing he knew was that other than keeping her identity as his mom from him, which she'd been forced to do by the contract, his mom had never lied to him. Every time he asked her anything important it was clear that she was giving him the sincere, honest-to-God truth. And she seemed to genuinely care about what was going on with him. His dads had rarely asked him about his day the way that Shelby just had a few minutes ago.

Yes, he did trust his mom. She wasn't going to leave him. He just needed to hold on to that, and he'd be fine. They'd be fine.

* * *

"Hey, this is…really good," Ryan said, in mild surprise, as they ate dinner a couple of hours later. He'd had a few doubts about his mom's cooking abilities. He wasn't sure why, she just didn't strike him as the cooking type. His fears were unfounded though. This was delicious!

Shelby sent him another mock glare. "Thanks for sounding so surprised," she said sarcastically.

Ryan just grinned at her. How was she supposed to stay annoyed at him if he could disarm her with a smile? She really had to start building up her defenses against him or he'd just walk all over her.

"What were you doing in your room?" Shelby asked curiously. She was trying to give him some space, she couldn't hover around him forever. And she knew he needed some time to himself to figure things out.

"I was making some backing tracks. I've got a program that lets you make instrumental tracks on my laptop, I usually use those to practice since I don't have an instrumentalist, and since I can't really play any instruments very well," Ryan explained.

"Oh. Well, I've got a lot of minus-one tracks stored up over the years, you could use those if you like," Shelby offered. "And of course, those singing and piano lessons are still up for grabs."

"I'll take you up on those whenever you've got time," Ryan said happily, taking a third helping of the lasagna.

A few minutes later, over half of the tray of lasagna was gone – _where did he put it all?_ Shelby wondered – and the table was cleared up. "You know, I haven't really given you a full tour of the house," Shelby said thoughtfully. "Come on."

She led him through the house, pointing out all the rooms, bathrooms, and all the exit points in case of emergency. "You can still change to the other guest room if you like it better."

"No, I like the one I'm in."

"Okay. Anyways, one more room to go." She opened the door and quickly heard her son's gasp of delight. She had saved her music room as the last stop of their tour. She kept a baby grand piano in here, along with her large CD and sheet music collection. She also had an expensive stereo set in here, and she'd had the room semi-soundproofed. "What do you think?"

"Wow." Ryan walked over to the shelf containing the sheet music. "I don't think I'm ever leaving this room," he grinned.

"You can use it anytime you like. Just don't put any liquids on the piano or the stereo. And try to keep the music in order," Shelby instructed him. He just nodded in response, still perusing the large shelf of music. Shelby just shook her head at him, and walked over to lean on the piano, still watching him.

"What are you going to do?"

Shelby blinked. "I'm sorry?" Do? About what?

Ryan cleared his throat nervously. "I meant this summer. You probably had plans, before this whole custody-of-me thing."

"Ah." Shelby sat down on the piano bench. "Usually I spend some time in Akron, maybe a couple of weeks," she said slowly. "And I offer private vocal lessons over the summer."

"What about this summer?" Ryan pressed. "I know you said you were planning to move back to New York, and I sort of messed that up."

"You did not mess anything up," Shelby told him sternly. "I decided to stay even before your dads talked to me about taking you. But to answer your question, I don't really have any plans for the summer," she admitted, running her hands over the piano keys. "A few of my students have asked if I'm offering lessons, but I haven't answered them yet."

"What about after? You already resigned from VA, right?"

Yes, she had. And she hadn't really thought it through all the way. She could probably get her job as an English teacher back at Carmel, but she knew if she did that she'd eventually be roped back into involvement with VA, and she didn't want that. She had been serious about quitting, the win-at-all-costs environment was too toxic. She loved teaching, and she loved winning, but not like that. "I did, and I'll be looking over my job options soon. Don't worry about it, it's my problem, okay?" Besides, the bonus she'd gotten after winning Nationals was huge, and so was her paycheck, so no problems with finances right now.

Ryan nodded. "Okay." He'd been worried that his mom hadn't thought this through, and that once she did she'd suddenly change her mind. But she said she wouldn't, and he trusted her.

Shelby, for her part, knew what was going on in her son's head. "Whatever happens, I'm not leaving you, understand? You're stuck with me."

Ryan gave her a small smile. "That obvious?"

"Little bit." Shelby patted the piano bench next to her, inviting him to sit, which he did. "I understand you need some time, but I promise, you can trust me. I'm going to be right here." She thought for a moment, before she started singing.

_When I look into your eyes_

_It's like watching the night sky_

_Or a beautiful sunrise_

_Well, there's so much they hold_

_And just like them old stars_

_I see that you've come so far_

_To be right where you are_

_How old is your soul?_

_Well, I won't give up on us_

_Even if the skies get rough_

_I'm giving you all my love_

_I'm still looking up_

Shelby fixed her eyes on her son as she sang, trying to get him to understand.

_And when you're needing your space_

_To do some navigating_

_I'll be here patiently waiting_

_To see what you find_

Ryan started singing with her. Once again, their voices harmonized perfectly.

_Well, I won't give up on us _

_God knows I'm tough enough _

_We've got a lot to learn _

_God knows we're worth it _

_I won't give up on us_

_Even if the skies get rough_

_I'm giving you all my love_

_I'm still looking up_

The two of them sat at the piano for a few minutes after the last note, before Shelby broke the silence. "I love you so much, and I promise, I won't give up on you."

Ryan turned sideways and wrapped his mom in a hug. "I love you too."

* * *

**Heh. Tried to do some fluff, not really sure how it went. It hit me that I've been doing this story for two months, and I've reached twenty chapters! A big thank you to everyone who's still reading, I never thought I'd go this long since I was pretty much a crappy writer back in high school. Anyways, drop me a line to tell me what you thought, and other stuff you might want to see in future chapters. The next two chapters will be covering Ryan's moving in with Shelby, and more fluff with Quinn hopefully. I will be including his bio dad later on. See you next time :)**


	21. Chapter 20

"Shelby!" Josh Corcoran knocked on Shelby's front door again. It was Wednesday morning, and he and Paige had driven in from Akron for the meeting with the Berrys and their lawyer.

The door suddenly burst open. "Sorry," Shelby said. "I was upstairs. Ryan was on his iPod." The two of them were getting settled with each other. The previous day had gone pretty smoothly, Ryan had spent the morning at the garage, while Shelby stayed home and worked on the grades for her English student. It was hard to believe that the school session had just ended a week ago.

"Took you long enough," Josh joked.

"Good morning to you too," Shelby grumbled. "Hi Paige."

"Morning."

"I have coffee in the kitchen," Shelby said as she let them in. "Let's go."

A few minutes later the three adults were sitting at the counter in the kitchen drinking coffee. "What time's the appointment?" Josh asked.

"It's at ten," Shelby told him. "Down at Ross's law office."

"I've been looking over the papers, there shouldn't be any problem," Paige said. "The Berrys are giving up custody willingly, and you're accepting. You're Ryan's biological mom, and you're pretty well off, so the judge probably won't have any problems signing off of the papers even if you're going to be a single mom. So this should be relatively quick and painless." She took a sip of her coffee. "Besides, this is just the signing of documents, we're still going to file. We can probably get a judge by next week, sooner if the Berrys' lawyer can pull some strings."

Josh nodded. "Okay, where's your kid going to be during all this? Maybe we can spend some time together."

"Ask him yourself," Shelby nodded in the direction of the kitchen door, which had just opened.

"Good morning Uncle Josh, Aunt Paige," Ryan greeted. "Hi mom." He opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water, then sat down at the counter next to his mom.

"Hey Ryan, you got any plans today? I thought we could go out while the two ladies do their thing," Josh suggested.

Ryan's gaze flickered to his mom. "I was just going to hang out at the garage, I guess," he said. He knew his mom and his aunt were going to meet with his dads to get his custody transfer filed. "We could go somewhere else if you wanted to, though."

"Actually, that works just fine," Josh smiled at his nephew. "I haven't gotten my car fixed, maybe you could get it done?"

"Sure!" Ryan replied. It would take his mind off things, and as a bonus he'd get to spend some time with his new uncle.

"You're supposed to be bonding, not trying to get free labor done on your car," Shelby scolded her brother. "Whatever. Try to get it done by noon, we're having lunch together, okay?"

"Yes, mom," Ryan and Josh droned at the same time.

Paige smirked, while Shelby just rolled her eyes. "Great, now there's two of them."

* * *

One hour later, Shelby and Paige drove over to Max Ross's law office to meet Leroy and Hiram. "You okay?" Paige asked, sensing that Shelby was a bit tense.

"I'm good," was the answer. "I just want this over with." She pulled up in front of their destination, and the two women stepped out of the car and into the office. Leroy and Hiram were already there.

"Hello, Shelby," Hiram said, offering her a small smile. "You remember Max Ross?"

Yes, Shelby did remember the balding man from sixteen years ago, when he'd drawn up the contract that had kept her away from her son, and had later handled the adoption files. Now he was completely bald. "Mr. Ross." She shook hands with him. "This is my lawyer, Paige Matheson." They had decided they didn't need to reveal their relationship.

After the niceties had been observed, Max started the formalities. "So, let's get down to it, shall we? Do you have a copy of the original contract?" he asked Paige, who nodded and produced the documents Shelby had given to her. "Excellent, here are the transfer of custody documents I've drawn up, pretty standard stuff." He handed over a folder, which Paige immediately read through.

"You're basically transferring full custody to Miss Corcoran, and terminating all parental rights, is that correct?" Paige asked, still perusing the document.

"Yes," Max nodded. "The Berrys would have no legal right to the minor, and Miss Corcoran doesn't have to let them see him either."

That sounded just fine to Shelby, though she was upset on Ryan's behalf that his fathers were really and truly cutting ties with him.

"There's also an option for a legal name change," Paige noted with some surprise, it was a bit unusual for parents to voluntarily let their child, even one they were signing away, change their last name.

"Subject to Ryan's choice, of course," Hiram said quickly. "He can keep his name if he wants."

Paige finished looking through the documents. "Everything seems to be in order," she said closing the folder and turning to Shelby. "Just needs your signature." She turned back to Max. "What about the original contract? I looked it over, and it's almost void since Ryan found Miss Corcoran without her contacting him."

Max nodded. "Yes, it's pretty much useless now, but we will be officially cancelling the document when we file this at the courthouse."

"When can you get a judge to sign off?"

"I can get us in with Judge William Schwartz on Friday, if that works for everyone." Max was friends with the judge and had managed to sweet-talk his secretary into an early appointment.

"Does Ryan need to be there?" Shelby asked.

"No," Max answered. "But it might be better for him to be there if he opts for the name change, the judge might want to ask him a few questions."

Paige handed Shelby the papers. "It's all good to go," she told Shelby. "Mr. and Mr. Berry have already signed all the papers, all that's missing is your signatures and then we can file. We'll just need to come back on Friday for the judge, and Ryan's all yours."

Shelby quickly picked up a pen and scrawled her signature on all the necessary papers in triplicate. She handed the copies back to Paige, who returned two copies to Max. One copy would belong to the Berrys, while the other would be filed at the courthouse.

Hiram and Leroy stood up as soon as the papers were finished. "If we're done here, we need to leave. I've got a meeting in half an hour," Leroy explained. "We'll see you on Friday."

"Wait," Shelby said suddenly. "When can we get Ryan's stuff?"

"Oh, right." Hiram scratched his head, thinking. "Well, he still has his keys, you can come tomorrow morning if you like," Hiram said. "We have work, but you can let yourselves in. Thanks, Max, Shelby, Miss Matheson," he nodded to each of them, before following Leroy out the door.

Max sighed. "I'll take the papers to the courthouse this afternoon." Shelby and Paige stood up, and so did he. Max escorted the two to the door, giving each a quick handshake. "Our appointment is set for three o'clock on Friday. I'll see you there."

Paige nodded. "Thank you."

* * *

Meanwhile, Josh had driven Ryan to Burt Hummel's garage in his car. "Not to make you panic or anything, but this car's about to overheat," Ryan pointed out. "Fortunately, we're almost there, just turn here and park."

Following the directions, Josh drove the car into the garage and quickly cut the engine. They got out and Ryan opened the hood. "We're going to have to wait for this to cool off," he observed. "Let's go see if we have the part we need."

"Hello Ryan," Burt came out of the office. "Hello, I'm Burt Hummel, and you are…?"

"Josh Corcoran," Josh said, extending a hand to shake the man's hand. "I'm Ryan's uncle."

Burt glanced at his assistant. "Right. Kurt told me about Miss Corcoran being your mom." And here he'd thought the kid had a crush on the brunette. That was weird. Although after some more thought, he could see the similarities. "So is she your sister?"

"Yup."

Burt walked over to Josh's car. "What's the problem?"

"The engine's overheating because the hose is broken," Ryan told him. "I already took a look a few days ago. And I think it needs a new battery."

Burt took another look around the car. "Ford Contour, 1995 model?"

"That's right," Josh agreed. "I've had it for fifteen years, my sister keeps telling me to get rid of it."

"Maybe she's right," Ryan suggested. "Do we have the right parts?"

Burt nodded. "Yeah, I think we got the right piece in the back. If not we can try something else. I'll go find it, you try cooling that off," he gestured at the slightly smoking engine.

"Okay."

Josh sat down on a nearby stool while he watched Ryan work on the engine. "Thanks for doing this," he said.

"No problem," Ryan smiled at him. "It's my job, and I like fixing things."

There was a short comfortable silence. "You said you watch baseball, right? Did you see the game last night?"

Slightly surprised that his uncle remembered what sport he watched, Ryan answered. "Just the end. LA Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks, right?"

Josh smiled. "Yeah. The Dodgers lost."

"Your team?" Ryan asked curiously.

"No, I like the Reds. How about you?"

"Oh, I don't really follow any particular team. I just root for the one that's winning," Ryan shot his uncle a grin.

Josh snorted at him in amusement. "Just like your mom, then. How are you two getting along?"

Ryan thought about it. "I guess we're getting along relatively well, she's a surprisingly good cook."

"Huh. Who would've thought?"

Burt came back holding the required part. "Here's the replacement hose, you can put it in as soon as you get it cool enough to handle."

"Thanks," Ryan said, taking the piece. "Just a few more minutes to cool it off, then we can try sticking this in."

Burt nodded. "Come get me when you're done," he said, returning to a car he was working on in the back room.

"Are you close with Mr. Hummel?" Josh asked Ryan, curious about his nephew's life and relationships. He seemed like a nice kid, even if his dads were quite the pieces of work.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ryan answered. "I've been hanging around here since I was twelve. I was partnered with his son, Kurt, for a project at school, and we ended up doing it here. I always liked cars, and Mr. Hummel eventually started showing me some stuff. And I started spending more time here when my dads…well, they had a lot of work to do," he said quickly.

"How'd you get interested in cars?" Josh asked, changing the subject. He could see the Berrys were still are sore subject with Ryan, and he didn't want to make the kid uncomfortable.

Ryan smiled. "One of Leroy's business associates got us tickets to a NASCAR race at Mid-Ohio. That was when I was eight, and I loved it. Music is my first love, and I think my biggest asset is my voice, but the cars are a good hobby." He started removing the defective hose from the car. "Can you hand me the new piece?"

Josh obliged, and Ryan started to attach it into the engine. "There," he said, fixing the last screw into place. "Just the battery left." He quickly had the battery replaced, and he had Josh start the car. "You'll just have to keep an eye on the temperature gauge, but it shouldn't overheat anymore."

"Thanks, Ryan. Just in time, too," Josh said, checking his watch. "We're supposed to meet the girls at the restaurant soon. Let's go find your boss."

Soon, the parts were paid for. "Here you go." Josh handed Ryan $20.

"Thanks," Ryan gave him a smile, which turned into a mischievous smirk. "Mom gives me thirty though."

Josh laughed. "Can't have my big sister outdoing me, can I?" He handed Ryan another twenty.

"I didn't mean – I wasn't asking for more," Ryan stammered. "I was just joking."

"Don't worry about it," his uncle winked at him. "You did a good job. I'm pretty sure Mr. Hummel wouldn't have left you alone if you weren't good, and I don't mind paying for a job well done."

"Thanks."

"Now, let's go meet your mom and my fiancée."

* * *

A few hours later everyone headed home – Josh and Paige back to Akron, Shelby and Ryan back to Shelby's house. "What did you and Josh get up to?" Shelby asked her son as they drove.

"Oh, we went to the garage. His car's fixed, but you're right, he should get a new one. It's…really old."

Shelby smiled. "Glad you're on my side, I hate riding in that thing." She glanced over at her son, who didn't say anything. "Something wrong?"

"What happened? At the lawyer's office?" Ryan burst out. "Did – were they there? Did they say anything about me?"

Shelby sighed. How was she supposed to tell him that his dads didn't seem to care? "No, they didn't say anything," she admitted. "Actually, none of us said much, it was mostly the Mr. Ross and Paige doing the talking," she continued quickly, trying to lessen the blow.

Ryan saw right through it, though. "It's okay, you don't have to do that," he told her softly, looking out the window. "I'm used to it."

They both stayed quiet until Shelby pulled up in her driveway. They both got into the house, and Ryan quickly went up to his room. Shelby gave him a few minutes, then followed him. She knocked on the door, then pushed it open to see Ryan lying on the bed, laptop open. "Are you okay?"

Ryan put his laptop down and sat up, not looking her in the eye. "I…don't understand."

"What's that?"

"Why I can't – why they can't – I don't know!" he burst out, frustrated. "I don't understand why they don't care. That's it. It's like we couldn't talk to each other, we couldn't connect! But then I met you, and your family, and I just…why couldn't they be like that for me?" he asked unhappily. "You ask me about my day whenever I come back here. You know, Uncle Josh remembered earlier that pretty much the only sport I watch is baseball, just from an offhand comment I made at lunch last Sunday? _They_ couldn't even remember what extracurricular activities I'm in!"

Shelby just sat there, at a loss for words. She was way out of her depth, she had no idea how to answer him. "I don't know," she said quietly. "I have no idea what's wrong with them. But it's their loss." Ryan gave her a weak smile, and she continued. "And now, my family's your family now too. And knowing them, they'll smother you until you're asking them to go away."

Ryan laughed, then gave his mom a hug. "Thank you."

Shelby returned the hug, then ruffled his dark hair. "It's getting long, you're going to need a haircut soon. I'm not having my kid looking like a sheepdog."

Ryan gave her a smirk. "Maybe I'll get a Mohawk. Like Noah Puckerman." He laughed when Shelby shot him a glare. "I'm just joking. I wouldn't be able to pull that off."

"You better not." Shelby left the room.

Ryan, feeling a lot better after getting his feelings off his chest, picked up his phone. He sent Quinn a text.

..

A few miles away, Quinn picked up her phone as it chimed. She was over at Santana's house watching TV, since her own home was empty. Her mom, while doing better at the whole supporting-her-kid deal, wasn't home often, which left Quinn to her own devices most of the time. She smiled as she saw that the message was from Ryan.

_Hi Quinn. Are you busy? – Ryan _

Santana glanced over at her. "Is that your midget?"

"'My midget'?" Quinn raised an eyebrow. "That makes it sound like he's my pet or something."

The other girl shrugged. "Hey, if the shoe fits…that boy is so hot for you."

"Shut up." She typed out a reply. _I'm at Santana's place, not busy. – Q_

_Ok, just thought I'd ask. Spent the day with my mom, uncle, and aunt. – R_

_How'd it go? – Q_

_It went great. – R_

_My mom and dads signed the custody papers this morning. Judge is going to sign off on Friday. – R_

_Oh. Are you okay? – Q_

The reply took a moment to come. _Yes, I'm fine. I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to have coffee or something tomorrow – R_

_Sure. Lima Bean around 3? – Q_

_Perfect. See you :) – R_

Quinn put down her phone, smiling slightly.

"What did he want?" Santana asked flipping the channel from an end credits scene.

"He wanted to ask me out for coffee tomorrow." Quinn wasn't about to tell Santana about Ryan's personal stuff, it wasn't hers to tell. And she'd seen how angry he'd been when the glee club had tried to get involved in the business with Shelby before Regionals. She wasn't getting into that mess if she could help it.

"Ooh, a date," Santana teased. "That's so sweet. Have you tapped that yet?"

Quinn's mouth fell open. "That is none of your business," she snapped, scandalized. "And no, of course not!"

"Why not? It's obvious the boy's totally hot for you, and who can blame him?"

Quinn flushed slightly, although she couldn't help from feeling a bit pleased at the effect she had on Ryan. "We're taking it slow okay? You know what, I don't have to talk about this," she complained.

"Okay, okay, jeez. I just thought you like him, he likes you, what's the problem?" Santana said offhandedly.

Quinn huffed at her best friend. "Look, we both like each other. But we're friends too, I really don't want to mess that up. I've already messed up enough, I don't want to ruin this too."

Santana looked at her friend. "You've got it bad, haven't you?"

Quinn's only response was to toss a throw pillow at the other girl's face.

"Hey!"

* * *

Later than night, Shelby sat down with Ryan in the living room. "I need to talk to you about some stuff."

"Oh. Okay," Ryan looked at her.

"First things first. Your dads told me we could go pack up your stuff tomorrow morning. They're going to be out, so you don't have to see them if you don't want to." She hesitated. "Do you want to see them?"

Ryan fidgeted. "I don't know. I'm not sure. No?"

"Okay…anyways, they'll be out, so that won't really be a problem." Shelby knew Ryan had to deal with them sometime, but she wouldn't push him just yet. On to more important matters. Shelby took a breath. "Okay. When Paige and I took a look at the papers this morning, we found that there was a clause in there that allows you to change your name if you wanted to."

Ryan blinked at her before looking down to where he was fiddling with a corner of a throw pillow. "Oh."

"So I wanted to know, do you want to change your last name? It's completely your choice, your dads said they wouldn't have a problem if you wanted to keep their name."

Ryan ran a hand through his hair, thinking. He thought about his dads, and everything that had happened in the last week (had it really only been a week?). He thought about the last few years, and how they hardly paid him any attention, constantly going off to who-knows-where on their never ending business trips.

Then his mind turned to his mom, and everything she'd done for him, with him, since they first met. He thought about the rest of the Corcorans, and how they had been so excited to meet him, how they were with each other.

He wanted that.

"I want to have your name," he said decisively. "I'll do it, I want to be a Corcoran."

Shelby sighed in relief. She would have accepted it if he had wanted to keep the Berrys' name, but she really wanted her son to take on her family name. He was already part of the family, but this would just cement it further. "Okay." She gave him a big smile, and then a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

_The next day_

"Ryan, come on!" Shelby called from the foot of the stairs. She'd been waiting for almost fifteen minutes. They needed to get going if they were going to pack up Ryan's stuff and bring it all back this morning.

Finally her son came down the stairs slowly. "What are you doing?" Shelby asked, getting a shrug back in response. "Do you have your keys?" Ryan nodded, and Shelby sighed. Looks like her kid was in a mood today. She was quickly figuring out that Ryan's moods were a bit volatile and quick-changing. "Let's go."

The car ride to the Berry home was made in relative silence. When they got there, Ryan dawdled a bit more while unlocking the house, and then slowly made his way up to his room with a few flattened boxes Shelby had gotten to put his stuff in. Shelby rolled her eyes, the efficient perfectionist side of her slightly irritated. What was with him? Her phone signaled a text message, and she pulled it out before following up the stairs.

_Package in the kitchen for you. – Hiram_

Shelby looked up the stairs where Ryan had just disappeared into his room, then turned and went into the Berrys' kitchen. There was a taped-up box with her name on it on the counter. She picked it up, noting that it was slightly heavy, then went back out to her car to put it in. She'd check it out later.

She reentered the house and followed Ryan up into his room. The boy was sitting on the bed, absently toying with an old baseball. "Hey kid, let's get going, we don't have all day." She watched as Ryan sluggishly stood from the bed. "Okay, what's wrong?"

Ryan shrugged again. "Nothing."

"No, no, no. I can tell there's something wrong, so what is it?" Shelby pushed. "You haven't said five words to me all day. What's up?"

Ryan put the baseball down on the desk. "I don't know. I just…maybe it's just sinking in. This isn't going to be my room anymore. Everything's changing."

Oh. Now Shelby felt really stupid. She hadn't considered how this would make the move permanent, and she hadn't considered how it would affect her son.

"I know I'm moving in with you, and I'm happy about that, but…I don't know." Ryan was having a hard time expressing what he felt, he always had. He had an enormous vocabulary, he'd gotten nearly perfect scores in his SAT practice runs, but he never seemed to be able to find the right words when it came to feelings.

"It's sort of natural, I guess," Shelby said ponderingly. "I was a bit out of it when I moved to New York. Change is always hard. But it's good, too. You wouldn't want to stay the same forever, right?"

Ryan nodded reluctantly. "I guess so. It's just that I spent fifteen years with this place as my room, it has a lot of memories. Like all the times I was up here making those MySpace videos, or the time I brought my first singing trophy in here," he said, gesturing at the mentioned trophy. "It's just strange to be leaving it."

"It's just a room," Shelby told him gently. "You're taking your memories with you. And we'll be making new ones."

"Okay." Ryan shook himself mentally. "Okay. Let's do this."

"Good." Shelby looked around the room. "And…I'm sorry I was a bit short with you earlier."

A slight smile appeared on the teenager's face. "You're apologizing?"

"Yeah, and it doesn't happen often so you better bask in the glow of it. But bask quick, we still have to pack." Shelby smiled in relief as her son's smile widened. "Now, I think the first thing you have to decide on is whether you're keeping everything."

..

A couple of hours later, the room was mostly packed, with Ryan's stuff organized into the boxes they had brought. A lot of things were being left behind, including outgrown clothes and old toys. They had decided to take Ryan's CD collection with them, they'd just see where it overlapped with Shelby's and sell the duplicates off.

"You got everything?" Shelby asked one more time.

"Yes," Ryan answered her, a touch of exasperation in his voice. His mom had asked the question a few times already.

"Don't take that tone with me, kid, I don't remember you complaining when you suddenly remembered that poster in the back closet a few minutes ago."

"Sorry," Ryan muttered. "But to answer your question, yes, I think I have everything."

"Good." Shelby picked up the second to the last box. "I'll meet you in the car," she told him as she left the room.

Ryan slowly picked the final box up and took a last look around the room. He straightened his shoulders. His mom was right, the room was just that – a room. He'd be taking his memories and his things with him. And he was going somewhere better. And he was meeting Quinn later, he thought, smiling. After one more sweep, he followed his mom out of the room, closing the lights as he left.

* * *

_Later that afternoon_

"Hey, Ryan," Quinn said as she entered the Lima Bean. She was wearing a close-fitting tank top, and she couldn't help but smirk inwardly at Ryan's slightly slack-jawed face when he saw her. Oh yeah, she still had it.

Ryan managed to wake himself up, and he flashed her a quick smile. "H-hi Quinn. You look great."

Quinn smiled back at him. That was one of the things she really liked about him, other boys probably would have made a flirtatious comment, or they wouldn't have been able to keep their eyes from wandering all over. Ryan was different though. And compliments were always welcome. "Thanks. How'd you get here?"

"Oh, I walked," Ryan answered. "What did you want to drink?"

Quinn considered. "Hazelnut latte, iced if you can get it."

"Coming right up," Ryan smiled at her as he got up to get their drinks. He came back a few minutes later carrying two cups. "Good call on the iced drink, it's getting pretty hot outside." It was mid-June now, and the summer heat was starting.

Quinn accepted the cup Ryan offered her. "Thanks."

"So, how's Santana? You were over at her place yesterday, right?"

"Yeah, my mom's usually out at work all day, and she goes to AA some nights. I go over to the Lopez's place a lot," Quinn said thoughtfully. "Even before."

"How are you and your mom anyways?" Ryan asked curiously. "Is it…better now?"

Quinn stayed quiet for a moment, thinking. "I guess so," she answered slowly. "Better than before, anyways, at least she's not drinking anymore, and she's not obsessed with the perfect family thing my dad had going on." She was quiet. "I guess the problem is…she isn't really there."

Ryan knew what that felt like. "Like she's there but not really? Yes, that's what it felt like with my dads."

"She's trying," Quinn allowed. "We talk, sometimes. How did it go yesterday?" she asked, trying to change the subject. She knew she could talk about it with him, but she didn't really know how to say it. She wasn't even sure exactly what she was feeling. "With your mom and her family?"

Ryan smiled. "It was pretty good." He told her about what happened yesterday.

"So are you taking the name change?" Quinn wanted to know.

Ryan looked away for a moment. "Yes, I am. What do you think?"

"Hmm. Ryan Corcoran." She tried the new name out. "Sounds good, I like it. Besides, from what you've said, they're a better family anyways."

"Yeah." Ryan took a drink of his coffee. Quinn was right, the Corcorans were a better family.

..

Back at home, Shelby had finally gotten around to opening the box Hiram had left for her. Inside, she found a note on top of a small stack of photo albums, and another stack of loose photos. She quickly read the note.

_Shelby,_

_We thought you'd want to have some of the pictures we took of Ryan over the years. Ryan can probably tell you about some of them if you ask him. We've also included his medical records._

_Hiram_

Shelby set the note down and immediately opened the top album, smiling at the picture of a baby Ryan being held by Hiram. The next one showed the baby in a onesie lying in a crib. She slowly went through the rest of the album, enchanted by the photographs of the child she'd been thinking about all those years.

"Mom?"

Shelby jumped in surprise. "Ryan! When did you get here?"

"Just now. What are you doing?" Ryan asked curiously, glancing at the open album in front of Shelby. "Oh. Where'd you get those?"

"Hiram left them for me at their house this morning." Shelby put down the album, taking out the rest of the box's contents. At the bottom she found a folder, presumably containing the records. She'd take a look at it later. "How was your coffee date?"

"Good," Ryan smiled at her. "It went great, we had a lot of fun. At least I did, I hope Quinn did too," he rambled.

Shelby smiled in amusement. "How is she, anyways?"

Ryan paused in his ramble. "She's okay, I think. Why?"

"Just wondering how she's dealing with her baby's adoption." Shelby knew from personal experience that it was hard, and she felt some concern for the girl her son seemed to be so infatuated with.

"It hasn't come up, actually," Ryan frowned. It hadn't really crossed his mind, and Quinn had never brought it up.

"Ah." Perhaps she had already come to terms with it, Shelby mused. "Anyways, I thought you could tell me about a few of these pictures," she said hopefully.

"Sure," Ryan said amiably, sitting down beside his mom and opening an album. "Heh. That's from when I was five, I think," he told her, pointing at a picture of himself on a swing. "It was taken at the park, you know, where you found me after I ran off that night." He went through a few more pictures before noticing that his mom had gone quiet. "Something wrong?"

Shelby shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Just wishing I was a part of all these pictures, I guess," she said wistfully.

"Oh." Ryan ran his hand through his hair, not knowing what to say. Honestly, he hadn't thought much about how his mom would have felt all those years before they had met. "Well, we can make new pictures," he suggested. He took out his phone, holding it out to capture both of them. "Smile."

He turned the screen towards them. "That's a good picture," Shelby smiled. He was right. They were together now, they would be able to make all the pictures they wanted, with both of them.

* * *

**Next chapter, everyone! We're getting to the end of the custody arc, just one more to go. It's actually almost done, so I should have it up early this week. Hope you liked this one. Also, maybe some of you have an opinion on what I should do with Shelby, job-wise, I mean. I'm considering having her teach at McKinley a year early. Either that or I'll find something else for her to do, she can't just sit at home. Reviews please! **


	22. Chapter 21

On Friday morning, Ryan woke up at 6:13. The custody transfer was going to become official this afternoon, along with his name change. He got up and dressed quickly. To his surprise, his mom was already up as well, drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen. "Hi mom."

"Good morning," Shelby smiled at him.

"You're up early."

"Big day. Are you going to the garage this morning? The family's coming after lunch," Shelby told him. All of the Corcorans wanted to be with Shelby and Ryan today. "We're all going out for dinner afterwards."

Ryan shook his head. "No, I'm not going today. I already told Mr. Hummel."

Shelby studied her son, who was leaning on the counter. "Are you okay?"

Ryan picked up an apple that sat in a bowl on the counter. He pulled himself up on a stool. "Yes, I'm okay, I suppose." He played around with the apple a bit, not meeting Shelby's eyes. "A bit worried about seeing them again, maybe. My dads, I mean, not your family."

"My family's your family too," Shelby reminded him. "And you don't need to worry too much, I'll be right there the whole time, okay? You don't even have to talk to your dads if you don't want to."

"I'm not sure if I want to or not."

"Well, don't worry about it too much, you'll be fine. We'll both be fine. I'll be there the whole time."

Ryan gave her a small smile. "Okay." He took a bite out of the apple. "You know, I just realized, since you're going to be my legal guardian, you can come with me to get my learner's permit," Ryan's smile widened. "Will you take me?"

Shelby blinked. "Maybe." Take her kid to get a learner's permit? She was just getting custody of him, and she already had to worry about him driving? Perfect.

"Why maybe?" Ryan whined slightly. "I actually already know how to drive, I work in a garage after all. I just need a permit so I can get a license when I turn sixteen." He smiled slyly. "And you can get me a car in December."

Shelby laughed at him, happy that he was feeling better. She could do without the mood swings though, she'd noticed that his moods seemed volatile lately, he could be happy one second and then brooding the next; upset and then suddenly playful the next moment. She supposed she should put it down to puberty. And in fairness, it was a pretty difficult time, with everything that was going on. "Yeah, I'll get right on that," she said a bit sarcastically. She stood up. "Since we're both already up, what do you want for breakfast?"

Ryan smiled happily. "Can you make pancakes?"

Shelby nodded. "No problem. You can help, get the stuff out of the fridge."

A few minutes later, Shelby was flipping the pancakes on the stove while Ryan watched. "It seems easy," he observed.

"Want to try?" Shelby offered.

Ryan quickly shook his head. "No thanks, I tried cooking exactly once, it's not going to happen again. Let's just say the kitchen ceiling hasn't been the same since."

* * *

_Later that afternoon_

Shelby and Ryan were sitting on the couch in the living room, watching a rerun of _How I Met Your Mother_. They had spent most of the morning watching one musical after another, and then they'd had a light lunch. Ryan had spent some of the time texting back and forth with Quinn. Soon they heard a knock on the door. Shelby got up to answer it.

"Hi honey," Tom Corcoran greeted his daughter with a kiss on the cheek and a one-armed hug.

"Hi dad." Shelby returned the hug, and gave one to her mom as well. "Hi mom."

Sarah hugged her daughter back perfunctorily. "Where's Ryan?"

"Yeah, sure, don't pay attention to me," Shelby grumbled good-naturedly. "He's in the living room. Hi Josh, Paige."

The couple greeted her back, and they all trooped into the living room, where Sarah was the first to wrap Ryan in a big hug. "Hi Ryan."

Caught slightly off-guard, Ryan took a second to return the hug. "Hello Grams," he said with a smile, still unused to a lot of people wanting to hug him. It was nice though, he'd received more hugs in the past week than in the last three months with his dads.

Tom patted him on the back, while Josh flopped down on the couch. "Hey kiddo. Shelby, you got anything besides water?"

"Yes, but get whatever you want yourself, I'm not your maid."

Ryan smirked as his uncle sighed and went into the kitchen. Shelby had told him pretty much the same thing the other day.

"So how have you two been?" Sarah asked.

"We're doing great, I think," Ryan answered. "We're sort of getting used to each other, Mom isn't much of a morning person."

"Your grandkid wakes up at six _every single morning_," Shelby told her parents dramatically, who laughed at her. "Don't laugh, it's not natural for teenagers to wake up that early!"

"You definitely didn't get that from your mom," Tom chuckled. "Your Grams had to drag her out of bed for school pretty much every single morning."

"Yes, go ahead, tell him everything," Shelby grumbled. "You're supposed to be on my side."

"Dear, parents side with their kids only until those kids have their own kids. Then they side with the grandkids," Sarah informed her. "It's your job to undo whatever damage we do. I think it's karma for everything you put your parents through."

Ryan grinned broadly, once again fascinated at the byplay between the family members. Just then Josh came back into the room, sitting down next to his fiancée, who was watching the rest in amusement. "Hey Ryan, the car's handling great, it hasn't acted up once since you fixed it."

"Happy to help, I tightened up few things when I was in there."

Josh grinned at him. "Thanks."

"Yes, thanks," Paige agreed. "Now we don't have to worry about the car falling down around our ears whenever we get in."

"It's not that bad!"

"I agree with Aunt Paige, it's pretty bad. You should look into getting a new car," Ryan said.

Shelby smirked triumphantly at her younger brother. "See, that's coming from an actual mechanic! You need to start looking into replacing that death trap."

Josh sighed, outnumbered. "Fine, fine. Ryan, you got any recommendations?"

The two quickly got into a discussion on the latest car models, with Paige and Tom joining in. Shelby sat down next to Sarah, who was seated a bit away from the rest of the family. She wrapped an arm around her daughter. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Nervous and excited, I guess. What if I'm not any good at being a mom?"

Sarah scoffed at her. "From what I've seen, you're already doing just fine. You'll make mistakes of course, but that's to be expected. You just do your best. And you have a good kid, you two are going to be fine. You're going to be a great mom. After all, you learned from the best, right?"

"And the most modest too, apparently."

"Got that right."

* * *

Half an hour later, Shelby, Paige, and Ryan were seated in Judge Will Schwartz's office. The rest of the family were waiting outside. A few minutes later, the Berrys and Max Ross entered. "Hello, Will, everyone," Max said shaking hands all around. "Sorry we're a bit late."

The judge nodded at him. "Well, let's get this going. Who's got the papers?"

Paige handed him their copy of the documents, while Max produced a similar packet, as the judge leafed through his own copy. "Everything seems to be in order," Judge Schwartz observed. Looking up, he turned to the Berrys. "You understand that by signing these documents, you are terminating all your legal parental rights to Ryan Berry? You will have no further connection to him, and Miss Corcoran is not obliged to allow you to contact him."

"My clients understand, Your Honor," Max said quickly. "They have agreed to all terms."

Ryan glanced furtively at his dads. Leroy kept his gaze on the judge, while Hiram glanced back at Ryan, offering him a sad smile.

"And Miss Corcoran, you understand that these documents mean you will have full custody of your son? Again, all parental rights are being transferred over to you, and you are not obliged to allow contact between the Berrys and your son."

"My client is fully aware of the terms, Your Honor," Paige answered as Shelby nodded.

Judge Schwartz flipped through the papers again. "Now there's the matter of the change of name." He looked up at Ryan. "Ryan, you have the option of keeping your current last name, or you can legally change it at this time to your mother's surname. Have you decided?"

Ryan glanced once again at Leroy and Hiram, then back at his mom. He knew he was making the right decision. "Yes, sir, I'd like to change my last name to Corcoran."

The judge nodded. "All right then. In changing your last name, you are now required to use your new name in any and all legal affairs, and you are no longer allowed to use your previous name. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"So that's all, unless anyone has any objections? You'd better speak up now, once I sign there's no going back." Judge Schwartz looked around the room. Finding no objections, he picked up a pen and signed all three copies of the documents. "There, we're all done."

Max picked up two copies of the papers, handing one to Paige. "All right, thanks, Will." After a quick round of thanks to the judge for accommodating them, the group exited the judge's office.

Once in the corridor, Hiram and Leroy looked at Shelby and Ryan awkwardly. Leroy cleared his throat. "Good luck Ryan, Shelby. I hope you're happy together."

Hiram nodded. "Shelby, thank you. I know it didn't work out well, and that you don't really like us right now, but thank you. I know you're the best thing for Ryan." He turned to Ryan, and Shelby backed off a bit, allowing them a bit of privacy. "Hey, I know you're probably mad at us," he told the boy sadly. "But I really think this is the best course of action, for all of us." Then he pulled out an envelope from his pocket, handing it to Ryan. "Open this later, okay?" He looked at Shelby. "Like Leroy said, good luck to both of you." He put his hand on Ryan's arm one more time, then turned around and left with Leroy.

Ryan stood in the corridor watching them leave, looking a little lost. Then he looked around as he felt Shelby wrap an arm around him. "You okay?"

Ryan folded the envelope Hiram had given him and stuck it in his jacket pocket. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm alright." He faced his mom. Yes, he was just fine. Hiram was right, this was the best thing for them. He loved his mom, and he was happy to be starting a new life with her. He shook himself mentally, and gave his mom a tentative smile, which Shelby returned.

Max cleared his throat from where he was standing with Paige a few feet away, trying to give them some privacy. "Well, we should get going as well." He shook hands with Paige, Shelby, and Ryan too. "Best of luck to the both of you."

The three of them soon followed, leaving the building to find the rest of the family outside.

"Well? How did it go?" Sarah asked impatiently.

Shelby and Ryan looked at each other happily. "It went perfectly," Shelby said. "Ryan is now officially a Corcoran."

"Wonderful!" Sarah wrapped the boy in a hug, and was soon joined by Tom.

"Welcome to the family, kid," Josh said, slapping Ryan on the back. "Of course, you were already a part of it, but this just makes it official."

Ryan beamed widely at his new family. "Thanks everyone." He felt he should say more, but he was just…overwhelmed. It felt amazing to be part of a real family, one that accepted him, wanted him. Even if the moment was tinged with some bitterness over his old family's abandonment, Ryan knew he wanted to remember this moment forever.

"Well, enough of that, let's go eat!" Josh piped up.

* * *

After an early dinner, the whole family returned to Shelby's house for coffee and dessert. Soon the coffee was brewing and the cake they had bought on the way home was sliced up. After everyone had their coffee, Tom stood up. "Well, it's been a big day for everyone, but most of all for Shelby and Ryan. Shelby's finally got her baby back, something we all didn't think would be possible for another few years, if ever. And Ryan, well, you've got more family now. So we just wanted you to know we love you, and we're very happy that you're here. Welcome to the family."

Everyone clapped at the end of the speech as Tom bowed flamboyantly before sitting down. Ryan sat there next to Shelby, a big smile on his face, once again overwhelmed by love he felt from this family. He stood up. "Thank you so much, everyone." He cleared his throat, which had suddenly closed up from the overflow of emotions. "I thought the first speech I'd make would be the acceptance speech for my first Tony award," he said, chuckling nervously, drawing a laugh from everyone else. "But seriously, thank you so much. For wanting me to be a part of your family, our family. I…I haven't felt this special in a long time, and it just means so much that you're accepting me. You're a special family, and like I told my teacher once, I think being part of something special makes you special." He blinked furiously, trying to dispel the tears that were building up. "I love you guys too."

He sat down to a chorus of "aww's", and he saw his mom and grandmother blinking as well. His mom reached over and ran a hand through his hair proudly.

"I brought a camera," Sarah said. "And we're going to take a family picture right after dessert."

"Wait, if you had a camera this whole time, why are we just now taking pictures?" Shelby wondered.

Tom chuckled. "I'm pretty sure your mom forgot."

Sarah hit her husband on the arm. "Hush you." She pulled out the camera. "Shelby, Ryan, lean in together," she directed, quickly taking a picture when they complied.

"Here, give it to me," Tom said, tugging the camera from his wife. "Go stand over there."

A few minutes and several pictures later, they finally got around to eating the cake and drinking the coffee, after which Sarah shooed everyone into the living room for their picture. "What about the dishes?" Shelby questioned.

"They won't disappear."

"Yeah, but who's going to be stuck washing them?"

Sarah waved her daughter off. "Everyone, go stand over in front of the fireplace." She put everyone into position as Josh set up the tripod. "Josh, is everyone in?"

"One sec." He adjusted the camera slightly, then set the timer. "Okay, everyone hold still, it's on a ten-second timer." He quickly got into his position next to Paige. "Everyone smile!"

Four…three…two…one…

"Nothing's happening."

"Josh, are you sure you set it right? If we stay smiling any longer our faces are going to freeze like this."

Josh turned to bicker with Shelby, and everyone broke formation. "Why don't you –"

_Click._

All eyes turned to the camera, one second late. Tom went over to check the digital image. "Well, at least everyone's in it." The family crowded around the small screen. Not a single one of them was facing the camera at the time the shutter closed. Sarah was rolling her eyes while Josh had his mouth open.

"Okay, okay, let's try that again."

Finally, after several takes, they were able to get a satisfactory picture, and after sitting around chatting for a while longer, it was time for Tom, Sarah, Josh, and Paige to go back to Akron.

"You need to come visit us soon, okay?" Sarah told Shelby sternly, before wrapping her in a hug and pulling Ryan in for good measure.

"Yes, mom, we will," Shelby said, rolling her eyes. Her mom was like this every single time. She and Ryan escorted them to the car. "Bye mom."

Mother and son watched as the car drove off before returning to the house and sitting down in the living room. "How are you doing?" Shelby asked.

Ryan quirked her mouth in a smile. "I'm good," he assured her. "Just overwhelmed a bit, that's all. Everything's different now. Good different, but still different."

Shelby nodded. They were still going to have to hammer out their ground rules, but that could wait for a while. She knew things were different now, and like she'd admitted to her mom, she was nervous. What if she messed up again, what if she couldn't be the mom Ryan needed? "Well, we'll figure it out together. Deal?"

"Deal."

Then Shelby suddenly remembered the dining room still full of dirty dishes. "Come on, we need to clean up the kitchen."

Ryan looked confused for a second, then dismayed. "Oh. I don't suppose there's a chance that this is just voluntary, is there?"

"Nope."

"I thought so."

Working together, the pair were able to clean up quickly, and Ryan returned to his room. Shelby stayed downstairs, collapsing onto the couch and closing her eyes. What a day. Finally she was done with the drama with Hiram and Leroy. She had her son back. _She had her son back. _She'd been dreaming of this for years, and she thought she'd have to wait for another three.

_Crash_!

Shelby's eyes flew open at the sudden sound. "Ryan? You okay?" she called. When she didn't get a response she hurried up the stairs to the guest room. Not the guest room anymore, it was Ryan's room now, she corrected herself mentally. She entered the room to find her son sitting on the bed, face furious, and a broken lamp on the floor. "What happened?" She spotted Ryan's baseball on the floor. "Ryan?" No response again, and she went closer.

Finally the teenager moved, handing Shelby a crumpled piece of paper she hadn't noticed. She took it, smoothening it out before reading.

_Dear Ryan,_

_We're really sorry about how all this turned out. We really thought we'd be able to be good parents when we started out. But we weren't. Like we told you mom, we were too selfish. _

_We've enclosed something in the envelope, hopefully it can make up for what we did. We're very sorry again, and we wish all the best to you and your mom. We're sure she'll be the parent you need, and that we couldn't be._

_Hiram and Leroy_

Shelby looked at her son, who still wasn't meeting her eyes. Glancing around, she spotted an open envelope on the bedside table. Curious, she picked it up and looked inside. Her eyes widened as she saw a check for $3,000. "Wow. What –"

"I don't want their money!" Ryan burst out. "You can't just hand your kid a wad of cash and say, 'Hey, sorry we screwed up, have a good life!' It doesn't work that way! Why couldn't they – I don't –"

Shelby quickly wrapped him in a tight hug. "Okay, okay," she soothed. "You're okay, it's gonna be okay."

All the emotional stress of the last week, and especially today, had finally taken its toll as Ryan collapsed against his mom crying. After a few minutes he calmed down enough to pull back, scrubbing at his face with his sleeve. "Sorry about the lamp," he muttered shamefacedly. "I just got so mad and I needed to throw something. It bounced off the wall."

Shelby nodded, she'd thought it had been something like that. "It's okay, we can get a new one."

"I can replace it if you want. Unless it was some sort of priceless heirloom or something, then I can't really do anything about it."

"I think I got it at a flea market years ago. And don't worry, I'll replace it." Shelby told him. "Are you okay now?"

She got a nod in response. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I thought I was okay. I'm happy with you, I am, but..." He gently bumped a clenched fist into the headboard.

Shelby sighed. "It's going to be an adjustment, for both of us. And I can't imagine how you must be feeling. But I'm here, if you want to talk, okay? And you can talk to your friends, if you can't talk to me."

"Okay. I'm just _so mad_ at them right now. Would it be constructive to punch them in the face if I see them?"

"I don't think so." Shelby put the letter - more of a note really - and the envelope back on the table. "You should probably get some rest, hmm?"

"I guess so." It wasn't that late yet, but Ryan was tired.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Shelby ran a hand through his hair. "Love you."

Ryan smiled slightly. "Love you too."

* * *

The next day Ryan woke up at four in the morning. And like that first morning in this room last week, he just stayed in bed for a while, contemplating everything that had happened the previous day.

He was here for good now. He was going to be living with his mom. It was still surreal in a way. Just last week, he was still with Hiram and Leroy, trying desperately to win their attention and approval. Now he was with his mom, and for once he didn't feel like he had to do anything special to get her to notice him. He could just be himself.

He lay there for a while, unable to get back to sleep. He got up after a while, wandering out of his room and around the house, eventually ending up in Shelby's music room. He sat down at the piano, skimming his hands over the keys, lost in thought.

"Ryan?"

The teenager's head turned toward the door to see his mom standing there watching him. "Hi," he said sheepishly. "Couldn't sleep."

Shelby joined her son at the piano, leaning on the instrument. "Something wrong?"

Ryan was quiet for a while. "No. Nothing's wrong. I've been doing some thinking, and you're right. This is a new start for me. For us," he corrected. "I'm really happy I'm staying with you now, and I've decided what Leroy and Hiram did doesn't matter anymore. I'm grateful that they took care of me for all those years, but they're not my dads anymore, and I guess they never were."

Shelby nodded. "Good. I'm sorry for what they did, even more so because it was partly my fault. It was," she insisted, stopping him when he started to protest. "If I hadn't left back then… well, I'm just happy that I get to have you now."

Ryan smiled at her. Then he remembered something. He reached into his pocket. "Here," he handed Shelby the envelope with the Berrys' check inside. "I don't want it. I don't need anything from them," he said firmly.

"It's a lot of money," Shelby said doubtfully. "You could put it in a savings account."

"No. I don't need their help," Ryan insisted forcefully. "If you don't take it I'm throwing it out."

Shelby reluctantly took the envelope. She'd figure out what to do with it later, maybe try to convince Ryan to keep it when he was a bit less angry at the Berrys. "Okay."

They stayed quiet for a while, just enjoying the other's presence. Then Shelby spoke up. "Well, it's a bit early for me, I'm going to get a bit more sleep in."

Ryan smirked mischievously at her. "Wouldn't want you to miss any of your beauty sleep."

"Watch it, kid."

* * *

**And there's the end of the custody arc. Not really sure how the system works, I just made it all up. Hope you liked it, next chapter I'll probably start getting into the bio dad part of the story, and maybe get the ball rolling faster with Ryan and Quinn. Speaking of, do you think I should make them official already? Opinions are welcome, just leave them in the review box.**

**I've been rereading a few of my old chapters, I've found some mistakes and typos. No beta, so sorry about that. Also, my classes start next week, so expect updates to slow a bit. On a side note, I got to see Idina Menzel in concert last night, she was amazing, as expected :D Anyways, again I hoped you liked this chapter, see you next time!**


	23. Chapter 22

A few days later, Ryan and Shelby had settled into a fairly regular, tentative routine. Shelby was wrapping up her work for Carmel High, which included the final grades for her English students as well as completing the transfer of Vocal Adrenaline to Dustin Goolsby. Ryan spent mornings at Burt's garage and hung out with Quinn in the afternoons. Shelby had noticed that whenever he was at home, he tended to spend a lot of time in his room. This was starting to worry the new full-time mom, since Ryan seemed more moody than he had been before the custody transfer. And they kept having these little fights – nothing too serious, but annoying all the same.

One of their spats had started when Shelby was clearing old papers out of her home office. She came across the medical file that Hiram had left her along with the photo albums. She hadn't gotten around to reading it yet, so she decided to take a break from her cleaning to have a quick look at the file.

After flipping through the first few pages, she was pleased to find that her son didn't seem to have any major health problems. He was allergic to shellfish, like he'd told her. He'd fractured his left arm at four and had had chickenpox when he was six. His childhood vaccinations seemed to be complete…

Then she frowned as she saw that the records stopped when Ryan reached thirteen. She wondered why; she was pretty sure he was supposed to at least be getting checkups and flu shots. "Ryan!"

"Yes?" Shelby heard her son call back.

"Can you come over here?"

A few seconds later Ryan walked into the study. "What is it?"

"I've got your medical records here," she said, waving said records in her hand. "I was just wondering why they stopped when you were thirteen. You're still supposed to be getting checkups."

"Oh, it's no big deal," Ryan shrugged. "I just go to the school nurse if I feel like there's something wrong. She gives vaccinations every year. And if it's something serious, like the laryngitis I got a few months ago, I go to the free clinic."

Right, he'd had laryngitis earlier in the year, a little after she'd met him. "Wait, you're supposed to have an adult with you when you go to the free clinic," Shelby frowned.

Ryan fidgeted slightly. "I told the nurse at the desk I had Leroy's permission."

"You went there by yourself?" Shelby pressed.

"I brought Quinn with me."

"Why didn't you get your dads to come with you?" Shelby was pretty sure she wouldn't like the answer.

"Hiram was on a business trip," Ryan said. "And Leroy was at work. I couldn't reach him, so I went straight to the clinic after school. Look, it's not a big deal, alright?" he added with a bit of attitude in his voice.

She was right, she didn't like that answer. What if it had been a real emergency and Leroy couldn't be reached? She shook her head. "When's the last time you went to the nurse?"

"Uh, it was that time I had laryngitis," Ryan answered after thinking about it. "And I haven't really had a full checkup since maybe 7th grade."

Perfect. "How about the dentist, when's the last time you went to the dentist?"

"I guess around the same time?" Ryan said uncomfortably.

Looks like she knew what she was going to be doing tomorrow. "Okay, I'm setting up appointments at both your doctor and your dentist sometime this week."

"What? Why? I don't need to see a doctor, I'm fine!"

"Yes, and I want you to keep on being fine, hence the checkup," Shelby told him sternly. "And besides, the school nurse is not an appropriate substitute for a doctor."

"But –"

"Don't argue with me, okay?" Shelby cut in irritably. "We're going, end of discussion."

"It's not a discussion if we don't talk about it!" Ryan started, before shrinking back at the look on his mom's face, quickly reminded of exactly why she was feared by all the students in Vocal Adrenaline. "Fine," he backpedaled angrily. "You should know we're going to be wasting our time, though."

Shelby glared at him. Why did he have to make such an easy thing so hard? She didn't remember being this difficult when she was his age… wait… right. Oh God, she was about to pay for everything she'd put her parents through, wasn't she?

* * *

"I'm not really sure what's going on with him," Shelby told her mom, who had dropped in for a surprise visit a couple of hours after breakfast a few days later. Sarah had just missed Ryan, who had left for the garage a few minutes before her arrival. "I can't figure out what he's thinking. We spent over an hour negotiating bedtime!"

"Oh, parents rarely know what's going on with their teenaged kids," Sarah said easily, taking a sip from her mug of coffee. "I should know, I got two raise two and I could barely figure out what was running through their minds."

"It sure didn't feel that way," Shelby replied drily. Every time she and Josh were trying to hide something it seemed like their mom was always there to catch whatever shenanigans they were up to.

Sarah waved her daughter's comment off. "But with your kid, I think he's just adjusting. I'd imagine it's a big change to be uprooted in a span of one week. And there's that final stunt the Berrys pulled too. Good thing I never have to meet the bastards, I'd probably strangle them both," she grumbled.

"You'd have to get in line." Shelby was still furious with Hiram and Leroy. How could they think handing the boy a check would make anything better? If anything, it had made matters worse. And they hadn't taken care of him properly, either. "My kid hasn't had a dentist appointment in years, you can imagine what the dentist had to say."

Sarah just shook her head. Nothing to be done about it now. "I think he just needs time to process. Talk to him, see if he talks to you," Sarah said thoughtfully. "Ryan adores you; that much is obvious. Maybe he'll open up."

Shelby sighed. "I hope that's it. It's been less than a week and I already feel like I'm failing."

"You're not failing," Sarah told her sternly. "You're just… figuring things out. Both of you are. You just need to find your balance."

Mother and daughter sat there for a few moments in silence. Then Sarah decided to bring up something she thought needed to be brought up. "Have you thought about talking to James?"

Shelby fidgeted a bit. "Not really."

Sarah sighed. "Why not? Now that Ryan knows pretty much everything you might as well tell James, too."

"I don't have his phone number." Shelby herself winced at the lameness of her answer.

Obviously Sarah felt the same way. "You don't have any way to contact him whatsoever?" she said skeptically. "Email, landline, hell, even a snail-mail address would do. Or contact one of your high school friends who might know where he is. I've told you for years, it's not fair that he doesn't know."

And there it was. The main reason why Shelby didn't want to contact the father of her child. He didn't know. He'd been in Akron for one week in 1994, and then he'd left for a two year posting in Japan. And now, how was she supposed to tell the man that she'd just gotten their fifteen-year-old son back after giving him to a gay couple that hadn't taken care of him properly?

"Did you even tell Ryan about him?" Sarah continued to prod.

"I did!" Shelby said, stung. "I… told him the basics anyway…" She'd told him the barest minimum she'd been able to get away with. Thinking back, she didn't even remember if she'd given Ryan a last name. She sprang into defensive mode. "I get it, okay? I made a big mistake. A series of big mistakes, actually. I gave my son away, I didn't tell James how I still felt about him back then, I didn't tell him I had his kid – I don't need you to tell me I screwed up!" Her voice rose near the end as she vented her frustration with the situation. She found herself standing up. "And I already know I'm messing up again with Ryan!"

She ran out of steam just as suddenly as she had built it up. Suddenly drained, she collapsed back onto the bar stool.

Sarah watched her daughter impassively. "Do you feel better now?"

"Yes," Shelby said grudgingly.

"Good."

"You did that on purpose."

"Yes I did," Sarah agreed. "Now you just need to help Ryan. It's going to be harder, since you don't really know him as well as I know you, but I know you can figure it out. You're not messing up."

Shelby took a deep breath before she nodded. She hadn't realized it until now, but Ryan wasn't the only one who was feeling unsettled. She was, too. She loved having her son with her, but it was still a change. And she was still scared deep down that she'd mess up with Ryan, just like Leroy and Hiram had.

No, she wasn't going to let that happen.

"And as for James, I still think you should tell him. You're right, you did make a whole slew of mistakes that are now coming to bite you in the ass," Sarah continued, never one to sugarcoat things. "And it's time to start making up for them."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the garage, Ryan was in a bit of a mood. He'd woken up irritable, and he'd been brooding over that stupid check he'd gotten from the Berrys. He just couldn't even wrap his head around how angry he was feeling at his previous parents.

"Ryan? Are you in here?"

Ryan looked up from the tire replacement he was doing when he heard his name. He quickly stood up, surprised to see Quinn looking around. "Hi Quinn."

She turned around, smiling at him. "Hey."

"Why, thank you," he deadpanned. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, nothing really. I just thought I'd come talk to you."

"Oh. Okay. You can sit down if you like," Ryan answered, gesturing at a chair.

"Thanks." Quinn watched him as he tightened the car wheel into place. She'd picked up on his mood as soon as she saw him. She was pretty sure she knew what was causing it, since he'd told her about what the Berrys had done. Idiots, didn't those morons know you couldn't buy your kids? No amount of money would be able to replace a parent's love, she herself knew that firsthand. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"No you're not."

Ryan gave the wrench a particularly hard jerk. "I'm not? And how would you know?" he said, with a bit of bite in his voice.

Quinn didn't let that deter her. "I'd like to think I know you pretty well by now. Is this about your dads again?"

Another hard pull on the wrench.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"I'm just trying to deal with the fact that they thought it was okay to try to pay me off, like what they could somehow make up for what happened just like that. Like it was one of their damn business deals. 'Sorry it didn't work out, here's $3000, now let's all get on with our lives!'" One more yank. "Mom said they were probably feeling guilty, but you know what, they should feel guilty, and it's not fair that they think they can alleviate it with a check! Dammit!" He slammed the tool down on a nearby table.

Quinn just watched him sadly, letting him vent. Again, she couldn't help but compare his situation to the one she had found herself in just a few months ago. After a few moments of quiet, she spoke up. "I think I get how you're feeling. I know it's different from what happened to me, but I'm going to tell you something I only figured out months after what happened with my dad." She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts. She moved to stand next to him. "I realized, after about a month of misery, that what happened wasn't completely my fault. Part of it was, but in the end, it was his choice to tell me to leave, and I couldn't beat myself up for something he did."

Ryan was silent, thinking over what Quinn had said. "I just don't understand why I'm feeling this way," he admitted softly. "I've never felt this way before, not even with those Neanderthals that keep throwing slushies in my face day after day. I'm just _furious_ with them."

Quinn nodded. She had been more hurt than angry with her parents, but she could definitely understand how he was feeling. "It's okay to feel that way," she told him.

"I don't _want_ to feel like this," Ryan said, almost petulantly. "I just want to get past it. I told my mom they don't matter anymore, and I know they really don't. They're out of my life now, I'm probably not going to see them again. But even just _thinking_ about them makes me mad."

"It takes time, but it'll stop eventually."

"How long?"

Quinn hesitated. "Actually…for me it started getting better when we became friends," she confessed.

Ryan glanced at her quickly.

"Those talks we had…even if we didn't really talk about that what was going on with my parents," Quinn said slowly, giving him a slight smile. "Just knowing that there was someone I could talk to, no strings attached, like you said. It helped a lot. You made me feel like I wasn't a worthless tramp who deserved to be kicked out of her home."

Ryan smiled tentatively. "You're anything but worthless, Quinn," he replied sincerely. "And I'm glad I could do that for you."

"I want to do that for you too," Quinn told him gently. "You know you can talk to me about anything."

Later, Ryan would never find out how he got up the nerve to do it, but he didn't care. He leaned in and kissed Quinn, and to his delight, she quickly responded, kissing him back. He pulled back a second later, a big smile on his face, reveling in the tingling sensation that had spread all over him. "Wow." He came to his senses and chuckled nervously, starting to ramble. "Was that okay? I'm not really sure if you wanted to kiss me too, but it felt right. You don't have to –"

He was cut off as Quinn pulled him back closer to her, initiating their second kiss. If anything, this was better than the last. When they broke for air, both of them had goofy smiles on their faces. "I take it you liked it then?" Ryan breathed out, looking into Quinn's hazel eyes.

She just nodded, and they stayed close for a few more moments, foreheads resting on each other. "So, what does that mean for us, then?" she questioned, pulling back to look at him properly.

"Huh?" Ryan said eloquently, still high over the kiss. He blinked when Quinn rolled her eyes affectionately with a slight smirk. "Right. Well, I like you. I guess I've made that kind of obvious," he said sheepishly. "And I guess from that kiss that you like me too. So…I guess…next step?" He cursed inwardly at the apparent loss of his vocabulary. He cleared his throat nervously. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Quinn smiled broadly at him. "I think I can do that." She gave him another quick kiss, eliciting another brilliant smile from him. She really loved that smile. "You free for lunch?"

Ryan's smile dimmed a bit. "My Grams is here, I'm supposed to have lunch with her and my mom." Shelby had texted him a few minutes before Quinn had arrived. "Rain check?" he said hopefully.

"No problem." Quinn hopped onto the work table as Ryan went back to his tire replacement, his mood a hundred times better than it had been before.

"How about tomorrow?" Ryan suggested.

Quinn agreed happily before pulling out her phone. "Mom wants to meet for lunch," she said in surprise. She glanced at the time. "I should get going. We should talk though. Soon."

Ryan nodded at her, walking closer. "How about tomorrow? Meet me here for lunch?"

"Yeah."

Ryan kissed her again, reveling in the feeling. "Bye." He watched with a lopsided smile as she exited the garage. He had a girlfriend.

* * *

"Hi Mom, Grams," Ryan greeted as he breezed into the living room a few minutes before lunchtime.

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Hi," she said in confusion. He was in a completely different mood from the one he'd left the house in this morning.

"Hello Ryan," Sarah said brightly, happy to see her grandson. "How was your morning?"

"Quinn came over to the garage this morning," he answered, bestowing a hug on his grandmother.

Realization spread over the two women's faces. Shelby knew all about her son's crush on Quinn, obviously, and she'd told her mom all about it.

Ryan continued. "And in other news, she is now my girlfriend," he said with a grin.

Shelby blinked. "Oh." So that was why he seemed to be floating. "Congratulations?"

Ryan may not have noticed her hesitation, but Sarah did. She laughed inwardly. "Yes, congratulations, Ryan," she agreed.

"Thanks. I'm just going up to take a shower. Be right back."

Sarah turned to her daughter as soon as he left. "What's up with you?" she asked, hiding a smile.

Shelby looked at her in confusion. "He's got a girlfriend? But he's just fifteen!"

This time Sarah couldn't keep from laughing at her daughter. "Oh dear, I seem to be remembering another teenager who came home with a boyfriend when she was fifteen. I wonder who that could have been?" she wondered out loud.

"This isn't funny, mom! I just got him back, and I already have to worry about him having a girlfriend? He's too young!"

"Don't be a hypocrite, Shelly. I know perfectly well what you got up to when you were that age," Sarah said, shooting the younger woman a teasing smile.

Shelby blanched at the reminder. She really did not want to think about that. And even less did she want to think about that in relation to her son.

"Oh, my prayers have been answered," Sarah continued happily. "Your kid is going to make you pay in spades for everything you put your dad and me through when you were a teenager."

"You don't have to sound so happy about it," Shelby grumbled.

"Gloating is half the fun, dear."

..

After lunch – Sarah had commandeered Shelby's kitchen, having no faith in her daughter's cooking skills – the three Corcorans sat in the living room chatting away.

Sarah watched her daughter and grandson talked. She was truly happy for Shelby, things were finally working out. Since she was younger, Sarah had noticed that her eldest child had a terrible habit of sabotaging herself at the most critical moments – she'd jump headfirst into something without much thought, then suddenly wake up, second-guess herself, and come up with the wrong snap decision. Sarah had watched this for years. Twice with James – once in high school, and again five years later – and then with the surrogacy.

When Shelby had first come to them all those months ago, saying that she'd met Ryan, Sarah almost had a bad feeling that this would somehow end up wrong. She honestly wouldn't have been too surprised if Shelby had bailed on Ryan, thinking that she wouldn't be good for him.

She had never been more thankful to be wrong, though. She smiled as she watched Ryan talk animatedly about one of the new shows that had just come out in New York. Shelby had told her about the teenager's…capricious moods. He was different from Shelby in that respect.

"How are the wedding plans coming along?" Shelby asked her mother, pulling the older woman out of her musings.

"Oh, they're fine," she answered absently. "Venue's set, invitations are going out next week."

Ryan looked a bit confused. "Whose wedding is this?"

"Josh and Paige's wedding," Shelby answered, a bit surprised that no one had told him yet. She supposed it had sort of been sidelined due to everything that had been going on. "It's at the end of July. It's going to be a small wedding, they want to keep it close."

"Oh." Ryan nodded in understanding. "Aren't you helping with the planning? When my cousin's wedding was impending a few years ago pretty much the whole family had to pitch in. It wasn't optional," he smiled wryly. "And it wasn't pretty. At least the wedding turned out nicely."

"It's not really my kind of thing," Shelby said.

Sarah just laughed at the understatement, then checked her watch. "Time for me to go, I'm meeting someone in Akron at 4." She stood up.

"Okay, then." Shelby stood as well, followed by Ryan. "Have a safe trip," she said, as the trio walked to the door.

"Thank you." Sarah gave both of them a hug, followed by a long searching look, and a nod. They were going to be fine.

..

Later that afternoon, Ryan was on his bed, working with some music on his laptop. He'd been thinking a lot about what Quinn had said, and truthfully, he already knew some of it. He knew logically that it wasn't his fault, he hadn't done anything wrong – but it didn't feel that way emotionally.

Unknown to him, Shelby was standing outside his door, debating on whether to go in and talk to him. Sarah had advised her to talk to the boy, but what if he didn't want to talk? She really wanted to help him, but she didn't know what to say. It was strange, usually she didn't find it hard to talk to Ryan. Finally she made her decision. _Into the breach, then_. She knocked twice, then opened the door. "Hey, kid."

Ryan looked up and pulled his earphones off. "Hi."

"Can we talk?" Shelby leaned on the doorframe.

"About what?" Ryan asked cautiously. He still wasn't used to her coming in just to talk. Leroy and Hiram had almost never done it, and when they did he usually didn't like what they had to say.

Shelby just looked at him blankly. About what, indeed. "I don't know," she said lamely. "It just seemed like you had a lot on your mind lately, and maybe you needed to talk or something."

"Why?"

"Why?" Now Shelby was confused. "Why what?"

"Why would you come in here just to ask if I've got something on my mind?" Ryan clarified.

"Oh. Because I want to help if you do." Shelby went over to sit on the bed. "I noticed you're spending a lot of time in your room, and you're a bit moodier than before. So is there anything you want to talk about?"

Ryan didn't quite know how to react. He sighed. "Sorry. I can spend more time outside, if you want."

"No, that's not it, it's okay if you want to stay in here. But if something's making you miserable, I want to help."

For a second, they were quiet, and Shelby was about to leave when Ryan spoke up. "Just my dads again."

Shelby froze in surprise. To be honest she hadn't really expected him to talk, she wasn't sure if she would have if the positions were reversed. "What about them?"

"I told you I was fine, that they didn't matter, but I'm still mad at them. I'm not used to feeling like that, I'm usually nonaggressive, and I want it to stop," he said, not meeting her eyes. "And I'm confused. I'm mad at them, but I can't seem to stop thinking of them as my dads, either."

Hesitantly, Shelby asked, "Would it help if you met with them?" She didn't want to, but if it got her son out of his funk she'd do it.

To her relief, Ryan shook his head. "No. You said punching them would be counterproductive," he deadpanned, drawing a chuckle from his mom.

"Well, like I said, you can talk to me. Or your friends." Shelby paused. "Did you talk to Quinn about this?"

Ryan nodded. He'd told his mom previously about Quinn's family situation. "She told me it helps to talk."

"Good." She gave him a sly glance. "Did talking devolve into kissing this morning?"

She smirked in satisfaction when Ryan reddened a bit. "None of your business," he mumbled.

"Au contraire, kid, pretty much everything you do is my business now." She cringed mentally as a thought occurred to her. "Do we need to have the Talk?"

"No!" Ryan yelped. "No, I'm good, I got it at school. I promise. And I'm not having sex until I'm 25," he rambled.

25? Thought Shelby, amused. She knew a few things about teenagers, and that was extremely unlikely to occur. Well, more power to him if he wanted to try. It would keep her from having to worry about a teenage pregnancy. "Okay. Just for clarification, you can talk to me about that too. Or your uncle or your grandfather. Got it?"

Ryan nodded furiously. He _so_ did not intend to take her up on that particular offer.

Shelby returned to seriousness. "About your dads," she started slowly. "I think it's okay for you to be mad. You have a right to be. But you can't let it eat away at you forever. It wasn't your fault, and there's not really anything to do about it anymore, besides going to see them which you said you don't want to do."

"Okay."

Shelby stood up, running a hand over Ryan's hair as she did, and left the room. Ryan looked thoughtfully after her. Quinn was right, it did help to talk. Right then and there, he resolved that he was going to spend more time talking about the important things. Everyone knew he liked to talk a lot, he could keep up a conversation on Broadway for hours, but what they didn't really understand was that it was mostly superficial. He tended to keep his real feelings locked down, hiding them beneath his perfectly cultivated show face.

He knew he had a long way to go before he got over what had happened. But he also knew he had people who were firmly on his side no matter what.

* * *

Late that night Shelby sat in her office, computer open in front of her. She tapped her fingers nervously on the keyboards, thinking about what she and her mother had discussed that morning. About James.

She hadn't lied to her mom, she didn't have his phone number. She did, however, have an old email address from about seven years ago. They had run into each other in New York, and after an awkward conversation, had exchanged email addresses. This would be the first time she was going to use it.

Shelby knew her mom was right, it wasn't fair that she hadn't told James. It had been discussed several times over the years. She knew that if she were in his position, she'd want to know.

She opened up the web browser and navigated to her email, pressing the 'compose' button. She paused, uncertain about what to say.

_Hi James_

_I was wondering if you're in the country right now, I wanted to talk to you about something, in person._

She stopped. That didn't sound right. She hit the backspace key.

_How are you? It's been a while. Are you going to be in the country anytime soon? I_

Once again, she stopped, sighing in frustration. There just didn't seem to be any good way to say what she needed to say. It felt like face-to-face news, scratch that, it definitely was. But she didn't even know where James was, let alone if she'd be able to see him anytime soon.

Besides, what if Ryan didn't want anything to do with him? Though she suspected that might not be likely, given how he'd decided to find his birth mom. It stood to reason he might feel the same about his birth dad. But wouldn't it be confusing for him? Especially now?

But the biggest factor keeping her from doing anything was that she was scared of what her son was going to think of her. She had messed up even more than he knew, and she didn't know how he would react, especially with how the Berrys had kept him from her. Add in how moody he'd been lately, and she had no idea if he'd be able to accept what had happened.

She checked the computer clock, seeing that it was just after midnight. She blew out a breath. This could wait. For a while.

* * *

**Hey everyone, I plotted this chapter out even before your reviews for the last chapters came in, so hopefully this lives up to expectations. I didn't think it was too realistic for Ryan to be over his issues with his dads just like that, so expect it to pop up once in a while in the future. We're starting the bio dad part now, and we'll see how it goes. We'll learn more about him in the next chapter, but he probably won't show up for a while yet. Hopefully you liked the new progression with Ryan and Quinn, I'm not too experienced at writing romance. Actually, zero experience. **

**Anyways, I thought I'd be able to get this out earlier, but, well, busy week. And it's back to school for the summer session. See you next time!**


	24. Chapter 23

"Hello Quinn," Ryan said happily as his girlfriend (his smile widened at the thought) entered the garage. "Just in time, I was just getting ready to leave."

"You seem happier today," Quinn noted.

Ryan smiled at her as he put away a few things. "Yeah, I'm doing better. My mom and I had a little talk yesterday, and it helped."

"That's good."

Ryan walked over to her and offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

Quinn smiled, again simultaneously amused and charmed by his old-fashioned manners. He must have picked it up from those old musicals and classic movies he liked to watch. She took his arm, smile widening when he kissed her on the cheek.

"I thought we'd walk over to one of the restaurants," Ryan told her. She quickly agreed, and they started off.

A few minutes later, they had decided on where to eat, and they ordered. "What do you usually eat when you eat out?" Ryan asked. "I just realized I don't really know a lot about your food preferences."

"Oh," Quinn thought. "Well, we didn't really eat out a lot." They both knew she was talking about her family, pre-BabyGate. "My mom used to cook most of the time, she didn't really have a lot to do," she said.

"Hmmm. I guess that's nice. My family was fully committed to take-out, Hiram and Leroy couldn't cook. Well, Hiram could make breakfast, when he thought of it," he corrected. "But that wasn't very often. So we had a lot of Chinese and pizza."

Quinn couldn't help but notice that he seemed more at ease talking about the Berrys today, and she told him so.

Ryan was silent for a while. "Yes. I guess I just needed some time to think. And someone to talk to." He stopped again, thinking. "You know, I didn't say thank you yesterday," he said quietly.

"For what?" Quinn asked.

"For what you said. Not the being-my-girlfriend part, thought that was good too," he smiled happily. "But the part about talking. You were right, it did help a lot. Our talk yesterday helped a lot, as did the one I had with my mom. I'm happy I could be your go-to person, and I wanted you to know that you're that for me too. I do know I can talk to you about anything."

Quinn put her hand on his across the table, stopping his ramble. "Good. And you don't need to thank me."

"Nevertheless, thank you," he said, squeezing her hand.

"You're welcome." Conversation stopped as their food arrived and they started eating.

"So what have you been up to?" Ryan asked a few minutes later.

Quinn thought. "Nothing, really. I go over to Santana's and Britt's houses sometimes. Not really a lot to do in Lima in the summer," she said dryly.

"No, there isn't," Ryan agreed. "That's why I started hanging out in the garage last year."

"My mom's thinking about us going to visit her parents for a week or two next month," Quinn mentioned. "They live in Indiana. We usually go to them for Christmas, and to my other grandparents in the summer. Obviously we're not doing that this year."

Ryan nodded. "My mom's parents just live over in Akron, she says she goes on weekends sometimes, though she spends a few days there in summer. I expect we'll be going for a visit soon."

"Isn't it going to be complicated once she goes back to Vocal Adrenaline when school starts?" Quinn asked curiously. She knew she would feel a bit confused if her mother were the one coaching the competition.

"Oh, she's not," Ryan replied. "She quit. She told me at Regionals that she decided to leave show choir near the beginning of the year. Said something about the environment being 'toxic'." He smiled in amusement.

"So what's she going to do now?"

"I don't really know," Ryan admitted. "She said she'll look over her options. But she also said she usually gives lessons over summer, so she might start doing that."

"Is she teaching you? I'd think you'd be jumping at the chance to be coached by the director who led VA to Nationals for four consecutive years," Quinn said amusedly.

Ryan chuckled. "She has offered. But she's still a bit busy wrapping up her work at Carmel. She's the English teacher there too."

"With any luck she's better than Ms. Gage," Quinn said, referring to McKinley's resident English teacher. "I swear, she puts half the class to sleep as soon as she starts talking."

"Maybe I can get mom to replace her," Ryan lit up at the idea. "I managed it with Mr. Ryerson after all."

"Wait, what?" Quinn stared at him. "That was you?"

Ryan waved his hand. "That's old news," he said dismissively. "A little theatricality in front of Figgins, and voila, we get Mr. Schue as the glee club coach. But anyways, it would work perfectly," he continued excitedly. "Mom needs a job, we need a decent teacher…" Plus he was positive that if Shelby were already at McKinley, then he'd be able to convince her to help out with New Directions.

"You want your mom teaching at our school?" Quinn said slowly.

"Yeah, why?"

Quinn raised her eyebrows. "Isn't that kind of weird?"

Ryan considered this before dismissing it. "Yes, maybe a little, but I think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages."

"You just want her to coach us," Quinn realized, seeing through his ruse.

"You said it yourself, she's the best director in the country!"

Quinn had to laugh at his enthusiasm. She'd seen him like this a few times over the past year, usually when he had concocted some sort of insane scheme for the glee club. Another thing she admired about him was his drive – when he wanted something he wouldn't stop until he got it somehow. Unfortunately it was also a trait that got him into trouble.

The couple ate in companionable silence for a while. Then Ryan spoke. "I think we should talk. About us, I mean." They looked at each other for a moment before he continued. "Like I told you yesterday, I really like you. But in a way, I don't want things to change between us. And to be honest, I really don't know how relationships work," he confessed. Needless to say he didn't really have a good, successful one to use as a pattern.

"You're right, I'm a bit scared too, that we won't work out," Quinn said quietly. "But I like you too. You know I've had relationships before, but truthfully, I'm not really sure how they work either. What I had with Finn… I don't think it was real. Beyond making out every once in a while," she smiled slightly at the slightly disgusted look on Ryan's face, "we didn't really have anything in common. You and I do, though."

Ryan nodded slowly. "So I guess we'll have to figure this out together." He gave her a smile, the adorable smile that never failed to make her melt inside. "I'm game if you are."

Quinn couldn't help her answering smile. "Let's do it."

Ryan grinned at her happily before returning to his lunch.

A few minutes later, they were walking back to the garage, where Quinn had left her car. "Are you planning on seeing your dads?" Quinn asked suddenly.

A shadow passed over Ryan's face, though it disappeared quickly. "No," he said shortly. "I don't want to see them, unless it's to throw that check back at them. Preferably with a rock attached. Through the living room window." He smiled a little at the thought. "Why?"

"My dad's coming on Sunday. Just to talk, my mom said. I don't…really know what to say to him," Quinn admitted, sounding a bit lost. "I guess I'm not raging mad at him, like you, but…I don't know."

Ryan nodded understandingly. Their situations with their fathers were different, yet oh-so-similar, and he could understand how Quinn was feeling. If he weren't still incredibly mad at Hiram and Leroy Berry then he imagined he'd feel like Quinn did now. "Maybe you could tell your mom you don't want to see him?" he suggested, before pausing. "Do you?"

Quinn was silent for a moment, before saying, "That's the thing. I don't know if I want to see him or not. What if it becomes worse if I talk to him? I never thought he could say the things he said to me, and what if he says something worse? But then what if he wants to fix it? If I don't see him I think I'll always be wondering what would have happened if I had."

Ryan listened throughout the rant, and at the end of it, he said, "I think that's the difference between our situations. I know for a fact that seeing my dads would make it worse." They didn't want him, didn't know how to talk to him, and any meeting between them would likely just end up in an explosion. "You think there's a chance for yours to try to make amends."

Quinn laughed sharply. "Actually, I don't think that. He's too arrogant and prideful to take anything back."

"Oh. Well, I can't tell you what to do," Ryan said carefully. "But if you think you could get closure by talking to him, then you should probably go for it."

The couple had arrived at the garage by now. Quinn took a deep breath. "Thanks. For listening. I guess I sort of feel better now," she said with a small smile.

"Happy to help," Ryan flashed her a smile tinged with sympathy.

The two of them got into Quinn's car, since she was going to drop Ryan off at home. Once inside, Quinn asked, "Do you think about your dad?" Quinn asked.

Ryan glanced over at her strangely. "No, I already told you, we're basically dead to each other."

"No, I meant your real dad, the biological one. You have one, right? Since Leroy and Hiram weren't your fathers."

Ryan looked at her for a moment. Yes, technically he knew he had to have a real father, he just hadn't given the matter any thought beyond what Shelby had told him the first night at her house. "No," he admitted. "I guess I'm still getting used to living with my mom, and all that drama with _them_, I haven't really thought about him. Mom told me a bit about him though."

"Aren't you curious?"

Truthfully, he was a bit curious, and he told her so. "I'm just not sure I want another dad. I haven't really had the best of luck with dads," he said wryly. "I've had two, and they both bailed."

"Maybe third time's the charm," Quinn commented drily. "Fathers seem to be sort of overrated, huh? I mean, I know there are good ones, but we've drawn some pretty bad ones between the two of us."

Ryan chuckled humorlessly. "We are quite the pair, aren't we," he commented. Still, Quinn had given him something new to think about.

* * *

Meanwhile, the 'best director in the country' was just about ready to bang her head on the wall. Shelby had spent the morning vacillating between sending and not sending an email to the father of her teenaged son. Deep down she knew she should do the mature thing and contact him, but her shallower and more cowardly part felt that if he didn't know, it wouldn't hurt him.

She didn't even know if Ryan would want anything to do with him, let alone meet him. The teenager had been quite angsty lately. He hadn't shown any curiosity about his biological father beyond the first night, and she wouldn't even know how to bring this new bombshell up.

Finally, she came to the decision that she would somehow bring it up with Ryan before contacting James. But she should probably try to find some more recent contact details.

Sighing, she picked up the phone, and an old address book, flipping through it to find the phone number of one of her and James' mutual friends from high school. There. He was one of James' closer friends, not that he'd been very close with anyone besides her. Taking a deep breath, she dialed the number and waited.

The phone picked up on the fourth ring. _"Hello?"_

"Hi, can I talk to Vince Petrucci?" Shelby asked.

"_Speaking."_

"Hi Vince, it's Shelby Corcoran, remember me?" She was pretty sure he did, they ran into each other sometimes in Akron, where he lived with his wife and three kids.

"_Oh! Yeah, of course I remember,"_ the man on the other end of the line answered. _"This is a surprise, how are you?"_

"I'm good, how about you?"

"_Can't complain. What can I do for you? It's not every day you call."_

"Yeah." Shelby took a breath. "I'm not really sure how to ask, but are you still in contact with James Walker?"

A pause. _"Yes, actually, we email from time to time. You need his email or something?"_

Once again, Shelby sighed in relief. "No, I've got his email. I was wondering if you knew where he is right now, last time we met he was stationed in Italy."

"_Oh."_ Vince sounded surprised. _"That was a few years ago." _About five, actually._ 'But as a matter of fact, he just emailed about a month ago, he said he was in Pennsylvania. Has been since early this year. Or maybe December of last year, I forget."_

Shelby's mouth fell open in surprise. Pennsylvania? That was close. More importantly, that might be close enough for him to visit Lima.

"_Shelby?"_

She shook herself slightly. "Still here," she got out. "You wouldn't happen to have his phone number, would you?"

"_I might, hang on."_ She heard a computer powering up in the background. A few seconds later, Vince spoke again. _"Sorry, I don't have the one he's using right now," _he said apologetically.

"Thanks anyway, Vince. That's all I wanted to ask."

"_He asks about you sometimes."_

"Excuse me?" Shelby said, confused.

"_James. He asks me if I see you. I told him we saw each other in Akron sometimes."_

"Oh." She didn't know what to say about that.

"_You know, it was really a surprise when you broke up way back when. Everybody thought you were the real deal. Ah well, strange how life works sometimes."_

"Yeah," Shelby said absently. "Hey, I've got to go. Thanks again, okay?"

"_No problem."_

Shelby hung up the phone, shaking herself out of her thoughts. She didn't need to get caught up in the past, she had enough problems right now. Maybe she should bring it up with Ryan first, she thought. There wasn't a point in contacting James if Ryan didn't want her to, was there? Ugh, this was so confusing.

Just then she heard the front door open.

* * *

A few minutes earlier, Quinn had pulled up to the Corcoran residence. "See you soon?" Ryan asked.

Quinn nodded in reply, and Ryan leaned over to give her a kiss that left both of them grinning. "I could get used to that," Quinn said dazedly. Her kisses with Finn didn't even begin to compare to Ryan's.

"Good." Ryan said a bit cockily. He hopped out of the car and waved as she drove off, before entering the house. He walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Shelby came in just as he opened the refrigerator.

"Hi mom." He smiled at her as he poured out a glass.

Shelby smiled back, leaning on the counter. "How was lunch?"

"It went fine," Ryan answered, hopping up onto a bar stool, rapidly giving Shelby a run-down of how his day had gone. He was in a great mood, and the novelty of having a parent care about what he had to say still hadn't worn off, and he chattered away happily.

For her part, Shelby listened patiently, partly amused and partly fascinated at the way words seemed to pour out of the boy. In the back of her mind, though, she was still considering the best way to bring the subject of Ryan's paternity up with him. She had decided she'd talk to Ryan before contacting James.

A few minutes later, during a lull in which she was relatively sure that her son couldn't possibly have anything more to say, Shelby decided to bring up a relatively safer topic. She pulled an envelope out of her pocket. "This came in the mail today." She put it on the counter and pushed it toward Ryan. "It's from your school," she informed him, "asking your parent or guardian to meet with one of the teachers to collect your grades."

Ryan looked confused. "How did they know to send it to you? I'm pretty sure nobody at McKinley knows I'm living with you." He picked up the envelope, and his jaw tightened as he read the return address – the same address where he had lived for the past fifteen years. He pushed the envelope back at Shelby. "I guess they must have forwarded this here," he said neutrally.

Shelby watched him closely, trying to gauge how affected he was. She was about to say something when he beat her to it.

"Well, that's good," he decided, glancing at the envelope's return address again. He wasn't going to let them mess with him anymore. "I don't want anything to do with them, and you're my parent now, so it's only right that you should do the parental stuff, not them. At least they're doing something right."

"The meeting's scheduled for Monday," Shelby told him, satisfied that Ryan's temper wasn't going to flare up again. "Anything you need to tell me, like you're failing History or something?"

"No, I'm good," Ryan answered, slightly relieved that Shelby didn't pursue the topic of his dads. "I'm confident I've gotten excellent grades, as usual. It's important for me to keep my GPA up since I'm planning to apply to college when I graduate."

"Oh?" Shelby's interest was piqued. She knew his plan was to be on Broadway, but they hadn't quite discussed his plans in depth. "Where?"

"NYU's got an excellent drama department, and it's in New York," Ryan said, lighting up at the thought. I've researched a few other schools, too, but I think that's my top choice."

"Yes, NYU is a good school," Shelby agreed. "Some of my students have done pretty well in UCLA, and other universities too. If you really want to go to New York, NYADA is excellent too. I can help you look them up." With your talent, getting in wouldn't be a problem, she thought proudly.

"Really?"

Shelby had to smile at the look on her son's face. "Of course."

"You know, speaking of school," Ryan started, a sly look on his face, "I just thought of something you could do, seeing as you're unemployed now –"

"Okay, stop right there, I'm not coaching your glee club for you," Shelby said, already suspecting what was on his mind. "I told you, I'm out of the show choir loop. It's been…well, not exactly fun…for four years, but I've had enough."

"Oh, I remember," Ryan assured her easily. "But you're an English teacher, right? You could try to get the job at McKinley!"

"Don't you already have an English teacher?"

"Yeah, but she's…old. And she puts everyone to sleep with her eternal lectures on Shakespeare –"

"– Well, it is part of the curriculum –"

"– and while Shakespeare is an important part of a good literary education and highly relevant to my future career as an actor, it's difficult to gain an appreciation for it when her voice sounds like the drone of a bumblebee. Since I highly doubt that you sound like a buzzing insect, I'm sure you'd be an improvement!" Ryan ended eagerly.

Shelby arched an eyebrow. "I'm highly flattered that you think so much of me, that you'd prefer me over a bee," she said dryly. She hadn't been born yesterday, she knew perfectly well that Ryan thought if he could somehow get her into McKinley then he'd be able to rope her into helping his glee club out. "We'll see. No promises, okay?"

"Fair enough," Ryan said, slightly disappointed. But he hadn't expected to get her to agree all at once anyways. "I'm going upstairs."

Shelby nodded, belatedly realizing when he left that she hadn't brought James up with Ryan. She sighed in frustration.

..

Later that night, Ryan found himself spread out on the couch in Shelby's music room, listening to a soundtrack of _Phantom of the Opera_. He'd also found corresponding sheet music and was reading along with the music when Shelby found him. "What are you doing?" she asked curiously, taking in the teenager's position. "You can't possibly be singing like that."

"No," Ryan admitted. "Just listening and reading. The Drama Club put on _Phantom_ as the annual play two years ago."

"Did you get a part?"

Ryan shook his head. "I was a freshman, the roles are usually reserved for the upperclassmen. And Mr. Ryerson was in charge, so his pet students automatically got the roles. Although this year was worse, he tried to stage Chicago and he cast himself as Roxy Hart. Needless to say I excused myself from the production."

Shelby cringed at the image of a forty-something male teacher playing the role of the female housewife who'd murdered her lover. "Right." She got Ryan to scoot over and sat down on the other end of the sofa. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something too," Ryan said. He'd been thinking the whole afternoon about whether or not to ask Shelby about his biological dad, and his curiosity had won out over his wariness at yet another father figure. "But ladies first."

"No, you should probably go first, mine might take a while," Shelby said. Plus, if he was willing to talk about something that was on his mind now, she wasn't going to take the chance of him changing his mind later. "So what's up?"

Ryan turned the volume down on the stereo. "I actually wanted to ask you about my biological dad," he blurted out. "See, I was talking to Quinn after lunch, and she said her dad was coming for a visit in a couple of days," he rambled, "and she asked if I thought about my dad, the real one, not Leroy and Hiram. And I told her that I hadn't really had time to think about with all the drama that's going on. But now that she brought it up, I started thinking about it, and I was curious. So, if you could tell me anything about him, I think I'd like that."

Throughout this rambling explanation, Shelby just looked at him, an unreadable expression on her face. She had to laugh at the two of them – she'd been afraid to talk to Ryan about his dad, and here was her son, sounding afraid to bring the topic up as well. After a few seconds, she said, "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about too."

"Oh." Ryan blinked at her before laughing nervously. "That works well, then."

"Yes it does," Shelby agreed amusedly before sobering. "What do you want to know?"

Ryan was a little taken aback. He'd sort of been expecting Shelby to deflect the question, much like Hiram usually did, or to tell him a flat-out 'no' like Leroy did when he asked about his mom. "Oh." He ran his hand through his hair. "I just started thinking about it today, I haven't really had time to work out any questions," he said self-deprecatingly. "Maybe his name, and how you met?"

Okay, she could do that. "His name is James David Walker, and we met in high school, in Akron. He moved into town in the middle of my freshman year. He was a sophomore. The next year, I was in AP English, and he was failing, so I was assigned to tutor him. We were together during my junior year, then we broke up when he graduated."

"Why?"

Shelby looked down. Why, indeed? Just one more regret that she had. "He enlisted in the army straight out of high school. We decided to break up, rather than try long-distance." Then she shook her head. "I admired him for enlisting, but I didn't think I could have taken worrying about him all the time, gambling on whether or not he was going to come home. That's why we broke up." _It was my fault_.

"Oh." Ryan could see the regret plain on his mom's face. "He wouldn't stay?" He didn't understand, if his dad had loved his mom, why hadn't he stayed?

Shelby shook her head. "He thought he didn't have a choice, and truthfully, he was sort of right. I told you he came in the middle of the school year. That was because he was a foster kid, he was transferred in January. That's also why he was failing classes. He didn't have the grades to get a scholarship, he didn't have anything to start with, and he wasn't going to be allowed to stay with his foster family past graduation. And he didn't want to stay stuck in a dead-end job in Ohio for the rest of his life, which was what would have happened otherwise. Enlisting was his best choice at the time."

Ryan nodded, processing. He understood the need to get out, to make something of himself. Granted, joining the army wasn't on his list of considerations, but he understood that it was a good direction for some people. "What happened, you know, after? With me?"

"Well, like I told you, I ran into him in Akron while I was on spring break. We started catching up. He was there for a week on leave before going on a two-year posting in Japan. I don't need to tell you what happened, but you know the result," Shelby said, a bit dryly.

The teenager cringed a bit – no need to imagine his parents doing _that_. Then something registered. "He left for Japan?"

"…Yes."

"…Does he know about me?" The silence was all the response he needed. "Oh." He fell silent, unsure of how he felt about that. "Why didn't you tell him?" he asked in a small voice.

Shelby sighed guiltily, unable to meet his eyes. "First, you have to understand, it was 1995. There weren't any cellphones. Letters took forever, and it wasn't something you could put into a letter anyways." She should know, she felt like she'd spent half a ream of paper trying. "And you could forget about international calls. I didn't see James again until 2003, in New York. And by then I thought there wasn't really any point. I didn't have you, he had a career, and telling him might have messed it up. It didn't matter if I told him, we wouldn't be able to get you anyway," she said, almost bitterly. She didn't add that James had also shown up in New York with a girlfriend. She finally forced herself to look at her son. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, just…digesting." Ryan didn't really know what to say. Instead he asked, "What was he like? Do I look like him at all?"

Shelby looked at him before standing up. "Follow me." She led him into her room, where she dug an old box out of a drawer in the dresser. She motioned for him to sit down on the bed before sitting next to him. She opened the box and took out a set of pictures. Going through them quickly, she handed Ryan one with slightly tattered edges. "That's him."

Ryan took the picture carefully before looking at it. There were two people in the picture – a much younger version of his mom, and a teenager with short, dark blonde hair, almost brown really. The two were sitting on a sofa that Ryan realized was in the living room of his grandparents' house in Akron, the boy's arm thrown around Shelby, large smiles on both their faces.

He looked more closely at the face of his teenaged father in the picture. Not much similarity there – not that he expected much – though there was some around the mouth. They had the same slim build though, neither of them were ever going to become professional linebackers. But the most interesting thing about the boy in the picture was his eyes – a dark chocolate brown, the exact same shade and shape as Ryan's own eyes.

"Here's another one, this is from 1994." Shelby handed him another photograph. This one was taken outdoors, and there was only one person in the picture. The teenager from the first photo had grown into a larger young man; same hair, but the eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses. The young man was wearing a set of military fatigues, complete with a helmet.

"He gave me that when we ran into each other that spring break," Shelby told him, before offering him a thin strip of paper. Ryan took it curiously, before realizing it was also a set of photographs, the kind from a photo machine. The small pictures showed James and Shelby in various poses, obviously having a lot of laughs. Lastly Shelby handed him a picture once again containing the two of them. It looked like they were at a small outdoor café, both of them smiling. Ryan looked closely at his mom's face this time.

"You were still in love with him," Ryan observed bluntly, surprising Shelby, who looked at him sharply. She took the last set of photos back.

"Maybe," she deflected. "It didn't matter, he was leaving." Another of her regrets, though. She'd wondered on occasion what would have happened if she had said something to him. "He was quiet back then, when he first arrived," Shelby said thoughtfully. "And he had a hard time making friends, mostly because he moved around a lot as a foster kid. But once he warmed up to people, he could talk your ears off," she smiled, "sort of like you. And he could never keep his hands still, either." She looked pointedly at where Ryan was worrying at the edge of the bedspread.

"Could he sing?"

Of course he'd ask that, Shelby thought, mouth quirking into a smile. "Pretty well, actually."

"Better than me?"

Shelby considered. "Not quite," she admitted. Her smile turned mischievous. "Your voice came from me."

Smiling as well, Ryan returned the pictures, which Shelby set on the bedside table. "Thank you for telling me about him," he said sincerely.

"You deserve to know. You can ask about him, I won't get mad." She hesitated. "Would you be okay if I contacted him, to tell him about you?" she asked gently.

"I guess so," Ryan said slowly. "He deserves to know too, right?"

"Would you want to meet him if I did?"

The answer wasn't as forthcoming this time. "Can I think about that?"

Shelby studied him, nodding. "All right."

Ryan scooted over to hug his mom. "Thank you." He paused. "You know, I've always thought I might try being in a soap opera," he mused jokingly. "No need for that anymore."

"Hush you."

* * *

Two hours later, Shelby was back on her computer, trying once again to compose an email to one James Walker. The perfectionist in her wouldn't let her put it off now that she didn't have an excuse anymore.

_Hi James_

_It's been a while, hasn't it? How are you doing? I called Vince Petrucci earlier, he says you're in Pennsylvania. Anyways, I'm sure you're wondering why I'm emailing. Something's come up, and I'd like to talk to you, catch up a bit. Don't worry, it's not completely urgent, but I think it would be better if we could meet. I'm living in Lima now. But if you can't make it here, just give me a call when you can. 330-3182228. Thanks._

_Shelby Corcoran_

She read it over again, still apprehensive about sending it. She slowly typed in James' email address into the recipient bar, and took a deep breath. Finally she clicked send.

No going back now.

* * *

**Hope you liked. I don't have too much time right now because of classes, but I've got a few things written up. I might have some more ready in a few days. Anyways, thanks to everyone who's still reading this, drop me a review to tell me what you think.**


	25. Chapter 24

"Okay, I probably won't be home until about two this afternoon, I need to go to the faculty lunch at Carmel after I go to your parent-teacher conference at McKinley," Shelby informed her son over breakfast. "Do you have any plans later?"

"Nope, no plans." Ryan kept eating his breakfast. The garage was closed for the day since Burt was out of town. "I might go over to meet Quinn though."

Half an hour later, Shelby was at the front door, ready to leave. "You have everything?" she asked Ryan as he opened the door for her.

"Yes, mom," Ryan drawled, before sending her a reassuring smile. "I can survive at home without you for a few hours, okay?"

Shelby sighed, laughing at herself slightly. When had she gotten this neurotic? Maybe it had something to do with all the coffee she'd consumed last night while finally finishing the reading and grading of 44 final papers for her senior students. Along with the coffee she'd used up four pens' worth of red ink. Also, the meeting at McKinley was going to be the first official parent business she was going to tackle. "Okay. I'll see you later. Leftovers are in the fridge if you need lunch."

"Have fun at school."

Shelby shot him a nasty look, only relenting when Ryan leaned over to give her a hug before pushing her gently out the door.

Ryan spent most of the morning in Shelby's music room, listening to one CD after another, trying out any song that struck his fancy. He hadn't had a chance to take Shelby up on her offer to coach him, since his mom was busy with finalizing her resignation from Carmel. He hoped to change that this week, though.

Then at around 11am, his phone chimed.

_Hi Ryan. – Quinn_

Ryan typed out a reply guiltily. He'd pretty much forgotten about her last night, after the unfolding drama with his mom. _Hi Quinn. You okay? – Ryan_

The reply took a while. _Where are you? – Q_

That didn't sound good. _I'm at home, the garage is closed for a couple of days. You can come over if you want. – R_

He hesitated before adding the last sentence. Shelby hadn't said he couldn't have friends over, but she hadn't said he could, either. Oh well, hopefully she wouldn't mind too much.

_I'll be there in a few minutes. - Q_

True to her word, Quinn arrived at the house within fifteen minutes. Ryan scrambled for the door at the first knock quickly opening it. "Hi." He stood back. "Come in."

"Thanks," Quinn replied quietly, looking around. "Nice house."

"Thanks. Living room's on the right," Ryan said, directing her to the said room. "Do you want anything, water, or something else? We've got more than ice cubes now, which is more than I can say for my first time here."

Quinn sent him a small smile at that. "No, I'm good, thanks."

"So what's up?" Ryan asked looking carefully at his girlfriend. She seemed tense, and sad.

The blonde girl looked at him, clearing her throat. "Ah, my dad came last night."

Oh. Oh god. He'd completely forgotten that Quinn had told him her dad was coming on Sunday night. And that was last night. He felt like a horrible person now. "And?" Ryan prodded apprehensively. It couldn't have been good if Quinn was like this.

"Yeah. It wasn't pretty. We got into it after dinner. He, uh, he basically said it was my fault our family fell apart, and none of this would have happened if I hadn't gotten pregnant." Quinn had spent half the night crying after her father had left.

Ryan felt a sudden surge of rage for Russell Fabray as Quinn spoke. How dare he say that? Even Hiram and Leroy, who would never win any Father-of-the-Year awards, hadn't outright blamed him for what had happened. "That's not true. It wasn't your fault," Ryan said firmly, holding her by the shoulders and looking her in the eye. "Even if you made a mistake – and granted, it was a pretty huge mistake – it was wrong of him to kick you out. He's the one who's at fault for what happened."

"But he's right, in a way," Quinn said quietly. "I'm the one who ruined the idea that we were the perfect Christian family. I messed up; if I hadn't we'd still be a family." And she wouldn't be feeling so broken up over the baby she'd had to give away.

"That's not true," Ryan whispered again, wrapping her into a hug. "It was his choice to do what he did. You didn't wreck your family, he did." To his surprise and slight panic, he started to feel tears soaking into his shirt. He gamely kept his hold on the crying girl though, trying his best to soothe her. "Why didn't you call me last night?" Ryan asked as he felt Quinn starting to calm down.

"It was late." Quinn's voice was muffled, with her face pressed into his shoulder.

"I would have stayed up with you."

Quinn looked away. She knew that, but she hadn't known what to say. "Did I tell you what my dad said, when he found out about…you know?" she asked, pulling back from Ryan, who got her to sit down on the sofa.

Ryan, understanding that she needed to talk, shook his head, though he'd heard a bit of it from Finn. "See, my dad invited Finn over for dinner, he was my date for that chastity ball," she snorted derisively. "And Finn decided it would be a good idea to sing _You're Having My Baby_ at the dinner table." She stopped, thinking back to that day. "Dad told Finn to get out. Then he told me to get out too. I – I begged him to change his mind," her eyes started to fill up again, but she blinked them away. "Then he said he didn't recognize me anymore. I wasn't his little girl."

Ryan pulled her closer, but not before Quinn saw the absolute fury in his eyes. She hadn't known he could look like that, he hadn't held that expression even when he talked about his own dads. And deep down she found it comforting that he cared enough to be that outraged on her behalf. And even deeper down, she thought it was sort of hot.

The two were quiet for a while, both recognizing that nothing needed to be said. Only the presence of the other. Ryan finally broke the silence. "You were right, you know, last week," he said quietly. "You said you realized it wasn't your fault."

Quinn shook her head. "That's what's confusing me. I know it's not my fault, I figured that out months ago. But seeing him, and having him say it again… It brought back everything. He said he didn't recognize me, like I was just some useless tramp –"

"Stop," Ryan said forcefully, making Quinn look at him. "You are not useless, you're not worthless, you're not a tramp. Understand? You're an amazing person. True, you were a bitch before," he said jokingly, "but you've matured so much since then. You are one of the most important people in my life now. If your dad can't see what a special person you are, then it's his loss." He looked at her intently. "You helped me figure out that what happened with my dads wasn't my fault, and now I'm going to do the same for you," he said determinedly, wrapping an arm around her. "What he thinks doesn't matter."

"It still hurts. And you know what the sad part is?" Quinn continued unhappily. "I still miss him, in a way. He's my dad."

"I know," Ryan admitted. While he was happier with Shelby, it still hurt that the men who had raised him didn't love him or want him. "You don't have to see him again, do you?"

Quinn shook her head. "No, thank God."

"Good." Ryan hoped he never saw Russell Fabray either – there was a new person on his list of people he wanted to slug on sight.

Quinn moved even closer to Ryan, which was quite a feat since they were already packed tightly together. "Thanks," she said quietly. "For listening. And for what you said." And he was right. Her father had cared more about being seen by the rest of the world as the perfect husband and father, he'd completely disregarded what his family needed. She had needed her parents, and they'd turned her away. She wasn't completely at fault.

Ryan smiled slightly. "Hey, that's our thing, remember? I'm here to listen, no strings attached." He considered. "Although I guess it's a bit different now," he mused, pressing a kiss in his girlfriend's hair.

"True."

The two of them stayed in that position for a few minutes, just content to be near each other.

_Grrbbrrrr…_

"Sorry," Ryan apologized. "I haven't had lunch yet."

Quinn nodded. "Neither have I." They pulled apart. "Sorry about that," she said, gesturing at his shirt, which now had a large damp spot on it.

"Not a problem. I think I handled the first Crying Girlfriend Crisis pretty well, huh?" Ryan smiled charmingly at her, trying to get her to laugh.

He succeeded in drawing a watery giggle out of her. Rolling her eyes, Quinn nodded. "Yes you did." She gave him a quick kiss, causing his smile to widen. "Do you want to go out for lunch?"

"Actually, my mom left some food," Ryan said. "We can share, I saw the container, there's enough for both of us. For the next two days."

Quinn quickly agreed, she didn't really feel like going out in public today. The two of them headed into the kitchen to fix lunch.

Ryan took out the plastic container of leftover pasta. Quinn eyed it, commenting, "The next two days? Try the next four. Although," she added thoughtfully, "the way you eat, it might barely last for one."

"Ha ha," Ryan deadpanned. He stuck the container into the microwave and set it to heat. Then he went over the cabinet and pulled out two plates and matching cutlery. Quinn leaned on the counter, watching him move around affectionately. It was amazing how one person could turn her whole day around, could make feel so much better about herself.

She was pulled out of her musings by Ryan. "Take a look in the fridge, Mom stocked it with stuff the other day, there should be drinks."

Soon they were both digging into their late lunch. "This is pretty good," said Quinn. "Where'd you get it?"

"Oh, my mom made it," Ryan answered after swallowing a large mouthful.

"Really? Huh," Quinn nodded in slight surprise. "Your mom doesn't look like the cooking type."

"I know, right?"

"Must be the sophistication." The two times Quinn had seen Shelby Corcoran, the older woman had been dressed to impress in an outfit that wouldn't be out of place in New York City.

Ryan snorted. "Sophistication? You should see her when she comes down for breakfast on weekends." He glanced up in alarm. "Don't tell her I told you that."

Quinn mimed zipping up her mouth, smirking at him.

"I take it you're feeling better, if you can mock me like that," Ryan snarked at her as they started clearing up their dishes.

"Yes, I am, thank you very much."

* * *

_Earlier that morning_

Twenty minutes after leaving the house, Shelby arrived at McKinley high school for her parent-teacher chat. She'd actually done this countless times before in her teaching career, but this was the first time that she was going to be on the parent's side of the desk.

She entered the administration office and asked the elderly lady at the receptionist's desk for directions. The letter hadn't been very clear, not even specifying which teacher she was supposed to see. "Hi, I'm supposed to be meeting with one of my son's teachers?"

"Student's name?"

"Ryan Berry." As much as she didn't want to use those men's last name, she knew her son was registered here under that name. She'd need to change it during registration for the coming year.

A few minutes later, during which Elderly Receptionist Lady squinted down her glasses at the computer screen, Shelby finally got an answer. "You're meeting with Miss Pillsbury, she's the guidance counselor. Down the hall, turn left. It's the office with glass walls."

"Thank you." Shelby made her way out of the office and strode along the halls following the directions. She found the glass office easily enough, spotting a small redhead sitting at the desk. She quickly knocked on the door, causing the guidance counselor to look up and motion her inside.

"Good morning, what can I do for you?" Emma Pillsbury asked the unfamiliar person in front of her. The brunette reminded her of someone, but she couldn't quite place her.

"I'm Shelby Corcoran. I'm Ryan Berry's mother," Shelby introduced herself, smiling inside. This was the first time she'd introduced herself as a mom.

Recognition clicked in the guidance counselor's eyes. She stood from her desk and offered her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Shelby shook her hand and took a seat in front of the desk, raising her eyebrow slightly when the other woman spritzed sanitizer on her hands before offering Shelby the bottle. After looking at it in surprise for a second she took it slowly and sprayed some as well, deciding not to comment.

"I have to say, this is a bit of a surprise. I thought Ryan lived with his two gay dads," Emma commented.

"A few things happened this summer, he's been living with me for about three weeks now," Shelby explained. "I'm his main guardian now."

"I see. I'll just find his papers." Emma turned to the filing cabinet behind her, flicking through the neatly catalogued files.

Shelby studied the guidance counselor for a few moments before remembering why she seemed familiar. "I've seen you before. You chaperoned Ryan's glee club's Sectionals competition last December."

Emma glanced over at Shelby. "Yes, I did. Were you there?"

"Yes I was. You did a good job leading them, considering the stolen set list, and I was quite impressed by your speech to the other two choir directors."

Finding the appropriate file, Emma turned back to Shelby with a smile. "Thank you, Miss Corcoran. But I can't take credit for New Direction's set list. That was actually Ryan's work, he came up with most of it." Shelby's eyebrows went up in surprise. Ryan hadn't told her that. "He can be a good leader, if a little bossy," Emma continued. "Congratulations on Vocal Adrenaline's win at Nationals, by the way. Here's Ryan's grades for the year, as you can see he's scored quite highly in most of his subjects."

Shelby took the card and scanned down her son's grades, which consisted of mostly A's, with the occasional B. Good, no problems there. She smirked at the B in English. Maybe she should try to help him fix that.

"Would you mind telling me what happened with his fathers?" Emma asked carefully; family issues were often sensitive. "He seemed a bit off when I spoke to him early this year, and I had the sense that it had something to do at home."

Shelby thought for a moment, deciding if she was going to answer. She didn't have anything to hide, so sure, why not? "You know about his adoption circumstances?" she asked, and at Emma's nod, she went on. "Neither of them are actually my son's father, so they've apparently been feeling a sense of…disconnect…with him." She just managed to keep her feelings off of her face. "We all decided that it was best if they reverted custody back to me."

Shelby Corcoran was a good actor, Emma thought. She could barely pick up on the disdain and irritation from the other woman, but her training in psychology let her see through the show face. She smiled inwardly at the similarity to Ryan. "I see. You know, Ryan mentioned you at when we talked at the end of the school year, and I can say with certainty that you've had a positive effect on him. He was much happier once the two of you started building your relationship."

This time, Shelby let the surprise show. She hadn't known Ryan had talked to anyone about her. Then she smiled, warming at the thought that she made her son happy. "That's good, at least I'm doing something right," she quipped. It was good to have someone objective, someone who had known Ryan before she'd found him, tell her that she was good for her child. It alleviated some of the worry that she was only screwing him up even more.

Emma nodded. "I'm a little concerned though, that your coaching Vocal Adrenaline might cause some strain on the two of you, since Ryan is very much invested in the New Directions."

Shelby raised an eyebrow at the comment, but decided not to take offense. "That won't be a problem, I've resigned from Carmel. I made the decision at the start of the school year."

"Oh. May I ask what your plans are?"

"None yet," Shelby admitted. "Though Ryan seems to think it would be a good idea for me to replace the English teacher here," she added with a slight smirk.

Emma nodded. "You know, that might not be such a bad idea. Mrs. Gage is retiring this year, and as far as I know, Principal Figgins doesn't have a replacement yet."

Hmmm. "Maybe. I told my son I'd think about it. I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect of helping coach another glee club," Shelby said wryly. "I just know Ryan will somehow drag me into it if I took the job."

Emma smiled. "Yes, he can be very persuasive when he wants to be. Ryan's a good kid, if not a little…single-minded, I think is the right term. Once he decides he wants something he'll pretty much do whatever it takes to get it." Privately Emma had no doubt Ryan would be able to rope his mother into assisting the New Directions somehow.

Shelby nodded. That sounded like her son alright. "Well, if there's nothing else…?"

"No, I think that's it," Emma answered. "Thank you for meeting with me, Miss Corcoran."

"Thank you."

* * *

Several hours and one minor headache later, Shelby was heading home from the Carmel faculty meeting. She was so happy to finally be rid of those sharks masquerading as teachers.

She finally pulled up to her house, got out of the car, and unlocked the front door. As soon as she entered, sounds from the TV in the living room could be heard. Going into the living room, she was surprised by the sight of two teenagers watching a _Big Bang Theory_ rerun, and she couldn't help but notice how close they were. Both Ryan and Quinn were facing away from her, and her presence hadn't been noticed yet.

"Ahem."

Two heads immediately whipped around to face her. "Mom!" Ryan exclaimed, checking his watch. "How long have you been standing there?"

Shelby looked at him, giving him a slight smile. "Just now, actually. Why, was I interrupting something?"

"No, of course not," Ryan said, giving her a nervous smile. At least she didn't seem to be mad. "You remember Quinn, right?"

"Hi Miss Corcoran." Quinn gave her a wave.

"Yes, I remember," Shelby answered, nodding at the blonde girl. "When did you get here?"

"Just before lunch," Ryan said. "We ate the pasta you left."

Shelby wasn't entirely sure what she thought of her teenage son and his girlfriend spending all that time by themselves…unsupervised... She shook her head and walked over to her son, leaning down on the back of the couch. She pulled his report card out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Here you go."

Ryan quickly picked it up and opened it, running his finger down the column of grades. Quinn took a peek as well. "What do you think?" he asked his mom.

"Well, I didn't think much of that English grade, especially when compared to the others," Shelby replied dryly. "But overall, good job. I'm proud of you." She ruffled his hair.

Ryan beamed happily. "Thank you. And about the English, I'm sure I'd do better if I had a decent teacher," he hinted, nudging Quinn ever so slightly.

Quinn looked at him incredulously. Was he expecting her to back him up on this? From what Finn and Puck had said, and from what she'd seen when they'd sneaked into her auditorium, Shelby Corcoran was a hard-ass. Then Ryan shot her a pleading look. Stupid brown eyes. Fine. "Yeah, Miss Corcoran, our English teacher is horrible…" she trailed off when Shelby directed her gaze toward her, one eyebrow raised.

"Is that so?"

Okay, now Quinn understood why VA was so scared of their coach.

Shelby relented, smiling inwardly at the effect she could have on kids. It never got old. "Well, like I told Ryan, we'll have to wait and see. I will tell you, though, that I heard your English teacher is retiring this year."

"See mom, this is practically a sign!" Ryan said happily.

Shelby just rolled her eyes. "Just go back to your TV show."

"Fine," Ryan drew the word out.

"Actually, I have to go," Quinn said, standing up.

"Don't leave on my account," Shelby told her.

"Thanks, but I told my mom I'd pick some stuff up for her."

Ryan stood as well. "I'll walk you out."

A few minutes – and one or two kisses on the porch – later, Quinn had left, and Ryan and Shelby were in the living room. "How was lunch?" Ryan inquired.

"Oh, the lunch was fine, well, as fine as a lunch with a pack of vultures can be." The meeting had been mostly the other teachers vying for increased funding for their individual pet projects, who were under the impression that VA's funding might be getting cut now that she was leaving. "It was basically a politicking party for who could get the most funding." She was so happy to be getting out.

"If you came to work at McKinley you probably wouldn't have that problem," Ryan wheedled. "Mostly because the other teachers are incompetent, but there's only a few teams in place, and you wouldn't be involved."

Not involved? Shelby thought amusedly. It seemed her son knew nothing about what went on in the school faculty rooms. Everyone got involved in everything else. Case in point, two of McKinley's teachers had already taken it upon themselves to pry into her relationship with her own kid, and she wasn't even working there yet! "I told you, we'll see, okay?" But she was starting to think maybe she should do it, if only to get Ryan to stop nagging. "Anyways, we need to talk about who you let into the house."

"Right," Ryan said a bit guiltily. "I actually invited her over. I didn't know if you'd be okay with it, but you didn't tell me not to, either."

"It's fine for you to invite your friends over," Shelby assured him. "Just tell me next time. But I'm a little concerned with you and Quinn being alone together."

Ryan blushed. "We're not doing anything! We've only really been together less than a week!"

"Still, I'd prefer it if you had someone else, preferably me, in the house. And you can't be in your room alone together."

"But –"

"No buts," Shelby said firmly. "Those are the rules your Grams set for me and Josh, now they're in place for you too." Of course, she wasn't going to tell him both she and Josh had broken the rules on occasion. "And I believe you when you, but that doesn't mean you won't eventually want to do something."

Ryan finally conceded. "Fine," he said irritably.

"Good." Shelby decided not to let his attitude get to her. At least she won the argument.

"Oh, I just remembered, your answering machine was beeping a while ago, I guess someone called," Ryan said belatedly.

"Thanks." At least he remembered to tell her. Suddenly alert, Shelby hurried to her office to check on the voicemail, closing the door behind her as she entered. She took in the flashing light on her rarely-used answering machine. She went over to it nervously, as if it was a ticking bomb.

And in a way it was. If the message was from James Walker, like she suspected, it could upset the balance she and Ryan had been working on for the past few weeks. She sat down at the desk. Finally, after a few more minutes staring at the phone, she picked it up and pressed play, and the prerecorded voice started up. _You have one voicemail…_ She snorted at herself. How stupid would she feel if it were a wrong number or something ridiculous?

It wasn't though. _Hi Shelby, it's James. Yeah, I was a little surprised to get your email, particularly since you haven't used it since I gave it to you seven years ago… Anyways, I'm in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, so Vince was right…I'd like to catch up too, I've got a few days of leave coming up, so if it's okay with you I can come to Lima this weekend. So, yeah, call me back. Beep._

For a few minutes, Shelby just sat frozen in her seat at the desk. He wanted to meet with her. This weekend. So soon? Oh hell, what was she supposed to do? She wasn't ready for this at all…And what was she supposed to tell Ryan? He'd asked if he could get back to her about meeting James. What if she told James and he wanted to meet Ryan, and Ryan wasn't ready?

She didn't know how long she was sitting there, with all these thoughts whirling through her mind when she heard a knock on the door.

"Mom?"

Shelby stood up and opened the door for her son. "Are you okay?" Ryan frowned, looking at her.

"Uh, yes, why?" Shelby blinked at him confusedly. Okay, she wasn't exactly fine, but never mind that.

Ryan looked at her speculatively. "You've been in here for a while."

Shelby glanced at the clock. Surprisingly, she'd been in here for almost an hour already. "I didn't notice the time." She hesitated. Might as well get it over with. "Can you come in here for a minute?" She stood aside to let the teenager into her office.

Slightly surprised, Ryan obliged, stepping into the office. "What? If this is about Quinn and me not being alone together again, you made your point earlier –"

"No, it's not about that," Shelby cut him off before he could build up steam. She was unsettled enough as it was, she didn't need him to rile her up any more. "Okay. Remember, I told you I was going to tell James about you after we talked a few nights ago?" Ryan nodded. "I emailed him already."

That got Ryan's attention. "Did he answer? What did he say? Was –"

"Let me finish," Shelby said, a bit sharply. She winced inwardly when Ryan immediately shut up. Great, now he probably thought she was mad at him. "Sorry. Anyways, I told him in the email that I wanted to talk to him, in person. I didn't tell him yet."

Ryan could get that. It seemed like news that should be given face to face, not over an email. "Did you get a reply?" he ventured, sitting down on the small sofa that resided in Shelby's office.

Shelby took a deep steadying breath. "That voicemail from earlier was from him."

Ryan blinked. That phone call earlier was from his father? He should have answered it, maybe he could have talked – no. It was probably for the best that he didn't answer it. The man didn't even know he had a kid, it would have made a hell of a first impression if he'd picked up the phone.

Shelby was still talking. "He said he was okay with talking to me, and he also said if it was okay, he could come to Lima this weekend." She looked seriously at Ryan. "Are you okay with that?"

Ryan just stared at her. "Oh."

Oh? Was that it? Shelby had been expecting a little more than 'oh'. "Eloquent," she said dryly. Now her sarcastic side was making an appearance. "Questions, comments, violent reactions?"

"I don't know," her son answered in a small voice. "Do you think he'll want to meet me?"

Shelby looked at him, trying to predict the possible actions of a man she hadn't seen in years. "I don't know either," she admitted. "I think he would though." Once he got over the initial shock.

"I can't really stop him from coming here," Ryan said. "But…I don't know." He was really confused now. On the one hand, he was really curious about James Walker – much like he'd been about Shelby. But on the other, he didn't know if he wanted another father-figure in his life. Once burned, twice shy, and he'd been burned twice. "I don't know if I want another dad," he admitted softly.

Shelby went over to sit next to him. "It's up to you if you want to meet him, I can tell him no if that's what you want. Think about it a bit though. I can guarantee he's not going to be anything like Leroy or Hiram."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." That was something she knew absolutely. The man she knew all those years ago would never treat any child, much less his child, like that.

Ryan looked at her, trying to decide. Finally, he came to a decision. "I guess…if he's okay with it, I'll meet him. Only if he wants." If his mom said James wasn't going to be like _them_, then that was good enough for him. He couldn't help the slight caveat though. He didn't want to meet James if he didn't want to.

Shelby let out a slight sigh of relief, and nodded. "Okay." Looks like she had a phone call to make.

* * *

Several hours later, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Master Sergeant James Walker returned to the military-provided base housing he'd been living in for the past seven months. He'd been on duty for the past eight hours and he was tired. The thirty-nine year old had actually been invited by some friends for a night out, but he'd declined, pleading exhaustion. In actuality though, he wanted to get back home since he was expecting an important phone call.

He unlocked his door and entered the house with a sigh. Shelby Corcoran had called him a few days ago. He hadn't seen or heard from the woman since 2003, when they'd run into each other in New York by accident. Well, not really by accident, but that wasn't important. She had crossed his mind once in a while (okay, more often than he cared to admit) since then, and even before. He even asked about her when he called his old friend Vince Petrucci, though he hoped he hadn't been stupid enough to mention it to Shelby.

Honestly though, he didn't quite know what to expect from Shelby Corcoran, but he could definitely say he'd missed her over the years. She'd been his first friend, then his first love, though it hadn't worked out. The two of them had been a pair of ambitious, mildly selfish teenagers. He knew Shelby thought it was her fault they had broken up, but he knew he had a hand in it too. He could have stayed, tried to work something out.

James had thought maybe something would come of their reconnection back in 1994, but Shelby had told him she wasn't quite looking for a relationship, and he'd been slated to go to Japan. Wrong timing. _It had been a fun week, though_, he thought with a smile. And in 2003, he'd been in a relationship, and he'd suspected she had been in one too. For the short time that they'd talked, she couldn't seem to look him in the eye.

He took a look at his answering machine, and found the light blinking. Feeling slightly apprehensive, he pressed the playback button. _Hi James, it's Shelby. Thanks for getting back to me, and yes, this weekend is fine. Just tell me when you're getting here, maybe we can have lunch or something when you arrive. See you._

James smiled. He'd already set up his leave with his CO, anticipating Shelby's answer. While he didn't know what Shelby wanted to talk to him about, he couldn't help but feel a sense of hope. Maybe this time.

* * *

**Look, we just broke 100,000 words! It feels weird… Anyways, hope you liked this, James will be showing up in Lima in the chapter after the next one. I also thought we'd tackle a bit of Quinn's issues, they'll be coming up some more in a few chapters. Their talks have mostly been focused on Ryan's stuff, but in fairness Quinn's got her own baggage, which only came out right around season 3 in the show. Hopefully having Ryan around will keep her from going all punkster in this universe. See you soon. Thanks for all the reviews, they really inspire more writing :)**


	26. Chapter 25

The next day Ryan woke up at six, as usual, but decided not to go for his usual run. It was one of those days he needed his music. After dressing and dawdling in his room, he slowly ambled down to the music room. After browsing through a few sheets he sat down at the piano and started picking out the notes and harmonies to random songs that ran through his head. He did know how to read music, of course, but he wasn't really able to translate it into his hands. No, his talent had always lay in his vocals. His perfect pitch gave him some slight proficiency at the piano, though.

"_Pity the Child_, from the musical _Chess_."

Ryan turned around to see Shelby watching him from the doorway. He gave her a small smile. "It's too early for you to be awake."

"Couldn't sleep." Shelby walked towards him, surprised to see that he wasn't playing from a sheet. "I thought you didn't play."

"Not formally. I can pick out melodies and add harmonies, though."

Of course, he had perfect pitch, Shelby realized. Like she did. She decided not to comment, though, instead focusing on something else. "_Chess_ is one of the more unknown musicals," she commented. "It wasn't very popular here in America."

"No," Ryan admitted. "I just got a copy of the soundtrack from somewhere, and I read up on the storyline. I like the UK version better."

"So did I," Shelby agreed. "I was actually in a production of _Chess_ in New York back in, oh, 1999, I think. London version. It wasn't Broadway, just a small-scale production."

"What part did you play?" Ryan asked, interested.

"Florence Vassy, of course." By then she'd given up on taking the smaller backup roles, choosing instead to focus more on the teaching career she'd had going on at a small music studio. At that point she'd started to accept she wasn't going to make it like she wanted to. But a main role, even one in a small production, was too good to pass up. "It ran for nine shows."

"That's very impressive," Ryan said in awe. "Florence's songs need a very expansive vocal range and really good pitch control, since the melodies jump so much. And you need a lot of belting power." He looked at her for a moment. "I tried a few of the songs out a while back. I couldn't get the phrasing right," he admitted.

"It does take a lot of practice," Shelby agreed, trying and failing to keep a smug look on her face. The two fell into silence again.

"When I was with my dads, music was really what I used to express my feelings," Ryan mentioned absently, running through a few more chords on the piano. "I always identified with Freddie a bit,"

Shelby looked at him, a sad expression in her eyes. Of course he would identify the most with Freddie, the chess prodigy broken inside from his unhappy childhood, hiding from the world behind a mask of brash cockiness to the point that he ruined anything good that came into his life.

Ryan started playing a melody line again, and Shelby moved to sit next to him on the piano bench. "Scoot over." When Ryan obliged, she started playing the accompanying part to the song. After a while her son started to sing.

_When I was nine I learned survival  
_

_Taught myself not to care_

_I was my single good companion  
_

_Taking my comfort there  
_

_Up in my room I planned  
_

_My conquests on my own_

_Never asked for a helping hand  
_

_No one would understand  
_

_I never asked the pair who fought below  
_

_Just in case they said no_

_Pity the child who has ambition  
_

_Knows what he wants to do  
_

_Knows that he'll never fit the system  
_

_Others expect him to_

_Pity the child who knew his parents  
_

_Saw their faults  
_

_Saw their love die before his eyes  
_

_Pity the child that wise_

_He never asked 'did I cause your distress?'  
_

_Just in case they said yes_

Ryan fell silent again for a moment, just letting the music wash over him. Then he started again.

_Pity the child but not forever  
_

_Not if he stays that way  
_

_He can get all he ever wanted  
_

_If he's prepared to pay_

_Pity instead the careless father  
_

_What he missed  
_

_What he lost when he let me go  
_

_And I wonder, does he know_

_I wouldn't call, a crazy thing to do  
_

_Just in case he said, who?_

Once again, silence reigned in the room, both occupants lost in their own thoughts. After a moment, the teenager shook his head to clear it. He bumped his shoulder against his mom's. "Thank you." Two words that spoke volumes.

"Anytime." They sat there in thoughtful silence for a moment, enjoying each other's companionship. "How about we get to those lessons I offered you way back when?" Shelby said, amused as Ryan's face lit up. "After breakfast."

"But –"

"Most important meal of the day, kid." Shelby pulled her son up and tugged him toward the door.

"Do you even know how clichéd that sounds?" Ryan grumbled as he allowed Shelby to drag him out of the music room.

That caught Shelby's attention. _When did she turn into her mom?_ she wondered confusedly. "Shush. I'm not teaching anybody, not even you, without at least one cup of coffee in me."

..

One hour, one batch of French toast, and one pot of coffee later, mother and son were back in the music room. Ryan was excited at the prospect of learning from one of the country's best vocal coaches, while Shelby was just happy to be spending time with her son.

"Okay, vocalization first," Shelby instructed. "I want to get a feel for your range."

"I've got a pretty wide range, so this might take a while," Ryan said cockily.

Shelby rolled her eyes, slightly amused by her son's confidence. "Let's hear you back that up, then." She played a scale, nodding at him.

A few minutes later, Shelby found that the teenager's confidence was well founded. They kept going higher and higher, and he could still reach the notes well into the tenor range, and low into the baritone range when they started descending. "Okay, that's enough."

"So? What do you think?"

"You're right, your range is quite wide." His voice was impressive for someone his age, but it she didn't need to inflate his ego any more. She still saw him smile happily. "You started to wobble a little near the high notes though, and I could hear your voice scraping on the lower notes, we'll have to work on that," she decided. "You can widen your range a bit more with practice, and you're fifteen, so your voice can still mature a bit."

They worked on a few more exercises, with Shelby giving him tips here and there to improve his posture and breathing. Then Shelby asked, "What genre do you usually sing?"

Ryan thought for a moment. "Mostly what Mr. Schue assigns us for the week," he admitted. "Musical theater seems to suit me best," he said thoughtfully. "Although I can work with a lot. Rock, jazz, some pop… nothing heavy metal, though, or too much falsetto. And I guess I can't do funk." He quirked a smile at his mom.

"Is that why you let your friends take lead on that funkification number?" Shelby asked, raising an eyebrow with a smile.

"Yes."

"Well, that's good," Shelby said. "At least you know where your strengths are, and when you can let others take the spotlight." She looked at him pointedly, causing him to flush slightly under her gaze.

"Yeah," Ryan said uncomfortably. He did know he had problems sharing the spotlight, but he was working on it…a bit.

Shelby regarded him in amusement. No one had said anything to her so far, but if her son was anything like her, and he was, he'd have problems hogging the solos from his team.

After another hour, Ryan knew firsthand why Vocal Adrenaline had been as successful as they had been. Shelby was a very exacting coach, demanding high quality work, but at the same time she was always ready to answer any questions and give any recommendations that could help him improve.

Soon Shelby decided to call a halt. "Time to stop," she told her visibly disappointed child. She had to laugh at him. Most of her students couldn't wait for her to tell them rehearsals were over. "Lunch time."

Ryan looked at the clock in surprise. He hadn't felt the time go by.

..

Later that night, Shelby and Ryan were sitting in the living room watching TV, Ryan texting sporadically with Quinn. Shelby decided to bring something up. "I got an email from James."

Ryan's attention was immediately focused on her. "What, what did he say?" He stumbled a bit in his apprehension.

"He'll be here on Saturday." Shelby watched her son for his reaction. She was disappointed when his expression didn't reveal much. "I thought I'd have lunch with him first, break the news and see what he thinks."

"Okay."

"Are you really going to be okay about this?" Shelby asked anxiously. She knew she was nervous, she had no idea what Ryan must be feeling.

Ryan nodded. "Yeah." He ran a hand through his hair, and his phone chimed again, heralding a text message. "I'm going to bed." He stood up and stretched before heading upstairs with his phone.

Shelby sighed. _Go to bed, my ass_. He was probably going to be up all night texting his girlfriend. Oh well, she'd probably have been doing the same thing with James when she was Ryan's age, if cell phones had been invented back then, right? Although, in the back of her mind, she felt like her son was spending more time with Quinn than with herself.

* * *

A day later Ryan was back to working in the garage in the mornings while Shelby did whatever she got up to in her free time. Ryan didn't quite know what that was just yet.

"Ryan, are you in here?"

His face lit up in a smile as he saw Quinn coming into view. "Hi Quinn," he greeted, giving her a quick kiss.

Quinn smiled at him happily. She always felt so much better when Ryan was around. They hadn't taken things too far yet, but she was quite okay with that. And thankfully, Ryan was too. If it were Finn he probably would have been pushing for more by now, and she didn't even want to think about Puck. If she were honest with herself she was a little apprehensive about going too far. Accidental pregnancies tended to do that.

She'd spent the past couple of days talking to sporadically with Ryan and sometimes Santana, and she was quickly getting her head back on straight after her dad's visit earlier that week. "I need an oil change."

"Oh, so that's how it is, huh? I'm just the mechanic now?" Ryan asked, giving her a mock sad look, clutching at his chest. "I'm wounded."

Quinn rolled her eyes, amused at his dramatics. "Yes, you're just the mechanic for today," she deadpanned, before smirking. "Normal mechanics don't get this though." She pulled him in for a kiss much longer than the one he'd just given her.

When they pulled apart she was satisfied to see a huge grin on his face, accompanied by a dazed look in his eyes. "Yeah, that does make it better," he said breathlessly. "One oil change coming right up."

Ryan quickly got to work, positioning Quinn's car in the garage and popping open the hood. "When's the last time you had the oil changed?"

"I'm not sure," Quinn admitted. "I got it back when I moved back in with my mom after Regionals."

Ryan nodded. "That sort of explains why this oil's sort of goopy." He got it up on the lift and set it to drain. "So, what's new with you?"

"Nothing, really. But my mom said we're going to visit her cousins somewhere in Indiana this weekend." Quinn answered in a sarcastically happy voice. "You know, the kind that you never see and that you can never remember the name of. And it gets all awkward when they talk to you and all you can think of is, 'what's this old lady's name again?'"

Ryan laughed at her. "Yes, I do seem to recall relatives of that species from Hiram's side of the family."

"So, yeah, it's not going to be a fun weekend."

"Keep your phone on you, we can text."

"I'll do that. How about you, what's going on?"

Ryan checked on the oil that was draining on the car before answering. "Oh, it might be a fun weekend for me too," he said nonchalantly. He hadn't told Quinn about Shelby contacting his biological father yet, due to her problems with her own dad. "Remember that chat we had about my biological dad?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it turns out he doesn't know about me." He quickly ran Quinn through the soap opera plot that was his parentage. "Shelby contacted him, and they're meeting here in Lima this weekend."

Quinn stared at him. "Wow."

"I know."

"Are you okay with that?"

Ryan shrugged noncommittally. "I guess so. I think the guy deserves to know he has a kid, right?" he asked rhetorically, missing Quinn's slight wince at the question as she remembered the whole telling-Finn-he-was-her-baby's-dad-when-it-was-actually-Puck fiasco. "Anyways, I don't know if I'll meet him. Mom still has to tell him, and then she'll have to see if he reacts favorably to the bombshell."

Quinn nodded thoughtfully. "Did she tell you anything about him?" she asked curiously.

"Yes she did," Ryan answered as he started replacing the oil in Quinn's car. "His name is James Walker, he was one year ahead of her in high school." Ryan told her the rest of what Shelby had told him while he finished replacing the oil. "She showed me a few pictures, too."

"So do you want to meet him?" Quinn asked.

Ryan looked away, picking up a random tool to toy with. "I'm not really sure. Like I said, I haven't had the best of luck with dads, and no offense, yours isn't a prime example either."

"None taken."

"I guess I'm scared of getting a third strike," he said. "So I told my mom I'd meet him if he wanted to meet me too. I thought if he wanted to meet me then maybe he wouldn't be so bad. Mom told me he wouldn't be anything like – like _them_, though. She guaranteed it."

"Well, she hasn't lied to you yet, has she?" Quinn hadn't interacted with Shelby since the night at the hospital when she'd had Beth, but she seemed to really care about Ryan.

Ryan shook his head. "No, she hasn't. That's why I said I'd meet him if he wanted." He lowered Quinn's car from the lift. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Quinn said, giving him another kiss. "By the way, does your mom know about us?"

Ryan looked a bit confused for a moment. "Yes, why? Was I not supposed to tell anyone?"

"No, it's fine," Quinn assured him. "It's just…she didn't seem too happy with me yesterday." She'd gotten the sense that Shelby Corcoran wasn't entirely thrilled at her son's choice of girlfriend. She shook her head. "It's probably nothing."

Ryan though about it for a bit, brow furrowing. He hadn't really talked to Shelby about Quinn, but she hadn't raised any objections when he'd told her and his grandmother that they were an item now. Still, now that he thought about it, she did seem a little irritated whenever he was texting Quinn. "She said it was okay to have people over. I can ask her about it if you want," he offered. "She did say we couldn't be together unchaperoned, though," he added.

"No," Quinn said quickly. "No, like I said, it's probably nothing." She'd dealt with disapproving mothers before. While Carole Hudson had been nice (at least when she'd thought Quinn was having Finn's kid), Puck's mom hadn't been too happy about housing the girl her son had impregnated, and had basically ignored her for the duration of her stay at the Puckerman household. At least she didn't have to live with Shelby.

"Okay," Ryan said uncertainly.

* * *

_Two days later_

"_Ryan, you got any plans later? Santana said I could go over to her place, watch a few movies. You could come,"_ Quinn said hopefully on the phone.

"Only if Santana's okay with it," Ryan answered, as he finished loading the dish dryer after lunch with his mom. No mention was made of James Walker's impending visit to Lima, since Ryan had decided that he wanted to put it out of his mind until he really had to deal with it.

"_She'll be fine,"_ Quinn said dismissively.

Ryan laughed at her. "Okay." He checked his watch, it was a little after two in the afternoon. "I can meet you somewhere, or you could come pick me up."

Quinn smiled happily. She really liked spending time with Ryan, he could always make her smile, even when she was miserable, like today. "_Great. I'll come get you in ten minutes."_

A while later the two of them stood in front of the Lopez's front door, and Quinn rang the doorbell. Ryan fidgeted a bit. "Are you sure Santana's going to be okay with me being here?" he asked dubiously. He was on better terms with Santana now, but the girl still confused him.

"She'll be fine. You don't need to be scared of her." Quinn made no secret of the fact that he found Ryan's attitude towards Santana amusing.

"Even Dave Karofsky's scared of her."

Just then the door was opened by an older Latina woman. "Hello Quinn," she greeted.

"Hi Mari," Quinn said. "This is Ryan Corcoran, he's a friend from school. Ryan, this is Maribel Lopez, Santana's mom."

Ryan smiled, both in greeting and because this was the first time he'd been introduced with his new last name. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Lopez."

Mari smiled back at him. "Good to meet you too." Santana didn't bring boys home often, and she had her suspicions about her daughter's preferences, and about her relationship with Brittney Pierce. From what she'd overheard from the girls, it looked like Quinn liked this boy a lot. She was happy for Quinn, since this Ryan looked like a nice well-mannered boy, unlike the Puckerman boy who, according to Santana, had gotten Quinn pregnant. "Come on in."

The two of them went inside, and Mari ushered them into the living room. "Santana!" she called. "You've got guests!"

A few seconds later Santana appeared. "Hi Q, Midg – Ryan," she corrected, feeling her mother's gaze on her. "Britt's coming over in a few minutes, she just called." She turned to Mari. "Ma, we're just going to watch a few movies."

"Sure," Mari nodded at them. "Just not too loud, your papa's asleep." She left them in the living room.

"Asleep?" Ryan wondered. It was 2:30 in the afternoon.

"Yeah, he's an ER doctor," Santana explained. "He got off the night shift." She looked at Quinn. "You okay?" Quinn had told her this morning about what had happened with her dad the other day.

Quinn sighed. "I'll be fine. Just…let's just do something." She didn't really want to think about her dad anymore, even if what Ryan had said had made her feel better. "How about we go make some popcorn while we wait for B?"

Santana nodded, leading them to the kitchen.

"What are we watching?" Ryan asked as Santana dug through some of the cupboards looking for the microwaveable popcorn.

"They've got loads of DVDs," Quinn said. "Dr. Lopez likes collecting them, did you see that giant cabinet in the living room? It's full of movies."

The doorbell rang again. "That's probably B," Santana said. She thrust a package of popcorn at Quinn. "Here, put this in the microwave." She went to answer the door.

..

One chick-flick and three packages of popcorn later, the four teenagers were choosing another movie to watch when Santana's dad came into the living room. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know you had friends over, Sanny," he said to his daughter. "Hello Quinn, Brittney." The two girls waved at him. "I don't think I've met you before," he said to Ryan.

Ryan stood up and offered his hand to the older man. "I'm Ryan Corcoran," he introduced himself, stumbling slightly over the last name. It was going to take some getting used to.

"Do you go to school with the girls?" Dr. Lopez inquired as he shook Ryan's hand.

"Yes, sir, I'm in the same class."

"He's Quinn's boyfriend," Brittney piped up, making Santana snicker while Quinn and Ryan reddened. Through his embarrassment though, Ryan noted that Quinn didn't object, much to his surprise and pleasure.

"Good, good." Dr. Lopez smiled at Ryan as he sat back down, then he glanced at his daughter. "_Mija_, do you have plans later? I was thinking we could go out and have dinner somewhere, give your mama a break from the cooking."

"Nope, no plans," Santana answered.

"Okay then. What are you watching?" he asked curiously, going over to stand behind the armchair Santana was sitting on.

"We're still picking."

Dr. Lopez nodded. "Well, we're leaving at six, okay?" He leaned over and planted a kiss on Santana's head.

"Daaad," whined Santana, making her dad laugh as he walked out of the living room.

Ryan watched the two a bit wistfully. Why couldn't Leroy and Hiram have been like that? For a moment, he fantasized that maybe James Walker would treat him like that – like a son, not like a potted plant they had to remember to water. He shook his head. Whatever, he didn't care, he had his mom now. It didn't matter if James didn't like him.

_Sure, keep telling yourself that._

A while later, as he and Quinn were in the car driving back home, Ryan spoke up. "Santana's parents seem nice," he mentioned.

"Yeah, they are. They let me stay over a lot of the time," Quinn said.

"Why didn't you stay there after your dad made you leave?"

Quinn stayed quiet for a while. "They didn't know I got kicked out until a couple of months after, and by then I was living with Mercedes. I guess… I guess I was embarrassed to tell them."

"Ah."

"And I might have been on the outs with Santana at the time. You know us, it's really complicated."

"I don't get her at all," Ryan admitted. From what he could tell, the two girls had a sort of on-again-off-again friendship, and it was really hard to tell if they were friends or not at any point in time.

"Yeah, she's insane."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"_So, how are you doing?"_ Sarah Corcoran's voice came through Shelby's phone.

"I'm…fine. Nervous, I guess." Shelby was sitting at her desk in her office while talking to her mom. It was Friday afternoon, James was coming tomorrow and she still didn't know how to break her big news to him.

"_You'll be fine. We'll be there tomorrow morning, so have breakfast ready for us."_

Shelby rolled her eyes. Sarah had insisted on coming to her house with Tom tomorrow morning to take Ryan out while Shelby had lunch with James. Shelby was pretty thankful, actually, she hadn't wanted to leave the kid alone in the house. "I will."

"_Where's Ryan, is he there?"_

"No," Shelby said a bit irritably. "He's out with Quinn again. I swear the kid spends most of his time with her."

Sarah snickered a bit. _"Ah, young love. I remember another teenager who spent approximately 80% of her time with her boyfriend…And the other 20% sneaking off with him."_

"You're no help," Shelby grumbled.

"_You're jealous, aren't you?"_

"I am not jealous!" Shelby said vehemently, belatedly realizing that she had probably protested a bit too hard. She wasn't jealous, was she?

"_It's a natural reaction, Shelly, don't worry…"_

"I'm not!" she insisted. She wasn't jealous, she just wanted Ryan to spend some more time with her…instead of with Quinn…wait… "Okay, fine." She could practically see her mom smirking at her through the phone. "Maybe just a bit." She sighed. Great. She was turning into a jealous, neurotic worrywart. Her kid was making her crazy. Was this what parenthood did? "What do I do?" she asked plaintively.

"_You know it's normal for teenaged boys to want to be with their girlfriends, raging hormones and all that –"_

"– You're _really_ not helping –"

"– _But you know, you should probably try to get to know the girl, Quinn, was it?"_ Sarah suggested. _"It might help if you knew who he was spending all that time with. That's why we kept inviting James over when you were in high school, otherwise we might not have seen you at all."_

"Is that why you and daddy were so welcoming? And here I though you actually liked him."

"_We did, but yes, that's partially why," _Sarah admitted. _"You should probably make Ryan's girlfriend welcome in your house, maybe that way you'd see him more. No guarantees, though."_

"Maybe I'll try that." She'd never say it out loud, but her mom's advice was usually good. "I just got my kid back after fifteen years, and now I have to share him with his girlfriend…" she grumbled.

Sarah smirked again. _"Ah, the joys of parenthood…Anyways, back to James. What time is he getting in?"_

"He said before lunch, he'll text when he gets close." Shelby's nerves started to come back. "What am I supposed to say to him?"

"_Well first you take a deep breath, you're not going to be able to tell him anything if you're hyperventilating," _Sarah said sarcastically. _"Second, you tell him the truth. Tell him the whole thing from the start. Then you wait for his reaction."_

"What if it's bad? What if he hates me forever?"

"_That's not going to happen, Drama Queen,"_ Sarah tried to calm her daughter down. _"Besides, nothing you can do if he does."_

"Thanks a lot." She hesitated. "What if he's already got a family and I have to deal with them too?" This had been one of her worries from the start. She didn't know if she could handle it if James already had a wife and kids.

Sarah was quiet for a moment. _"Unfortunately, there's not really anything you can do about that, either,"_ she told her daughter gently. She knew Shelby had never really completely gotten over her first love. _"The two of you made your decision to go your separate ways, you'll have to deal with the consequences. Don't worry too much about it, though," _she added, trying to give Shelby a modicum of hope_. "You don't know for sure if he's got someone already."_

Shelby sighed again. "Okay." Just then she heard Ryan coming into the house. "Ryan's home. I should probably go talk to him."

"_Okay, Shelby, see you tomorrow. Don't worry too much. I love you."_

"Love you too." She hung up the phone before leaving her office to find Ryan. She found him in the kitchen, leaning into the fridge to get a bottle of water. "Hi," she said, brushing a kiss on his head as he straightened.

"Hi mom." He popped open the bottle and took a few gulps, hopping onto a bar stool at the counter. "Who were you talking to?" He'd heard her on the phone since the study door was open.

"Just your Grams. She and Grandpa are coming tomorrow morning." Shelby got up onto the bar stool next to him.

"Oh." Ryan had been expecting to stay home alone while his mom had lunch with James. That was good, at least he'd have something to keep him busy.

"Are you okay?" Shelby questioned, watching her son. "Don't you want them to come?"

"No, I mean yes, I mean, it's fine if they come," he said, stumbling over his words a bit. "Just a bit nervous about James, I guess," he offered her a smile.

"Me too," Shelby confided.

"Do you think he'll want to meet me?" Ryan asked. "And do you think he'll like me if he does?" he added in a smaller voice.

Shelby's heart clenched again even at her son's question, even as she inwardly cursed at the Berrys for the number they'd done on his self-esteem. "Of course he'll like you, what's not to like?"

Ryan could think of plenty. His schoolmates had come up with a lot over the years, and even if he pretended not to let them affect him he could remember every name he'd been called. He just shrugged at his mom.

"You're a great person, okay? I like you, Quinn likes you… It doesn't matter what other people think." Shelby ran a hand down his back. "Speaking of Quinn, how's she doing?"

Ryan looked surprised at the change in subject. "She's good. Better, anyways, since that thing with her dad. I actually wanted to talk to you about her a bit. She told me a few days ago that it didn't look like you were happy with her being here. But I told her that you were fine with me having friends over, but that we weren't supposed to be unsupervised."

Shelby winced slightly when she realized that Quinn had sensed a bit of her jealousy when she was here the other day. "Right," she said a little guiltily. "That rule still stands. But how about you bring her over sometime for lunch or something?" She might as well give her mom's advice a try.

"Oh, okay, I'll ask her sometime this week," Ryan said. Maybe Quinn was right, maybe it had been nothing.

"Just not this weekend, okay? I'm sure it will be complicated enough without her," Shelby said jokingly. "For now, let's focus on James' visit."

Ryan smiled a bit. "Yeah, okay." He stood up, wanting to go up to his room.

Shelby stood as well, giving him a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The mother watched lovingly as her son left the room. _James, you better not let me down_.

* * *

**One more chapter until James gets here. As always, I hope you enjoyed this one, sort of a filler 'cause I can't get the meeting with James quite right yet. Hopefully sometime this week. Just a quick note this time, I'm supposed to be helping translate TSwift's **_**Shake It Off**_**, and then make a music video of the translation with my groupmates…Oh yeah, credit to mexicanguest, one of my regular guest reviewers, for one of the ideas in this chapter. It may come up more later ;) See you next time!**


	27. Chapter 26

For the first time ever, Shelby woke up before Ryan did. She sighed as she checked the bedside clock only to see that it was just a little past five in the morning. She hadn't been able to sleep until past twelve last night, consumed by nerves over what she was going to say to her old flame in about six hours. Accepting that she wasn't going to get any more sleep today, she got out of bed and started getting dressed.

A few minutes later she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She walked over to take a closer look. It had been such a long time since she'd seen James. Seven years. She looked…older now. Obviously, she chuckled humorlessly at herself. She glanced down, and picked up a picture on the dresser.

This was one she hadn't shown to Ryan that night when they'd talked about James. This photograph was of her and James, side by side in a street in New York.

_**Flashback**_

_New York City, December 10__th__, 2003_

It was closing on nine in the evening when Shelby stepped out into the street outside of the theater where she'd gotten the role of Maria in _West Side Story_. Once again, just an off-Broadway production, but it was a leading role, and by now her occasional acting jobs were just a hobby. This was the 16th of 18 performances, with the show set to run just until this weekend.

She ambled along the street, considering where to grab dinner. She was on her own for tonight, usually she'd be with one of her castmates, but she'd opted to be alone tonight. She always got a little depressed around this time of the year, and now it was just one week until her child's birthday. He'd be nine this year, and she constantly wondered about him – how big he was now, what he looked like, what his interests were… She sighed. Just one more week, and she was flying back to Akron to spend Christmas with her family.

She'd decided to just head home when she spotted a couple, a man and a woman, walking towards her. Her focus was instantly on the man with dark blonde hair, and recognition clicked.

Then she made the mistake of looking into his eyes.

She froze as she remembered another face with those same brown eyes, nine years ago in Doctor's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The face of the child whose adoption she had regretted for those same nine years. Shelby just stood there, frozen, as the couple came closer.

"Shelby?"

Finally she managed to get her mouth into gear. "Hi James."

A smile spread across the man's face. "It is you!" he exclaimed delightedly. "It's been way too long." He pulled her into a hug.

Shelby immediately melted into him, suddenly feeling so much better. Then she came back to her senses. Pulling back, she gave him a smile, putting her considerable acting skills to use. "Nice to see you again." He didn't know about their child, she couldn't let him see the emotions whirling inside her. "Who's this?" she asked, turning to James' companion.

The air suddenly turned a bit tense. "Ah, right," James said quickly. "This is Diana Summers, we've been dating for a couple of months. Diana, this is Shelby Corcoran, I knew her in Akron, back when we were in high school."

One more blow, as if the reminder of her biggest regret wasn't enough for tonight. James had moved on. Shelby automatically shook hands with the other woman, keeping her feelings locked down. She could deal with them later. "Pleasure." She looked back at James, only to avert her eyes again. She just couldn't take those brown eyes without remembering her baby. "So, what have you been up to?"

James offered her a smile. "I've actually been assigned to California for the past four months," he answered.

"That's actually how we met," Diana interjected, taking James' hand.

Shelby took in James' girlfriend – tall, light blonde hair and tanned skin. Typical California girl. "That's great," she said, giving them a big smile. She knew they'd buy it, she was confident in her acting ability. "I'm happy for you, James."

"Thanks. We were actually at your show, you were brilliant," James said enthusiastically. "We asked for you at the theater, but they said you'd left. You're even better than before."

"Yes, you have an amazing voice," Diana added.

"Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Shelby's face was getting a bit strained from having to fake her way through this conversation.

"Hey, we were about to go have dinner," James began. "Maybe you'd like to join us?"

That was the last thing Shelby wanted. She could barely stand this ten-minute encounter, how was she supposed to last through an entire dinner? And besides, it looked like James' girlfriend wasn't too thrilled with the idea either. "I've actually got plans for the night," Shelby lied through her teeth. "I actually need to get going." She had no plans at all, but going home alone seemed like a much better alternative to dinner with her ex and his girlfriend.

"Got it," James said, disappointed, before brightening. "Hey, I just got a Polaroid camera the other day," he said, digging around in his backpack and producing the mentioned device. "How about a picture, before you leave?"

She hesitated before agreeing. "Okay."

"Great! Di, could you take a couple of shots?" He handed the camera over to the blonde, before going over to stand next to Shelby.

A few minutes later, photos had been taken, and goodbyes were said. "Wait," James said suddenly, taking the photo he had given to Shelby. He took out a pen and scrawled an email address on the back. "Contact me sometime, okay?"

Shelby nodded, meeting James' gaze for a second. "Got it." She gave him another smile, and he pulled her into a quick hug, before she left.

Soon she was back at her apartment, and she quickly went in, locking the door behind her. She leaned against the door, suddenly faced with an onslaught of emotion – jealousy and sadness that James had moved on, pain over the loss of her child, loneliness, but most of all, regret. Regret that she'd made all the wrong choices, and now she had…nothing. She didn't have anything to show for it.

She blindly made her way over to the cabinet where she kept a couple of bottles of Scotch, pouring herself a nice double and quickly tossing it down. Then another. Anything to get rid of the ache inside her.

An hour later she had collapsed onto her dilapidated couch, having made it all the way through the first bottle and a third of the way through the second. She picked up her phone and stared at it for a second before managing to call the first number on speed dial.

"_Shelby? It's one in the morning, what's wrong?"_

"Heeey, mommy," she slurred happily. "Heh, I managed to call you, I thought I couldn't, 'cause the letters were floating off the phone…"

"_What?"_ Sounds of someone getting out of bed could be heard in the background. _"Are you drunk?"_

Shelby giggled. "Yeah…I finished a whoooole bottle," she said proudly.

"_Yes, because that's something to be so proud of,"_ Sarah Corcoran said sarcastically. _"Shelby, what happened?"_

"I saw Jamie tonight," Shelby's speech started to slur again. "He has such pretty brown eyes…like my baby…" She hiccupped as her eyes started to fill with tears. "I want my baby…" she said mournfully.

On the other side of the line Sarah was getting worried. The last time her daughter had been drunk to the point of incoherence was about nine years ago. _"Shelby, is anyone there with you?"_

Shelby shook her head. "Nooo…All alone…I wish…" She yawned enormously, the alcohol taking its toll. "I'm tired…"

"_Shelby –"_

"I'm gonna sleep now," she slurred again, before dropping the phone and flopping down completely on the sofa, completely dead to the world, away from the memory of those haunting brown eyes.

_**End Flashback**_

The next thing Shelby remembered after that was her friend Holly leaning over her the next day, shaking her awake at eleven in the morning. Shelby had then promptly puked her guts out on the rug in front of the sofa. Not her finest moment. Apparently her mom had decided to call Holly to ask her to check on Shelby. The rest of the day had been spent nursing the worst hangover in her whole life. She'd sworn never to get that drunk again.

She took the picture back to her bed, taking out her box from the drawer again to return the picture. Just as she was about to close the box, a glint of metal caught her eye. She pulled out the flat piece of stamped steel with James Walker's name and service details on it. He'd given this to her back in 1994. She smiled wistfully, once again wondering what would have happened if she'd told him everything. She put the dog tags back into the box, and returned it to the drawer. No use for regrets. She'd just have to try to fix them later.

..

A while later, she was in the kitchen enjoying a cup of coffee when Ryan came downstairs. "Oh, hi mom," he said in surprise. "You're up early." He pulled himself onto the stool next to his mom.

"Morning," Shelby answered, not deigning to reply to the last part. She could wake up early if she wanted to! "Sleep well?"

"Fine, I guess," Ryan answered.

"What time did you stop texting with Quinn?" Shelby asked in amusement.

"About two-thirty," he answered a bit guiltily at being caught out. He snuck a look at his mom, relived when he saw she didn't seem to be too mad. "She's going to Indiana for the weekend," he added a bit unhappily. Just when he might need her company.

Shelby nodded. She'd resolved to make more of an effort to get to know her son's girlfriend (again, she was _not_ jealous), but she didn't need any more complications this weekend. "Well, make yourself useful. Help me make breakfast."

"I'm dramatizing here and all you have to say is 'help me make breakfast'?" Ryan grumbled. He was grateful for the levity, though, he wasn't sure he wanted to discuss his mom's impending conversation with James Walker right now.

The pair set about making breakfast for four, and a few minutes after they finished, the doorbell rang. "Can you get that?" Shelby asked. "It's probably your grandparents, and we both know it's you they want to see."

"I'm sure that's not true," Ryan said anxiously. The last thing he wanted was for his mom to resent him for taking his grandparents' attention away from her.

"Relax, kid, I'm just joking," Shelby reassured him. "Go answer the door."

Soon Sarah and Tom were in Shelby's kitchen. "Hi Shelly," Tom greeted his daughter.

"Hi Dad, Mom," Shelby said, giving them each a kiss on the cheek.

"Hmmm. This looks good," Tom said appreciatively, looking at the spread on the dining table. "I'm starving, we've been on the road for two hours."

All of them quickly started eating. "So, what are you going to be doing for the day?" Shelby asked her parents. She knew they'd planned to spend some time with Ryan today, while she was dealing with James.

"Actually, we're taking Ryan to Columbus," Sarah answered, turning to Ryan. Tom pulled something out of his pocket, handing the object over to his wife, who waved them at Ryan. "Look what we got!"

Ryan took one of the pieces of paper his grandmother was showing him. A grin spread across his face as he read the printing. "Tickets to the _Les Mis_ Tour in the Ohio Theatre?" he said excitedly. "This is awesome, I've always wanted to see that!" He looked up into the pleased faces of his grandparents. "Thanks!"

Shelby peered over at the ticket in Ryan's hand. "Yeah, thanks, Mom, Dad, I'm almost jealous," she joked. "Have fun, though."

"Those tickets are for the 1pm show," Sarah informed her grandson. "So we need to leave soon if we want to make it to Columbus in time for lunch before the show."

"I'll go get ready right now," Ryan said happily, getting up and racing to his room.

"Gee, do you think he liked it?" Tom said in amusement.

Shelby shot her parents a grateful smile. "Thanks. Really. That's probably the perfect way to distract him. I didn't really know how he was going to handle knowing that I was talking to James, without something to keep him busy."

"No problem, dear. Now, are _you_ okay?" Sarah inquired, looking at her daughter.

Shelby blew out a breath. "I'm…nervous. I don't know how he'll take it," she said worriedly. "And I'm scared about how Ryan will react if James takes it badly. And after Hiram and Leroy, I can't blame him."

Tom wrapped an arm around Shelby. "Don't worry. If that happens – and I'm not saying it will – you'll both work through it. Ryan will be fine, he seems like a resilient kid. And he's got you, and us too. You'll be fine."

"Thanks."

..

One hour later, Shelby drove into the parking lot of the restaurant where she'd arranged to meet James, pulling into a parking spot and then cutting the engine. She checked her watch. She was five minutes early, but James had sent her a text message that he'd gotten here a bit early as well.

Okay. Okay. She took a deep breath before getting out of the Range Rover and walking a bit unsteadily to the door of the restaurant. Pull it together, she told herself. It's going to be fine. Just do this for Ryan.

Getting up her nerve, she went inside. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the booth in the corner, occupied by a person she hadn't seen in seven years. She walked over to him. "Hi James."

A smile spread across the man's face. "Shelby!" James Walker stood up, wrapping her in a quick hug. _Damn, his hugs still made her melt_. He pulled back, smile widening. "Come on, sit down."

The two of them sat down opposite each other, Shelby studying him closely. He looked almost exactly the same as the last time she'd seen him – short brown-blonde hair, handsome features, and those mesmerizing brown eyes. Thankfully looking into those eyes wasn't as painful as the last time they'd met. More lines on his face this time around, and a small new scar on the side of his jaw. And more importantly, a still-empty ring finger. She relaxed marginally, at least he didn't seem to have a family as of yet. "How have you been?" she asked, smiling at him.

"Oh, I've been good," James answered easily. "I've been in Pennsylvania for the last seven months. I didn't know where you were, though," he said, a bit reproachfully. "You could have contacted me." Shelby winced guiltily. "Well, never mind. You look good," James commented, looking at her appreciatively. Shelby didn't miss the subtle glance at her left hand, either.

She chuckled. If it had been anyone else checking her out she probably would have glared holes in them right about now, but James was different. "Thanks. So do you." They were interrupted by a waitress bringing over a couple of menus. After they ordered, their attentions returned to each other.

James started the conversation. "So, what have you been up to? I thought you might still be in New York, after that show I saw you in back in '03." He knew that it had always been her dream to get to New York City, and he'd been surprised to hear that she was back in Ohio.

"I'm actually between jobs right now," Shelby admitted. "I got a job as Carmel High's English teacher a year after we ran into each other, then I ended up as the glee club director. I just resigned this May, in fact."

"Why?"

"Just needed a change, I guess," she answered vaguely. She'd bring up the heavy stuff – e.g. their child – later. "I'm thinking of taking a teaching position at the local high school, though. How about you, what happened to you after we met?"

James leaned back in the booth as he answered. "Oh, I've been around," he said. "I was stationed in California when we met in New York, remember?" He continued when Shelby nodded. "After that I got a posting in Italy for a couple of years. Then I did two consecutive tours in Afghanistan, then one in Iraq. Then I got sent here."

"Wow, you have been around. That's good, that's part of why you enlisted, wasn't it?" Shelby commented, remembering part of what he'd said back when they were in high school. _The world is so much bigger than Ohio, there's so much I want to see, and this is the only way I'll be able to._

Smiling, James nodded. "Yeah. It's been great."

Soon their food arrived, and the two continued reconnecting throughout the meal.

"Did you go ahead with your field medic training?" Shelby asked, remembering that James had told her he was considering studying field medicine in 1994.

"Yes, I'm actually fully qualified as a medic now. Not a doctor, mind, I'm more of an emergency responder, I guess," he said.

"Great, so this time if I have an asthma attack all of a sudden you'll know what to do," Shelby teased him.

"Hey, that's not funny," James pouted at her slightly. He still remembered that awful afternoon when they were teenagers and a fumes from a newly-painted house next door had triggered Shelby's asthma. He hadn't known what to do, and had had to bring her back home in a panic so that Mr. Corcoran could get an ambulance. "I almost had a heart attack."

"Good think you didn't, where would we be if you had?"

James looked shyly at her. "That's actually what made me consider taking the medical course," he said softly.

Shelby blinked at him. "Oh." She watched with a slight smile as James ran a hand through his short hair. She knew that was where Ryan had gotten his habit from, ever since the first time she'd seen him do it. She'd seen James do it hundreds of times, after all. "What rank are you now?" she asked curiously.

"Master Sergeant as of last year," James answered with a grin.

"No ring yet," Shelby noted lightly, thankful in the back of her mind that she could keep her face in check. That lopsided grin of his had never failed to make her blush back in high school, and the years hadn't made it lose its charm. "What happened to that girl, Diana?"

"Who?" James asked, confused, before remembering. "Oh, her! No, we broke up a week after New York."

"Oh? Why?" Shelby couldn't really help but be pleased, as immature as it was.

James shifted in his seat a bit. "She said she sort of got the sense that I wasn't over someone," he said evasively. "So we decided it would be better if we ended things." He hesitated. "We got into a fight after we talked to you, actually," he admitted to Shelby's surprise. "I'd told her a bit about you, and I guess she read a bit more into our conversation than I thought she did."

"I'm sorry." _No she wasn't_.

James waved her off. "Don't worry about it, she was a jealous bitch, anyways. She'd get upset whenever I would hang out with some of my female co-workers, so good riddance, in hindsight." He looked at Shelby mischievously. "Why, are you interested?" James smirked at her and took a slurp of his milkshake.

Shelby's jaw dropped as she suddenly saw an intense similarity between her son and the man in front of her. She'd seen Ryan do that exact same smirk-and-slurp thing several times now.

"Shelby? You okay? I was just kidding," James said uneasily.

Shaking herself slightly, Shelby looked at him. "No," she said distractedly. "Just…never mind."

"Okay," James replied, nonplussed. "So, why did you invite me up here anyways?" he asked. "Not that I didn't want to catch up, I always thought about contacting you sometime. But you said something had come up. What is it?"

Okay. This is it. Time for the big reveal. Shelby adjusted her seat a bit, straightening her posture and trying to muster all her confidence together. "Okay. You have to promise you're not going to interrupt while I tell you, okay?" _Because if you do I'm not sure I'll be able to finish_.

James' eyebrows went up, but he nodded gamely. "Okay. I promise." This was going to be interesting, whenever she'd made him make that promise when they were younger, they had always ended up in the strangest situations.

Shelby took a deep breath before beginning. James was always one to go for the direct approach, so she'd decided to just play this whole thing straight. "Remember when we met in 1994?" James nodded with a smile, making Shelby smile too at the memory. "Well, I had actually made a deal with a gay couple at the time. They placed an ad in the papers, and I answered it. It was an ad looking for a surrogate mother. They were trying to start a family, and they needed a surrogate. I met with them, they seemed like nice guys. So I went for it."

James' face stayed impassive through Shelby's ramble. So she already had a kid. Surprising, but what did this have to do with him? And from what she said, she'd given the child to the gay couple who'd hired her. He'd promised to stay quiet until she finished though.

"That was late in 1993. When – when we met in April the next year, I'd just come from a doctor's appointment," Shelby continued uncomfortably. "We were having some trouble with the artificial insemination…something was wrong with their sperm, the doctor said. So I wasn't pregnant when we…you know…" she trailed off.

James nodded at her to continue. Yes, he did know. He was getting a foreboding feeling about where this story was heading, though.

"At the next appointment, a few weeks after we met, the doctor said I'd finally gotten pregnant. So, I carried the baby, and I gave birth in December." She bit her lip nervously before continuing. James seemed to have frozen while she was telling her story. She needed to finish before he cracked. "I really thought the baby was from the artificial insemination," she said pleadingly. "But I knew the moment I saw him that he wasn't."

James was staring at her with wide eyes now, pieces of her story falling into place in his mind.

"The couple who hired me asked me to sign a contract, before the baby was born, that I couldn't contact him until he turned 18," Shelby said quietly. "They didn't even let me hold him, they just disappeared with my baby after I had him."

The two of them were silent for a moment. Then James finally unfroze. "The baby…was it mine?"

_Direct as always_. Shelby nodded. "Yes."

"And you didn't tell me."

"No."

Mind reeling, James tried to figure out what to say. "What – I – Why now? Why would you tell me now? Where is he?" He counted backwards. "It's been fifteen years, you said you had to wait eighteen."

"We found each other a few months ago," Shelby explained. "And I found out that the gay couple who hired me, they weren't really the best of parents. They didn't abuse him," she hurriedly explained, when she saw a strange look appear on James' face. _At least not physically_. "But they said they never figured out how to really be parents. They gave custody to me a few weeks ago."

Again, James just stared at her, trying to get his thoughts into order. "I don't – I don't understand. So you got your kid – our kid – back, because the couple you gave him to weren't good parents?" He started to get upset, emotions catching up to the information he'd just been given. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked agitatedly.

"You were in Japan, remember?" Shelby replied miserably. "I didn't know how to get in contact with you, and I didn't have my – our – baby anyway, what good would it have done?"

"You didn't think I'd want to know?" James asked disbelievingly. "You could have – I don't know – made a phone call, a letter, something, anything!"

"And what would you have done?" Shelby shot back, stung into self-defense. "You were halfway around the world, were you going to leave your job, your entire career, to come back? And for what? A child that I wouldn't have been able to find?"

"So what, you were protecting me?"

"Yes! No!" Shelby clenched her hands in frustration. "I wasn't thinking straight, okay? And besides, you're the one who said you didn't want kids –" She stopped abruptly. She hadn't meant to say that. "James – I'm sorry –"

James instantly deflated. He stood abruptly, fumbling in his jacket pocket for his wallet. He pulled out enough to cover the cost of their meal and dropped it on the table. "I – I need to leave – I need to think about this…" he stammered, before glancing at Shelby, hurt and confusion clear in his eyes. "Bye Shelby." He quickly exited the restaurant.

Shelby was breathing a bit hard by this point, and she took a minute to try to regulate it. She gulped. That had gone…about how she'd expected. How could she have been so stupid as to think that he'd be okay with it? She ran her left hand over her face before standing up unsteadily and leaving the restaurant. _Keep it together, you can break down at home._

She got into her car, started the engine and made her way back home. She made it into her driveway before the tears started to fall. She resolutely wiped them off as she entered her house, digging her phone out of her pocket and dialling.

It was picked up after several rings. "_Hi Shelly, how did it go?"_

"Not – not good."

* * *

_Columbus, Ohio_

After an almost two-hour car ride to Columbus, Ryan, Sarah, and Tom had finally finished a quick lunch at an Italian restaurant, and were now on their way to the Ohio Theatre for the show. The two grandparents smiled indulgently as they watched their first, and so far only, grandchild eagerly taking in all the sights around him as they walked to the theatre. They had spent the entire car ride here being treated to an impromptu radio-sing-along concert from the boy. Fortunately he did have a wonderful voice, even taking into account their bias as grandparents, and they had enjoyed the trip.

"Is this your first time to Columbus?" Tom questioned, as he watched Ryan's wander along the street happily.

"No," Ryan admitted. "I was here with – uh – Hiram a few years ago. He was on a business trip though, and he didn't have time – he didn't take me anywhere interesting," he muttered, before brightening. "It's fine though, at least now I get to see all of it with you guys!"

Tom smiled at him, exchanging a dark sideways look with his wife. Tom knew she wanted to strangle the Berrys, and he knew he'd be right along with her if she ever got the chance. What those two had done to Ryan… it was terrible. They'd been given such a bright, talented boy, and they'd almost ruined him.

Finally the trio reached the theatre with about half an hour to spare. "Wow," Ryan said reverently. This was his first time in the theatre and he was savoring every moment of it. He had every confidence that one day, he was going to performing in places just like this.

Sarah watched her grandson fondly. "It's like watching another Shelby," she said to her husband, chuckling. Shelby had been pretty much exactly like this the first time they'd taken her to a real theatre. She'd been a lot younger, though, maybe around seven years old, and they'd had quite a time chasing her around as she tried to see everything.

Tom checked his watch. "Ryan, come on, we're allowed to go in now."

Just then Sarah felt her phone vibrating. Checking it surreptitiously, she saw that it was Shelby. Exchanging a look with her husband, she told her boys, "I just need to run to the ladies room, give me a moment." She went off in the direction of the bathrooms, and as soon as she was out of Ryan's line of sight, she answered her phone. "Hi Shelly, how did it go?"

Sarah heard her daughter clear her throat. _"Not – not good."_ Uh-oh.

"What happened?"

She listened to her daughter give an abbreviated run-down of what had happened between her and James, and Sarah's heart sank as Shelby told her about James' reaction. "Oh, Shelby…"

"_I don't even know if he's coming back,"_ Shelby said bleakly. A second later, _"What am I supposed to tell Ryan?"_

Sarah sighed unhappily. "Listen dear, maybe James just needs a bit of time," she tried. "Have you tried calling him, or texting? Maybe he just needs some cooling off."

"_He was really upset, mom."_

Closing her eyes for a moment, Sarah continued. "You did drop a lot on him at once, Shelby, I really think he just needs a bit of time. Send him a text, I'm sure he'll respond eventually."

Shelby took a deep breath. _"Okay. I will. How's Ryan?"_

"Having a great time, actually," Sarah smiled. "I think he's sufficiently distracted for now. You don't have to worry about him, we'll take good care of your boy, okay?"

"_Okay. Thank you."_

"I love you."

"_Love you too."_ Sarah heard her daughter hang up the phone, and she put her own phone back into her purse, before returning back to her husband and grandson. Tom saw her first, shooting her a questioning glance. His face fell when she shook her head sadly at him. She put on a smile for Ryan as he turned around and spotted her. "Come on, let's go in," she said, cheerfully, trying to hide all traces of her conversation with Shelby from the teenager.

* * *

_Somewhere in Lima, Ohio_

Soon after leaving the restaurant, James Walker found himself walking around the unfamiliar town of Lima, Ohio in a bit of a daze. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he just knew he needed to think about the information overload that had just been dumped on him, and walking usually helped him think.

He had a kid. A fifteen-year-old kid. He didn't know how to deal with that information. What was he supposed to do?

And as if that wasn't enough, his child had apparently been living with a family that didn't take care of him properly. That thought made him furious.

And he didn't even know how he felt about Shelby right now. How could she even consider not telling him? He had a right to know he had a child, for heaven's sake! Even if she had decided to give him to those men who had hired her, she should have told him. He liked to think he would have respected her decision, the same way he would have if she had decided to put the child up for adoption. Of course, he probably would have had something to say about it, but in the end he thought he would have supported whatever she wanted to do.

Sure, she'd told him he'd been virtually unreachable halfway around the world, and logically he knew she had a point, but still…

And what she'd said at the end…about him not wanting kids…

It was true, they both knew it was true. But he'd said that over twenty years ago now, he'd been a stupid teenager, and she knew why he'd said that!

Was he even sure that the kid was his – no. He wasn't going to go there. Shelby was a lot of things – sarcastic, intimidating, borderline insane sometimes, but she'd never lied to him. If she said she'd had his kid, then that was that.

James stopped walking, and looked around, finding himself in a park. He walked confusedly to a bench and sat down, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands.

He didn't know what to do. Was he expected to send child support? Was he supposed to step up, be this kid's dad? He snorted at himself, he didn't even know his own child's name, Shelby hadn't even told him that much. He wasn't even completely sure of the kid's gender, as upset as he'd been when Shelby was talking. He was partially sure it was a boy, though, from what he could remember.

He couldn't be a dad, he didn't know how…he'd never even had one to begin with. Well, of course he had one, he chuckled humorlessly at himself. Unfortunately, his mother had given birth to him at a hospital, and subsequently abandoned him there, leaving no information whatsoever regarding his father. And in his series of foster homes, he'd hadn't found a father-figure that he could respect, let alone model his behavior after. The closest he'd had was, ironically, Shelby's father, Tom Corcoran.

Shelby knew all that, she knew it was why he'd said all those years ago that he didn't want kids, and that was why it was such a low blow for her to use that as an excuse for not telling him about his kid.

He leaned back on the bench, running a hand down his face unhappily as he realized he'd already failed his child. He'd told himself years ago that if he ever had kids he wouldn't let them go through what he'd gone through. And he'd failed. _The kid must hate me already_.

He sighed, looking around the park where he'd decided to sit down. It was nice, he supposed. Luckily for him he'd ended up in a part that wasn't very populated, considering it was a Saturday afternoon. Probably because the playground was at the other end of the park, from what James could see in the distance. He could feel himself calming down already.

He'd reacted badly, he knew that. He'd just been so shocked and confused. Now that he wasn't freaking out, he thought maybe he'd been a bit unfair to Shelby, though nowhere near as unfair as she'd been to him. He'd seen the regret and apology in her eyes as she spoke, and he knew it was sincere.

Despite himself, James started wondering about his child. Did he look more like James, or Shelby? Maybe a mix of both? Was he into music, like his mom, or more into the academic side of school, or maybe sports? Did he have James' seafood allergy? What kind of food did he like?

_Do I want to meet this kid? Does he want to meet me?_

He felt his phone vibrate. Pulling it out, he saw that he had a new text message.

_James, I'm sorry. I know you need time, but call me back, please. His name's Ryan, and he's willing to meet you, if you're okay with it. Please call me. – Shelby_

James stared at his phone for what seemed like minutes, hours, days. Did he want to meet his child? _Ball's in your court, Walker. What are you going to do?_

* * *

**Hey guys, I thought I'd give you the first part of the meeting, the end part's not done yet. I could have posted them together but that would mean you'd have to wait longer. Next part should be up in a couple of days, leave a review to tell me what you thought about this one. See you soon!**


	28. Chapter 27

"That was absolutely brilliant!" Ryan enthused as he and his grandparents exited the Ohio Theatre after the show. He continued to gush happily over the performance as Tom and Sarah listened to him chatter.

Tom smiled at Sarah. "You were right, he's just like Shelby." He glanced back at his grandson before returning his attention to his wife. "How is she?"

Sarah sighed. "James didn't take it too well," she told him quietly. "He walked out. I told her to call him, and she hasn't updated me yet."

Tom nodded. "Let's hope he answers her." He turned back to his grandson, who had wandered a bit of a distance away. "Hey, Ryan, we need to go soon. It's going to be another two hours back home, and we're supposed to have dinner with your mom."

The three of them got back into their car, ready to start the drive back to Lima. "Thank you," Ryan said to his grandparents. "For taking me here."

"Not a problem kid, we're happy to do it. That's what grandparents are for – spoiling their grandkids," Tom told him with a wink.

Ryan smiled back a bit weakly. "My other grandparents didn't really want to spend time with me," he confided. "Hiram's parents live in Florida, and they don't really talk much, and Leroy's parents didn't like the fact that he was gay. They didn't like me either, since they thought gay people shouldn't have kids. It used to get really awkward at family gatherings."

"Well, don't worry about that with us," Sarah said firmly, putting her irritation with the Berrys out of her mind. "We love you, and we don't care if you're straight or gay or whatever. You just be yourself, we'll love you no matter what."

Ryan was quiet for a while, unused to that level of acceptance from anyone besides his mom and Quinn. "Thank you. I love you guys too," he gave her a watery smile.

Tom decided to change the subject before the boy started getting weepy. "Speaking of gay or straight," he started with a sly smile. "I heard you have a girlfriend already."

That drew a smile from his grandson. "Yes, I do," Ryan answered happily. "Her name's Quinn Fabray, she's in my glee club at school. She used to be a cheerleader too, though she stopped last year. She's in Indiana for the weekend, we were actually texting during the car ride over to Columbus."

"When do we get to meet her?"

"Meet her?" Ryan hadn't considered this. Shelby had suggested that he invite Quinn over sometime, but that was just his mom. "Do you want to?"

"Of course we do," Sarah said, amused.

"Why?"

"If she's important to you, then we'd like to meet her," Sarah answered. "That's what we did whenever your mom or your uncle had someone new, we'd invite them over, get to know them a little."

Ryan thought about this, a little confused. He'd told Hiram and Leroy that he'd started dating Quinn when he was still living with them, and they hadn't really cared. Though he was quickly learning that the Corcoran family seemed to do everything the opposite of what his old family used to do. And he liked it. He supposed wanting to meet his girlfriend was just another one of those family quirks.

Another thought came to mind, though. "Did you do that with James?" he asked quietly, causing Tom and Sarah to exchange a glance.

"Yes, we did." Sarah turned to look at her grandson, only to see a sad little smile on his face.

"You don't have to do that, you know," he continued. "I know it didn't go too well at lunch."

Sarah was taken aback at this. "How did you know?"

"Your face when you came out of the bathroom." Ryan gave her a sad smile. "One thing about actors is we can usually tell when someone else is acting too. Especially if it's not particularly good acting. No offense meant," he tacked on hurriedly, lest his grandmother took it as an insult. "It's okay," he added, when he saw a guilty look appear on both his grandparents' faces. "I know you were just looking out for me. It's not your fault."

"Look, Ryan, I think James just needs a little time to process what your mom told him," Sarah said gently. "I really think he'll come around."

"How do you know?"

"We got to know him pretty well when he was with your mom," Tom told him. "Your mom used to bring him around all the time, at times we thought they were glued together somehow." This drew a reluctant laugh from Ryan. "If he's anything like he was as a teenager, I think he's going to want to meet you."

Ryan stayed quiet. "Maybe."

* * *

Back in Lima, James still hadn't decided what he was going to do. He'd walked back to the restaurant, where he'd left his rental car, and had driven back to the motel where he'd gotten a room for the weekend. He was now sitting in the room, flipping his cell phone around in his hand.

This was a fine mess he'd gotten into. He still didn't know what he was supposed to do, but after some time to cool off and think, he wasn't panicking anymore. He glanced back at the phone, which was still open and showing Shelby's text message. She'd effectively put the decision of how they proceeded into his hands. He could walk away right now… or he could arrange another meet-up with Shelby.

The first would be easier…but wrong. The second, he felt, was the right call…but so much harder. He wasn't ready for this. He'd never thought he'd actually be a father, and here he'd found out he'd actually been one for over fifteen years.

If he did decide to go through with this…could he actually do it? Could he try to be a father to his child? The thought almost made him nauseous with fear, he didn't anything about dads. But he did know that if he was going to do this he was going to commit completely. He didn't want some half-assed relationship, and he wasn't going to give this anything less than 100%. He'd had enough foster parents to know that it hurt when they decided to just give you back. He wouldn't, couldn't do that to his own child.

He had to laugh at himself. Look at him, this morning he'd just been looking to catch up with an old friend, and maybe try to rekindle the old relationship he'd had with his first girlfriend. Looks like he'd gotten more than he bargained for by answering that email.

This kid was half his, right? If he had found out about him fifteen years earlier, he would have done something, he wouldn't have left Shelby to deal with it by herself. What made it different now?

Glancing once more at his phone, he realized he'd already made his decision. He also realized that he couldn't really have made a different one.

* * *

An hour later, Shelby was sitting in the Lima Bean, nervously nursing a cup of coffee. James had called her, wanting to talk again, and she'd been insanely relieved. Part of her had been relatively sure that he'd at least call, but a small part had been afraid that he'd just leave.

Her head jerked toward the door as she heard it open, and she smiled tentatively when she saw her James walking over to join her. "Hi."

"Hi," James said quietly, trying to smile back. He wasn't sure if he succeeded, it might have come out more as a grimace. The pair fell into an awkward silence.

"Look, I'm sorry," Shelby started softly. "I didn't mean to say what I said."

"I know," James replied. "I'm sorry too. For walking out like that. I just…"

"I dumped a lot on you," admitted Shelby. She completely understood, she probably would have done the same thing in his position, if not worse.

"Yeah, you did." He hesitated for a moment. "Where – I –" He cleared his throat, trying to get his words into order. "Where is he? Uh, Ryan, right?"

Shelby nodded. "My parents took him to Columbus for the afternoon."

"Oh. Did you – did you tell him about me? About us?"

"Yes, I did," Shelby answered. "He was curious, so I told him how we met, and that I ended up tutoring you. I told him you joined the army right out of high school, and that we spent a week together a few years later. I showed him some of the pictures. Remember the ones we took in '94?" James nodded. "I showed him those."

James smiled, remembering the week they'd spent together. "That was a good week." His smile faded quickly though, as he tried to get his thoughts together.

"Are you okay?" Shelby ventured.

James let out a slightly choked laugh. "No, not really. This is big. You can't just dump something this big on someone and expect them to be okay. Look," he said bluntly. He'd always preferred a direct approach. "I'm not going to lie, I'm not happy with what you did. You should have told me." Shelby averted her eyes at this. She knew she'd been wrong to not tell him.

"What's he like?"

Shelby looked up in surprise at the sudden change in topic, before smiling slightly as she thought of how to answer. "He's a great kid. Smart, too. And pretty determined to get what he wants. Single-minded, I think, was how his guidance counselor described him," she added with a wry smile. "He's going to be entering junior year in September, since he started a bit early. He's in his school's glee club."

"Is he any good?" James asked interestedly.

"He's amazingly talented," Shelby said, chuckling softly at the fact that Ryan had asked almost the same thing about James the other night. "More so than you, anyways," she teased.

"Hey!"

"Seriously though, he's very good. He'll be much better than me soon," Shelby said fondly. She didn't have any doubts about that.

"Wow. He must be good, you never compliment anyone," James bantered. A few moments later he cleared his throat again. "Do – do you have a picture?" he asked, almost longingly.

Shelby nodded, pulling a photograph out of her wallet. It was the first picture they'd taken together, shot in her living room from Ryan's phone. She'd had a copy printed out for her collection, and this smaller one for her to carry around. She handed the photo face down to James, who took it carefully. He flipped it over, trepidation mixed with anticipation on his features.

Shelby just watched him as he studied the picture, awe spreading over his face as he took in his child's features. A few seconds later, James spoke, glancing up at her. "He looks like you."

"Yeah."

"But like me too."

"Yes."

James looked back down at the picture. "Can I meet him?" he asked softly.

Shelby fidgeted a little. "Of course," she answered. "But I need to make sure you really want to do this. He hasn't had the best luck with father figures, and I don't want him to get hurt. So if you're just going to bail out later, you need to tell me now."

James looked her straight in the eye. "If we're going to do this, I'm going to do this right, I promise. I – I don't know how to be a dad, but I'll be there for Ryan in whatever way he needs." His gaze intensified. "You know I would never abandon him."

Their eyes stayed locked for a moment, Shelby judging how serious he was, James willing her to believe him. Finally Shelby's eyes softened, and she nodded as James imperceptibly relaxed. "I know." She trusted that he wouldn't hurt her – their – son. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Shelby was smiling, most people averted their gaze after a few seconds of her staring at them. Besides her parents, James had been the only one to be able to meet her gaze for this long. She'd missed him so much. "Okay. Ryan's already said he'd like to meet you. How long can you stay in Lima?"

"I've got a bus ticket back to Pennsylvania for Monday at 11."

Shelby nodded. "Maybe tomorrow for breakfast, then?" she suggested tentatively. "I'll ask Ryan." Why did she feel like a secretary all of a sudden? She shook the random thought out of her head.

"Okay." James let out a nervous laugh, blowing out a breath as it started sinking in. He had a son, and he was going to meet him tomorrow. "Of all the things I thought you were going to spring on me, this is probably…nowhere on the list," he said jokingly.

Shelby gave him a small smile. "What about us?" she asked. "…Are we okay?"

James answered slowly. "I thought about it… and I guess I understand why you didn't tell me. But I still think you were wrong, you should have told me at least. This is…pretty big news." Shelby gave a wry smile at the total understatement. "And I'm still a little upset." The corner of James' mouth quirked up slightly. "I could never stay mad at you though."

Shelby gave a small laugh of relief. "I thought for sure you'd hate me and never want to talk to me again."

"You're the dramatic one, not me."

"Excuse me?" Shelby gave him a mock glare.

"Oh, right, you prefer theatrical over dramatic," James teased her.

"That's not the point." Shelby shook her head at him, finally breaking into a smile. She'd missed this. She somehow connected with James in a way that she couldn't with anyone else. She'd tried, in the early years. She had dated people in New York, but she'd never found anyone who could compare to the man in front her now, and her dates had slowly devolved into a series of occasional flings with gay show choir directors.

Just then, her phone, sitting on the table in front of her, buzzed with a text message.

_Be there in half an hour. How are you? – Mom_

Shelby blinked, realizing belatedly that she hadn't told her mom what was going on. She'd been so messed up when James had called, she'd forgotten to text her mom.

"Something wrong?" James asked, watching her stare at the phone.

"Oh, just my mom. She said they're getting close, they'll be home soon. I need to get going," Shelby answered.

James nodded, a bit disappointedly. The two of them stood up. "I'll walk you out," James said.

He did just that, opening the door of the café for Shelby and walking her up to her car. When they reached, he offered her a smile. "Call me later? After you talk to Ryan?"

"I will." Shelby found herself pulled into a hug, and this time she let herself just enjoy it.

"I missed this," she heard James mumble. She felt herself smile into his chest. "I missed you."

She sighed happily. "I missed you too." They pulled apart. "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Tom, Sarah, and Ryan pulled up outside of Shelby's house just minutes after Shelby had gotten home. The trip had been spent with Ryan giving the other two a blow-by-blow analysis of the performance they'd just attended. Fortunately Tom and Sarah had had some experience listening to those, Shelby had done the same thing whenever they went out to watch something.

"Hi mom," Ryan greeted as he went into the house and found his mom, taken a bit by surprise when Shelby wrapped him in a hug.

"You seem a lot happier than when you called," Sarah noted. She could just see on her daughter's face that something good had happened. "Care to share?"

"Let's get dinner first," Shelby suggested. "Do you want to go out, or should we just order in?"

A little while later, the family had decided to stay in and just order food. Pizzas were subsequently ordered, and Sarah herded everyone into the living room. "Okay Shelby, what's the story?"

"Did Grams tell you about what happened with James and me, during lunch?" Shelby asked her son, who shook his head.

"No," he admitted quietly. "I saw her when she came out after talking to you, though, and I could sort of tell it didn't go very well. Did he freak out when you told him?"

"He walked out, actually," Shelby told him gently.

"It's understandable, I guess," Ryan started to ramble, trying to cover up his disappointment. "I mean, I'd probably be upset if I found out I had a kid I never knew about. He probably has a good life already, he doesn't need me messing it up." He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. He'd let himself think for a moment that James Walker would at least want to meet him.

Shelby shook her head. "Let me finish," she said a bit sternly, making him stop talking. "First, you wouldn't be messing anything up, got it?" She waited until Ryan nodded his comprehension. "Second, I'm not done yet, you need to learn to let others talk."

Sarah hid a smirk behind her hand, remembering all the times she'd lectured Shelby herself on giving others a chance to speak. Shelby noticed and glared at her for a moment before continuing. Tom didn't even bother hiding his own grin.

"Anyways, after he walked out, I called you, _Mom_," she said the name irritably, "and then I texted James to call me back." She left out the part where she'd gone home and gotten depressed. "He called around five, asking to meet at the Lima Bean." She went through what had happened at the café.

She looked at Ryan, who was listening intently, face unreadable. "He asked if he could meet you."

"What did you say?"

"I told him I would ask you, but he's alright with breakfast tomorrow if you agree." Shelby watched the teenager closely for a reaction.

Ryan lowered his eyes, thinking. His father wanted to meet him. He couldn't say he wasn't nervous – after how things had gone with his previous dads he could say with certainty that he had issues. But Shelby had told him this would be different. That James wasn't anything like Hiram and Leroy. He nodded, looking at his mom. "Okay."

Shelby smiled in relief. For a second there she'd thought he was going to change his mind. "I'll give him a call."

* * *

_The next day_

"Calm down, you're making me even more nervous," Shelby scolded her son as he fidgeted in the passenger's seat as they drove to the diner where they were meeting James.

"I can't be calm, how can _you_ be so calm? I'm finally going to meet my real dad," Ryan argued. "First impressions are important, and he might already have expectations. I need to make a good impression."

Shelby groaned internally. It was too early for this, she was _so_ not a morning person. Why had she suggested a breakfast meeting anyway? She understood Ryan's apprehension, though, and tried to be patient. "I know that, but you just need to slow down, okay?" she said, trying to allay some of his worry. "It's going to be fine, he's going to like you just the way you are, you don't need to try to impress him. I don't think he has any preconceived notions for you to try to fill, anyway."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, though. "That might be worse, that means he doesn't expect anything from me, which would mean he doesn't think too highly of me, which wouldn't be conducive to our building a proper relationship!"

"What? Never mind," Shelby said quickly, a little too groggy to follow the gyrations of her offspring's mind. "Look, I know you're scared –"

"– I'm not _scared_ –"

"– But you just need to be yourself, James is going to like you for you. You don't need to try so hard." Shelby glanced at Ryan as they hit a red light.

"I just don't want it to be like with Hiram and Leroy over again," Ryan said quietly, looking away.

Shelby reached over and tipped her son's face up to look him in the eyes. "It won't. I promise." They started moving again.

A few short minutes later, they had reached their destination and gotten out of the car. They stopped just outside the door of the diner, and Shelby glanced over at Ryan. "You ready?"

He took a deep breath. "Yes, I am."

Shelby smiled at him encouragingly before opening the door and entering, Ryan trailing after her. She scanned around the restaurant and spotted the person she was looking for, and led her son over to the table.

..

James spotted Shelby as soon as she had opened the door. He'd positioned himself just so he could see everyone who came in, and he took a breath as he spotted a teenager step in behind Shelby. _This is it_. He stood up as the pair approached his table, offering Shelby a nervous smile. "Hi Shelby." Finally he shifted his attention to the dark-haired boy standing nervously next to her. His breath caught as he saw his own brown eyes staring back at him curiously, if a bit warily, from the boy's face.

"Hello James," Shelby smiled, before turning to her son. "Ryan, this is your father, James Walker. James, this is Ryan." She watched as the two studied each other for a moment, before James held out his hand tentatively.

"Hi, Ryan," he said softly. Shelby stayed quiet, not wanting to interrupt their moment.

Ryan absently shook James' hand, still completely focused on his father's face. "Hi." He looked almost exactly the same as he did in Shelby's pictures, if a little older. This was definitely his father though, if he was judging from the eyes – Ryan recognized those eyes from the mirror. He was tall, not freakishly tall like Finn, but maybe bordering on six feet. It gave Ryan hope that he'd grow a bit more from his current 5'7".

James smiled tentatively, before breaking his gaze to glance at Shelby. "Uh, come on, you should sit," he said hastily, gesturing at the table he was occupying. They all sat down and looked at each other for a moment before a waitress came over to take their orders. After all their breakfasts had been ordered, all three of them sat there slightly uncomfortable. It was a surreal situation for all. James ran his hand through his hair, unsure of what to say. Ryan's eyes widened slightly, and James noticed. "What?"

"I do that too," Ryan said, smiling.

James smiled back at him, once again amazed at the mixture of his and Shelby's features that he could discern on his child's face. "That's very cool. Genetics are really something, huh?"

"Yeah. It's interesting that I've never met you before, but we're still somewhat similar. I can see I've got your eyes, obviously, but we even have some of the same mannerisms."

James blinked, a bit surprised at the kid's semi-ramble. Off to the side he saw Shelby smirking a little at his reaction. "Okay, I'm going to be honest, I'm not really sure how to do this," James admitted bluntly. "This is all kind of new to me, I just found out about you yesterday."

Ryan smiled, relaxing a bit more. It made him feel better that he wasn't the only person at this table who was nervous. "That's okay, I don't really know what I'm doing either," he said. He really didn't, the last time he'd had a nice, casual conversation with either of his dads was a very, very long time ago. With any other person he'd just put on his show face for the whole conversation, but this was different. "I guess we'll both just have to make it up as we go along. Improvise, so to speak. It's okay, I can improvise quite well; it's one of the skills I try to improve, since it's going to be important in my future career as an actor."

"Okay then," James said, mouth quirking into a smile. This kid was interesting, he didn't talk like any other teenager James had ever encountered. Soon their food arrived, and the three started to dig in. "Acting, huh? Like your mom?"

"Definitely," Ryan said, smiling broadly. "I'm planning to go to New York as soon as I graduate. Hopefully I'll have a bit more success, though."

"Gee, thanks," Shelby drawled sarcastically.

Ryan shot his mom an apologetic look as James tried to keep a smirk off his face. Shelby kept her glare on Ryan for a moment before smiling slightly to show him she wasn't really upset. James took this as a cue to continue.

"Okay, I'm not going to ask you any of the generic stuff, like what grade you're in or what your favorite subject is." He'd always gotten annoyed at those questions from new foster parents. "Hmmm…Hobbies, what do you do for fun?" he asked curiously.

Ryan smiled, swallowing a mouthful of waffles before answering. "Music, I like singing a lot. But to get it out of the way – I just finished 10th grade, and I like math," he said, smile turning mischievous.

"Yeah, your mom told me you're in your school's glee club," James mentioned, laughing at him. "Do you get any solos?"

"Of course," Ryan said a bit cockily. "I'm one of the team's strongest singers, though everyone's quite talented."

James smirked a bit, seeing Shelby's ego shining through in the boy. He glanced at her briefly, noting the amusement that was also on her face. "I can see you've got your mom's confidence," he noted.

Ryan flushed slightly. "I'm working on that," he conceded.

"No, it's a good thing," James encouraged. "You need confidence to make it in the world. Just be careful it doesn't turn into arrogance, otherwise you'll turn off a lot of people. And you need to make sure you can back your confidence up with your abilities." He smiled slyly. "From what your mom said you can do that just fine, though."

Nodding thoughtfully, Ryan carefully thought about what James had said. That was actually a problem for him – not backing up his confidence, he knew he was talented enough to do it, but the arrogance. He knew that was why he didn't have a lot of – okay, any – friends.

"How about besides music," James asked. "Interested in anything else?"

"I've got a part-time job in an auto garage," Ryan offered. "I've been interested in cars since I saw a live Formula One race when I was eight, and then I started hanging out at my classmate's dad's garage a few years later. Mr. Hummel gave me the job last year."

"Engine, electrical, or body work?" James questioned curiously. He'd had some experience with mechanics in his twenty-year military career.

"All around, mostly engine, though," Ryan said, smiling when he figured out James knew what he was talking about. He glanced at Shelby. "That's the first place I met mom, actually."

"Oh?" James asked. Shelby hadn't gotten around to telling him how they had met. "How did that happen?"

Ryan quickly started telling James all about his and Shelby's first conversation, his uncharacteristic shyness wearing off as he started to get more comfortable with James. Like in his first conversation with Shelby, he was delighted to find someone who was interested in listening to him. It was just icing on the cake that it was his father. In the back of his mind he still couldn't get over the fact that this guy in front of him was his _dad_.

Shelby, for her part, was content in her role as a quiet observer. She wanted James and Ryan to be able to connect with each other, and she was actually just here for moral support. She liked what James had said, though. She knew Ryan was incredibly talented, but she knew that her child's ego could get out of hand if he wasn't careful. She smiled wistfully. James would make a great dad, if he wanted to be. And she hoped he would. Ryan deserved it.

The meal passed by quickly enough, with James and Ryan chatting about all sorts of things, Shelby throwing in an occasional comment. Soon the bill was paid. Shelby looked at Ryan. They had agreed that Shelby would come for breakfast, then if things went well, she'd leave James and Ryan together for some alone time. When her son nodded at her, she called James' attention. "James, we thought maybe you'd like to spend some one-on-one time with Ryan," she said when James looked at her. "Maybe go to the park or somewhere."

James glanced briefly at his son, who was wearing a hopeful expression. He smiled. "I'd like that."

..

A few minutes later, father and son were seated in the park where James had been sitting just the day before, reeling over the news he'd just received. The two spent more time chatting inconsequentially.

"What do you do in the army?" Ryan asked curiously. "I mean, are you a combat soldier, or a paper pusher, or a mechanic, or whatever?"

James smiled in amusement. "I'm actually a field medic," he told the boy. "I'm attached to a medical unit. The last deployment I was on, in Georgia – the country, not the state – was actually a humanitarian mission."

Ryan nodded. He liked that his dad had a job that helped people. "Are you getting sent anywhere else soon?"

"No," James answered, shaking his head. "I'm staying in Pennsylvania for the foreseeable future." He had a few plans in mind, but he wanted to talk to Shelby first. Speaking of Shelby… "What did your mom tell you about me?" he asked Ryan.

Ryan fidgeted a little. "Not a lot," he answered. "Just that you met in high school, then you two broke up when you graduated and signed up in the army. Then she told me you met in 1994 and, um, that she had me that year too. She also said you met again in 2003, but that she didn't tell you about me. Obviously," he smiled wryly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Mom said you broke up because she didn't want you to enlist. Was that true?"

James was quiet for a moment, thinking of how he wanted to answer. "That was part of it," he admitted. "But not all of it. We made the mutual decision to break up, it wasn't all her doing. We were both kids. And to tell you the truth, we were both too selfish to have worked it out back then. You probably know she wanted to get to New York." Ryan nodded, and James went on. "I had my own dream, I wanted to get out of Ohio too, but not just to New York. I wanted to see the world." He paused. "Did your mom tell you why I moved to Akron?"

Thinking back, Ryan remembered. "You were moved to a new foster family, right?"

"Yeah. The family I lived with in Akron was nice enough, but I wasn't going to be able to stay there much longer after I graduated. I needed somewhere to go, and I didn't have anything. The only other option I had was to get some kind of dead-end job in that town. And I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to be…stuck." He shook his head. "So I left. I could have stayed, for your mom. We could have tried long-distance. But…we didn't."

Ryan nodded. "I get it. I don't want to be stuck here either. That's why glee is really important to me, I'm hoping to get a scholarship or something to a performing arts school. I really want to go to New York, like Mom did. I'm going to be a performer on Broadway," he said confidently.

James smiled approvingly. He was glad his kid had plans for the future, a lot of kids didn't. "Can I ask you something now? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Ryan's guard went up a bit. "Okay."

James looked at him carefully. "What happened, with your parents? I mean, before you went to live with Shelby." He needed to know. He had to know how badly he'd messed up, what had happened to his child because he hadn't been around. Even if it wasn't his fault.

As soon as he asked, he realized it was a sensitive topic for the teenager. James could see him closing off, and he was pretty sure Ryan wasn't going to answer. He sighed, hoping he hadn't just undone the progress he'd made with the boy. The pair were quiet for a moment before James spoke up. Maybe if he went first… "When I was seven I got placed with a couple in Dayton. The Burtons. They were nice enough. I stayed there for almost three years. Then they got pregnant. They gave me back so they could focus on their own child. Three years is a long time, and I thought of them as my parents. Unfortunately it seemed that I was just a temporary fix until they could get their own kid."

Ryan was watching his father intently as the story was told. James continued. "The next home I was moved into was very different. The family had at least four fosters at any given time, and the parents weren't…well, let's just say they didn't particularly care what was going on with us. I spent a year there, and that's where I figured out how to take care of myself."

Silence fell again. James was pretty sure Ryan wasn't going to speak up again.

"They said they didn't know how to be parents," Ryan said after a while, surprising James. "They weren't bad parents," Ryan continued. "Or at least, I didn't think so, but they weren't around. They never went to any of my school activities, they didn't know where I was most of the time." He paused. "I figured out they weren't my real dads when a few years ago, but I think they found out sooner. It was like they just…lost interest. And then when I found Mom, they were the ones who decided to give me back to her. They didn't want me."

James watched his son the whole time he was talking, even if Ryan didn't seem to want to meet his eyes. His heart ached at what he heard. His own parents hadn't wanted him, and he'd been in enough homes where he wasn't really wanted either to understand how it felt to be neglected, and he hated that his own child had had to go through that.

Ryan spoke again. "The worst part is that I thought of them as my parents, but apparently they didn't think of me as their son. They said it themselves," he ended flatly.

James met Ryan's eyes. "I get it. Our situations are sort of different, but sort of the same, too."

Ryan averted his gaze, nodding. "Yes, I suppose they are, aren't they? I've talked to Mom about it. She's amazing as a mom, and it does help to talk, but – she doesn't really understand completely. She has great parents," he said wistfully.

"I know." James really liked Tom and Sarah Corcoran, and during the time he and Shelby had been together in high school, they'd become almost like parents. "And you're right, she'll never completely understand. And I'm glad she won't." He smiled thoughtfully. "You're lucky to have her. When I was a kid, I'd have given anything for my mom to come back for me."

"Did you ever find her? Your mom?" Ryan asked.

James smiled at him strangely. "That's a story for another time. But if you ever need to talk or anything, I'll be there." He hesitated, before meeting his son's gaze squarely. "I know it won't change anything, but I'm sorry. For not being there when you were growing up."

"It wasn't your fault –"

"Doesn't matter. You're my kid, and I told myself that if I ever had kids, I'd do everything to keep them from growing up like I did. I failed at that, but I want to make that right. If you ever need me, you just need to call. Okay?"

"Okay." Honestly, Ryan was overwhelmed by the fact that this guy – his _dad_ – really seemed to care about him, after meeting less than five hours earlier, and finding out about him only 24 hours earlier. "And it's okay. I don't blame you, for not being there, I mean. You're here now."

James smiled partly in happiness, partly in relief. "Thanks."

Then Ryan glanced down before looking back up at James. "I have another question, though," he said unsurely. "What do I call you?"

James was taken aback. Huh. He hadn't thought about that. Was he ready to be called _dad?_ He sure didn't feel like it, but in a way, he did want that. Maybe Ryan wasn't ready for it, though. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'm not sure if you'd want to call me your dad. You could, if you wanted to. Or we could stay with James for now."

Ryan ran a hand through his hair as he considered. Was he ready for a new dad? He liked James, and he felt he could trust the man, but a part of him was still afraid that James was going to leave, just like Hiram and Leroy, and he didn't know if he could take another father giving up on him. "I think that would be best," he decided.

Nodding his acceptance, James stood up, offering the teenager a hand to help him up as well. "We should get back to your mom, it's almost lunchtime." They had decided that all three of them would have lunch together. "Plus, neurotic lady that she is, she'd probably worrying herself crazy over how we're doing."

Ryan laughed as he stood. "You're probably right."

..

After lunch, James had decided to return to his motel at around three in the afternoon, and Shelby and Ryan had gone back home. "So, how do you think it went?" Shelby asked, when the two of them were back at home in the living room. She had invited James for dinner, but she wanted to know what Ryan thought of him so far.

"He's nice," Ryan said softly. "I like him."

"But…" Shelby prodded, sensing that there was still something bothering the teenager.

"I guess I just don't want to get too attached because he might leave again," Ryan muttered.

Sighing, Shelby sat down beside her son and wrapped an arm around him. "You know he has to leave, right? He lives in Pennsylvania," she started.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant, and I was getting there," Shelby scolded lightly. "I was going to say, he's not going anywhere in the way you think. One thing the two of you have got in common besides those eyes of yours is that neither of you do things by halves. Now that he's started getting to know you he's going to commit to this one hundred percent. He's not going to abandon you."

"You think so?" Ryan said shyly, smiling a bit at the thought of another trait he shared with his father.

"I know so."

"How?"

Shelby hesitated. This wasn't really her story to tell. "I know him, okay?" she said gently. She knew James would never abandon any child of his, and she knew why. But she thought she should leave it up to James to tell Ryan if he wanted to. "Trust me on this one."

"Okay."

Shelby smiled, pleased that she'd earned enough of her child's confidence to get him to take her word on this. She placed a kiss on the side of his head. "I love you."

"I love you too."

..

A few hours later, the doorbell rang, and Shelby went over to answer it. "Hi James."

"Hey," James smiled at her, looking inside. "Nice place."

"Thanks." Shelby stepped aside to let him in. "Ryan's upstairs," she said, turning. "I'll go get him."

James stopped her. "Wait, I just wanted to get your opinion on something."

Looking at him confusedly, Shelby nodded. "Okay…" The two of them entered the living room and sat down. She looked at her old flame expectantly. "What is it?"

"Right. So, I don't know if you remember, but I've been enlisted for over twenty years now," James started nervously. Shelby nodded. "So I'm actually qualified for retirement, with a pension," he continued. "I've been thinking of leaving the army for a while now, but I didn't really have anywhere to go."

"Oh." Shelby didn't know what she was supposed to say.

"Yeah, but now I was thinking, I could apply for retirement when I get back, and I could be out in a couple of months. Maybe less." He hesitated. "Would you and Ryan be okay if I moved here, to Lima?"

"You want to move here? Permanently?" Shelby asked, not just a little surprised. "What would you do here?"

"I've thought of that, I'm a qualified paramedic, I could get a job as one here in Lima. I can probably find an apartment somewhere, easy," he added quickly, in case Shelby thought he was gunning to live with her and Ryan.

Shelby blinked, thinking furiously. "Wow, this is sudden."

"Yeah. I didn't tell Ryan about it, I wanted to ask you first." James waited anxiously for her to say something.

Shelby looked at him for a moment. "Are you doing this because you want to or because you think you should?"

"Because I want to." He'd actually toyed with the idea of finding Shelby and moving somewhere close if he still had a chance with her, even before he'd ever found out about Ryan. Although the teenager's presence in the situation had been the thing to solidify his decision.

After another moment, Shelby nodded. "Then yes, I will be fine with you moving here." Her mouth quirked into a smile. "Not like I could stop you if I wanted to, right?"

James chuckled. "No, but I would like your approval. Don't tell Ryan, though, okay? I want to get everything settled first."

Shelby nodded again. "Got it." She hesitated. "Ryan will be happy. I think he's a little worried, with you leaving for Pennsylvania, that you'll think it's too much trouble to have a relationship with him."

"I wouldn't do that," James said anxiously. Had he said something to make the boy think that?

"I know," Shelby said. "It's just the issues with his adoptive parents, he doesn't completely trust that you won't leave him. But he will eventually, if you try." Shelby smiled sadly. "When we started getting to know each other he thought that about me too."

"Well, I'm definitely going to try with him too," James said determinedly, before hesitantly asking, "Did you talk to him? Was I – Did I do it right? The talk with him earlier?"

Shelby smiled affectionately at him. "Yes, you did it very well. He really likes you, which is partly why he's worried about you leaving."

James smiled in relief and delight that his son liked him. Maybe it wasn't too late to build a relationship with him after all. "Well, if it works out I'll be closer to him and he won't have to worry about it as much." Again he hesitated, before smiling at Shelby. "Closer to you, too." He put his hand on hers, happy when she didn't move away. For a moment, they just sat there, looking at each other, before James started to say something. "Listen –"

He was cut off when Ryan came into the living room. "Oh, hi," he said, a bit surprised. "I didn't know you were here already."

"Uh, yeah, I just got here, actually," James fumbled, jolted out of his train of thought by the teenager's sudden entrance. "A few minutes ago…"

"I was just coming up to get you," Shelby said easily, covering up James' confusion, even while she was a bit disappointed that James hadn't gotten to say what he was going to. "Let's eat."

..

"Did you cook this?" James questioned, a few minutes into the meal. "It's really good."

"Thanks. Finally, someone who isn't surprised that I can cook," Shelby said, looking pointedly at Ryan, who shrugged.

"Oh, I'm surprised," James corrected, earning himself a glare. "Well, can you blame me? You're the one who splattered the Home Ec teacher with pancake batter. Then you set her classroom on fire, remember?"

Ryan perked up curiously at this, and Shelby scowled at James. "Thanks."

"What happened?" Ryan asked immediately.

"Tell him and I'll never cook for you again."

James winced exaggeratedly. "Sorry, buddy, looks like that's a no." When Shelby looked away from him he mimed making something explode as he mouthed, _I'll tell you later_.

Ryan quickly clamped down on his laughter. James was really cool, and despite his initial misgivings, he found himself already getting attached to the man. It had just been one day and James already felt more like a dad than Hiram and Leroy Berry had ever been.

* * *

The next morning, Shelby, Ryan, and James had breakfast together once more before James had to leave to return to Pennsylvania. James had finally gotten around to telling Ryan the Home Ec story, much to Ryan's delight and Shelby's irritation. "Okay, laugh it up," she grumbled at her son and her…whatever James was.

"Oh, we will," James smirked at her. His mischievous smirk was matched exactly on Ryan's face, and Shelby was momentarily disarmed as she was once again struck by how much they resembled each other with that expression. Then James glanced down at his watch. "I need to get going," he sighed.

At the bus station, James gave Shelby a hug and a kiss on the cheek, whispering, "I'll call you when I get everything settled, yeah?"

Shelby nodded. "I'll see you soon."

Then James looked at Ryan. "Remember what I said, I'm just a phone call or an email away if you need me, got it?"

Ryan gave him a smile. "Got it."

James held out his hand, which Ryan shook, before James pulled him into a quick hug, surprising the teenager. Ryan enjoyed it, though. It was different from his mom's hugs, but just as good. "You take care of your mom, okay?"

Nodding determinedly, Ryan answered. "I will. Not that she needs it," he added hastily at Shelby's raised eyebrow.

"I'll be back soon, I'll give you two a call," James promised. "Maybe in a few weeks." He waved at them again before getting on the bus, and Ryan and Shelby soon left as well.

"Thanks, Mom," Ryan said quietly, giving Shelby a soft smile as they drove home.

"For what?"

Ryan shrugged. "Just because."

* * *

**I actually planned to have this out a bit earlier than today, but it's been a busy weekend. I've read all your reviews, though, and I'm really glad so many people are still enjoying this story. Hopefully you guys liked this chapter too :)**


	29. Chapter 28

"What did you have planned today?" Shelby asked Ryan after breakfast. It was a couple of days after James' visit, and the two were getting their routines back into order.

"Nothing really. The garage is closed because Mr. Hummel and Kurt went on a vacation." Ryan shrugged. "Quinn's getting home this afternoon, we might get together later. I was just going to stay home for the morning, I guess."

"I need to go out, we're out of food." Privately Shelby thought she'd have to find a job soon otherwise her kid was going to eat his way through her savings. "You can come if you like."

Ryan readily agreed, and a little while later the two of them were at the mall. "Come on, I think you could stand to add a few more pieces to your wardrobe," Shelby decided, much to Ryan's alarm.

"What? Wait, I thought we were going grocery shopping!"

"Yes, later," Shelby answered innocently. "Don't think I haven't noticed you've been recycling the clothes I bought you last month over and over again."

"That's because you've been throwing my other stuff out!" Ryan accused.

"You don't know that." Yes, it was true, Shelby had been slowly getting rid of Ryan's older stuff. Seriously, no one was going to take him seriously in those old clothes. They were fine for maybe a twelve-year-old, but no further.

"Where else would they be going, then?"

"You can't prove anything." Shelby started steering the boy to one of the clothes stores. "Now quit whining."

An hour later Ryan was seriously starting to question what had possessed him to agree to this trip with his mom. "See if I ever come with you voluntarily again," he grumbled, as they struggled along with a bunch of shopping bags. Of course, he was carrying most of them.

Shelby shot him a glare, not appreciating the attitude. "Less on the dramatics, please. Besides, you spent half the time texting Quinn, anyway," she added a bit acerbically.

"It's better than shopping," Ryan answered almost rudely, causing Shelby to roll her eyes.

The two of them went out into the parking lot to load everything into the car, and then returned to the mall. "Can we go to the music store?" Ryan asked. There was a new CD out that he wanted to get.

Shelby checked her watch. Their shopping trip had taken a little longer than expected. "I have to go pick something up. You go to the music store, then wait for me in front of the supermarket," she instructed him. Ryan agreed, and they split up.

Soon Ryan was on his way to the grocery section of the mall when he spotted two unfortunately familiar figures.

"Hey there, Gayberry." McKinley's favorite football jocks Karofsky and Azimio were also in the mall. _Great_, thought Ryan, cursing his luck.

"Karofsky, Azimio," he nodded at the two enormous boys, even as he tensely looked around for exit strategies. Good, there was a security guard nearby; they wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything in front of a security guard, right?

"You been hanging out with Miss Hummel huh?" Azimio asked mockingly. "You two got a lot in common, don'cha?"

"Where's your dad – sorry, dads," Karofsky sneered. "They ditch you out here by yourself?"

Ryan's shoulders stiffened and his jaw clenched as the large bully hit a little too close to home. "We're not at school, you don't have Tanaka and Figgins to turn a blind eye to your behavior. If you don't want to get into trouble with the authorities, I suggest you leave me alone."

"Ohh, kid thinks he can mess with us, just because we're not in school," jeered Karofsky. "Don't need backup to tell you you're a loser."

"But lucky for you, we got places to be," added Azimio. "We gonna have a extra-large cup of ice for you when classes start up!" He fist-bumped his partner-in-crime and the two swaggered off.

Ryan stared after them resentfully. Those two had made his life in school hell since 8th grade. They were bigger than most of the other kids and they used that to their advantage. They were also insanely homophobic, like most people in this stupid town, and they especially picked on Kurt Hummel for obvious reasons, and on Ryan himself because of his gay dads. Ryan had gotten pretty good at ignoring them, but their taunts about his dads were now even more infuriating, since they weren't even his dads to begin with. Ryan chuckled humorlessly. If only they knew his real dad was actually a straight guy enlisted in the US Army. No need to tell those idiots anything, though.

A few seconds later it started to sink in that classes were starting up again in a few weeks. Back to the world of daily slushy facials and occasionally getting tossed into dumpsters. He sighed irritably. Why couldn't this summer just stay the way it was forever?

..

Meanwhile, Shelby had finished her own errand, and was on her way to meet Ryan. She spotted him from a distance as she walked toward the supermarket. He was talking to a couple of large boys wearing what she recognized as McKinley's letterman jackets. Probably a couple of classmates, she thought. He hadn't really told her about any of his friends besides Quinn and two other girls.

Taking a second look, though, her son seemed a bit tense as he listened to what the other boys were saying. Were they bothering him? She stepped up her pace, but wasn't able to reach him before the two hulking boys walked off, leaving Ryan staring after them, before walking off himself.

A few seconds later Shelby caught up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey."

She didn't miss the slight flinch he made when he turned around. "Oh. Hi."

"You okay? Who were you talking to?"

Ryan shrugged. "Just a couple of guys from school," he said dismissively, covering up his previous negative feelings. He'd had lots of practice after all. "I'm fine."

Shelby looked at him sideways as they walked. He didn't really seem fine, he still seemed a bit stiff. Her concern increased. "Friends of yours?"

"Not even close," Ryan said, forcing a laugh. "I'm just a bit tired from shopping. Let's just finish up, okay?"

She wasn't entirely convinced, but it looked like he didn't want to talk, but remembering the last time she'd pushed him, she decided to leave him alone for now. She made a note to try to talk to him about it later, though. "Okay."

..

After lunch at home, Shelby tried asking Ryan about his encounter with his classmates. "What's the story with you and those two guys at the mall?" she asked casually.

Ryan had been dreading Shelby asking him that question. "We were just talking, that's all." He could handle Karofsky and Azimio by himself, he didn't need his mom to get involved. He'd been handling it by himself for years now, after all.

"Are you sure?" Shelby asked dubiously. She could just see him closing off.

"Yes."

After another long look, Shelby decided he really wasn't about to talk to her about it. "Okay. You know you can talk to me, right?"

Ryan glanced at her before looking away again. "I know. But there's nothing to talk about."

"I think there is."

"Just drop it, okay?" Ryan said sharply. He stood up, checking his watch surreptitiously. Quinn had texted him a few minutes ago, inviting him over to her house. "Are we done now? Or is there more?"

Shelby's eyes flashed irately, but she decided not to comment. "No. We're done for now." She watched him pensively as he left, then went into her study, thinking over his reaction.

She was a high school teacher. That meant she knew all about the bullying that went on in the school hallways. Sure, she put a stop to it whenever she saw it, but she wasn't stupid, she knew a lot of it went on without the knowledge of the teachers. Carmel had a zero-tolerance policy, and the incidents were infrequent, but Shelby wasn't so sure about the situation at McKinley. She pulled out her resume, looking at it before starting to update it. She still wasn't sure about applying for the job at McKinley, but it wouldn't hurt to be prepared.

..

_Meanwhile_

"Hey Ryan," Quinn greeted him as she opened the door to her house. She stood aside to let him in.

Ryan smiled charmingly at her as he entered. "Hi. I missed you," he said, pulling the blonde girl in for a hug. "How was your weekend?" His smile turned into a smirk. He'd been texting with her sporadically over the weekend, and he knew she'd been bored out of her mind.

Quinn made a face at him. "I was stuck in my great-aunt's house for four days with no-one to talk to besides old ladies. How do you think?"

Ryan smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry, I know how annoying relatives can be. Not the ones I have now, mind you, the ones I had before. Last time I had to go to my cousin Leon's place I had to listen to the adults go on for hours about how their Homeowners' Association wouldn't let them change the grass in their yard," he said dryly. "Anyways, at least it's over." He looked around. "Nice place," he said a bit awkwardly. There were quite a few pieces of art displayed in the entrance hall of their house.

"No it's not," Quinn said flatly, getting a wry smile from Ryan. Apparently she wasn't particularly into her house's décor either.

"It is a little…ostentatious," Ryan admitted.

"My dad decorated. Appearances are everything, after all, so we just had to have the gaudy expensive artwork hanging all over the place," Quinn said sarcastically. Her mom had won the house in the divorce, along with all the crap that was in it.

Ryan gave a chuckle. "Well, it's not really to my taste either. Just trying to make conversation."

"Yeah, the décor is such a good icebreaker," she deadpanned, before giving him a small smile. "So, what did you think about your dad?" she asked curiously. Ryan had called her the other day, when she was still in Indiana, telling her all about how it had gone with his biological father.

"He's great," Ryan smiled. "A lot better than _them_, although that's probably not saying much."

"No," agreed Quinn, "but if you're getting a new dad, you might as well like him, right?" She was still getting over how her own dad was, but that didn't mean she couldn't be happy for Ryan. She grabbed his hand, leading him into the living room.

"Yes, that's true." Ryan glanced around again. "Is your mom here?"

Quinn shook her head. "No, she's at work." She wasn't really in the house that often, leaving Quinn to her own devices most of the time. Before Ryan had come over, she'd been on the phone with Santana.

"You okay?" Ryan asked, when Quinn went quiet for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, focusing back on her boyfriend with a smile. "Just us for now. I really missed you." She pulled him in for a long kiss.

Ryan didn't object, eagerly responding as she pulled them both down on the sofa – he was a teenage boy, he wasn't about to turn down a makeout session with his hot girlfriend! This was fantastic, the two of them hadn't gone very far before, one of them always pulling back before things got too heated, but this time was different. He felt Quinn pull back for some air, and he transferred his lips to her jawline, not wanting to break the contact between them. His pulse quickened when he heard her moan. He pulled back. "Maybe we should stop," he gasped out. He was starting to…react…to her, and he didn't want to embarrass himself.

Quinn shook her head. "No," she breathed. "Keep going." She pulled his lips back to hers, the motion causing him to fall partially on top of her. She didn't want to stop, this was a million times better than anything she'd ever done with Finn.

"Okay," Ryan smiled widely against his girlfriend's mouth, running a hand through her soft golden hair. _God, she was so beautiful. _He didn't really know what he was doing, he'd never done this before. He must be doing something right, though, he thought as he heard Quinn sigh breathily as he ran a finger down her neck. He pulled back for some air for a moment, repositioning himself before kissing her neck, gaining more confidence as they continued. His hand moved down from its position in her hair, running down her side to her stomach.

"Stop. Ryan, stop."

Ryan froze one second later, as he registered Quinn's voice, felt her body suddenly tense under his. He immediately backed off, still breathing hard. "What did I do?"

Quinn's eyes were tightly shut as she tried to regulate her breathing. Ryan didn't know what to do, he didn't even know what had happened. "Quinn, what's wrong?" he asked urgently.

The response he received was her shaking her head. "Sorry, I'm sorry," she choked out. "I – I don't –"

"What are you sorry for?" Ryan asked, bewildered. He tentatively put a hand on her arm, relieved when she didn't shrug it off. "Come on, talk to me."

Quinn finally seemed to bet her breath under control. She gulped. After a few more moments, she glanced at him shamefacedly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Ryan asked again, completely confused. "You didn't do anything wrong, if anything, I probably did." He pulled her into a more upright position. "What's wrong? Did I do something? I won't do it again, if I did," he said anxiously.

She shook her head. "It wasn't you, it was me."

Ryan frowned. "That sounds like a really clichéd break-up line…"

Quinn let out a choked laugh. "No, it's not, don't worry." She hesitated. "It's actually really stupid," she admitted a bit sheepishly. She was actually really irritated at herself. She was Quinn Fabray, McKinley High's top cheerleader (or at least she had been)! She didn't get nervous with guys, guys got nervous with her!

But it was different somehow with Ryan. "I…I was talking to Santana before you got here," she started to explain. "And you know how she is, she was bugging me, asking if we've…done anything yet," she said lamely. "And I told her we hadn't gotten very far, not that it was any of her business, and she said I should probably get going before you lost interest," she ended.

Ryan's jaw flapped up and down for a second while he processed what he'd heard. Then the irritation started to set in. "First of all, what we get up to is really none of her business! Second, she's wrong." He looked at his girlfriend, who reluctantly met his gaze. "I'm not going to get tired of you just because you don't…put out," he stated firmly, making a face at the crude euphemism. "You should know me better than that," he added a bit sadly.

"I do," Quinn said guiltily, averting her gaze again. "But I guess I'm just used to the other guys at school, like Finn, he always wanted to go farther than I did. He didn't really pressure me or anything, but I could tell he got upset whenever I put on the brakes."

Ryan ran a hand through his hair. "I don't want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable," he said softly. "I won't get upset if you want to stop."

"I didn't," admitted Quinn. "I liked it." She gave him a small smile.

"So did I." Ryan smiled back, brushing a lock of hair from her face. "What happened, then?"

"I – I'm not really sure." Quinn paused unhappily, before continuing in a much quieter voice. "I guess after Beth I'm a little worried. About going too far."

Finally Ryan understood what had happened. "Oh." He was quiet for a minute. "Okay. We'll just take it slow, then. You just need to say when you're getting uncomfortable, you don't have to let it get up to the point where you're panicking." He smiled a bit to show her he wasn't upset, wrapping an arm around her.

Quinn just nodded before leaning into him. "Thanks."

"Have you talked about Beth with anyone?" Ryan asked uncertainly.

Quinn shook her head quietly. It had become somewhat of a taboo topic between her and her mom. True, her mom had offered her the option of keeping her baby, but when Quinn had decided to put her up for adoption, they hadn't talked about it again. The last conversation Quinn had had about her daughter, the baby she had given away, had been, strangely, with Ryan's mom.

"I'm here if you want to talk about it."

"I know."

They sat there together for a while, lost in their own trains of thoughts. Quinn felt herself relaxing from the tension she been in for the past few minutes. She really couldn't get over how different Ryan was from the other boys at school. She also couldn't quite get over how badly she and the other kids at school had treated him, and she was so thankful that he had chosen to look past that and give her a chance with him.

..

An hour later, Ryan decided that he should get going. He had someone else he wanted to talk to, and he left Quinn's house with a promise to see her again tomorrow. Soon he was knocking on the door of the house of another of his classmates.

"Hi Mrs. Lopez," he greeted the Latina woman who had opened the door.

"Oh, hello. Ryan, right?" Mari Lopez asked, recognizing the boy from the movie day Santana had held a week or two ago. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to Santana, if she's around."

"She's inside, why don't you come in while I go get her?" Mari invited, stepping back to allow Ryan into the house.

"Thank you," Ryan said gratefully.

A few minutes later Mari had called Santana down from her room, and the girl appeared in the living room where Ryan was waiting for her. "Well, this is a surprise," she said snarkily. "Shouldn't you be getting it on with your girlfriend or something, and not bothering me?"

Ryan glared at her irritably. "That's what I came here about, actually."

"Q's not here, if that's what you're here for –"

"I know she's not here, I was just at her house."

Santana smirked. "Well then, what are you doing here?"

Ryan frowned. "She told me you said something to her about how if she didn't start putting out for me, that I was going to leave her if I didn't put out," he said crisply, straightening his posture. "First of all, I understand that you and Quinn are best friends, at least some of the time. But that doesn't give you the right to question any of her relationships. Second, what she and I get up to in our own time is absolutely none of your business, so I'll thank you to back off. And lastly, I'm not going to, as you put it, _get tired of her_, no matter what she does or doesn't let me do. What you said was completely out of line."

Santana stared at him throughout his speech. "Did you have a PowerPoint presentation to go along with that?" She got an intense glare in response.

"I mean it, Santana, back off," Ryan insisted.

If Santana were completely honest with herself, she was sort of impressed with the midget. He'd finally grown a pair. She was proud of her reputation; even McKinley's football jocks, great big wusses that they were, wouldn't confront her like that. "Okay."

"Okay?" Ryan was taken aback.

"Are you deaf or something?" Santana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever, I'll leave you and Q alone to do whatever it is you do."

Ryan tilted his head in confusion. "Huh. I didn't think it would be that easy," he admitted.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I still think you're a freak," Santana assured him. She'd basically told Quinn to get a move on with the boy and here he was telling her to stay out of it. "But like I said before, you're a tiny, eensy-weensy bit better than that bumbling moron Finn. And I'm pretty sure you've got a lot more guts, he probably wouldn't have been able to say all that to me. So yes, just this once, I won't tune out your little troll voice, and I will listen to you," she ended magnanimously.

"I don't suppose this whole listening-to-me thing is going to extend up to this school year, is it?" Ryan asked dryly.

"Nope," the cheerleader answered, popping the 'p'. "Gotta keep my rep and all that."

"Good to know." He nodded curtly, inwardly relieved that the confrontation had gone better than expected. "That was all, so I'll be going now."

"Okay. Hudson's got a party in a couple of weeks," Santana commented offhandedly. "You should bring Quinn."

Ryan looked at her speculatively. "I'll ask her about it."

Santana nodded. "I'll text her the details. Now go away."

Ryan left, shaking his head. He was never going to understand that girl.

* * *

The next day, Shelby was in her study checking her email. She had finally decided to apply for the English teacher job at McKinley, and she had, almost immediately, gotten an email from Principal Figgins offering her the job. The man must have been desperate.

She hadn't told Ryan, but she had received a letter offering her a position as a college vocal choir teacher in New York. She'd decided to decline for now, though. Ryan's life was already complicated enough right now, she couldn't add any more stress. It wouldn't be right, and she needed to do what was best for him. Oh, she knew he'd just love to go New York, but in her judgment, that wasn't an option right now.

Besides, she wanted him to spend time with his friends too. She was a little surprised that all his friends seemed to be girls, but whatever. Ryan had mentioned another kid he knew, but he went to a private school somewhere, and she couldn't remember his name right now. A majority of Ryan's time was spent with Quinn, though.

A few minutes later, she heard someone enter the house. She got up, stretching a little, before going out into the living room to find Ryan. To her surprise, she found Ryan and Quinn in the kitchen, both laughing. "Hello."

The pair jumped slightly. "Hi Mom."

"Hi Miss Corcoran."

Shelby nodded at both of them. "I didn't know you two were going to be here," she said pointedly to Ryan. So much for their talk about warning her before inviting people over.

Ryan shrugged. "I just remembered the part about not being alone together, and I knew you were here."

Quinn shot a disbelieving glare at her boyfriend before turning to his mom. "Sorry, Miss Corcoran." Great, she was pretty sure this lady already didn't like her, this was just making it worse.

Shelby shook her head. "No, it's fine." She might as well take the opportunity to try to get to know the girl, and it wasn't her fault that Ryan seemed to be trying to annoy her lately. She'd been planning to get Ryan to invite her over sometime anyway. "Would you like to stay for lunch?"

"Oh, okay," Ryan said amenably. "Is that okay with you?" he asked Quinn, who nodded.

Shelby wasn't quite sure what to say to her son's girlfriend. She wracked her brain trying to remember how James' conversations with her own parents started out. "So, Quinn, how's your summer going?"

Quinn looked slightly surprised at the question. "Good, I guess," she answered, trying to cover up her surprise. "I just got back from Indiana yesterday morning."

"I heard about that," Shelby responded.

"Ryan told me he had a much better weekend than I did, though," Quinn said, smiling at Ryan.

Shelby turned to her son curiously. "Which part?" she asked.

"The whole weekend," Ryan answered easily. "But on that note, we should go watch another show sometime, I really enjoyed _Les Mis_."

"Maybe we will." Shelby opened the refrigerator and started pulling out food as Ryan excused himself to his room for a moment.

"Hmmm," Shelby muttered, perusing the ingredients she'd found. "We've got cheese, bacon, ham, assorted vegetables…anything you'd prefer?" she asked Quinn.

"Bacon, if you've got it," Quinn said, slightly uncomfortable with Ryan leaving her here with his scary mother. "Do you need any help?" Quinn offered. If things were going to go as she hoped with Ryan, she might as well try to get into the woman's good graces…

Shelby looked up from where she was pulling out a frying pan. "Start chopping up some tomatoes," she instructed.

Ryan soon came back into the kitchen. "I can help too, if you want," he offered, and Shelby quickly set him to toasting the bread. He glanced at the bacon Shelby was frying. "Still not over your bacon addiction, Quinn?" he asked teasingly.

"Nope," she answered cheekily. "I could probably eat the stuff forever."

Shelby chuckled. She was pretty partial to the stuff too. Lunch was prepared in short order, and the three of them sat down at the counter to eat. "I wanted to talk to you about something," Shelby said to Ryan a few minutes into the meal. "And I suppose it has a bit to do with you, too, Quinn. I applied for the English teacher's spot at your school."

Ryan's face lit up. "Really? That's great, you're sure to get the job, Figgins can't really afford to turn down anyone halfway competent."

Shelby rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "I got a response already, and yes, your principal has offered me the job." The salary was about the same as she had been getting for the same job at Carmel, but it was nothing compared to her salary as Vocal Adrenaline's coach. She could live with that, though, her bonuses for VA's wins over the last four years had just been accumulating. She didn't exactly spend a lot on herself.

"I told you so," Ryan said proudly. "Did you accept yet?"

Quinn just smiled in amusement. She knew her boyfriend was already plotting ways to get Shelby involved with New Directions. And knowing him, he'd do anything if it meant they'd win.

"Not yet. I thought I'd talk to you about it first." Shelby raised an eyebrow. "But judging from your reaction I'd say you're all for it."

"Definitely!"

"I'll get back to Mr. Figgins, then," Shelby nodded. "What do you think of this, Quinn?"

Again, the blonde looked a little surprised at being asked for an opinion, but she gave it anyways. "It's okay, I guess," she shrugged. "But yeah, Ryan's right, I'm pretty sure you'd be much better than any of the other teachers." Her mouth quirked into a smile. "You might clash with Coach Sylvester though."

"I didn't think of that," Ryan said thoughtfully.

"The tall coach in a track suit?" Shelby inquired curiously, remembering the woman who had somehow insinuated herself into her confrontation with Principal Figgins and Mr. Shuester over the tire-slashing debacle.

"Yes, she's the Cheerios coach and she makes a hobby of making people's lives miserable," Ryan answered, pulling a face. "She seems to have a personal vendetta against us, though."

"She hates Mr. Schue for some reason," Quinn elaborated. "She lets the Cheerios get away with whatever, and she was responsible for almost getting the glee club funding cut last year."

"Weren't you a Cheerio?" Shelby asked.

Quinn winced slightly. "Yeah, she kicked me off though. Something about not wanting a pregnant cheerleader on the top of the pyramid."

Shelby could see this was a sensitive topic. Trying to change the subject, she commented, "I think I can take her."

Yes, Quinn thought so too. From what she'd seen during their illicit surveillance of Vocal Adrenaline's rehearsal, as well as their flawless performances, Shelby was probably as excellent – and insane – a coach as Sue Sylvester. Minus the insults. She'd pay to see a fight between the two, though, she thought with a smile.

"I'm sure you could," Ryan said confidently.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

..

Soon lunch was over, dishes were washed, and Shelby retired to her study to reply to Figgins' job offer, leaving the two teenagers in the living room with strict instructions to leave the doors open if they went upstairs. She also took the time to think over the conversation at lunch. Quinn didn't seem like a bad kid. But then, she hadn't, even when they'd met in the hospital after Regionals. Sure, she'd made a mistake, but nobody was perfect. No, she was fine with Quinn, it was just the fact that Ryan was spending so much time with her. Okay, fine, _maybe_ she was a little jealous.

But she supposed he could be doing worse than Quinn. Someone from Vocal Adrenaline, perhaps. God knew she was proud of her team, but even she couldn't deny that they could be backstabbing bitches when the occasion called for it. And even if it didn't.

Unrelated to Ryan, though, she'd seen something in Quinn. Something sad and lost, a look in her eyes that, even while she laughed, she recognized. She'd seen it often enough in the mirror for fifteen years.

The look of a mother missing her child.

She jerked suddenly as her phone rang. "Hello?"

"_Hi Shelby, it's James."_

"Oh!" Shelby wasn't really expecting him to call today. It was a pleasant surprise though. "Hi James. What's up?"

"_Just wanted to check up on you."_

"I'm fine, thanks," Shelby answered with a smile.

"_How about Ryan? Is he there?"_

"Yeah, he's with his girlfriend though, but I can get him if you'd like," she offered.

"_Girlfriend?"_ James asked curiously. _"No one told me he had a girlfriend already. I don't know anything."_

Shelby could practically hear the pout in his voice. "Oh, calm down you big baby," she teased. "You can't really blame us, there was a lot going on over the weekend."

"_I guess so,"_ James conceded. _"Anyways, I was calling to tell you that I just put in my retirement notification. I'm assigned here until the end of August, but I can start getting ready to move to Lima soon."_

"You work fast," Shelby commented, before smiling in amusement. "But then, you always did." He never could stay still for long; that was probably why the army had suited him well for twenty years.

"_Yeah. I was thinking, I could come back over there in a couple of weeks, spend another weekend there. If it's okay with you, of course,"_ he added.

"No problem with me," Shelby answered. "I'd like that. Ryan would too."

"_Great. So, tell me about this girlfriend of his."_

..

Meanwhile Quinn and Ryan were channel surfing in the living room. It was about two in the afternoon and they couldn't find anything they could agree on. Ryan flipped the channel. "I really don't think a documentary on dung beetles is the best thing to watch after lunch," Quinn commented dryly as they observed a high-speed filming of said beetle playing on the screen.

"Ugh." Ryan flipped the channel again. "What movie is this?"

"It's the _Blair Witch Projec_t, and no, we're not watching that," Quin said, prompting Ryan to flip once more. "Maybe we should just pick a DVD or something…"

Shelby entered the room. "Ryan, James is on the phone, he wants to talk to you," she informed her son. "I can tell him to call back, though, if you want."

Ryan hopped up off the couch instantly. "No, I want to talk to him!" He turned to Quinn. "If it's okay with you, that is," he added hurriedly, not wanting his girlfriend to think he had forgotten her.

"By all means." Quinn waved him off. Once again, she was left in the room with Shelby. She offered the older woman a smile.

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Quinn asked a bit dumbly. In her defense, the statement had come out of the blue. "For what?" She wasn't about to be murdered by the ex-VA coach, was she?

Shelby sighed a bit. "Ryan said you mentioned that you thought I wasn't particularly pleased with you being here the other day."

"Oh. I told him not to tell you that." Quinn was going to have a little chat with him about this later.

"You were right, though."

Quinn's eyebrows went up at that. Ha, so she hadn't been imagining it!

"Actually, it wasn't just that day," Shelby continued. "It was the whole dating situation I didn't like." She sat down on the armchair opposite Quinn.

"I'm not sure what you want me to say," Quinn said slowly.

Shelby wasn't quite sure either, but she pressed on. "I've been around a lot of teenagers, I know how the dating game works. You need to know that Ryan is very important to me, and I don't want him getting hurt."

Quinn could hear the implication Shelby was making, and she bristled slightly. "I'm not going to hurt him, he's really important to me too." She couldn't bring herself to be completely upset though, she could understand where Shelby was coming from. She wasn't about to take it lying down though. Tilting her chin up slightly, she added, "I really care about Ryan. He's had enough crap happen to him already, and I'm not about to add any more. And with all due respect, I can handle you not liking me. I've dealt with disapproving parents before."

Shelby kept her face impassive through Quinn's speech. She was impressed, though, not many girls would be able to say their boyfriends' parents, and she knew Quinn was intimidated by her. After another second, she nodded. "Good. You're right, he's had a rough time of it so far." Her face softened. "And I can see you do care about him. I like you fine, he could do a lot worse, I suppose," she smiled slightly. "So, as long as you don't hurt him, we're good. Is that acceptable?"

They locked gazes, one woman to another, for a moment before Quinn nodded. "Yeah. We're good."

"And you're welcome here anytime. But the open door policy still stands whenever you two go upstairs," Shelby added sternly.

"Got it." Quinn finally relaxed, allowing a small smile onto her face. At least she wasn't on Shelby's bad side right now. The woman was scary.

Ryan came back a few moments later. "Well?" Shelby questioned.

"Oh, he said he can be back for another visit in two weeks," Ryan answered happily. "What were you two talking about?"

"Just girl stuff," Quinn said lightly, after a glance at Shelby.

Shelby nodded in amusement. "Yes, it's not too important. Anyways, last chance for objections, kids; I'm about to answer Mr. Figgins' job offer. So speak now."

"No objections, right, Quinn?" Ryan turned to his girlfriend.

Quinn had to smile at the pleading look on his face. As if she'd be able to say no to those eyes. "Yeah, no, go right ahead." She turned to Ryan. "But if I fail English, I'm blaming you."

* * *

**Busy week. Hopefully my writing hasn't deteriorated, I think I wrote this in tiny sections then tried to put it all together. I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter. I got a few people asking if Shelby and James can have kids together, and to be honest I'm not sure yet. I looked over my stuff and apparently I haven't said if Shelby can't have kids like in canon. No promises yet either way, and besides if they do end up having kids it's probably going to be a bit far off. It's an interesting idea though. Anyways, that's it for now, see you in a few days, hopefully I'll have more time to write. I might be slowing down over the next few weeks, I'm starting my undergrad thesis this year and that's going to take up a lot of time. I won't be abandoning this, though. Hope you liked the chapter :)**


	30. Chapter 29

"Hi Shelby," Josh Corcoran greeted his older sister as she opened her front door for him.

"What do you want?" Shelby asked grumpily. It was eight on a Saturday morning and she hadn't had her coffee yet.

"Wow, so cheerful," Josh retorted. "Good morning to you too."

Shelby stepped aside to let him into the house. "Fine, good morning. Again, what are you doing here?"

"Picking up something for my boss," he explained. "I thought I'd drop in to see you and my favorite nephew."

"Only nephew."

"Details," Josh said dismissively. "Is he awake yet?"

"He's probably in the music room," Shelby said. "Do you want anything? Did you have breakfast?"

"Coffee, if you've got any, although judging from your demeanor you don't have any yet. Before I forget, Mom and Dad said they might drop by here today too." He hopped up onto one of the bar stools at the counter. "Something up?"

Shelby started putting together a pot of coffee, then stuck a couple of slices of bread into the toaster. "Just an argument with Ryan last night."

"Oh? What about?"

"Nothing important," Shelby said dismissively.

_**Flashback**_

"Ryan, I've been looking through the files that Principal Figgins sent me, and I found this." Shelby waved a piece of paper at her son, who glanced at it disinterestedly before shifting his focus back to the TV.

"What's that?"

"Summer homework for the incoming junior English class." That got Ryan's attention. Shelby took another look at the paper. "I don't suppose you've started yet," she said dryly. Ryan shook his head evasively. "I don't suppose you were planning on telling me about it either?"

"I'll get it done, okay?" Ryan answered, rolling his eyes and returning to the TV. "I've got plenty of time." The last thing he wanted was another reminder that school was starting again soon.

"Okay, look at me when I'm talking to you," Shelby said irritably. "And I'm not appreciating the attitude, kid."

Ryan finally looked at her. "Fine."

"There are only about three weeks left before school starts, you'd better get a move on."

"Yeah, and here I was planning to do it the night before school starts," he snipped. "Just quit nagging," he added the last part under his breath.

"What was that?" Shelby asked dangerously.

"Nothing, nothing." He stood up, surreptitiously checking his watch. He was supposed to meet Quinn, Santana, and Brittney at the Lima Bean, he might as well go if it would stop this interrogation. "Can I go now?"

Shelby's eyes flashed at his flippant tone, but let him leave. "Fine."

_**End Flashback**_

"It just seems like we've been clashing more lately, and I'm not really sure why," Shelby admitted. The teenager had been getting pretty moody. She'd thought he was getting better after all that drama with Hiram and Leroy, but lately he'd started acting up again.

Josh smirked slightly. "Looks like he's getting comfortable enough to start messing with you," he said. "Congratulations."

Shelby gave him an unimpressed look. "Whatever." She pulled the toast out and started spreading butter on it. "How's the wedding coming along?"

"Pretty well," Josh replied. "Invitations are out, the place is paid for, flowers are ordered…" He scratched his head. "Not really sure what else we need…"

"Oh, I don't know, the band, the priest or whatever, the dress, the catering…I could go on…" Shelby said lightly.

"Right. Well, I'm pretty sure Paige and her mom and our mom have it all in hand. The more interesting question is what's going on with you and James. Did Ryan like him?"

Shelby smiled, sitting down across from him as they waited for the coffee to finish. "Yes, they got along pretty well. Did Mom tell you what happened?"

Josh nodded. "That's good, your kid deserves a good father-figure, after those idiots he was with. How about you? Anything going on with you and James?" He gave her a sly smile.

"Gossip girl," Shelby teased.

"Drama Queen."

"Whatever. But no, nothing's up with James and me…" At least not yet, Shelby thought. She wanted something to happen, and from what she could tell, so did James. The situation was complicated though, and she didn't exactly know how things would work out.

"Are you taking him as your plus one to the wedding?" Josh continued to prod.

Shelby blinked. "I didn't really think of that," she admitted.

"Well, you should ask him."

Just then Ryan entered the kitchen. "Uncle Josh! I didn't know you were here," he said with a smile.

"Hey kid. How are you?" Josh smiled at his nephew, patting him on the back as he passed by. "I heard it went great with James this weekend."

Ryan's smile widened as he sat down next to his mom. "Yes, it did. James is really nice, he said he might be back in a couple weeks. We had a really good time." He shot a smirk at Shelby. "And he told me a few stories about mom, too," he added, causing Josh to laugh at the look on Shelby's face.

"Hey, you got any plans for today?" Josh asked Ryan suddenly.

"No, why?"

"I just thought, maybe we should get you fitted for a tux. I could take you today, if you wanted."

"A tux? For what?" Ryan asked blankly.

"For the wedding," Shelby supplied. "It's in September, and he's right, you should probably get fitted soon. I know you don't have one yet, I've seen your stuff."

"Yeah," Josh chimed in. "Can't have one of my groomsmen in an off-the-rack tux, right?"

Ryan quirked his head. "Groomsman?"

"Yep."

A smile spread on the teenager's face. "Wow. Okay. Thanks. Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," Josh answered, amused.

..

A little while later, Josh and Ryan were on their way to the tailor, leaving Shelby alone in the house. She sat peacefully in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee. It was just three weeks until the start of the school year, and she was going to enjoy the relaxation of the summer break as much as she could. This summer had been one of the best in recent years – she'd gotten her son back, she'd reconnected with James; all in all things were going quite well.

Suddenly she heard a knock on the door. She stood up to go see who it was. She wasn't expecting anyone, and Josh and Ryan weren't due back for an hour or so.

When she opened the door, she was very surprised to find Quinn there. "Hello."

The girl looked a bit surprised. Shelby wasn't sure why; as far as she knew this was her house after all. "Oh, hello Miss Corcoran," Quinn said warily. "Uh, is Ryan around?"

Shelby shook her head. "He just went out with his uncle a few minutes ago." She saw Quinn's stance slump slightly. "Why?"

"Nothing, nothing," Quinn answered reluctantly. "I just…wanted to talk to him about something.

Shelby eyed the teenager for a moment. "They'll probably be back in an hour." She paused, considering before she offered, "You can wait here, if you want." Ryan really liked her, and she approved of her son's choice of girlfriend, if a bit grudgingly. It looked like she really cared about Ryan as well.

"Oh, no, it's okay, I can come back –"

Stepping aside, Shelby opened the door wider to admit the girl. "It's fine, we can talk a bit while we're waiting. Unless you've got somewhere else to be?"

Quinn hesitated again before nodding. She really didn't have anything better to do than return to her empty house, and she really didn't want to be alone right now. She'd rather have Ryan, but she supposed Shelby would do in a pinch. She might as well wait here for Ryan. "Okay." She followed Shelby into the kitchen, where the older woman motioned for her to take a seat at the counter.

"You want anything? Coffee, tea?"

"I guess I'll have some coffee," Quinn answered.

Soon both of them were sitting at the counter. "What did you want to talk to Ryan about, if you don't mind my asking?" Shelby inquired.

Quinn looked down, taking a sip of her coffee. "Oh, it's nothing important."

Shelby looked at her again closely. From what she could tell, the opposite was true. The girl looked troubled, and that sad look Shelby had noticed the last time in Quinn's eyes seemed to have intensified. "Are you sure?" Shelby had served as an unofficial counselor for quite a few of her VA students; she could usually tell when one of them was worried about something.

Quinn fidgeted a little under Shelby's gaze. She bit her lip, thinking. She remembered that conversation she'd had with Shelby at the hospital several months ago. Almost exactly 3 months ago, actually. "I…" She hesitated again, debating on whether to talk to Shelby or nor. On the one hand, she didn't really know the woman very well. On the other, Shelby might be able to say something that would help her in the situation at hand.

"Well, Ryan's going to be here in about an hour, you can just wait for him," Shelby assured Quinn. She knew that in all likelihood the girl wasn't comfortable with her enough yet to talk to her, and that was okay.

"If – if the Berrys had sent you pictures of Ryan when he was a baby, what would you have done?" Quinn finally blurted out.

Shelby blinked, caught unawares by the question. "Excuse me?"

Quinn shook her head, trying to get her thoughts together. She pulled out an envelope and a piece of paper from her purse. "I got this in the mail this morning," she started to explain. "It's from the family I – the one I picked to give Beth to." She put the envelope down on the counter, unable to meet Shelby's gaze again. "Basically the letter said she's doing great, and they said the envelope has a few pictures if I wanted to see her. But I don't know if I want to see her," she said miserably.

Silence fell in the kitchen as Shelby tried to think of what to say. She felt for the girl, she really did. "I don't know," she said honestly, in response to Quinn's initial question. "I'd given up my child, knowing I wasn't going to be able to see him until he was all grown up." She paused thoughtfully. "I'm not sure. Maybe I would have jumped at the chance to see him. But maybe it would have made his absence even more painful."

Quinn listened intently to what the older woman was saying. That was exactly how she felt. She missed Beth, but seeing her, even in a picture, might just emphasize the pain and guilt she was feeling at giving her up. "Do you think I should open the envelope?"

Their gazes locked. "Like I told you before," Shelby started, "I can't tell you what to do. But I can tell you, as someone who didn't get what you have," she glanced at the envelope, "that not knowing what your own child looks like…it eats away at you. You pass children on the street who look even the slightest bit like you, and you wonder, 'could that be my kid?'"

"I didn't know it would be this hard," Quinn whispered. "I'm not dumb, I knew it wouldn't be easy either, but…"

"You gave away your child. It's like you gave away a part of yourself, and it's as if a hole is left."

Quinn hadn't even noticed that she was crying until she felt something wet on her cheek. She wiped it away in embarrassment. She'd been doing a lot of crying lately, and now she didn't even have the baby hormones as an excuse. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dumped on you –"

"It's okay," Shelby cut her off gently. "I understand."

And Quinn knew she did. And it was like a great pressure had been lifted, knowing that there was someone who understood how she was feeling; the confusion, the hurt, the guilt.

"Have you talked about this with anyone else?" Shelby asked. The only way she'd gotten through the first year after she'd had Ryan was because of her family, and she knew it. She wasn't sure if Quinn had a support system in place though. Ryan had told her the basics of what had happened between Quinn and her father, and she wasn't sure how involved Quinn's mom was with her daughter. She wasn't too surprised when the blonde girl shook her head morosely.

"It's just me and my mom, and she's…busy." Quinn smiled sadly. "Besides, we were never really close. I thought it might get better, after she kicked my dad out, but…it didn't." She shrugged again. "Since the hospital we haven't really talked about Beth. I mean, she offered to let me keep her, but when I didn't it just sort of became one of those things we don't talk about, you know?"

Shelby nodded absently. "If you need to talk about this stuff, just come over."

Quinn just looked at her. "Why would you do that?"

"You need someone to talk to. I bottled it up for two months after Ryan was born," she revealed. "It wasn't pretty." That was an understatement; at the end of those two months she'd ended up ridiculously smashed in a bar somewhere in Akron, necessitating her mom to come and pick her up at 2am. "My mom was that for me, and if you can't talk to yours, you should find someone else. And since I've already been where you are, it sort of makes sense." She quieted for a moment. "You're a good kid Quinn, and frankly, I don't want what happened to me to happen to you too," Shelby stated. "I was miserable for fifteen years because I didn't get the closure I needed until recently."

Quinn smiled softly, remembering some of her conversations with Ryan. He'd said pretty much the same thing to her in the choir room after the Babygate twist reveal.

"_Why would you do that?" Quinn asked quietly. "I was horrible to you."_

"_I just thought you might need a friend."_

She could now see where Ryan got some of his compassion from. "Can I tell you a secret?" Quinn asked. Shelby nodded. "When I was a few months pregnant, Mr. Schue's wife contacted me. See, there was this whole drama where she was pretending to be pregnant because Mr. Schue really wanted a kid, but she wasn't getting pregnant. So she wanted to adopt my baby when I had her, so she could pretend it was hers. Don't ask me how she was going to pull it off, but that lady was insane. She probably would have found a way."

Shelby stared at her. What kind of drama was going on at that school? "What did you tell her?"

Quinn looked down shamefacedly. "I didn't know what else to do, I couldn't keep her. I agreed," she said miserably. "And up to now I just feel so guilty because I just wanted to get rid of her so bad that it was a relief when Mrs. Schuester came with the offer. And now I can't even look at the pictures without feeling like an absolutely horrible person."

Shaking her head, Shelby leaned forward. "That doesn't make you a horrible person. I think any teenager faced with an unexpected pregnancy would feel the same. Of course, giving your baby to an insane person probably wouldn't have been the best decision," Shelby said dryly, before becoming serious again. "The guilt though, it comes with the territory."

"Does it get better?" _Tell me I'm not always going to feel like the worst mother in the world._

"It's always going to stay with you, and I think you know that," Shelby said gently. Quinn nodded dejectedly. "It's up to you how to deal with it. You need to ask yourself, if you ever get the chance to have a relationship with your daughter, would she be proud of you?"

That got Quinn's attention good. She glanced at the envelope. If she ever did get to meet Beth, did she want to be able to say that she'd seen those pictures, or that she was too much of a coward to even look at them?

That was an easy enough question to answer.

Hands shaking slightly, she opened the flap of the envelope, shaking out three photographs. After a slight hesitation, she picked them up.

Looking at the first one hit her like a punch in the gut. She'd gotten to hold her baby for a few hours at the hospital, but it was almost a blur in her memory. And back then, her child had just looked like a generic baby – tiny, red-faced, unfocused eyes with downy hair. But these pictures…Quinn had seen pictures of herself as a baby, and the baby in these pictures looked almost exactly like Quinn at that age. She'd gotten Quinn's blonde hair and hazel eyes, Puck's nose and ears.

The second one was of Beth – she wasn't just a random-looking baby anymore – asleep in a crib. And the third one was of the complete family – Simon and Julia, the former holding Beth as all three smiled at the camera. Surprisingly, that picture didn't hurt as much as she expected, although a shot of wistfulness shot through her as she saw the woman whom her child recognized as her mother. Her child looked happy.

"She looks like you," Shelby commented, picking up the first picture, smiling at the image.

"Yeah," Quinn said, still preoccupied with the pictures.

"Are you okay?"

Quinn nodded mutely. "I think so." She handed Shelby the other two pictures. "She looks happy, doesn't she?" Quinn asked, looking for reassurance.

"Yes she does," Shelby answered.

The two were quiet for a moment before Quinn broke the silence. "I never got to say thank you. For what you said in the hospital. You were right, I needed to do what was best for her." She glanced back down at the picture, then back up at Shelby. "I did the right thing, right?"

"I think you did."

..

Half an hour later, Quinn was in the middle of telling Shelby about the glee club's rendition of _Push It_ the year before at McKinley's pep rally, much to Shelby's amusement. Ryan would never tell her this kind of story, and it was nice to hear about some of her son's less-than-stellar moments from someone else.

Shelby heard the front door open, and a few seconds later Ryan came into the kitchen. He stopped short when he found his mom and Quinn sitting at the counter, apparently having a coffee chat. "Hi Mom," he said, giving Shelby a one-armed hug before turning to Quinn. "I didn't know you were here," he added. "Not that there's anything wrong with you being here, of course, it's a nice surprise." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, mindful of the fact that Shelby was watching.

Quinn smiled when he sat down on the stool next to her. "Yeah, I was looking for you, actually, and your mom said you went somewhere with your uncle."

"We were just talking about you, actually," Shelby said with a sly smile.

That didn't sound good. "What about me?" Ryan asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing much, just a certain school assembly performance," Shelby said innocently.

"You told her about the _Push It_ performance?" Ryan turned to Quinn accusingly. "Traitor."

Quinn just smiled at him nicely. "You can't do choreography like that and expect it to stay a secret."

"It was pretty spectacular, wasn't it?" Ryan conceded the point.

"To say the least."

Josh came into the kitchen just then. "What was spectacular? And you might you be?" He directed the second question at Quinn.

"Oh, Uncle Josh, this is Quinn Fabray, my girlfriend," Ryan smiled. "Quinn, this is my Uncle Josh."

Josh brightened. "Ah, I've been wondering when I was going to meet you, Ryan's told us quite a bit."

"Has he, now?" Quinn raised an eyebrow in Ryan's direction, and her boyfriend gave her a reassuring smile.

"All good things, of course," Ryan said placatingly.

"I'm sure."

Shelby cut in. "Anyways, we were just talking about how Ryan's glee club did _Push It_ in front of a school assembly last year. Complete with choreography."

"Well, in our defense, it was either that or a performance of _Freak Out_." This caused Shelby to choke on a sip of coffee. "I kid you not," Ryan continued. "That's what Mr. Schue actually wanted to have us sing. I'm pretty sure that would have gone down even worse."

"I hate to admit it, but you're probably right," Quinn conceded.

"_Freak Out_? Seriously?" Josh asked, torn between horror and amusement. Shelby had to agree. Although she wasn't sure what she expected from the teacher who had gotten his team to perform a series of Journey songs at Regionals.

"Mr. Schue has issues with song choice. He seems to think we're still in the 80's," Quinn said dryly.

Ryan scoffed. "I'm pretty sure he's reliving his youth vicariously through the New Directions. Remember that bake sale he got us to hold to pay for the bus?"

"Bake sale?" Shelby asked blankly. "They still have those?"

"I know, right?"

..

After a while Josh had left, and Ryan and Quinn had gone upstairs to Ryan's bedroom, with a stern reminder from Shelby to keep the door open. "Nice room," Quinn observed, looking around a little at Ryan's personal space. She noted the posters on the wall with some amusement. "Figures that you'd have Broadway posters up." She could recognize one from _Wicked_ and one from _Les Miserables_, but the others were shows she'd never heard of.

"Well, you know me."

Yeah, she did. "Have you been to all of them?"

Ryan chuckled. "No, actually, I've only been to _Les Mis_, and that was just last weekend with my grandparents. I've only been to New York once, and it was when I was ten and Leroy was on a business trip. Hiram was out of town too, otherwise Leroy wouldn't have taken me with him."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Ryan said dismissively. "Really. I think I'm getting over it. Over them." He smiled sincerely at her. "You've helped a lot with that. My mom too, of course. And James, in a way." He paused. "Anyways, it doesn't matter that I haven't seen them yet, I will someday. Not the out of production shows, obviously, but the others. And of course, I'll be in quite a few myself." He watched as Quinn sat down on the bed. "What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked curiously.

"Oh," Quinn sighed a bit. "I got a letter in the mail this morning. From the Watersons."

Ryan frowned slightly as he tried to place the name before coming up with the connection. "That's the family you gave Beth to?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah. They sent me a few photos, and I guess I just needed a little push to get me to open them."

"So you haven't seen them yet?"

"I have," Quinn admitted. "I talked with your mom a bit, and I decided I wanted to see the pictures."

"Oh." Ryan wasn't sure what his mom had said to Quinn, but he was perceptive enough to see that there was a bit of similarity between the two situations – his mom and himself, and Quinn and Beth. He shook his head, unsure of what to say. "Well, what does she look like? Does she still look like you?"

Quinn pulled the photos out of her purse, offering them to Ryan, who took them. "Wow," he said. "She looks like you, alright…" Like when he'd seen the baby at the hospital, it was hard to believe that this little human had come from Quinn. The similarity left no doubt, though. "How are you?"

Quinn smiled weakly. "I'm okay, I think. That chat with your mom helped."

"That's good," Ryan said. "I'm not sure how that turned into you telling her about _Push It_, though."

Quinn's smile turned into a smirk. "I'm not really sure, either. I guess we just needed to lighten up a bit."

"And you used that performance, how flattering."

"Hey, your dance moves were very good," Quinn said sneakily, standing up and moving over to him. "I was kind of jealous you were dancing with Tina and not with me. But maybe you could give me a repeat performance." She leaned up to give him a kiss.

Ryan smirked into the kiss. "Maybe that could be arranged." He started to deepen the kiss, and soon the pair found themselves sitting on the bed, Ryan leaning against the bedpost. Ryan pulled back for air. "Maybe we should tone it down a bit," he said breathlessly.

Quinn shook her head. "Not yet," she said sultrily, looking into those brown eyes she loved so much. She kissed his neck and rubbed a hand on his chest, causing him to moan. "Just keep it down." She moved her lips back to his, reveling in the sensation.

Ryan wasn't completely sure how far Quinn was willing to take this, given her reaction at her house the last time they'd had a make-out session. Quinn apparently sensed it, and moved closer to him, telling him she was still good. Ryan tentatively put a hand low on her back, applying some pressure to get her even closer, and Quinn happily moved in.

A few seconds of heavy kissing later, Ryan broke off. The close contact with Quinn was making him really excited. "Quinn, I think we have to stop now," he gasped, moaning as Quinn pressed against him harder. "Come on, my mom could come in at any minute," he pleaded.

Finally Quinn sighed and moved away from Ryan. He was right, Shelby could probably come in any moment now, and she wasn't too eager to explain what was going on. She was on good terms with Ryan's mom right now, wouldn't want to jeopardize that.

The two of them sat there on the bed for a moment, trying to calm down. Just in time, too, because Shelby chose just that moment to pass by the open door. She poked her head inside. "Do you two want to have lunch here?" She received a slightly dazed look from her son, causing her to roll her eyes. Oh, she knew perfectly well what had been going on in there.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Ryan answered. Shelby nodded and left, but not before giving the two a piercing glare that clearly said, 'I'm watching you.' She smiled inwardly in satisfaction when the teenagers gulped and subconsciously moved a little further apart.

Ryan blew out a deep breath. "Close." That was a mood killer.

Quinn agreed, they had probably gotten a bit carried away there. "But fun."

"Oh yes." A few moments later, he spoke again. "Hey, I was talking to Santana the other day, she told me Finn and Kurt are throwing a party in a few days and that I should bring you."

"Oh yeah, she told me about that, Mrs. Hudson and Mr. Hummel are going out of town for the weekend," Quinn said. "Wait, why were you talking to Santana?"

"Just a few things we needed to discuss," Ryan said vaguely. "Anyways, do you want to go? I perfectly understand if you don't want to go with me, the other kids at school don't know about the two of us yet, and maybe you don't want to make it public knowledge yet –"

"Whoa, whoa. I didn't say I didn't want to go," Quinn interrupted.

"So you do?"

Quinn thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah."

A large smile spread across Ryan's face. He'd been sort afraid she wouldn't want to let anyone else know they were together. He wasn't under any illusions; he was still at the bottom of the school's social pyramid, that hadn't changed. In fact, he wasn't completely sure why Santana had told him to come to the party. He'd never been invited to anything before. "Come on."

The pair went downstairs and into the living room, where Shelby was looking through a pile of paperwork with the TV on. "Hi kids," she looked up when Ryan and Quinn entered. "Just a heads up, Ryan, your grandparents are going to be here in a bit for lunch."

Ryan nodded, and Quinn glanced at him quickly. "I should probably go." She didn't want to get in the way of a family gathering. She was pretty sure it wouldn't be like one of her own family reunions, which were laced with pointed barbs in all directions, but it seemed wrong to intrude.

Ryan opened his mouth to argue, but Shelby beat him to it. "No, you should stay," she said encouragingly. "They actually asked when they were going to get to meet you."

Quinn wasn't sure if that made it any better. "I wouldn't want to intrude on your family thing…"

"It's fine, Quinn," Ryan said. "Right mom?"

"I just invited her to stay," Shelby said amusedly. "Of course it's okay."

Quinn hesitated again, before agreeing. "Okay."

"Good." Shelby stood up. "I need to check on lunch, you can stay here. No funny business, I know what you were doing upstairs." She left the living room.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "I swear, she's getting worse lately," he grumbled.

Quinn frowned. "What?" She glanced at spot Shelby had just been occupying before looking back at her boyfriend. "What do you mean, she's getting worse?"

"I mean she's always telling me what to do lately," Ryan complained. "It's always 'Go to bed,' or 'Be home by this time,' or 'Do this,' 'Do that,' it's insane!"

"I'm pretty sure all moms do that."

"Well, it's pissing me off."

"No, pissed off is what you should be if she starts forcing you into chastity clubs and Cheerio practices. I'm pretty sure she's doing normal mom stuff."

"I guess so," Ryan replied grudgingly. "Still. I'm not three years old, I think I should get some say in what I get to do. She found out about that summer homework Mrs. Gage assigned, and she went into nagging-mom mode."

"You know what, never mind that, I'm not ready to meet your grandparents, you could have given me a little warning," Quinn complained.

"What? Don't you want to meet them?"

"Meeting the family is a slightly big deal, Ryan," Quinn said testily.

Ryan was confused. "Didn't you meet Finn's when you were dating?"

"Meeting Finn's family was pretty much his mom feeding me mac and cheese." Quinn didn't get the chance to say anything more because Shelby entered the living room, followed by Tom and Sarah Corcoran.

"Hi, Ryan," Sarah greeted her grandson happily.

"Hi Grams," Ryan responded, giving her a hug. "Hi Grampa."

"Hello, Ryan. You seem to have grown a bit."

"Really?" Ryan said, pleased. "That's great!"

Sarah turned to the slightly uncomfortable girl next to Ryan. "You must be Quinn," she said kindly, holding out a hand, which Quinn shook. "I'm Sarah Corcoran, Ryan's grandmother."

Quinn smiled slightly. "Yeah, I kind of figured that." Tom chuckled.

"What gave it away?" he asked teasingly.

"Probably the fact that he called you Grams and Grampa," Quinn returned easily. It was really easy to feel comfortable with these people, which slightly surprised her given that they'd raised Shelby, who seemed to take pleasure in intimidating other people. "And Ryan's told me a bit about you."

"He's told us about you too," Sarah said.

"Apparently he's been telling everyone."

Sarah chuckled. "Yes, he can be very talkative, can't he?"

"That's an understatement," Quinn answered, with a teasing look at Ryan, who gave her a longsuffering look.

"Yes, well, as flattering as it is, if we're all done talking about me," Ryan said with a touch of sarcasm, "maybe we can go have lunch."

Quinn smirked at him. "Or we can keep talking about you while we have lunch."

Tom laughed, nudging Ryan. "I like her, kiddo."

"So glad you approve," Ryan deadpanned, before looking at his mom. "Please tell me you have lunch ready."

Shelby laughed at him, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "Yes, lunch is ready." She was enjoying not being the subject of her parents' teasing for once. "Let's go."

..

"So, Quinn, you're in Ryan's glee club, right?" Sarah asked, when all five of them were seated around Shelby's dining table.

"Mm-hmm," Quinn nodded, mouth full.

Tom shot Ryan a sly smile. "Is he really as good as he says?" he asked Quinn, chuckling when Ryan choked slightly on his drink. Shelby, who was sitting beside him, gave him a quick thump on the back.

"Now Dad –"

"It's a legitimate question, Shelby," her father said innocently. "She's the first person we've met who's in a position to say how good he is in a singing group."

"Because my opinion isn't valid at all, apparently," Shelby snarked. "I'm just the director of the winning team."

"Yeah, you're no authority at all," Tom teased.

Sarah shot Ryan and Quinn a comforting, yet amused, look. "Don't worry, dears, he's just teasing." She smiled slightly at the indignant look on her grandson's face.

"But yes, he is as good as he says he is," Quinn interjected, smiling when Ryan beamed at her gratefully. Her smile turned slightly mischievous when she added, "Which is saying something, since that ego of his really talks him up a lot." The adults chuckled, while Ryan gave his girlfriend a mock pout.

"Traitor."

"Just honest."

"And mean."

"But you like me anyway."

Ryan didn't really have an answer to that.

..

"I like your grandparents," Quinn commented to her boyfriend as he walked her out after lunch. "Even if you did spring them on me last minute."

"I did not spring them, they sprung themselves," Ryan defended. "But I'm glad you like them. I think they like you too."

Quinn just nodded thoughtfully. She had a lot to think about, what with her talk with Shelby and her lunch with Ryan's grandparents. The immature part of her was jealous that Ryan had such a good family, but the larger part of her that had matured over the past year was just happy for him. He deserved it. And surprisingly, they seemed to be accepting her too.

"See you soon?" Ryan asked, taking her hands in his as they stopped in front of her car.

She nodded. "Yeah." She pressed her lips against his, and Ryan started to deepen the kiss when she pulled back and whispered in his ear, "You do know they're watching us from the window, right?"

"What?" Ryan asked, slightly flustered. He looked toward the window and saw a flash of movement. He smirked. "Let's give them a show, then," he suggested, pulling her close.

..

"Okay, this is weird," Shelby said uncomfortably, pressed against her living room window with her parents watching her son and his girlfriend kissing. "I feel like a voyeur, and that's my kid, it's kind of icky."

"Tell your mom that, she's the one who dragged us here," her father said.

Sarah scoffed. "Oh please, you're curious too. Besides, you're an English teacher and the word you use is _icky_?"

"They know we're watching," Tom murmured before Shelby could retort.

"No," Sarah disagreed, watching as Quinn pulled back from Ryan to whisper something in his ear. Then she saw Ryan look toward their window, and the three drew back as one. "Now they know."

"Oh god, they're doing it on purpose," Shelby complained, looking away after a quick glance. She did not need to see her fifteen-year-old son doing that with his girlfriend.

"Funny, I seem to remember you doing the same thing at seventeen," Tom said, a touch of irritation in his voice as they recalled the time Shelby had noticed her father spying on her and James through the kitchen window. Shelby glared at him.

"Hi guys." All three of them jumped when they heard Ryan's voice from behind them. They hadn't noticed him come in. Ryan smirked slightly at the guilty looks on their faces. "Wasn't that fun?"

"Oh be quiet," Shelby grumbled at him.

* * *

**Hello people, I wanted to have this out a little earlier, but I've been a bit busy with classes and stuff. I should be studying for exams, actually, but I don't want to and therefore we have a new chapter. I didn't realize it's been almost a week since I updated, I just got a nudge to update by a review :)**

**Hope you liked this chapter, sort of my attempt to reconcile the Shelby/Beth/Quinn story arc with my AU, and I thought it could be a good bonding point for Shelby and Quinn. James isn't in this one, but he'll be back in a bit. Comments are welcome, as always, I really like reading your reviews and trying to incorporate some of your ideas into the story, plus some of them make me laugh, like the one by Suburned idiot a couple of chapters ago haha**


	31. Chapter 30

"Mom, I'm going out," Ryan informed Shelby, poking his head into her office where she was sitting, trying to balance the monthly bills.

"Where are you going?" Shelby asked absently glancing up at him before returning to her work.

Ryan shifted slightly, but Shelby didn't notice. "Just out with Quinn and a few friends." He was actually going to meet Quinn, Santana, and Brittney at the Lima Bean before going over to Finn and Kurt's place where Finn was throwing a party. Apparently Burt Hummel and Carole Hudson were going to be out for the night.

"Home by 10:30, okay?"

Ryan sighed, rolling his eyes. "How about 9:00, so we can ensure I don't actually get to do anything?" he snarked.

Shelby glared at him. "Quit it with the attitude."

"Fine," Ryan answered boredly. "Can I go now?"

Shelby really wasn't appreciating his attitude, which had been building up for a week or so. She knew she'd have to deal with it soon, but not now. "Fine. Go. Be free."

"As free as I can with a curfew."

"Yes, and before I change my mind," Shelby said warningly.

..

A few minutes after Ryan entered the Lima Bean, Quinn came in with Brittney. "Hi," Ryan greeted, giving Brittney a wave and Quinn a quick kiss.

"Hi." Quinn smiled at him, before noticing that he seemed a bit off. "You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, just some stuff with my mom."

"Hi Ryan, Hi Quinn," Brittney said happily. Brittney was actually pretty good at reading other people, even if she didn't show it. And she liked Ryan, he was one of the few people who didn't mock her or call her stupid. She knew Santana liked him too, even if she'd never admit it.

Quinn smirked. "Did she nag you about your summer homework again?"

"There's summer homework?" Brittney wondered.

Ryan and Quinn both looked at her. "Yeah, there's some for History and some for English…oh," Quinn stopped, realizing that the English homework would be submitted to Shelby.

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. "Oh."

"What's 'oh'?" Santana asked abruptly, tugging out the chair next to Brittney and sitting down. "Hi Britt. So, what's up?" she prodded.

"Did you know there's summer homework?" Brittney asked her.

"Uh, yeah, the English and History crap they gave out on the last day," Santana said confusedly. "We talked about that, remember? Last week?"

"Oh, _that_ homework."

Santana looked at the other two table occupants. "So that's what the oh'ing was about? Homework?"

"Not really," Quinn said. She and Ryan shared a glance. "Mrs. Gage is retiring."

"She is? Awesome, that old toad gave me detention after Snixx came out and bitched at her. She totally has it in for me, she never gives me anything higher than a B-."

"Maybe that's because you do all the homework ten minutes before going to class," Ryan grumbled.

"Shut up. But that's good, right?" Santana said. "This way maybe we don't have to do the homework."

Quinn and Ryan exchanged another look. "Oh, I'm pretty sure we still have to do it," Quinn answered. "Ryan's mom found out about it and she's apparently enforcing the homework."

"His mom?" Santana asked, confused. "What does the troll's mom have to do with this?"

Ryan smiled weakly. "Guess who our new English teacher is?"

"The Vocal Adrenaline terror is going to be our English teacher? How did that happen?" Santana voiced incredulously.

"You know what, maybe we should talk about something other than homework," Ryan suggested huffily. "Who's going to be at this party, anyways?"

Quinn rolled her eyes at Ryan. He was the one who wanted Shelby to teach at McKinley, no use complaining about it now.

"Most of the glee club is coming," Brittney chimed in. "I saw Artie yesterday, he said he's going. Mike and Tina are at a dance camp so they won't be there."

"Knowing Finn, he's probably invited some of the football guys," Santana added. "Don't worry, it'll be fine."

..

The group of four arrived at the Hudson-Hummel residence a little after eight that evening. The house was already half-filled with teenagers, some loud music blaring from the radio. "Come on, let's go find Finn or Kurt," Quinn suggested as they entered the house. Brittney and Santana had disappeared into the house, leaving Quinn and Ryan together.

"Okay," Ryan agreed, looking around. He wasn't really sure what was supposed to be happening, he hadn't actually been to a high school party yet since he'd never been invited to one. He and Quinn passed by the living room, which had a bunch of people watching a football game on TV. They found Kurt in the kitchen with Mercedes and Artie. "Hi guys."

"Hi Ryan, Quinn," Kurt said. "Want anything? We've got punch, juice, and a few more cans of beer."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you get that?"

"Puck brought it."

"Figures," Ryan commented. "I'll take a pass on the alcohol, though, it's bad for the vocal chords." Judging by the other teens' laughter, they'd already had a few.

"Same here," said Quinn, though for different reasons completely. She didn't want a repeat of what happened the last time she'd been drinking.

"More for us," Artie shrugged.

"Hey, Finn's actually looking for you, Quinn," Artie mentioned. "He was asking around if you were coming tonight."

"Yeah," Kurt nodded. "I'm pretty sure he wants to get back together."

Quinn felt Ryan stiffen imperceptibly beside her. "Well, that's not happening," she said irritably. She was glad he was over what she'd done to him earlier this year, but she didn't want him back. She had Ryan now.

"Hold up," Mercedes interrupted, gesturing between Ryan and Quinn. "Are you two…together?"

Ryan looked uncertainly at Quinn, wondering how she wanted to play this. He quickly got his response when Quinn grabbed his hand, squeezing it softly. "Yeah, we are," she said. "Problem?"

Kurt and Mercedes glanced at each other in disbelief for a moment. Artie was just stared at them before he broke out of his surprise. "That's cool, I guess?"

Mercedes gawped for a moment more before nodding slowly. "Yeah…it's just, weird, y'know? I mean, you're…you know…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryan asked warily.

"What we mean is," Kurt cut in, "that we never thought this pairing would happen. I would have thought that Suzy Pepper with Azimio would happen long before Quinn Fabray with Ryan Berry. It's…"

"…Weird," Mercedes ended, before shrugging. "But whatever, you know? As long as you two are down with it," she said doubtfully.

"We are," Quinn said, as Ryan wrapped an arm around her, smiling.

"It's sort of like the world is ending," Artie observed. "What's next, Puck and Lauren Zizes?"

Mercedes laughed. "No way in hell is that happening."

"But let's face it, you do look sort of cute together," Kurt said. Mercedes nodded, the two of them did look nice together. And there was something different about Ryan too, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. He seemed more relaxed, she guessed.

Ryan smiled. "Yes, we do, don't we?" He cocked his head. "So you guys are okay with us?" He wasn't sure what exactly he was expecting, but he didn't think everyone would be this okay with him and Quinn. He knew he wasn't particularly well-liked.

"Yeah, if it makes you two happy, then it's not really our business," said Mercedes, causing Quinn to give her a surprised yet grateful look. Mercedes and Kurt were known for their forceful opinions about other people's relationships.

"Finn's gonna be bummed out, though," chuckled Artie. Then Santana came into the kitchen.

"Hey, who invited Jewfro? He's in your living room," she informed Kurt. Ryan rolled his eyes. The creepy student journalist seemed to find his way into everything.

Kurt didn't look too concerned. "Finn's there, right? This whole soiree is his idea, he can deal with whatever walks in."

"Uh, no, Finn isn't there, and last I saw some of the football jocks were about to give the creeper a wedgie on those coat hooks you've got on the wall."

"Excuse me," Kurt said with an forced smile, before going off to find Finn.

Mercedes and Artie followed him, leaving Ryan, Quinn, and Santana by themselves. "Did I hear right?" Santana smirked. "Finnept finally got his two brain cells together and figure out he wanted you back?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Mind your own business." Ryan shot Santana a look, reminding her that she'd promised to keep out of their relationship.

The Latina held her hands up. "All right, all right, just saying, time for you to tell him she's all yours, Berry."

"It's Corcoran," he said testily.

Santana looked at him closely. "Right." He hadn't quite explained what had gone on earlier on in the summer, she just knew it hadn't gone particularly great with his dads. "Whatever. You're gonna have to make _that_ –" she gestured vaguely at him and Quinn "– whatever that is, really clear, otherwise Dumbo's not gonna get it."

"Noted," Quinn said drily. "Are you sure you should be having that?" she gestured at the beer can in Santana's hand. "Isn't your…thing…tomorrow?" She was one of the very few people who knew Santana was planning to get a certain voluntary cosmetic surgery performed. Santana had told her last week, and Quinn had made it clear in no uncertain terms that she disapproved.

"Nope, that's day after tomorrow." Santana chugged down a third of the can. "Besides, you mind your own business too."

Ryan looked between the two curiously. "Anyone want to tell me –"

The two girls spoke in unison. "No."

"All right, then."

..

"I have no idea what's wrong now," Shelby grumbled on the phone to her mom. "We were fine last week, but now he's having all these mood swings again; it's like when he first got here again. One minute he's fine, then the next he's moody and will barely talk to me. Only now he's backtalking and rolling his eyes more."

_"Did you try asking him about it?"_ Sarah asked.

"Yes, but like I said he won't talk to me. Either that or he sasses back."

_"Like you, then."_

"_No._ You're not helping."

Sarah thought for a minute. _"No, you're right. That actually sounds more like your boyfriend."_

"Huh." Shelby considered it, and now that she gave it some thought, her mom was right. James had been more of the type to talk back, which got him into trouble quite a bit at school. "I guess you're right – wait, James is not my boyfriend!"

Shelby could just hear her mom smirking over the phone. _"Could've fooled me. But to get back to the point, maybe something's troubling Ryan. Or maybe Josh is right, maybe he's starting to push you to see how far he can take it. You should set some boundaries."_

"I have boundaries," Shelby argued. "He's got a curfew, and a bedtime, and he knows not to push me, his whole glee club is scared of me for goodness' sakes."

_"No, they're scared of Coach Corcoran, and I'm sure Ryan is too. But I think maybe he's getting past that. During your first meeting you were the bitchy hard-ass coach of the rival team –"_

"– Really feeling the love here –"

_"– but he's been getting to know you as his mom, not his coach. It's going to be different."_

"Maybe," Shelby acknowledged dubiously. She really hoped Ryan wasn't going to push her too far, but she wasn't banking on it. Her kid was too much like her.

_"Where is he, anyways?"_

"He went out with Quinn." She checked the clock. 9:55. "He should be home soon, I told him to be home by 10:30."

Sarah started to say something, then stopped. Never mind, Shelby could figure it out by herself, she thought. Instead she asked, _"Speaking of your son's girlfriend, I rather liked her."_

"I guess she's okay."

"_Just okay?"_ Sarah prodded.

Shelby sighed. "Fine, she's nice enough, I guess I can see why Ryan likes her," she admitted. Sarah chuckled, knowing that was pretty much a glowing endorsement coming from her daughter. "We sort of had a bonding moment the day you came over." Shelby told her mom about her chat with Quinn.

Sarah was quiet for a moment. _"Poor girl. I'm glad you were able to help her."_

"Yeah." Shelby couldn't imagine going through that without her family. Quinn not only didn't have her parents' support, her dad had actually kicked her out. Bastard.

_"Anyways, I should go now. Good luck with Ryan. Remember what I said. Boundaries."_

"Okay."

_"I love you."_

"I love you too."

..

Back at the party, Quinn, Ryan, and a few of the other glee club kids had gotten into a game of poker downstairs in Kurt's room while Finn and his football buddies and other friends were busy playing video games and being generally rowdy. Quinn hadn't talked to Finn yet, actually, since he was spending his time with the other jocks, and Quinn had zero interest in going upstairs to the land of cheap beer and marathon _Call of Duty_.

To everyone's surprise, Ryan was cleaning them all out, even though he swore up and down that it was his first time playing the game. Quinn suspected it was because his show face was so good the others couldn't tell if he was bluffing or not. Plus he was good at spotting tells.

"Okay, I'm out, I'm out," Santana gave up, throwing her cards down as Ryan pulled the pile of pretzels into his corner. "This is wrong, I play all the time with my cousins, and I've never lost this bad."

"How are you doing that? Kurt demanded.

Ryan shrugged. "Just one of those things, I guess," he said. He wasn't really sure why he was winning either. Checking his watch, he saw that it was just closing on 11. Oh well.

Santana looked at the time too. "We gotta split, me and Britt need to be home soon."

Quinn glanced at Ryan. "We'll come with," she decided. Ryan nodded. It was getting pretty late, after all.

"What time do you need to be home?" Santana questioned.

"10:30," Ryan answered casually, causing Quinn to goggle at him.

"It's almost 11," she said slowly.

"It's fine," her boyfriend answered dismissively.

Santana smirked. "Wow, you're boy's turning into a rebel, Q," she said slyly. "Snixx approves."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Whatever." Her curfew was 11:30, and she didn't want to mess with her mom right now. Also, Shelby Corcoran was not to be underestimated. She gave off a similar vibe to Sue Sylvester. Shelby didn't spew insults with every sentence, but Quinn could just tell it wouldn't be pretty if you made her mad. "Let's go."

The four of them went upstairs, only to come face to face with Finn, who lit up at the sight of Quinn. "Hey, I didn't know you were here!" he exclaimed. "I wanted to talk to you."

Quinn looked at Ryan, who had an irritated look on his face. "Finn – "

"It'll just take a second," Finn insisted, pulling Quinn into the kitchen.

"Well, whacha gonna do?" Santana asked Ryan, raising an eyebrow expectantly, half yelling over the blaring music coming from the living room.

"Stop that," Ryan grumbled. "I know Quinn isn't going back to that doofus, she's probably just letting him down easy."

"If you say so," Santana shrugged.

"Hey, let's go get something to drink on the way home," Brittney suggested, dragging Santana off to the living room and leaving Ryan in the hallway. He debated following them, before deciding to go follow his girlfriend into the kitchen.

Unfortunately he was blocked by none other than Karofsky and Azimio. "Hey, loser," Karofsky sneered. Ryan eyed them a little warily, wrinkling his nose a bit. It looked and smelled like the two had had a few beers. "Saw your daddy – one of your daddies – out in town today," he said mockingly.

"Yeah, that's right. Saw your fairy dad coming out of the Lima Bean earlier with another guy," Azimio added jeeringly. "Looks like somebody's getting' some on the side. Guess they're even worse than everbody thinks."

Ryan stiffened angrily. "That's absolutely none of your business," he answered scathingly. This was not a topic he wanted to talk about, much less with these morons. He had no idea what either of his dads were doing, hadn't seen them since the courthouse, but he didn't want anything to do with it.

"Sure it is, ain't nobody want to see that kind of crap in public," Azimio snarled.

"It's a free country," Ryan countered. "If you don't like it, don't look." He wasn't really sure why he was defending Hiram and Leroy. He didn't even like them anymore. Maybe it was some sort of leftover reflex from all those years he'd been taunted about his unorthodox family.

Karofsky advanced on him. "Or maybe people like your dads should just stop," he growled over the loud music.

"Or maybe you should just get over yourself," Ryan retorted, standing his ground. "Maybe you're just jealous they're brave enough to be themselves while you can't!" He started to push through the two large jocks.

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. "Shut up!" Karofsky roared, grabbing him. Ryan, surprised by the other boy's sudden rage, wasn't able to ward off the fist that came hurtling toward his face, and he reeled back in pain. Karofsky didn't stop yet, though; he grabbed the smaller boy again by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "You don't know anything," he snarled furiously.

..

_Five minutes ago_

"Finn, I really don't want to talk right now, I need to get home," Quinn said, glancing back over her shoulder.

"It'll just take a second." Finn led her into the kitchen, where the music was marginally quieter. "Listen, I've been thinking over the past couple of weeks, and I really think we should get back together," he said convincingly. "I know you're sorry about what you did to me, and I really like you."

"Finn…"

"You could get your spot on the Cheerios back when school starts up, and it can be like before," Finn went on, taking her hand, bending down slightly to look her in the eyes.

Quinn didn't meet his gaze though, and she gently took her hand back. "Finn, I can't."

"What? Why not?" Finn was confused, he obviously hadn't thought she'd say no. "We're supposed to be together, I'm the quarterback and you're going to be the head cheerleader again –"

"I don't want to go out with you. And besides, I'm not available anymore." Quinn had long since figured out that with Finn, it was best to say things straight; he found it a little hard when she said things indirectly.

Realization passed over Finn's face, and he frowned in frustration. "What? Who is it? Is it Puck? I can't believe you'd go back to him, he's not –"

"It's not Puck," Quinn cut in, looking at him straight. "It's Ryan."

"Ryan?" Finn asked in confusion. "You're with Ryan Berry?" he asked again, even more incredulously. He started to get upset. "Why him, he's an arrogant spoiled brat!"

"No, he's not," Quinn said sharply. "He's really good to me, and he makes me really happy."

"But –"

"No, Finn. The two of us are done, okay?" Just then they heard a loud thump outside the kitchen door. "What was that?" The two of them hurried outside, only to find Dave Karofsky pinning Ryan to the wall of the hallway by his collar. "Oh god…Finn, do something!"

"Karofsky, stop!" Finn finally went into action a moment later, pulling the livid footballer off of Ryan and pushing him back.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Quinn yelled at Karofsky, before going over to her coughing boyfriend.

Karofsky pushed Finn off of him. "Back off, Hudson." He straightened his letterman jacket, swaying a bit drunkenly. "You better watch yourself, Berry," he spat out before swaggering off.

"Ryan?" Quinn asked worriedly. "You okay?"

"Yeah," the boy wheezed out. Karofsky's grab had started to choke him before Finn had pulled him off. "Just – just – a bit dizzy –"

Santana came on the scene a few seconds later. "What the hell? I leave you for two seconds…" She helped Quinn pull Ryan into the kitchen, where thankfully the music wasn't as loud. They deposited him in a chair.

Quinn finally managed to get a good look at Ryan's face, sighing as she saw the split lip. "Finn, do you have any ice?"

"Yeah." Finn turned to the freezer, ruffling around before pulling out a few ice cubes. Quinn pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket, wrapped of the ice and put it against Ryan's face.

"_Ow_."

"What happened?" Santana prodded. "I left you there for three minutes, tops. What did you say to that psycho?"

"Why do you automatically assume it was my fault?" Ryan grumbled, slightly muffled by the ice Quinn was pressing against his mouth.

"To be honest, you annoy a lot of people when you talk," Finn offered, earning a glare from the other three members of the conversation. He was still in a bit of shock from what Quinn had told him. Ryan Berry? The kid was a pompous jerk, sure he had a great voice, but he wasn't really anything special apart from that. He was the school loser!

"I didn't do anything," Ryan complained. "Those meatheads were the ones who came out of nowhere and started messing with me."

"Okay, I think we should all just go," Quinn decided.

Kurt came into the kitchen. "Finn, one of your fellow football cavemen just puked in the ficus. You need to fix this."

"Yeah, we're going," Santana agreed. "Good luck getting all this cleaned up, Hudson, someone already threw up in the living room, and the vase in the hallway's broken." She smirked as they left Finn with a stricken look on his face. He really wanted to talk to Quinn and her new _boyfriend_ – he scowled at the thought – but first he had to deal with what was going on outside.

..

"You sure you're okay?" Quinn asked a few minutes later as she pulled up a couple of houses away from Ryan's house in order to try to keep Shelby from waking up. _Not that it would work_, Quinn thought privately.

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, though I'm not looking forward to explaining this," he gestured at his split lip, wincing when he pulled the handkerchief away to find it red with blood.

"Good, 'cause that's not the only think you're going to be explaining." Quinn glanced pointedly at the car radio, displaying the time – 11:26. "You can keep that," she added, motioning to the handkerchief.

"Thanks," Ryan deadpanned. Quinn gave him a kiss on the cheek, not wanting to make him start bleeding again. "See you soon?" he asked.

"Yeah, provided neither of us are grounded," she quipped.

"Thanks for the ride." Ryan exited the car, watching as Quinn drove off before walking towards his house. He was banking on Shelby having gone to bed before he got home, but his hopes were dashed upon seeing the living room lights open. Shit. He went in the house, being careful to keep quiet in the hopes that Shelby was upstairs. No such luck, though.

"Hello, Ryan." Shelby gazed at him levelly from her seat in the living room where she'd been reading a novel. "Nice time out?" If she was surprised about his face she didn't let on.

"Yeah, it was good." Ryan shifted a little, glancing at the stairs before looking back at his mother. "I'm just going upstairs, it's been a long day…" he trailed off. Maybe he could still get away with it, like with his dads.

"Oh, why? I mean, it's almost midnight, you can stay up a little more to chat with me, right?" Shelby asked nicely.

Ryan cringed slightly. His mom was never like this normally, and all his instincts were telling him to run. "Uh, no, that's okay, how about we chat tomorrow?" He started to back away slowly.

"Stop right there." Ryan froze, hearing the danger in Shelby's voice. Shelby stood up, walking over to him slowly. "What time did I tell you to be home?"

"10:30."

"And what time is it now?"

"…11:32."

Shelby nodded. "Remind me, is that before or after your curfew?"

Ryan visibly gulped. "After."

"Is your phone broken?"

"What?" Ryan gaped at his mom, before pulling out his phone...oh. Five text messages and four missed calls. He was going to die, wasn't he? He shrank back as Shelby advanced on him. "Okay, I'm sorry about that, really, but the music was really loud – we were playing poker – there were a lot of people –" _Dear lord, someone just kill him now._

"Where were you? The truth now, I'd hate for you to be in even more trouble," Shelby said icily, finally stopping her son from digging himself deeper and deeper into the hole he'd created.

After debating with himself for a moment, Ryan answered. "Party at Finn Hudson's," he mumbled.

"Alcohol?"

Ryan's head snapped up, relieved that he had one good thing to say for himself. "I didn't have any."

"Good for you. What's the story with your face?" Shelby put her left hand on his chin, tilting his face to inspect the cut, surreptitiously taking a sniff. Fortunately for him it looked like he was telling the truth about the alcohol.

"Some kid hit me." He shook his mom's hand off.

"Care to tell me who or why?"

"Not really."

"Tough, it's not really optional."

After a slight hesitation, Ryan decided to answer. "Dave Karofsky. He said some…stuff…I didn't like, and I answered back so he hit me."

"I don't suppose this was one of the guys I saw you talking with at the mall?" Her son's silence was enough to confirm Shelby's hunch. She nodded. "What happened next?"

"Finn Hudson pulled him off me, then we left."

"We?"

Ryan sighed. "Quinn, Santana Lopez, and Brittney Pierce."

Shelby nodded again, before gesturing at his face. "Did you put ice on that?"

"Yes."

"Good." Shelby stared impassively at him for a minute. "You're grounded. No phone, laptop, iPod, TV. Music room's off limits, too. Since it's your first offence, you're getting three days."

"What?! For being out an hour late?!" Hiram and Leroy had never grounded him for something as stupid as staying out too late! Yelled at him, sure, when they managed to catch him, but that hadn't happened in over a year, and at least they just yelled and it was over in ten minutes.

"Four days, then," Shelby bit out, glaring at her son. "Any more objections?" Ryan opened his mouth, gearing up for another argument, but she cut him off. "You should be reminded that James is coming this weekend, which is why I've limited your grounding to four days. I don't want to ruin the weekend, but don't think I won't if you force my hand." That shut him up. He didn't want to be grounded during James' visit. Shelby continued. "The way you've been acting this week, you should be glad it's not more."

Ryan struggled with himself for a moment before deciding not to push his angry mother any further. He clenched his jaw angrily. He wasn't a kid, he hadn't had a real curfew since he was thirteen! "Fine," he ground out. "Can I go now?"

"Excuse me?" Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Remember who you're talking to? Do you really want to start an argument with me at midnight after being caught sneaking back into the house after curfew?"

To her satisfaction, Ryan shrank back slightly. He wasn't completely immune to her yet. "No, ma'am."

"Good choice." Shelby held out her hand. "Phone and iPod, now. I already took your laptop."

The items were surrendered with a halfhearted glare. "How about now?" he asked sullenly.

"Yes, you can go now." Shelby watched as her child stalked off in the direction of his room, before flopping back on the couch with a sigh. She'd been worried out of her mind when he hadn't come home by eleven, and it only increased when the boy didn't answer any of her calls. In the grand scheme of things, this wasn't really a big offense. By next year she'd probably have to deal with him sneaking her car to the next state.

* * *

**Hi everyone, I thought I'd get this out since I've finished with my exams. Glad you liked the last chapter, I still find it very cool that so many people are reading this and waiting for updates. **

**Anyways, answers to some reviewer questions: I have in fact considered Quinn going back to the Cheerios, but not Ryan joining the football team. It's a possibility, but we'll have to see. **

**I'm not entirely sure how far I plan to take this fic, but I've already started thinking about how to tweak the second and third seasons to my AU. I guess it also depends on how many people stick with me. Definitely going into the second season, though.**

**On that note, I'm still debating on what to do with the second season. There was the whole drama with Sam and Quinn, and I'm not sure how I'm going to work that out. Sam's good as a character, and as someone pointed out, he could be a good friend to Ryan. Kind of awkward though if that whole Quinn/Sam thing goes through. Do you guys have any preferences or other ideas?**

**Hmmm, what else…I can't think of anything else right now, so I hope you liked this chapter, next one will be up by Friday at the latest. Leave comments, questions, suggestions, whatever, in the review box, and I'll see you next time.**


	32. Chapter 31

The next day dawned bright and early and to her displeasure, Shelby also decided to rise bright and early. She had a good reason though. "Where do you think you're going?"

Ryan stopped dead in his tracks on the way to the front door. "Out for a run?" he tried. His tone made it obvious that he didn't expect to get anywhere, though.

"I don't think so, kid. You're stuck here until Saturday morning."

Huffing angrily, Ryan turned around to stomp back to his room. He turned back to Shelby. "You should know that you're disrupting my morning routine, which may prove detrimental to my sleeping and exercise patterns. As a mother that's quite irresponsible of you."

"I'm sure you'll live."

"Also, starting now until the end of my grounding, I'm not talking to you."

"Noted."

"I don't know what you expect me to do, stuck here in the house for four whole days," the teenager grumbled.

"Try that homework I know you have," Shelby shot back. "And I thought you weren't speaking to me. Strangely enough, your mouth is still moving," she sniped at him. If he wanted a verbal spar, fine. "Or, if you've got energy to burn, you can go clean my kitchen. Your choice."

Ryan glared at her again before turning sharply and returning to his room. Shelby sighed, before deciding to just go ahead and make breakfast. This was going to be a long four days.

..

"_So, how's life?"_ Sarah Corcoran asked with a smirk when she called Shelby later that afternoon.

"Miserable. Guess what your grandson did now. Wait…" Shelby narrowed her eyes, realizing something. "You already know, don't you?" she accused. Her suspicions were confirmed by her mother's laughter. "How?"

"_Oh, dear, when you mentioned that you told your darling boy to be back by 10:30 it was obvious he wasn't going to follow,"_ Sarah chortled.

"You couldn't have sent me a warning, could you?" Shelby asked sarcastically.

"_It's all part and parcel of becoming a parent to a teenager. Who am I to deprive you of such an experience?"_

"You're evil."

"_Not as evil as you. What time did he come home? If Ryan came home before midnight then he's better than you. You came waltzing into the house at two in the morning when you were sixteen, if you'll remember."_

"That's…different…" Shelby trailed off.

"_What did you do?"_ Sarah asked curiously.

"He's grounded until Friday."

"_Four days? I remember grounding you for a week."_

Shelby rolled her eyes before sighing. "I guess the honeymoon is over, isn't it?" she said rhetorically.

"_I think so,"_ Sarah answered. "_He's done being on his best behavior for you. And if you and James are anything to go by, you're going to need a shitload of patience, my dear."_

"Oh joy."

The next couple of days passed agonizingly slowly for both Ryan and Shelby. The house was large, but apparently not large enough for the two of them for a four-day confinement, and most of Ryan's time was spent in his room. The rest was spent sniping with his mother. At around nine in the morning on the third day of the grounding, they heard a knock on the front door.

"I'll get it," Ryan yelled out, almost running to the front door. He may not know who it was, but after two days with no human contact besides his mother – whom he was still quite annoyed with – he would take anyone. Except maybe Hiram, or Leroy, or…this guy. He opened the front door, only to find none other than Jesse St. James standing outside. Resisting the urge to slam the door in his face, he just asked, "Yes?"

"What are you doing here?" Jesse asked, confused.

Ryan bristled at that. "What am _I_ doing here? I live here, last I checked. What are _you_ doing here?"

Jesse shook himself slightly. He supposed it wasn't really any of his business, but he couldn't stop himself. "Since when do you live here?"

"That's none of your business," Ryan answered scathingly. He was still quite angry with the older boy for the egging incident. "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to Shelby," Jesse said. "You know, she was my teacher for four years, I wanted to talk with her before I left Lima."

Ryan felt a twinge of resentment at the reminder that this smug, arrogant jerk had known Shelby for longer than Ryan had. "Fine. I'll get her."

He closed the door with a sharp click, leaving Jesse standing on the porch. He went to his mom's study, taking his time. He knew it was childish and petty but he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. He knocked on the door before leaning in. "Mom, it's for you," he told her curtly.

"Who is it?" Shelby asked a little irately. She was really getting sick of her kid's attitude, and he wouldn't talk to her about what was wrong. Oh, she'd tried, but he was really wearing on her patience.

"It's St. James."

"Jesse?" Shelby asked in some surprise. "Where is he? Did you tell him to come in?"

"I didn't really see the need."

Shelby shot her son a glare before standing up. "You left him on the porch?" She stood up and went outside. Ryan went up to his room, mood darkened by the unwelcome – at least to him – visitor. He sat down at his desk, flicking through a novel.

A while later, Shelby entered his room, looking irritated. "That was really rude," she informed her son, crossing her arms. "I thought you had better manners than to leave a guest, even an unexpected one, outside."

"I was rude?" Ryan asked incredulously. "He's the one who just showed up demanding what I was doing here!"

"He was probably just surprised," Shelby said to him as he turned back to the book he was reading. "He's been here a few times, and he didn't know you'd moved in with me."

"What did he want here, anyways?" Ryan asked, the very picture of nonchalance as he flipped through a few pages.

"He just wanted to say goodbye before he moved to LA for college," Shelby explained, irritation growing when her son stayed seemingly indifferent to her.

"Good for him," Ryan commented sarcastically. "Good riddance," he added under his breath. Unfortunately Shelby heard him.

Finally having had enough of her kid's attitude, Shelby picked the book out of his hands and tossed it onto the desk, resisting the urge to smack him around the head with it.

"Hey!" Ryan scowled at her, getting up off the chair, only to be the recipient of two hard swats to his backside. "Ow! What the hell?!" That earned him another swat.

Shelby glared at him. "First, don't take that tone with me. I've let it slide the past couple of weeks, but I don't take it from my students, and I definitely won't take it from my own kid. Second, you better watch your language around me. I know you don't like Jesse, but the least you could do is be polite."

"Fine," Ryan said angrily, rubbing the spot where Shelby had gotten him. In the back of his mind he was wondering how she could hit that hard without breaking her hand. "I will be polite to your favorite star pupil next time we meet. Whenever that is, it'll be too soon for me."

"Okay, I've pretty much had it with you," Shelby told her son sharply. "Now what is your real problem with Jesse?"

"You mean besides the fact that he smashed an egg on my face in McKinley's parking lot?"

"I know he did that, but I already made sure he was appropriately punished for that. And that was over three months ago, you shouldn't hold a grudge."

"Fine," Ryan bit out. "Are we done?"

"No." Shelby studied her son, who still wasn't meeting her gaze. "Look at me," she ordered. He did so unwillingly, and she noticed something in his eyes. "There's something else. What is it?"

"It's nothing, okay? I promise I will be nice to Boy Wonder if we ever encounter each other again. Let's just move on."

This time Shelby caught a slight quaver in his voice, detectable only due to her years spent giving vocal lessons. "Are you jealous of him for some reason?"

Ryan's expression morphed into frustration, and he shot up from the bed. "Yes, okay?! Yes, I'm jealous and I don't think it's fair that he's gotten to spend more time with you than I have. I'm jealous that he's your favorite student and everybody knows that he is. And I'm still mad at him, because he almost ruined everything!"

Shelby sat there in shocked silence, surprised at the teenager's outburst. She couldn't quite understand the last sentence, though. "What do you mean, he almost ruined everything?"

"That egging crap he and the rest of your team pulled! That fight we had afterwards! I almost – I almost gave up on us, I thought I'd pushed you away, and it was his fault! None of that would have happened if he hadn't done that juvenile prank." His voice cracked a bit. "If you hadn't come the next day I would have given up, I thought you didn't want me anymore. I thought I'd screwed up completely." He gulped. "I wouldn't have you, or – or James – and I'd still be stuck back there with _them_!"

Shelby was still frozen, shocked at what he was hearing. All her frustration with the boy dissipated as she finally understood what was wrong. She stepped in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. "Okay. Okay, I get it. Now you need to listen to me." She waited until she had his full attention. "What happened after that prank, we got through it. It turned out fine. You didn't mess anything up, got it?"

She waited until Ryan nodded. "I was furious with Jesse too when I found out what he did, but we need to get past what happened, because it's over." She paused and thought about what else he had said, and how she was supposed to address it. "You're right, he has spent more time with me, and we did become pretty close over his four years in VA. But that doesn't matter," she continued as Ryan looked away. "You're my son, you're more important to me than anyone, any day, understand? So you don't need to be jealous of Jesse. Okay?"

Ryan nodded stiffly. Shelby sighed, knowing she still wasn't getting through to him. She looked at him sadly, before something clicked. "He's not a replacement for you, you know." There. She saw something, another break in his mask. "Maybe I do have a soft spot for Jesse. He's a very good performer, after all, and he's a good kid, when he's not throwing food products at other people. But again, it doesn't matter," she said firmly. "Yes, Jesse and I are close. But at the end of the day, he's just one of my students, and I'm just one in a long list of teachers he's had. I'm proud of what he's accomplished because he was my student. But you need to understand that you're my son, and I'm even prouder of you. You're irreplaceable. You got that?"

At last, she saw her child's face finally collapse for a second before he threw himself at her in a hug. Shelby quickly wrapped her arms around him, running a hand soothingly over his hair. She pulled him over to sit down on the bed.

Ryan just clung to his mom for a few more moments. That was exactly it, the reason he was so jealous of Jesse St. James. He'd seen him and Shelby talking a few times before, seen them hugging when they'd won first place at Regionals. He knew it was stupid, but part of him couldn't help but feel like Shelby had replaced him with Jesse. And it was such a massive, overwhelming relief for her to say that Ryan was irreplaceable.

"Are you good now?" Shelby asked. When he nodded, she cleared her throat. "All that aside, I'm still not happy about your attitude," she told the teenager sternly. "I'll overlook your behavior this morning, but don't let me catch you being that rude to anyone again, got it?"

"Got it," Ryan said quietly.

"And you don't yell at me, okay? I'm the parent here. And like I told you, I don't take it from my students, and I won't take it from you either."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Shelby looked her son in the eye. "Now, we're going to talk about the past week. Neither of us is leaving until everything's out in the open. What's been going on with you lately?"

Ryan looked away. "Nothing, I'm fine."

Shelby sighed. She was quite sick of that answer. "I know you're not fine. Why won't you just talk to me?" she asked in frustration. "Did I do something?" A touch of dejection entered her voice. "You won't talk to me, you've been disrespectful lately –"

"It's not –" Ryan faltered, folding into himself, leaning his arms on his lap. "It's – I don't know. It's just –" He struggled for a while, not sure how to say what he wanted to say. He'd never had to do this with Leroy and Hiram. He didn't know how. "I love living with you, I do. It's so much better than before. But…"

"But…" Shelby prompted, eager to get to the root of the problem.

"You're too controlling!" Ryan finally burst out. "That's it!"

"Excuse me?"

Ryan struggled again, trying to express what he was feeling. "Like – like the curfew," he said slowly. "You set it at 10:30 and you wouldn't budge. I haven't had a curfew since I was thirteen, and nothing bad ever happened. And I don't understand why I need a curfew in the first place!" He looked at his mother. "I can take care of myself, I've been doing it for years, and it's just making me insane that you don't think I can."

Shelby sat there looking at him as she processed, things finally clicking into place. She should have thought of it sooner. Ryan wasn't used to having a parent around to set boundaries. He'd pretty much spent years doing whatever he wanted to do. "Okay. I think I get it. And it's not that I don't think you can take care of yourself. In fact I think you're quite a bit more mature than a lot of kids your age." Certainly more than she had been at fifteen. "But you're still a teenager, and I'm your mom. It's my job to take care of you, and it's yours to just be a kid for a little while longer. I'm responsible for you, it's my job to set boundaries."

"I know," Ryan sighed.

"And for someone who claims to be grown up, you've been acting pretty childishly lately," she continued. "You cannot just go off like that without telling me where you are first, I was really worried. Even more so when you didn't answer my calls. The curfew is there for a reason; I don't want you out that late."

"It still sucks."

"For both of us, kid. I don't know what I'm doing," Shelby said morosely. "I'm trying."

"I know," Ryan said again. "I'm sorry. I know I said I'd try too, and I guess I haven't been doing a very good job. I'll try harder. I promise."

Shelby nodded. "I will too." She gave her kid another hug.

"For what it's worth though, I think you're doing a great. At being a mom, I mean." Ryan smiled slightly, glancing furtively at his mom. "Moms are supposed to drive their kids crazy, right?"

Shelby let out a laugh. "Right."

They sat there holding each other quietly for a minute. "I'm sorry," Ryan said softly against Shelby's shoulder. "I didn't know you were serious about being back by 10:30."

"Why not? I'm pretty sure I don't say things I don't mean," said Shelby.

"Because Leroy and Hiram used to say the same thing. 'Back by 10.' But I'd be back at eleven, or twelve, and they wouldn't care."

Oh. "Well, now you know I mean it when I tell you things. Chalk this up as a learning experience. But seriously, I need to know where you are all the time. And I need you to answer my calls. I thought something had happened to you, and I didn't even know where to look."

Guilt shot through Ryan as he listened to what Shelby was saying. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you. I trust you won't do it again." She gave him a stern look before softening. "We knew this would be hard. We just…have to work through it," she said, almost to herself. Ryan nodded his agreement.

"Okay." He hesitated before smiling mischievously. "Maybe we could say lesson learned and call it even?"

Shelby narrowed her eyes at him. "Nice try, kid. You're still grounded until tomorrow."

"It was worth a shot," he shrugged. "How about just the music room? Come on, I'm bored out of my mind." When he saw her pause, he went for broke. "You can give me another lesson later, and we can talk some more," he cajoled. "We can bond."

Shelby gave him a look. "You're sneaky."

"I inherited it from the best," he said charmingly.

Despite herself, Shelby had to laugh. "Fine," she relented at last, causing a grin to spread across her son's face. "But only with my supervision," she added.

"Close enough."

..

Later that afternoon Shelby went into the living room to find Ryan collapsed on the couch, throwing his baseball up and down absentmindedly. "Sick of your room?" she teased lightly.

"You have no idea."

Shelby laughed, tapping his leg to get him to move over. He did, and she sat down next to him. "Hiram and Leroy didn't ground you a lot, did they?"

Ryan glanced over at her before answering. "No. Only if I did something really big. Like if the school called them. The last time I was grounded was for that _Push It_ performance Quinn told you about."

Shelby smiled slightly. She'd pay good money for a video of that performance. "Mr. Schuester called them about that?"

"No, Principal Figgins did," Ryan admitted. "I was blamed for the whole incident since I was the one who suggested it."

"Wait, you were the only one whose parents got called?" Shelby frowned. "Didn't all of you do the dance?" Ryan shrugged, making Shelby's frown deepen. What was Will Schuester thinking? If you punished one student who was part of a group mess, you were supposed to punish all of them, it was only fair. That was the way she did it. She was starting to get a better picture of what was going on with her son's school life, and she wasn't liking it. "What did Leroy and Hiram do?"

"It was just Leroy at home at the time, but he called Hiram and they grounded me for two weeks."

"Two weeks? And you're complaining about a four-day sentence?" Shelby asked disbelievingly.

"Officially, it was two weeks," Ryan corrected. "In actuality it was more like three days before Hiram forgot about it, and Leroy went off on a trip. He forgot about it by the time he came back, too." He looked away furtively. "That's why I was trying to get out the next morning," he muttered.

"Oh."

"I don't suppose there's any chance of you forgetting my grounding, is there?" Ryan gave Shelby a hopeful look, using his brown eyes to full effect.

Shelby smiled at him. "You're so cute!" She wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close so she could place a kiss on his head. "But no."

"Moooom," the teenager whined, wiggling out of his mom's grip. Shelby looked at him affectionately, before starting to stand up. She was stopped by Ryan catching her hand. "What?" she asked, confused.

Ryan immediately let go. "Uh, nothing," he stammered out. "It's nothing."

Shelby studied him for a moment, trying to figure out what was up. "You know, as hard as it is to believe, I'm not actually omniscient. You'll have to tell me what you want."

"Can you just stay here for a bit? You don't have to," he added quickly.

Shelby looked at him again before slowly sitting back down. She noted the happy look in Ryan's eyes when she did. "Oh, so now you want to spend time with me?" she teased.

Ryan didn't say anything, he just leaned against her. Shelby wrapped her arm around his shoulders as she thought over her new observation. Now that she thought about it, there were times when Ryan just seemed to want to spend time with her. Not the past week, but before. She'd found it odd when he wanted to have lunch or dinner with her a lot when they were first getting to know each other, since 99% of all the teenagers she knew would rather shave all their hair off than be seen in public with their parents. She'd chalked it up to his wanting to get to know her, but she was starting to think it was something more.

She'd studied a bit of psychology in her time in college, and she'd come across the theory of love languages. Each person had a way that they felt most loved or expressed their own love. Not just romantic love, but any kind – familial, romantic, platonic, or otherwise. Most people would recognize all languages but would react more positively to one or two. There were five, she recalled – by giving or receiving gifts, by doing things for others, through words, through touch, and through spending time with others. She was starting to suspect her son responded very strongly to the last one.

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. He liked spending time with her – when he wasn't brooding – and with other people. He certainly spent a lot of time with Quinn. He seemed genuinely happy whenever her parents or even Josh wanted to spend time with him. And she'd seen the look on his face when James had agreed to some one-on-one time with him.

Right then and there she resolved that she was going to spend as much time with him as he wanted. She didn't want to smother him, of course, but she needed him to know that she was always willing to take time for him. She'd do anything for him. She subconsciously tightened her grip on him when she remembered that Hiram and Leroy hadn't spent much time with him at all.

"Mom?" Ryan's voice broke through her musings.

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry. You know, for this morning. And the last week."

"You're forgiven. Just don't do it again," Shelby smiled.

"You don't regret it do you? Taking me in?" Ryan asked in a small voice.

Shelby looked at him incredulously. "What? Why would you think that?"

"Maybe I'm too much trouble…"

Shaking her head, Shelby looked him in the eye. "No. Never. I'm never going to regret taking you in, okay?" she said adamantly. "I told you before, I've been thinking about you ever since you were born, and I'm so happy you're here now. Yes, you make me insane sometimes, but I love you. I love you so much. Insanity and all."

After a moment, Ryan answered, "I love you too. And I'm glad I'm here. Even if you drive me crazy too," he added with a lopsided smile.

Shelby patted him on the shoulder. "Mother's prerogative, like you said." They heard Shelby's phone start to ring in her office. "I should get that." She stood up and went to answer the phone, leaving Ryan in the living room with a soft smile.

Ryan felt a lot better now, having fixed things with his mom. He'd been so frustrated with his inability to communicate exactly what he was feeling, and he was relieved to have finally gotten it out. And she'd understood. He smiled as he thought of how she'd stayed with him, just sitting there with him for a few moments. It meant a lot that she'd take the time to just sit there doing nothing. Leroy and Hiram had been constantly on the move, rarely having time for him, and it was wonderful to finally have a parent who actually wanted to spend time with him.

Even with this stupid grounding, this summer was hands down the best one of his life.

..

_Carlisle, Pennsylvania_

James Walker walked into his house at approximately 5:30 in the afternoon, fresh from a shift at the base's medical facility where he'd been assigned for the past month. He looked around the place, which he'd actually need to start packing up. This wouldn't be his house for much longer, if everything went as scheduled he'd be moving to Lima, Ohio in a little less than a month. He flopped down on the couch, debating on what to do for the evening. He was looking forward to his trip to Lima this weekend. He smiled as he thought of the two people he was going to be visiting. He absentmindedly pulled the house phone to him and dialed a number. It picked up after a few rings.

"_Hello?"_

James smiled at the familiar voice. "Shelby? It's James."

"_Oh, hi James,"_ the woman answered. _"How are you? Ready for this weekend?"_

"Most definitely," James answered. "I'm good, just came back from an uneventful shift. Unless you call a trainee coming into the infirmary projectile vomiting because of a bad batch of clams interesting."

"_Ugh."_

"You said it. How are things on your end?"

Shelby chuckled a bit. _"Oh, we've been having a bit of drama here the past week."_

"Do tell," James urged curiously.

"_Well, your kid got himself into a party last Tuesday, and he ended up coming back home over an hour after his curfew. He also got into a little fight before coming home."_

"What? Is he okay?" James asked in concern. "Who was it?" He wasn't quite prepared for the anxiety and protectiveness he suddenly felt.

"_He's okay. Split lip, but he's fine. He wouldn't tell me much, but from what I gather it was a classmate of his."_ On the other side of the line Shelby smiled at the protectiveness in James' tone.

"Are you sure he's okay?"

"_He's fine, okay?"_ Shelby answered amusedly. _"I looked him over myself. The only other injury is a bruised ego."_

James chuckled at that. He knew how that felt. "What did you do?"

"_He's grounded until the night before you get here. Four days total."_

"Four days for an hour late?"

"_It would've been three but he talked back."_

"I see you're just as delightful as ever," James said sarcastically, though with a joking edge that assured her he wasn't serious. "Your students must love you."

"_They worship me, actually," _Shelby retorted haughtily.

"I'm sure."

"_Enough about me and my adoring legions, what's up with you? Not that I'm complaining about the call, of course."_

James smirked. "Maybe I just wanted to hear the melodious sound your voice."

"_Which rom-com did you get that from?"_ Shelby asked, laughing at him.

"_Calvin and Hobbes_, actually," he answered flippantly. "Seriously though, I just missed you. And Ryan. I've just been wrapping a few things up here. If everything goes well I'll be moving there for good by the first week of September."

"_Great,"_ Shelby said happily. After a beat she added, _"We miss you too. Do you want to talk to Ryan?"_

"I thought he was grounded."

Shelby hesitated. _"You're his dad, it wouldn't be fair not to let him talk to you."_

James blinked. Yeah, that was right, wasn't it? He was Ryan's dad. Even after knowing for a few weeks, sometimes it was still surreal that he was a dad. "If he's okay with it, then yes."

"_I'll go get him."_

..

_Lima, Ohio_

"Ryan?" Shelby went into the kitchen, where Ryan had was building a s'more. "James is on the phone, do you want to talk to him?"

The precarious tower the teenager was building collapsed, three marshmallows rolling across the counter. "Yes please. No offense, but talking to just you for four days is going to drive me insane."

"You're already insane," Shelby shot back. "He's on the phone in the office."

"You should really think about investing in a cordless phone, that way all your calls wouldn't have to be made in the office," Ryan remarked as they returned to Shelby's office.

"Yes, I'd just have to worry about finding out where in the house we left the handset."

Ryan picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"_Hi Ryan."_

"Hi James," he answered, smiling. He sat down on his mom's chair behind the desk. Shelby shot him a mock glare, and he responded with an innocent grin. "How are you? I'm really looking forward to your visit this weekend. You're still coming, right? Of course, it's not really a problem if not, I mean I'm sure you're busy –"

"_Whoa, wait a sec,"_ James cut through the boy's rambling. _"Yes, I'm still coming, I'll be there around lunchtime on Saturday. I'm not busy at all, like I told your mom the most exciting thing to happen today was someone projectile vomiting over my uniform."_

"Ugh."

"_That's what your mom said."_

"Well, I agree."

"_So do I. Anyways, I'm looking forward to getting back there, too,"_ James informed him.

Ryan blinked at that, a smile spreading on his face. "Really?"

"_Yeah. I told you, I'm in it for the long haul, okay?"_

Smiling wider, Ryan answered, "Okay." His dad wanted to come back, he thought happily. He was still having a few mixed feelings about the man, but they were quickly going away every time they spoke; and the fact that he was coming back was important.

"_Yeah, we can sit down and you can tell me about that party you went to," _James continued mischievously.

"Uh, yeah, about that…" Ryan glanced furtively at his mom. "What did she tell you?"

"_Oh, don't worry about that. You can tell me all about that when I get there. I'll bet she didn't tell you about the time she came home at two in the morning after a high school party."_

Ryan immediately sat up. "Really?" He drew the word out as he looked at Shelby, who was immediately aware that James was telling Ryan stories about her again. She facepalmed. Perfect. As if her parents telling tales weren't enough, now she had James to tell Ryan about all the mishaps she'd gotten into.

"_Yeah. Ask her about the 1988 Bonfire Fiasco. Anyways, I shouldn't really keep you from your grounding, should I? That would be really irresponsible."_ Ryan could just hear the humor in his voice.

"Maybe you could get mom to drop it before tomorrow," Ryan said hopefully, glancing at Shelby, who glared at him. "Don't you think four days grounding is a bit excessive for being an hour late for curfew?"

"_Oh, I'm not getting involved there, buddy, you're on your own. Your mom is scary. She used to do this thing where she just stares at you and raises an eyebrow and you feel like a worm or something."_

"She still does that."

"_You'll just have to stick it out. Just don't do it again, okay? You probably got her really worried when you didn't come home."_

Ryan sighed guiltily. "I know."

"_I'll see you in a couple days, okay? Give the phone back to your mom."_

"Okay. Bye James." Ryan handed the phone to Shelby, who took it.

"You're not convincing me to drop it," she said flatly.

"_I wouldn't dream of it,"_ James deadpanned. _"I actually told him not to do it again."_

"Well, good."

"_See you soon, Shelby."_

Ryan watched as his mom hung up the phone after a few more words. He smiled innocently. "Mom, James told me to ask about the 1987 Bonfire Fiasco."

"Oh god."

* * *

The next day finally arrived, and to the relief of both Shelby and Ryan, the last day of the grounding. After a morning of moping around on Ryan's part and an afternoon of Shelby giving him music lessons, Ryan finally managed to wheedle – or pester, depending on how you looked at it – his mom into returning his phone. Of course the first thing he found was half a dozen messages from his girlfriend.

_Mon 23:58 – Did you get in alright?_

_Tues 00:23 – I'm guessing no._

_Tues 09:48 – You're probably grounded, I'll talk to you when your sentence is over xx_

_Wed 11:46 – Finn's mom and Kurt's dad grounded them too, guess they didn't get everything cleaned up in time haha_

_Thurs 11:03 – I sure hope you're getting sprung before the weekend, I'm really bored._

_Fri 15:58 – Miss you xo_

After reading, Ryan immediately composed a message. _Finally out of jail. Miss you too. You busy tomorrow? – Ryan_

_Finally. See you tomorrow? - Quinn_

Ryan knew James was arriving tomorrow at around lunchtime. Shelby had told him they were going to have lunch somewhere as soon as he got here. Ryan figured he could go over to see Quinn in the morning, then head back home before noon.

_I'll be there around 9. – R_

* * *

**Hi guys, I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter, and I really liked all your opinions about the Sam/Quinn issue and the football issue. It's midnight on Friday for me, so I kept my promise :) For this chapter obviously it's mostly Shelby and Ryan bonding, but next chapter will feature other people.**

**In response to some of your reviews: **

**\- James was in this one, but he's not in Lima yet. Does that count?**

**\- I'm pretty sure you're right about Ryan joining the football team, it takes a lot of trust in your teammates, especially when your teammate is going to be the one keeping a 160-pound opponent from tackling the hell out of you. I don't think Ryan's going to able to join…**

**\- About Santana's summer surgery, I do plan to cover that a bit more.**

**\- Sometimes there are characters that are hard to write, but for me it's more that there are scenes that I find difficult to get out properly, and it sort of comes out in the dialogue. Also I've mentioned that I'm more experienced in scientific expository writing, so I find explaining thought processes to be easier to do than dialogue. Go ahead and tell me if my writing feels weird sometimes, I do want to learn how to write better.**

**\- Still considering the Sam/Quinn angle, but I won't spoil it ;)**

**I actually write a couple of chapters in advance, for example I'm doing chapter 33 now, and I find it funny how sometimes I write a scene, and a reviewer asks for something that I've already planned to put in. It just happened, actually, there's a scene that I just wrote, and a guest reviewer just suggested it too. Just throwing that out there. But anyways, I'll be covering James' visit it the next couple of chapters, then maybe one more before we get into the schoolyear and season 2. **

**Thanks again for everyone who's still reading this (we've almost reached 150k words). I very much appreciate all of your reviews. I do like long reviews, as long as they're not flames, so no need to apologize for long reviews. I do like interacting with reviewers, so leave comments, questions, whatever, and I'll see you next time!**


	33. Chapter 32

The next day Ryan woke up bright and early at six in the morning. Finally, _finally_, the grounding was over. This four-day grounding felt longer than the two-week ones Hiram and Leroy had given him. Sure, he'd been able to bond with his mom a bit, but he was just sick of this house. He literally jumped out of bed and started getting dressed. He'd missed his daily routine of going out for a run every morning. He took a deep breath once he got out of the house. He took off on his usual route, happy to have the time to clear his head.

He had finally gotten to talk to his mom about why he'd been so messed up the past couple of weeks. And it had really helped, he didn't feel quite as bothered anymore. He'd really felt a bit guilty after his talk with Shelby yesterday. When he'd first moved in he was always thinking about how not to impose on Shelby, but lately he'd started to get so focused on his own feelings that he hadn't considered how hard this must be on his mom. By now he was secure in the fact that his mom wouldn't abandon him. But he wouldn't let himself take her for granted, either.

After his run he headed home and went upstairs to take a shower. When he got back downstairs, he found Shelby making breakfast in the kitchen. "Good morning."

His mother turned around. "Good run?" she asked, stirring the scrambled eggs she was cooking.

"Yes, thank you," Ryan smiled, spontaneously giving Shelby a kiss on the cheek. The day was starting out pretty well. He was going to go see Quinn soon, and James was coming later. He craned his head to look at the pan. "Is there enough for me?"

"Of course." Shelby had learned a few weeks ago that Ryan only liked his eggs scrambled. He didn't like them fried or poached or whatever. She'd found that out a little after she discovered that he'd tried vegetarianism and vegan a year or so back only to quit when he found it was too much of a hassle. Just a phase, he'd claimed. Ryan grinned and sat down at the counter, popping a few slices of bread into the toaster. "Got any plans for the morning?" James would be here for lunch, but the morning was free and she was sure her son was just champing at the bit to get out of the house.

"Can I go over to Quinn's this morning?" he asked a bit sheepishly, remembering belatedly that he hadn't asked for permission.

Shelby nodded, hiding a smile. She should have known that's where he'd go first. "Just be back by eleven, we're picking James up at the bus station before we have lunch, okay?" She put the large plate of eggs in the middle of the counter before taking out a couple of plates.

"Got it." Ryan started spreading butter on the toast. "Are you just going to be here all morning?"

"No, I need to pick up a few things at McKinley, new teacher and all that jazz," Shelby replied, as they started eating their breakfast. "Speaking of which, did you do your homework?"

Ryan looked away. "I started…sort of…" he trailed off evasively. Shelby raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine, no. I didn't do it. I wrote my name and the title of the essay at the top of the paper. Sue me. I hate writing essays, I'd rather face a sold-out performance at the Royal Albert Hall without knowing any of my lyrics."

"Funny."

"You know, that's another thing," Ryan continued. "I survived middle school and freshman and sophomore year without anyone supervising my homework, and I got good grades. You don't need to nag."

"I'm a teacher, it's in my psyche to nag about homework," Shelby answered. "But okay. I'll try to stop nagging as long as you don't fall behind. I don't want anyone calling me about you not submitting your homework. Do you need help?"

Ryan looked at her confusedly. "What?"

"Help. Do you want me to help you do your homework?" Shelby said slowly, also confused. "Not do it for you, of course, but I can help if you want me to."

"You'd do that?" Ryan asked skeptically.

"Of course I would, I'm a teacher, I know how homework works," his mother said sarcastically. "Why, didn't your dads ever help…you…oh." Shelby trailed off as she realized why Ryan didn't think she'd help him. She shook her head, quickly recovering. "Yes, I'd be happy to help you if you want me to."

Ryan fidgeted for a moment. "If it's okay with you, then yes. Please." Shelby nodded. "But not today."

"Why not?" Shelby teased. "Might as well do it now." She laughed at the horror on her son's face. "Relax. Just a joke."

"No. Just no."

..

Meanwhile, some distance away, Quinn Fabray was upstairs in her room after having breakfast with her mother. Things were still moving as smoothly as possible with the two of them. Judy worked as a receptionist at one of the law offices in Lima from eight to five on weekdays, spent some of her evenings, and did the usual household things on weekends. Since it was summer, Quinn hung around the house during the day, with Santana or Britt, or preferably Ryan.

Speaking of her boyfriend, she was quite put out that she hadn't been able to see him in four days because he'd gotten himself grounded. It was his own fault; he should have known better than to mess with his scary mom. And Quinn hadn't had anyone else to talk to, since Britt had gone on vacation with her parents and Santana, the idiot, had gone and gotten her summer surgery and was in the hospital.

Quinn checked the clock on her table, smiling when she saw the time. Ryan had said he'd be here at nine, and it was almost that time. One thing she knew about him was that he was extremely punctual. Her smile turned into a smirk as she turned to her mirror. She missed her boyfriend – more specifically, making out with her boyfriend. She was going to have some fun with him.

A few minutes later she heard their doorbell ring, followed by her mom answering it. She checked to time again. 9:01. Looking at herself in the mirror again, she decided to pop another button on her top before nodding in satisfaction. Ryan wasn't going to know what hit him. She arrived downstairs just as her mom asked who the visitor was. Quinn guessed she didn't remember him from their one meeting at the hospital.

Quinn showed up behind her mom just as Ryan started to introduce himself. "He's my friend from school, remember, I told you about him? You met at the hospital. Right Ryan?"

Unfortunately for her boyfriend, he was slightly preoccupied by the sight of his girlfriend in a rather form-fitting top and a short skirt, her golden hair cascading around her shoulders. His gaze refocused when he heard his name. Quinn hid a smirk when he started stammering. _Yes_. "Wha – oh. Oh, yeah, yes, we met at the hospital. Uh, you know, after Regionals."

"Oh, right, right. Well, why don't you come in," Judy said brightly, allowing Ryan to enter the house. "I was just about to leave, there are a few errands I have to run, but you can stay here with Quinnie."

"Thanks, Mrs. Fabray."

"You're drooling a little bit there," Quinn commented smugly once her mom was out the door.

Ryan's hand immediately flew to his face. "What? No I'm not!"

"Whatever you say." She walked almost seductively over to her boyfriend, and gave him a long, slow kiss. Ryan moaned softly as he felt her warm lips moving against his. Her hands had come up at some point to rest on his shoulders.

He was just getting into it when she suddenly pulled away. "Come on, let's go in the living room," she told him with a nice smile, patting him on the chest before sashaying into said room. Ryan stood there for a moment, slightly dazed, trying to get the room to stop spinning. Quinn looked at him over her shoulder. "Are you coming?"

Ryan's mouth fell slightly open. Quinn almost laughed at the look on his face. Her words from a Chastity Club meeting last year came back to her – _It's all about the teasing, and not about the pleasing_. And she was an expert at that. She watched as Ryan shook his head, trying to clear it of his rampaging teenage hormones as he followed his girlfriend into the living room. He sat down next to her on the sofa. Quinn smiled at him innocently. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah," Ryan answered a bit too quickly. "Just a bit…hot, I guess." Quinn smirked deviously. He got flustered pretty easily; she'd noticed it quite a bit whenever they made out. This was going to be fun.

"Oh, I think it's fine." She moved slightly closer to him, running one hand slowly over his upper arm. Ryan smiled a bit, relaxing slightly. Quinn leaned up to whisper in his ear. "You know, my mom's going to be out for a few hours," she said suggestively, making him shiver from her breath on his ear.

"O-okay," Ryan said a little shakily. Quinn moved even closer, pressing herself against him, kissing his neck. His breath started coming faster as her hand started to roam over his chest. "I really missed you, Quinn."

Quinn drew back, smiling at him. "I missed you too." She finally pulled him into a searing kiss. Ryan responded eagerly, deepening their kiss. He shifted his body to face her, moving his arms to wrap around her. Quinn ran her tongue along his bottom lip, tugging on it gently, before drawing back again just as he was getting into it. She met his eyes, once again smiling at the dazed and slightly frustrated look in his eyes. "How was your week?"

"What? Uh, yeah, it was good – wait, no, I got grounded –" Quinn's smile turned mischievous as she watched her boyfriend floundering. He looked adorable when he was confused. She started to kiss at his neck again, which only served to fluster him even more.

"Yeah, you did." Quinn gave him a look that made him shiver. "I've been waiting for you to get here for four days. And it's your fault you got grounded." She leaned against him, pushing him back against the sofa. She started to trail her hand down his chest, moving closer and closer to his waistline.

Ryan couldn't seem to form a coherent thought. "Uhhh…Quinn –"

"Shhh."

She started to trail her lips on the shell of his ear while she fiddled with the edge of his shirt – _damn, why'd he have to tuck it in_ – before she managed to slip a hand inside his shirt to run over his abs. Ryan sucked in a sharp breath. This was the first time she'd done that and _god it felt amazing_.

Quinn smiled victoriously as her boyfriend's breath started coming faster. She traced her hand over his toned stomach, suddenly aware of her own intense arousal. _Her boyfriend was hot_. She hadn't thought he was packing much under those stupid sweaters, but damn was she wrong. All that running around and dancing really did a number on his body. She hadn't quite had a good look yet, but she'd felt it every time they made out. The boy was _tight_.

"You like that?" she whispered, smirking when he nodded vigorously. She moved quickly back to his mouth, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to his lips as her hand continued its maddening movement, reveling in the feel of him under her.

Then she felt one of his hands coming up to press on her lower back, the other moving tentatively up her thigh.

She was caught completely off guard by the sudden flash of desire that shot through her body. Her boyfriend was _hot_, and she wanted him to touch her. She'd never felt that before. And for a moment she didn't know what to do.

A few seconds later, though, she was back in control. She took Ryan's hand off her leg, ignoring the sudden feeling of loss. She moved her lips back up to his ear. "Hands off. You didn't answer me for four days, you don't get to touch."

Ryan let out a soft whine. "But –"

"Nope." Quinn smirked as Ryan reluctantly withdrew his hands. "Good." She knew he'd do anything she told him to, and she wasn't above taking advantage of that sometimes. She rewarded him with another smoking hot kiss, swirling her tongue inside his mouth, drawing a moan from him. She pushed her hand further under his shirt, mapping out his torso with her fingertips.

She moved back to trailing wet kisses along his jaw as Ryan pulled away from with a gasp. She knew he was struggling to keep his cool, had felt his reaction to her pressing insistently against her thigh for the past few minutes. She absolutely loved that she could do this to him. She ground against him experimentally, drawing another loud gasp from him. He wasn't the only one though, the motion had her own body burning.

Ryan had his eyes shut tight in concentration, barely able to keep his hands from running all over his girlfriend. He felt like his skin was on fire, and he knew if they didn't stop soon he was going to make a mess. But he didn't want her to stop either, she was driving him crazy and he couldn't think straight –

Then Quinn suddenly broke off, pulling her hand out from under his shirt and patted him on the chest. "It's time to pray."

"Wha – I – what?" Ryan's eyes flew open, totally confused, chest heaving and unable to string together a coherent thought. Quinn smirked smugly at the dazed look she'd managed to put on his face. She stood up a little unsteadily just as Ryan's head fell back against the sofa's armrest in frustration, so turned on he couldn't think properly. _Oh god, she was just going to leave him like this?_

Quinn ran her hand over his hair lightly as she passed him. "I'm just going to the kitchen." She left her boyfriend in the living room to cool himself off, smiling victoriously. She'd missed that, the feeling of power that came from teasing a boy to breaking point before suddenly cutting him off. But it was completely different this time, and not just because she truly liked Ryan. She'd never really liked Finn, she'd only dated him since it was expected with him being the quarterback and her being the head cheerleader. But he'd never made her feel like this, like her head was spinning and she was overheating and she needed to feel his skin on hers. Ryan did, and it was amazing.

And he was such a gentleman. She knew if she ever became uncomfortable he'd immediately back off. It was sweet, and she trusted him completely because of it, but in a way it was also a little frustrating since she was always the one to push them forward. She idly wondered how far she could push him before he would push back. A devious smirk appeared on her face. She'd just have to try it and see.

..

An hour later, Ryan was back at home, still slightly dazed and hot under the collar. His girlfriend was such a tease! Yes, he would stop whenever she wanted to, but she just did that on purpose!

"Hi, sweetie," Shelby said as he passed the living room on his way upstairs. "How's Quinn?"

Ryan groaned mentally. How was he supposed to answer that? "She's good," he said, the words coming out almost as a question. He was _so_ not getting into details about what had just happened. "I need to go upstairs."

"Okay, but we're leaving in a few minutes."

A little while later, Shelby stood by the front door. "Ryan! Let's go!" She checked her watch. It would take twenty minutes to get to the bus station to pick James up, and then they were going to go have lunch somewhere. They'd decide once they got James. A few seconds later Ryan came into the hall. "You ready?"

"Ready," he smiled. He'd been looking forward to James' visit the whole time he was grounded. He really liked the man, and surprisingly to him James liked him too.

A while later the two of them were at Lima's bus station. Thankfully they didn't have too long to wait, as James' bus pulled in about five minutes after they got there. "Hey mom, look, there he is," Ryan said, spotting James as he got off the bus.

James saw them too, and a smile appeared on his face as he walked over, wearing a thin sweater and carrying a large bag. "Hello, Ryan," he greeted, pulling his son into a one-armed guy hug. Then he looked at Shelby, and as always, his breath caught slightly. Yes, he still liked her, he'd given up denying it a long time ago. "Hi Shelby."

"No hug for me?" Shelby asked slyly.

He laughed, wrapping her in a hug and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Happy now?"

"Slightly mollified," she smiled at him. "How was your trip?"

"It was okay," James answered as the three of them walked to Shelby's car. "The guy on the seat next to me drooled like a St. Bernard, though, I swear I could have filled up a soda can if I'd collected it."

"Did he drool on you?" Ryan asked interestedly.

"No, thank god. I don't think the stain on the bus seat is going to come off anytime soon, though."

Shelby cut in. "Lunch or motel first?" They'd decided James would stay in a motel again for the visit. All three of them still had a lot to figure out together, and staying together in one house might be confusing.

"Uh, motel first, I guess, so I can drop my stuff off and take a shower, if you don't mind waiting?"

"No problem."

..

Later, at lunch, James got all caught up on what had happened since the last time he'd visited. "What did you do while you were grounded?" he asked, after Ryan had finished telling him about the events leading up to the grounding.

"He sulked, then sassed at me, then sulked some more," Shelby answered dryly.

"I did do more than sulk, Mother," Ryan said indignantly. "I read a few books, and…" he trailed off uncertainly, not really remembering what he did besides sulk.

"…and were rude to one of my students when he came over to the house," Shelby supplied.

"Ooh, what's the story behind that one?"

Shelby glanced at Ryan a bit guiltily, still feeling slightly responsible for the egging prank. Ryan immediately launched into the story. "See, a few months ago our glee club was set to compete with Mom's team. Her students, in a fit of juvenility, decided to come over to our school to psyche us out since they were feeling threatened –"

"– We were not _threatened_ –"

"– by putting on a performance and vandalizing our choir room," Ryan continued as though Shelby hadn't spoken. James smiled in amusement. "Of course, a few of our members retaliated by slashing the tires on all their cars. They, in turn, decided to ambush one of us in the parking lot with a few trays of raw eggs, which they pelted at the person who was unlucky enough to come out of the school next."

James winced. "That was you, I'm guessing?"

"Right. So a couple of days ago, the ringleader of their little prank came over to the house since he's one of Mom's pet students. Needless to say, I was upset, and according to Mom, I was a little rude."

"You should pick your favorite students better, Shelby," James said disapprovingly, angry at the thought that his kid had been pretty much assaulted.

"Like I told Ryan, the students involved were punished appropriately," Shelby said, exasperated. "You're not condoning his rudeness, are you?"

"Well, no," James conceded. "But you've got to admit, he did have a reason. I probably would have punched the kid."

Shelby rolled her eyes, while Ryan smiled happily. At least he had one parent on his side. The thought stopped him in his tracks. He was really starting to think of James as his dad.

During dessert, James decided to tell Ryan his news. "Ryan, I wanted to talk to you about something." He glanced quickly at Shelby, who gave him a nod and a small smile. The teenager looked at him inquisitively. "I'm applied for retirement, and I'm going to be out in a few weeks. I'm planning to move here, to Lima. Permanently." He looked anxiously for a reaction.

"You're moving here?" Ryan asked, wide-eyed. "Why? What are you going to do?"

Well, that wasn't too encouraging. "Well, I already applied for a job as a paramedic at Lima General," James said. "Job's mine by mid-September."

"I didn't know that," Shelby commented, surprised.

"I just got their answer yesterday," James answered. "As to why, I wanted to be closer to you and your mom." He glanced at Shelby again, before looking a little uncertainly at Ryan. "Is that okay?"

Ryan stared at him for a moment before breaking out into a smile. "Okay? Of course it's okay with me," he said excitedly. "But are you sure you want to give up your job just to move here? I'm sure you love your job in the army, you've been doing it for twenty years after all."

"Of course I'm sure," James assured him. "Like you said, I've been doing the job for twenty years, it's time for something new. And I want to get to know you a bit better. Kind of hard to do from another state."

Shelby had to smile herself at the delight on her – their – son's face. It looked like he really hadn't expected this. James was also wearing a smile, tinged with relief, as he'd thought for a moment there that Ryan hadn't wanted him to move closer.

"This is so great," Ryan said enthusiastically. "Do you know we're you're going to live yet? When are you going to start moving in? Are –"

"Okay, kid, one at a time," Shelby said amusedly. "Let him answer."

"Did you know about this?" Ryan asked.

"Yes," admitted Shelby. "James asked me first, before he left last time."

"I told her not to tell you yet, because I wanted to get my retirement settled first," James interjected, not wanting Ryan to blame his mom.

"Oh. Okay. I guess I get that."

"And to answer your questions, I was going to look for an apartment or something on Monday, before I leave on Tuesday," James said. "Preferably somewhere close to the hospital, but within reasonable distance of your house too. And my retirement is going to be official on September 8."

"That's in less than a month," Ryan smiled.

A few minutes later, everyone was finished eating, and Ryan excused himself to go to the men's room. James spoke up. "I thought maybe Ryan and I could go out together, just us," he said to Shelby. "Then I thought the two of us could go out for dinner or something. If it's okay with the two of you, of course."

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me on a date, James Walker?"

"Maybe I am," James flirted, reaching over to grab Shelby's hand across the table. "I think we've got a few things to talk about, just us."

Shelby gave him a half smile. "Yes, I think so too. So yes."

James smiled. "Great." Then he ran a hand through his hair. "You're going to have to pick where to go, though, I don't know anything about this place," he admitted. "What about Ryan, though?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll want to spend some time with Quinn."

"That's his girlfriend, right?"

"Whose girlfriend?" Ryan asked, sliding back into his seat after hearing then last sentence.

"Yours. Quinn's your girlfriend," Shelby stated, pulling her hand back from James after she noticed Ryan staring. "Listen, here's the plan for today. James wants to spend the afternoon with you. He doesn't want me cramping his style." She shot him a mock glare. "Then, the two of us are going out for dinner, and you can spend the evening with Quinn or your other friends. Home by 10:30," she added with a stern glare. Ryan winced slightly.

"Got it." Then he brightened at the fact that James wanted to spend some time with him, and he turned to his father. "What are we doing?"

"I don't really know, actually," James answered, smiling at the boy's acceptance of the plan. "We could go to the park again, or watch a movie or something. Whatever you want." He called for the bill and paid, waving Shelby off when she tried to get him to split it with her. "If it's okay with you," he said to Ryan, "you can come with me to get a rental car, then we'll go do something else."

"Yeah, that's fine." Ryan was fine with anything with cars, and he was more than happy to just talk to James. "Wait, you're going to have dinner?" He eyed them speculatively.

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Yes, Ryan, we're having dinner. Just dinner."

Ryan raised his hands. "I didn't say anything."

..

Shelby gave the two guys a lift to the car rental, where she left them to go back home. "What are you getting?" Ryan asked James curiously.

"I was just going to see what's available. Just a sedan probably, I don't really need anything big or flashy," James answered.

"Manual or automatic transmission?"

"I prefer automatic, actually," James admitted, filling out the form he got at the counter after presenting his driver's license. "I have a hard time wrangling the manual Humvees when I'm deployed, and I'd rather not do it if I don't have to. Do you have a preference?"

"Not really," said Ryan thoughtfully. "I don't have my license yet. But I know how to drive, and I like the control that comes with the manual transmission better."

"Where'd you learn?"

"They have driver's ed at school in sophomore year."

"Right. Manual does give more control, but the automatic lets you relax more, I find. I hate stepping on the clutch." James finished his form and handed it to the lady at the counter, who handed him a set of keys. The two of them went outside and got into the rental car. "Well, it's small, but it'll do. Where do you want to go?"

"I'm not really sure," Ryan answered. He didn't really have a preference. "Maybe we could just go to the park again?"

"Park it is."

A few minutes later they were back at the bench they used the last time James had visited. "Is this our bench now?" James asked jokingly, as they sat down next to each other and looked around. There were several people around, seeing that it was a Saturday afternoon.

"Maybe it could be," Ryan said with a lopsided smile. They had nice view of the park, and there was a group of little kids playing catch.

"Do you play any sports?" James asked curiously after a few seconds.

"Not really," Ryan admitted. "I did the usual after class activities when I was in elementary. Actually, I did a lot of classes back then." Mostly because Hiram and Leroy needed somewhere to put him while they were at work. "I did some soccer when I was six," he offered. "But I stopped when I was eight, and I focused more on the music classes. Did you play any sports when you were at school?"

James sat back as he thought about it. "Little League when I was a kid, but that stopped when the Burtons gave me back. Then I didn't have much of a chance to play because I moved around a lot."

Ryan listened a bit guiltily. "I'm sorry if I brought any bad memories up. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

James waved a hand. "It's okay. It was a long time ago, it doesn't bother me to think about it. Hmmm…in high school I was kind of small until before junior year, and I didn't really want to commit suicide by playing football," he said with a wry smile.

"Good."

"You don't like football?" James asked, cocking his head slightly when Ryan shrugged. He continued. "When I was in high school, the football jocks pretty much ruled the school."

"It's the same now. In high school your worth is pretty much dependent on how big you are and how well you can throw a ball."

James chuckled. "Yeah. It's kind of stupid."

Ryan smiled, happy that his dad thought so too. "Wait, you were small in high school? But you're tall now," he said, a bit confused.

"Yeah, I shot up the summer before junior year. I was, uh, sixteen."

"Excellent," Ryan crowed. "That means I still have a chance. I'm 5'7" now, maybe I can still get a few inches." He looked at James speculatively, who was smiling amusedly at him. "You look around 5'10", I'd say," Ryan estimated.

"5'11"," James corrected. "And yeah, of course you're still going to grow. I saw you eat, you're like a black hole. Besides, you're only fifteen. You're definitely going to shoot up."

Ryan beamed happily. "I'm still kind of surprised you want to move here," he confided. "I mean, it's Lima, Ohio. In the middle of nowhere. You've been to places like Japan, and Italy, and probably loads of other places. Lima is pretty much just a speck on the map in comparison."

"Kid, one I've learned from moving around so much, it's not so much the place that's important. It's the people in the place that make it important." James shifted slightly to face the teenager better. "And you and your mom are special to me, and that's why I want to move here."

Ryan nodded his understanding, smiling at his father's words. "Thanks. You're special to me too. I actually already think of you like my dad. Is that okay? I don't have to call you that if it makes you uncomfortable," he added nervously when James didn't answer.

The older man cleared his throat, suddenly clogged with emotion. "I'm honored that you think of me as your dad," he said after a moment. "And if you feel comfortable calling me that, then go right ahead."

"Thanks…Dad." Both father and son smiled at the title.

..

About an hour later, James drove Ryan home, and then returned to his motel to get ready for his dinner with Shelby. He pulled up outside of Shelby and Ryan's home and was at the door at seven in the evening.

Shelby opened the door at his knock. "Very prompt, Master Sergeant," she teased. "You didn't really have to time it to the second."

James smiled sheepishly as he stepped through the door into the house. "Yeah. Old habit, I guess. You look really nice," he added, looking at her. She was wearing a casual dark purple dress with her hair down. He'd always loved her hair that way.

"Thanks," Shelby smiled. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, let's," James agreed, offering her his arm.

A few minutes later, they were seated at one of the town's nicer restaurants. Not top class, but higher than Breadstixx. After ordering, the pair looked at each other a little nervously before James laughed. "Look at us, it's like our first date all over again."

Shelby had to laugh as well at the memory. "Well, don't spill your soda again," she quipped.

"Hey, that was not my fault, that idiot waiter bumped into me."

"Sure he did," Shelby said, obviously humoring him. Their food arrived a few minutes later. They spent most of the meal reminiscing about their old dates, before other topics started to pop up. "How was your afternoon with Ryan?" she asked.

"It was great," James smiled. "We just stayed at the park and talked. The kid's a chatterbox once you get him going."

Shelby laughed. "Yes he is."

James hesitated. "I didn't ask last time, but, uh, do you…you know, need anything?" His hand went up to go through his hair. "Like child support, or whatever?"

"James…"

"I know you can probably take care of him by yourself, but he's half mine too, and I feel like I should be doing something."

Shelby smiled at him. "That's very sweet, but you really don't have to. I don't expect anything from you, okay?"

"I guess I don't have to, but I sort of want to. He's my kid."

Sighing slightly, Shelby said, "I should tell you, you probably shouldn't give him money. At least not without explaining." James gave her an inquisitive look. "His adoptive parents gave him a pretty sizable check when they left him with me, and he didn't react too well. He got really upset, because he felt like they were trying to make up for their mistakes by giving him some money. I don't want him to think that about you."

James sat back as he thought about that. "Okay. If I gave him anything, though, it wouldn't be because I was trying to buy him, it would be because I want to."

"And that's why you're going to be a great dad."

"He asked if he could call me that. You know, this afternoon. When we talked."

"Oh?" Shelby was immediately interested. "What did you say?"

"I told him I'd be honored if he called me that," James said honestly. "I was a little surprised. After what he told me had happened with his adoptive parents I thought he'd be a little more hesitant to let me in."

Truthfully Shelby was a little surprised too. "He really likes you." She hesitated. "What did he tell you?"

"Not much. He said that they weren't around, and that they lost interest in him. And he said that they didn't consider him their son." James looked at Shelby. "Can you tell me exactly what happened? I know you only told me the basics last time. I want to know. I think I deserve that much."

Shelby sighed before nodding. She knew she'd have to tell him sometime. So she told him everything that had happened – how she had met up with the Berrys after answering their newspaper ad, how she'd agreed to be their surrogate after three meetings before she had decided to go through with it. How she had fallen in love with the child growing inside her, even though she knew she wouldn't get to keep him; how she hadn't even been allowed to hold him. She related her first and later meetings with her son, how he'd discovered who she was. And finally, what had happened the night Hiram and Leroy had called her over to discuss transferring Ryan's custody to her.

James was quiet the whole time she spoke, and silence fell when she finished. "Can you say something?" she asked softly. She didn't want any more of this silence.

He sighed, not knowing what to say. "I don't know what to say. Honestly I don't understand how you could think it would be okay to give your kid up, even if it was a surrogacy. You know, I was so jealous of your relationship with your mom? And I don't understand how you could have given him to those men." _How you could leave him without a mom._

Shelby looked down. "What do you want me to say? I made a mistake. I thought my child was going to a loving family, I thought they were good guys. I was wrong, and I know, I know it won't change anything but I'm trying to fix it."

"I know, and that's why I'm not as mad as I probably should be. But…I don't know." He ran a hand down his face in frustration. "I wish…It's not fair, you know? Especially to him."

"You don't think I know that? I look at him every day, knowing that he spent fifteen years of his life with those guys, all because I was selfish," she said quietly. She looked at James. "If he hadn't turned out to be yours, if he had been the result of those IVF treatments, would you care this much?"

James froze. If Ryan hadn't been his, would he care? One side of him, the cold, rational side, said that no, not really. After all, what concern of his was it? But the other more emotional side, the part of him that was attached to Shelby Corcoran, told him that yes, he would, simply because it was her child. He shook his head gently. "We're never going to find that out, not really, because he _is_ mine" he answered, before hesitating. "But I'd like to think yes, because I know he's your kid, and I care about you."

Shelby gave him a brief smile. Finally, a few moments later she brought their pink elephant up. "What's going on with us, James? What is this?" She gestured meaningfully between them.

James was quiet for a moment, wiping his mouth with his napkin. "When I came here last time, before you sprung the Big Surprise on me, I was sort of hoping you were still single," he said shyly.

Shelby sent him an amused smile. "Yes, I noticed you checking for a ring."

"Well, you checked me too! Anyways, as I was saying, I wanted to try again, if you wanted to. I thought maybe we could make it work this time. Our timing always sucked before." He ran a hand through his hair.

"How about now?" Shelby prodded. "Do you still want to try?"

James decided to go for it. "Yes, I do," he answered bravely. "I still do lo – like you, and I think we'd work this time. What about you?"

Shelby hesitated. "I want it to work too," she answered. She smiled softly. "You know, I never got over you. I dated a bit in New York, and here too, a little. But I couldn't find anyone, because I was still a little hung up on you." James smiled, very much pleased. "But we've still got a lot to work through." She looked at him directly. "I kept a great whopping secret from you, and I know you said you're not mad at me anymore, but it's still a big deal."

Now James was the one to hesitate, but after a moment he sighed. "Yes, it is a big deal. But I've had time to think it over, and I do understand." He looked away. "You were right," he said softly. "I wasn't ready back then, for a kid. I stand by what I said, I think I would have come back had you decided to keep him, but it wouldn't have been the same between us."

"You would have ended up resenting both of us for keeping you here. And to be honest, I wouldn't have blamed you."

"Yeah. Maybe. I don't know." He was quiet for a minute. "You're right, we've got a lot to work through," he admitted. He looked back at her. "But I'm willing to, if you are."

Shelby glanced at him. "Isn't it too soon? We're together again after twenty years apart. It's a long time."

"Exactly," James said, holding her gaze. "We've spent twenty years apart, and I don't want to waste any more time. We're not getting any younger," he joked.

Shelby smiled briefly. "What about Ryan?" she worried. "What if we mess up? I don't know how it'll affect him."

"I don't know," James admitted. "But what if we don't mess up? We could miss out on each other because we're scared of messing up." He put a hand on top of Shelby's on the table. "Look, I think you're the best thing that ever happened to me," he smiled. "And you know what, Ryan's the second best. That's why I think we're going to work. I'm going to do my damnedest to make it work out, if you'll let me in."

Shelby looked at him, his brown gaze meeting hers intensely, willing her to take this leap with him. She'd messed up so much of her life already, she didn't want to make another mistake. She didn't want this to become another regret. Either way.

James gave her a soft smile after a moment. "No pressure, Shelby. If you don't want to, then we can just stay friends, and parents. But I think we could be something so much better." He squeezer her hand. "Just think about it, okay?"

Shelby nodded. "Okay." She squeezed his hand back. "Thank you."

* * *

**Hello everyone, it seems that I haven't updated in a week. Hope this made up for it. In my defense, it's been a really busy week. I've been participating in the hunger games that is college registration, and there never seem to be enough class slots to go around. And I've had to fit that into my laboratory schedule, which takes at least five hours a day. I actually just came home from a six-hour lab session.**

**Anyways, thank you very much for your reviews, I'm glad you're all enjoying the story. Looks like most of you want me to keep Ryan and Quinn together, and leave the Sam/Quinn arc out of it. Sunburned Idiot is definitely right, I won't be letting Puck and Shelby hook up, that was so wrong in the show and it won't be happening here. I like the idea of Puck and Ryan as friends, but they'd have issues to work out, seeing as Puck's the one who knocked Quinn up after getting her drunk. Ryan's not going to be very happy about that. We'll have to wait and see who Ryan becomes friends with. As for Ryan/Quinn moments, I hope I did it okay in this chapter, I've never written anything like that before. I wonder if you'd like me to move the rating up to M for future chapters…**

**That's all for now, not sure when the next chapter will be up since classes start on Tuesday, it's going to be busy. Leave reviews, we've almost reached 200! :D**


	34. Chapter 33

The next morning, Ryan went out as usual for his run, and on his way back home, he spotted a familiar looking figure. He stepped up his pace and caught up to his target, who turned as he approached.

"Hi Ryan," James smiled, as he saw the teenager coming towards him. "You're up early."

Ryan smiled at his dad. "So are you."

James chuckled at him. "Well, five AM wake-up calls for twenty years does leave an impression. Do you do this every day?"

"Yeah, I think it clears my head. And a good exercise routine is important. Where are you going?" Ryan asked curiously.

"Oh, I just thought I'd go for a walk, get to know my way around. I'm moving here, after all. I was on my way to your house, actually."

"Oh, good," Ryan said. "I'm on my way back too, we could walk together." James nodded at him and they started moving.

"Is your mom up yet?"

Ryan smirked slightly. "Mom isn't really a morning person."

"That's an understatement," James snorted. "When we were at school she'd wake up exactly 30 minutes before she had to leave for school. She'd fit everything into those 30 minutes – shower, breakfast, last minute homework – just so she could get a few extra minutes of sleep. Used to drive her mom crazy."

Ryan had to laugh at that. He could just imagine his mom running around like that with his grandmother nagging at her the whole while. "She does occasionally get up before eight in the morning, though. The last time was to keep me from sneaking out the morning after I got grounded."

"I see her mom-radar came in already."

"What?"

"That's what she used to call her mom's uncanny talent for knowing when she was up to something," James explained. "It was as if as soon as Shelby got some scheme dreamt up, her mom was right behind her to pour cold water." They turned a corner, and found that they were on Shelby's street already.

"Can I ask you something?" Ryan said tentatively.

"Of course."

"What's up with you and Mom?"

James blinked at him. He hadn't expected that. "What do you mean?"

"Are you…getting back together?" Ryan had noticed that Shelby had been a bit preoccupied last night after getting home from dinner. "I'm not blind, I can see how you two look at each other."

"Oh." James ran a hand through his hair. "We talked last night. And we're…still not sure yet, I guess. Would you be okay with that?"

Ryan was quiet for a moment. "I know you're my dad, but you hurt her and I'll be very upset," he said bluntly.

James' eyes widened in surprise a bit, before he assured Ryan, "I have no intentions of hurting her. If we do decide to give it another shot, I promise I'll do it right. Okay?" A rush of affection went through him as he realized that Ryan really cared about Shelby a lot.

Ryan looked at him closely before he judged that his dad was being sincere. "Okay. Good."

James couldn't help but be amused at the situation. Shelby was afraid that their relationship was going to hurt Ryan, and Ryan was worried that Shelby would be the one to get hurt. The pair walked quietly for a moment. "About your grounding, I think you left part of the story out. Your mom said you got in a fight."

Ryan snuck a glance at his dad, but didn't know the man enough to read his expression. "Not really."

"Are you sure? She said you came home with a split lip. I can still sort of see it."

"It wasn't a fight, okay? These two idiot football players from school came up to me and started saying some stuff I didn't like. So I guess I talked back, and one of them hit me," Ryan mumbled. He was embarrassed to tell his dad about it. There he was, a US military veteran, and his kid couldn't even fight off a bully.

James was quiet. "Did he do anything else?"

Ryan shrugged noncommittally. He snuck another glance, and almost winced when he saw the angry expression on his father's face, his insecurities rearing their heads once more. James probably didn't want him anymore. Why would he want a loser as a kid? "You're mad. I'm sorry. He caught me by surprise and I couldn't fight him off."

James glanced at his son sharply, mentally berating himself after seeing that the teenager was upset at his reaction. "I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the punk that hit you," he explained. Who did that kid think he was, anyway? "This kid, does he go to your school?"

"Yeah. He's on the football team so he thinks he can do whatever he likes." Ryan shrugged. "It's fine, I can deal with him."

James sighed. He'd dealt with people like that all his life, the type who thought they were entitled to everything. They had just come up to Shelby's house, and Ryan was walking up the drive when James stopped him.

Ryan cocked his head at him. "What?"

"Come here." James led his son over to the patch of lawn in front of the house. "I'm going to teach you a few things."

"What things?" the teenager asked suspiciously.

"I'm going to help you so next that kid comes at you, you'll know what to do. Here, copy me." James took up a basic defensive stance.

Ryan looked at him confusedly. "You want to teach me how to fight?"

"Yeah," James said, breaking his form.

"Why?"

"I want to help you. Get used to it. I'm not letting some football jock push my kid around if I can help it. Now come on, I know what I'm doing."

Ryan hesitated again, before smiling. "Okay." His dad wanted to teach him something. He actually cared enough to help him with his problem. Ryan had told Leroy once about what was going on at school, and his response had been to deal with it, since it would build character. He hadn't bothered telling Hiram after that. And now his dad, his real dad, wanted to help him out. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." James got into position again. "Look at me, and try to copy my stance. This is for when you get in a fight and you're in a hurry. I'll show you some fancier moves when we get the basics down." He watched as Ryan adjusted his position to mimic him. "Good." He corrected his son's stance a bit. "Now, this," he tapped the boy's left arm, "is going to protect your face when your opponent swings at you. This," he tapped his right arm, "is going to counter once you deflect his punch." He stepped back. "You are right-handed, right?"

"Right."

James nodded. "Okay. When you see the other guy start to swing, you do this." He demonstrated the motion. "You try." He watched as Ryan imitated his movement. "That's good. Try to keep your right a little closer."

"Like this?" The teenager tried the move again.

"Yeah, great. Now, I'm going to come at you, half speed, and you try to counter." He waited as Ryan nodded and got into position. "Okay, go."

James managed to tap Ryan on the nose two times before Ryan got the hang of blocking, then it took another try for him to counter. "Okay, that's good. Let's try it a little faster."

Several tries later, Ryan had managed to get the movement down, and could manage to counter James' strikes most of the time. "Nice job," James complimented him.

"Thanks," Ryan answered with a broad grin.

"I need to tell you, you should know that violence isn't the answer to everything," he said sternly. "You only do this stuff if you're forced into it, I'm not teaching you to bully other people, got it?"

"I get it, of course. I know violence never solves anything, at least according to Mr. Schuester. Clichéd but true, I suppose."

"Good. You use this for defense only. Now, straight punch." James demonstrated one at full speed. "I picked this up in Japan. It's not just your arm doing the work, it includes your shoulder and your waist, and if you want something stronger, you step forward with it." He demonstrated again, slower. "Try."

It took another few minutes before Ryan got the hang of it in slow motion, and several more to get it up to speed. "What style is this?"

"It's not really any particular style," his dad admitted. "It's sort of a mix of the stuff they teach in the army and stuff I've picked up all over the place."

"Oh."

"I think you've got it down." James held out a palm, tapping it with his other fist. "Try it on me."

Ryan looked at him doubtfully. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," James said in amusement. "Come on." After another hesitation, Ryan let it fly, his fist impacting solidly with his father's palm. "Good, that was good," James said, shaking his hand out.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. That was pretty good. Now, let's see if you can put it together." He got into a basic stance. "We're going to spar a bit, you can try any other moves you can think of. Just not too hard, your mom will probably kill us if we come in with a nosebleed or anything."

"Okay," Ryan said nervously.

"Good. Ready? Go."

..

Unnoticed by the pair on the lawn, Shelby had been watching them for a few minutes from the living room window, careful not to disturb the curtain. She smiled as she watched her two boys. Sure, she would have preferred they find something other than boxing to bond over, but she couldn't deny that she was happy James was making the effort to spend time with their son. She knew Ryan would appreciate it. And besides, she'd known the kid for six months, and he'd been in two fights. It was good that James was teaching him some defense skills.

She watched them for a moment. She'd thought a lot about her conversation with James last night. She was still in love with him. She knew that. She wanted him in her life. But it was so complicated between them, with everything that had happened. They had so much history, hell, they even had a kid together. But to be perfectly truthful, she was scared. Scared that they wouldn't work out, scared that they'd hurt Ryan if they fell apart.

But she'd already let him leave once, could she really do it again?

After a few more minutes of watching she went out on the front porch. "Good morning Mom," Ryan said cheerfully when he spotted her coming out the front door.

"Morning," she answered.

"Hi Shelby," James smiled at her.

"You're here early," she observed, giving him a smile. "What are you doing?"

James immediately got a bit shifty. He wasn't really sure Shelby would approve of him teaching Ryan how to hit people. "Uh –"

"I bumped into him on my run," Ryan intervened. "And he's kindly offered to give me self-defense lessons. It's a valuable life skill."

"I'm sure it is," Shelby said, amused, turning to James. "Did you have breakfast?"

"Nope."

Shelby nodded. "Okay. Come on, I think you've been out there for long enough." She held the door open, motioning for the two to go inside. "Ryan, shower."

"Okay." The teenager obediently trotted up the stairs, leaving his parents in the kitchen.

Shelby handed James a bowl and a whisk. "Here, scramble some eggs." She turned away. "How did you get into a sparring session this early in the morning?" she asked, as she pulled out a skillet to fry up some bacon.

James started whisking the eggs. "I asked him about his fight at the party. He seemed really embarrassed that he wasn't able to defend himself, so I thought I'd teach him a few things. At least all my training is good for something, right?"

"Right." They worked in companionable silence for a while, before Shelby spoke again. "Did I tell you Josh is getting married?"

"No, you didn't mention that," James said, slightly surprised. He remembered Shelby's little brother as the small kid who occasionally tagged around with his older sister and her boyfriend. "Wow."

"I know," Shelby answered wryly.

"When's the wedding?"

"Next month." She glanced at him quickly. "Maybe you'd like to be my plus one?" she ventured.

James looked at her speculatively, trying to gauge what was happening. After their talk last night he wasn't entirely sure what was going on with them. But he was willing to take anything he could get. He smiled. "I'd be honored." He was rewarded by a smile from the brunette.

"Thanks. I'll give you the details in a week."

"Okay. Wow, little Josh is getting married. I feel sort of old," James said jokingly. Just then Ryan came downstairs, fresh from his shower.

"What makes you feel old?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, your mom just told me your uncle's getting married. Last time I saw him he was this hyperactive twelve-year-old running around and getting into all sorts of trouble."

Ryan smiled at that. "You know, sometimes I forget that the two of you used to know each other when you were kids," he said. "About the wedding, though, I kind of find it funny that Mom's not helping with the planning."

"Are you kidding? She'd terrorize the planner, the caterer, the dressmaker, probably the bride herself if she went anywhere near the planning," James said mischievously. Shelby glared at him.

"I would not!"

Ryan laughed. "You are kind of controlling, Mom," he chuckled. "I saw it firsthand at Carmel the one time we saw your rehearsals. And rumor has it that VA was wearing metal underwear during Regionals."

"Well, it worked, didn't it?"

* * *

_The next day_

Quinn Fabray knocked on the front door of the Corcoran household a little after nine in the morning. She wanted to talk to Ryan. The door was opened a few moments after she knocked by a rather handsome middle-aged man with dark blonde hair. She gaped in confusion for a moment.

The man looked at her politely. "Can I help you?"

Quinn surreptitiously stepped back to check the house number displayed next to the door. Yep, this was the right house. She glanced back at the man. "Uh, I'm looking for Ryan…"

Just then Shelby appeared behind the guy who had answered the door. "Quinn! Hi, what are you doing here?"

Mildly relieved, Quinn answered, "Hi Miss Corcoran. Is Ryan home?" She was curious, but she wasn't quite sure if it would be polite to inquire about the identity of the man in front of her.

"Yes, he's just upstairs taking a shower." Shelby saw Quinn shoot a glance at the man standing in the doorway. "Quinn, this is James Walker. He's Ryan's dad. James, this is Quinn Fabray."

Ohhh. Realization dawned as the man's identity registered. She looked at James directly, belatedly recognizing the pair of chocolate brown eyes identical to her boyfriend's. "Hi. Nice to meet you."

James smiled at her, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you too. I'd heard Ryan had a girlfriend, but I wasn't expecting to meet you so soon."

"Yeah, I didn't expect to meet you yet either." Quinn followed Shelby and James into the house, unable to help checking James out. He was sort of good-looking, for an older guy. Quinn preferred dark hair on guys, but James was nice. Ryan looked a lot more like his mom than his dad, but she couldn't help thinking that Ryan had pretty good genes. Shelby was quite beautiful and James was no slouch either.

"So, Quinn, you go to school with Ryan?" James asked as they sat down in the living room.

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, we're in the same grade. We usually have a few classes together, and we're both in the glee club."

"Ah, you sing too?"

"Yes, not as well as Ryan though. Do you sing?" Quinn asked curiously. She'd heard Shelby sing and had been blown away, and she wondered if Ryan's voice had come purely from Shelby.

"Oh, just a little. I wasn't into a lot of extracurriculars in high school."

"Don't listen to him, he's pretty good, and he was in our glee club in his senior year," Shelby interjected. "He's not a patch on Ryan, though." She smirked at James' glare.

Right on cue Ryan came into the living room, stopping short when he saw Quinn. "Hi! I didn't know you were here." He gave his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek, seeing as his parents were watching. "I see you met my dad already."

"Yeah, I just got here a few minutes ago," Quinn answered, smiling at her boyfriend who sat down beside her. "Your mom was just telling me he can't sing quite as well as you."

"Yes, well…" James said with a cough. "Ready for school to start up again?" he asked the two teenagers, before looking at Shelby thoughtfully. "Though I guess that applies to you too…"

"Har har."

"Don't remind me," Ryan groaned dramatically. "I still have summer homework, and guess who I have to submit it to when school starts up."

"She's handling your class?" James smirked at him, and Quinn suddenly noticed the resemblance to Ryan. "The best of luck to you, then."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shelby asked indignantly. "You know what, never mind."

"She's a holy terror," James said anyways. "Great big perfectionist, she is." He ignored Shelby's glare.

"Oh, we know," Quinn said wryly. "We saw one of her Vocal Adrenaline rehearsals."

"But you couldn't ask for a better teacher," James continued. "She singlehandedly got me through two years of high school English. Got me from F to B+. Saved me from getting delayed a year. She's the best," he said proudly.

Shelby smiled at him softly. "Well, you did the work."

Ryan stared. "How did you do that? You got her from glaring at you to smiling in ten seconds."

"It's a skill."

"I'm right here, you know," Shelby grumbled. "Ryan, I think the left taillight on the Rover is out, would you mind taking a look?"

"Yeah, sure," Ryan smiled. He'd missed working with his cars, Mr. Hummel had been out for a week now, and then he'd gotten grounded. He was probably going back in a few days, but in the meantime he'd go tinker with his mom's car. He grabbed Quinn's hand and pulled her outside. He opened the car's rear hatch. "What _are _you doing here, anyways?" he asked Quinn.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll just leave now," Quinn said sarcastically.

Ryan quickly caught her hand. "You know that's not what I meant," he said a bit anxiously. "I love having you here, it's just a surprise because I wasn't expecting you –"

"Okay," Quinn interrupted. "It was a joke. You're cute when you're nervous, though, I should do that more often." Ryan gave her a look, and Quinn just patted him on the cheek.

"You still haven't told me how come you're over here." He carefully pried open the panel that housed the Range Rover's lights. He was surprised when he felt his girlfriend press herself against his back, arms coming to wrap around his middle. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"You smell nice."

"Thanks, I just took a shower." Ryan smiled, hyper-aware of his girlfriend's body pressing into him, and he concentrated on the small light bulb he was unscrewing, trying to keep his hormones in check. They remained in that position for a few moments, before Quinn pressed a kiss on Ryan's neck and pulled away. She sat down on the floor of the Range Rover's open trunk.

"Have you seen Santana lately?"

Ryan blinked at the change in subject. "Oh. No, I haven't. Not since the party." He pulled out one of the offending light bulbs, inspecting it for damage. "Have you seen her? Wait, did you two have a fight again?"

"No, Santana's been busy, and Britt's off with her parents somewhere, so I haven't had anyone to hang out with." Quinn now had a slightly annoyed look on her face. "San just got out of the hospital yesterday, and she stopped by at my place."

"Hospital? Is something wrong with her?"

Quinn scoffed. "Only in her head. I swear she's bipolar sometimes. But no. She says she had a surgery, but I told her, it's not a surgery, it's a boob job –"

"Wait, wait, wait." Ryan shook his head. "Santana got a boob job? Why would Santana get a boob job?"

"Beats me. I think it's stupid. I don't know who she's trying to impress, she doesn't even have a boyfriend –"

"Of course she doesn't…" Ryan mumbled, causing Quinn to look at him strangely, but she let it pass. "Back to the point. Santana's getting a boob job? I don't think she's…uh…lacking in that department, is she?"

"Wait, how do you know she isn't lacking in that department?" Quinn asked suspiciously. "Have you been checking Santana out?"

Ryan flinched slightly. "Yes, I may have taken a look once or twice. I can't help it," he said defensively. It didn't really help his case that he had inevitably started picturing Santana with a chest ala Betty Boop. He inspected the other light bulb in the car for damage, trying to distract himself.

Quinn rolled her eyes, suspecting what he was thinking of. Boys were stupid. "No, I don't think she needs it either, but she's insane. I mean, I wouldn't consider getting a boob job," she grumbled.

That started a whole new set of images in Ryan's head. He couldn't help but glance at Quinn's chest now, and he was only pulled out of his daze when Quinn snapped her fingers in front of his face. _Boys_.

"Sorry," Ryan apologized sheepishly, fumbling with the light bulb in his hand as he returned it to its spot on the Range Rover. "But you're right, it is stupid to get a boob job as a teenager. A person's body isn't finished developing yet at our age, you don't know how it's still going to change, and a cosmetic surgery such as that wouldn't be practical."

Focused as he was on the car he was working on, he missed the guilty, conflicted look that suddenly crossed Quinn's face. She recovered quickly though. "So you wouldn't want to date anyone who would have plastic surgery?"

"Well, I guess I wouldn't go that far," he replied absently, fiddling with some wiring. "Ultimately I suppose it's the person's choice to get plastic surgery. Everyone's got parts of themselves that they'd like to change. Don't worry, I'm not going to go date Santana just because she's got big breasts, if that's what you're worried about." He glanced up at her with a lopsided smile.

Quinn returned it a bit weakly. "Good."

"Seriously, though, I don't think you should feel like you need to change anything about yourself to please other people. I prefer people who are confident in their own skin. That's probably why I was so attracted to you, you always walked around like you owned the place," he ended, giving her a smile.

_Oh god, what was he going to do when he found out?_ Quinn wondered fretfully. Damn Santana for getting her boob job! It was bringing up all sorts of issues Quinn had long buried. She decided right there that she wasn't going to tell Ryan. She couldn't risk him leaving her if he found out her secret. Instead she reached up to tug Ryan down to her level for a kiss, running her tongue along his lip to tease his mouth open. She wrapped her other hand around the back of his neck, pressing him against her. Ryan's arms came to rest on her waist, as their kiss grew more and more heated. Quinn pulled back, moving her lips to his ear.

"You should get back to the car." She drew back with a smug smile, watching as confusion spread across his features. He blinked dazedly, and she pressed a quick kiss on his lips before pushing him gently away. Her confidence was quickly returning, encouraged by his reaction to her. She would never have been able to do that to him as Lucy.

Ryan stared at her for a moment, trying to gather his scattered thoughts. "You…I…Okay…" He looked down at the small bulb in his hand. Right, he was replacing his mom's taillight. He turned back to the panel, confused. Quinn smirked as she watched him trying to get back into what he was doing. "Um…wait, I'm done already, I need to replace this," Ryan said, almost to himself. He turned to Quinn accusingly. "You do that on purpose, don't you?"

Quinn stood up, trailing a hand on his shoulders. "Maybe," she said coyly. "Do you have a spare light?"

Ryan gulped before answering. "Yeah. I think I have a few upstairs in my room."

"Okay."

..

While Ryan was out checking on the car, Shelby had decided to give James a tour of the house, which she'd neglected to do the last time he was here. They ended up back in the kitchen, where she poured them both a cup of coffee which they brought into the living room. James went over to the window and looked out. "You know, I sort of get why everybody likes this window so much," he commented idly, taking note of the view. "You can see the whole yard and your driveway from here." He squinted. "You can even see into the house across the street if you really try."

"Yes, that's exactly why I chose the place, to spy on my neighbors," Shelby answered sarcastically from her seat on the sofa.

"Look, I can see Ryan messing with your car." A moment later, he glanced at Shelby. "Look."

"I'm pretty sure I've seen the view before."

"Not when the view includes our kid getting glomped by his girlfriend."

That got Shelby to look. "Oh."

"I like Quinn, she's pretty." James snickered when Shelby just rolled her eyes. He turned away from the window. "Seriously though, what do you think of her? What's she like? Is she nice? Is she good enough for our kid?"

"Why don't you go out there and ask her yourself?" Shelby asked challengingly. "But yes, I think she's a good kid. Ryan could do worse."

James looked back out a few moments later. "Oh look, they're kissing. Go Ryan."

"Shut up, James."

Soon the two teenagers were entering the house, Quinn following after Ryan, who rolled his eyes when he saw his parents standing by the window. "Seriously? The window again?"

Shelby pointed at James. "Tell that to Petunia Dursley over there, he was peeking at the neighbors across the street too." The two teenagers looked at her in surprise. "What?" Shelby asked defensively. "I do read books other than the stuff on the high school curriculum."

Ryan shrugged. "I didn't think you did."

Quinn nodded in agreement. "I thought English teachers only know how to read Shakespeare and _To Kill a Mockingbird_. Exclusively."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Glad to disprove that misconception. What's wrong with my car?"

"Oh, one of your lights is burned out," Ryan said. "I might have a replacement in my room, or if not I can get one tomorrow at the garage."

Shelby nodded. "Thanks. Door stays open," she called, as Ryan grabbed Quinn's hand and pulled her upstairs to his room to go find a spare bulb.

"Okay!"

Once they got to Ryan's room, Quinn sat down on the bed while Ryan rummaged around in some of his boxes. "I'm pretty sure I've got some of those lights up here…"

"Your dad seems nice," Quinn said, as she picked up the baseball sitting on the bedside table.

"He's great," Ryan answered. "He taught me how to block and counter a punch this morning, so the next time Karofsky tries something I can stop him. James is really cool, he thinks football players being at the top of the food chain is stupid too, and like I said, he can fight. Like really fight."

"That's nice." This time Ryan heard something in his girlfriend's voice, and he looked up from his box of stuff.

"Hey, are you okay?" He carried the small box over to the bed so he could sit beside Quinn. Then it hit him. "Oh no, I'm really sorry, Quinn, I didn't really think how meeting my dad and talking about him would affect you, when you've got your own issues with your dad," he rambled apologetically. "I guess that was insensitive of me."

Quinn smiled a bit thinly. "It's okay. I'm happy for you." She put the baseball back down. "My dad told me this story, just before he kicked me out, about how he would take me and my sister to baseball games at the park. How all the other dads would bring their sons, but he was happy with his two girls, and how I'd fall asleep mid-game." Ryan smiled at this, imagining a smaller Quinn falling asleep in the middle of a baseball game. "Then he said I wasn't that little girl anymore."

Ryan sighed, wrapping an arm around Quinn in a hug. "No, you're not that little girl anymore," he murmured. "You've grown into your own person, and he just couldn't accept that." He kissed the side of her head. "His loss."

Quinn leaned her head on Ryan's shoulder. "Yeah." She'd been slowly coming to terms with everything, and somehow this memory didn't feel as painful as it once did. Truthfully, she wasn't really upset over that, she was more worried about Ryan finding out about Lucy. Watching James interact with Ryan and Shelby made her feel a bit wistful though, and she decided it would be easier to let him assume that that was what was throwing her off. She peered into Ryan's box, pulling out a small object that looked like the one she'd seen Ryan holding earlier. "Is this it?"

"Yeah," Ryan said a bit sheepishly. "Thanks."

"You should look into getting some glasses," Quinn teased.

Ryan shuddered. "No offense to people with glasses, but I don't think I could pull that look off. I mean, Artie does it pretty well, but…"

"Who knows, it might be an improvement."

"Funny. I'll have to look into that," he deadpanned. Ryan put the box down on the floor. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask, what did Finn have to say, at the party?" He laughed a bit nervously. "Kurt said he wanted to get back together with you."

"Yeah," Quinn nodded. "He said that he knew I was sorry, you know, about the whole thing with Puck. And that after thinking about it, he wanted me back. I could get back to the Cheerios, and things would be the same as before."

"Oh." Ryan started playing with the light bulb in his hands. "What did you say?"

"I told him I didn't feel the same about him, and I told him I was with you now." Quinn raised an eyebrow at him. "What did you think I said?"

Ryan smiled. "That's what I thought you said. Santana was saying I should go in there with you, but I said you could handle him. I know you wouldn't leave me for him just like that."

"Good." Quinn hugged him.

"But you know, I'd get it, if you wanted to get back together with him. He's the quarterback, after all, and I'm just the loser who gets slushied every day –"

"Look, I'm definitely not going back to Finn," Quinn said firmly. "He wanted to name a baby Drizzle. Just no."

Ryan let out a laugh. "Okay. Good. I'm glad I rate higher that that lumbering giant, anyways." He leaned in for a kiss, running his hand through Quinn's golden hair. She indulged him for a moment before she drew back.

"Your parents are right downstairs. And I'm pretty sure they saw us in the driveway."

Ryan nodded a little disappointedly. They stood up, just in time for Shelby to once again show off her impeccable timing and pass by the doorway. "It's like she has a camera in here or something," Ryan grumbled.

* * *

"What time are you leaving tomorrow?" Ryan asked as he and his parents sat down to dinner the next night. James was going to be leaving in the morning.

James swallowed before answering. "Half past ten. Like before."

"And when will you come back?"

"Soon. A few days after my retirement. I just have some stuff I need to take care of, then I'll be back. Mid-September at the latest." James smiled, pleased that Ryan was so eager for him to come back.

"Well, you should tell us in advance so Mom and I can help you move in," Ryan said happily.

"Way to volunteer us, kid," Shelby said flatly. She smiled though. "He's right, you should tell us when you're coming, so we can help out. Otherwise you'll be living in a mess of cardboard boxes and dirty clothes."

"I would not!"

"Oh please, I've seen your version of 'organized'," Shelby said dismissively. "I was almost killed by the pile of junk in your room back in junior year."

"One time…"

Ryan had to stifle a laugh at his parents' bickering. They acted like an old married couple already. Either that or a couple of children. He was sort of rooting for them to get together already; what kid wouldn't want his parents together?

A little while later the dishes were washed, and it was time for James to go back to his motel. "Bye Dad, see you tomorrow," Ryan said, smiling at James. He looked at his parents. "I'll just go upstairs now, give you two some time."

Shelby watched him leave, shaking her head. "Subtle." She turned to James. "Well."

"Well."

"I thought about what we talked about," Shelby blurted out abruptly.

"And?" James couldn't keep the hopeful note out of his voice.

"And…" She took a deep breath. "Okay."

A grin spread across James' face. "Okay?"

Shelby nodded. "Okay. Let's give this another shot. I –"

She was cut off by James suddenly kissing her. She froze for a moment, caught by surprise, before melting into him, arms coming up instinctively around him as he pulled her close. They broke apart a few seconds later. James smiled goofily. "I've been waiting to do that again for fifteen years."

Shelby chuckled weakly, unsure of what to say. That kiss had been amazing. It had been fifteen years but they still had that spark between them that none of her other short-lived relationships had ever had. "And?"

James' smile widened. "Wow." He looked at her warmly. "We'll make it work out this time."

"Yeah. We will."

* * *

A couple of days later, Ryan was back to work at Burt Hummel's garage. He was quite happy to be back here, he really did enjoy his job. It was his first day back in two weeks. James had gone back to Pennsylvania a few days ago, having found an apartment here in Lima for him to live in when he moved. He grinned, thinking about his dad. He knew something had happened between him and his mom, it was obvious. He was bent over a noisy engine when he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Hey, how about some service around here?"

Ryan straightened up. "Santana. What are you doing here?"

"Oil change," Santana said brusquely. Ryan looked at her.

"Fine. Where's your car?" He looked around, looking for it. He'd seen it before, and it wasn't in here.

"It's that one." Santana pointed to a dark red Ford.

"That's not your car."

Santana glared at Ryan. "How is that any of your business? Maybe I stole it."

"Knowing you I wouldn't doubt it," Ryan retorted easily.

"Fine. It's my mom's car, 'kay? She asked me to get the oil changed."

Ryan took on an expression of mock disbelief. "Really? Santana Lopez actually doing something someone else told her to? Is the world ending?"

"Shut it, troll," Santana grumbled. It was kind of true, though, she had a rep for not doing anything anyone told her to. Her mom and Sue Sylvester were probably the only people she was scared of, not that she'd ever admit it.

Belatedly Ryan remembered what Quinn had told him yesterday. His gaze involuntarily dropped down to Santana's chest. Oh. "You did get a…" he gestured at Santana.

Santana's eyes widened. "How did you…Q. She told you, didn't she?"

Ryan shot another glance at Santana's chest before forcing his gaze upwards. It was really distracting. Not just the size, but the fact that she'd actually gotten surgery for them. He opened his mouth but Santana cut him off. "Nope, none of your business either, RuPaul. Get to work."

Ryan raised his hands in surrender. "Okay…" He popped open the hood of the car in question. A few minutes of silence later, he decided to talk. "Why did you do it, anyways?"

"I told you –"

"None of my business, yes, I recall. But it's a little distracting. And like I told Quinn, I don't really understand why you'd want to get plastic surgery while you're still a teenager."

"Okay, I already had this conversation with your girlfriend. I don't get what the big deal is. I just wanted people to notice me more, and if a little cosmetic surgery does the trick, then what's the problem?"

"Well, first of all I don't think you had any problem attracting attention before. You're kind of loud," Ryan pointed out. "And secondly, a boob job, Santana, really? It may get people to notice you more, but frankly it might not be in the way that you want."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, Santana, I'm a guy. Shut up," he said irritably when he saw Santana about to say something with a smirk. "Guys are going to notice those," he gestured vaguely at her, "but it's not – you know?" He wasn't quite sure how to explain.

Santana glared at him. "Whatever Berry."

Ryan sighed. "I like to think we're sort of friends, Santana. And while I don't exactly agree with you on this particular topic, I will support you." He received a slight nod in response. "But I do think that deep down, way, _way_ down, you're a good person." He threw her a smirk. "You don't need those to make people notice you. Not the important ones, anyway." He checked on the car again. "I'm just going to get some stuff from the back. You stay here."

Santana just nodded again, thinking about what he'd said. She shook her head. Who would've thought she'd ever be friends with Ryan Berry/Corcoran? A minute after Ryan had gone into the back another customer came into the garage, a middle-aged woman with dark hair. She looked sort of familiar to Santana. The woman looked around, spotting Santana. "Hi, is Ryan or Mr. Hummel around?"

Santana took a second to register the words. She couldn't help but notice the lady was pretty hot, tall with dark hair and an air of authority. "Uh, yeah, they're both in the back. Ryan should be back in a bit, he's working on my car."

Right on cue, Ryan came back, carrying the supplies for Santana's mom's car. "Okay, just wait a few more minutes, and you'll be all set to terrorize other people for the rest of the day," he told Santana. Then he saw the other person in the garage. "Oh! Hi, I didn't know you were coming here," he said confusedly. "I thought we were meeting at home."

Santana looked between the three other people. "Okay, hold up. Who's that?" she asked Ryan.

Ryan suddenly remembered. "Right." This was his first time introducing both his mom to anyone other than Quinn. "Uh, Santana Lopez, Shelby Corcoran."

For a moment, Santana stared at him. Then she glanced back at Shelby, who had a raised eyebrow, then back at Ryan. "Wait, she's –"

"My mom, yeah."

Santana's gaze swiveled back to Shelby. Now that she knew, she could see the similarity. They actually looked a lot alike. That was weird, she thought the troll's mom was hot… "Okay, wow. Well, that's a surprise, but whatevs. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Shelby answered. "Are you one of Ryan's classmates?"

"Yeah," Santana nodded, remembering that she was apparently going to be teaching at McKinley. She did not look like the type of person to cross, and she mentally made a note to start on that English homework they'd been assigned.

Ryan quickly finished up what he was doing on the engine, then shut the hood. He handed Santana the keys. "Here you go, all done."

Santana nodded her thanks, accepting the keys. "Okay. See you around." Ryan watched as she got into the car and drove off, before turning to his mom. "What's up?"

Shelby dropped a kiss on Ryan's cheek. "Nothing. I just thought I'd pick you up, have lunch somewhere."

A smile appeared on his face. He loved that his mom would take the time to surprise him like this for no reason. "Okay. Just let me go tell Mr. Hummel I'm leaving."

..

After their lunch, Ryan finally got around to doing his summer homework, with less than a week to go before classes were due to start.

"Honestly, I don't know why you put this off so long," Shelby said a bit sternly when she sat down to read what Ryan had written.

"I just don't like writing, okay? And besides, I did the reading part early, it was just the essay that takes a while to start."

"What's this supposed to be about anyways?"

Ryan consulted his homework notebook. "'Summarize the plot of George Orwell's 1984 and discuss the concept of Big Brother and its effect on the book's main character.' Then there are a bunch of guide questions." He handed the notebook over to his mom, who was reading through his essay. A few minutes later he asked nervously, "Well?"

Shelby looked at him. "It's a little scattered. B minus, I guess. Acceptable, but I think you could do better." She skimmed down the guide questions. "You did answer most of these, I'll give you that. You missed number three, though, and you're kind of hazy on number seven."

"I told you, essays aren't exactly my forte."

"Well, how do you usually do it?"

"SparkNotes."

"You're hilarious," Shelby said dryly. "Were you taught how to plan an essay?"

"Not really," Ryan admitted. "I just start writing and most of the time the questions get answered eventually."

Shelby nodded. That was the problem of most of her students. They didn't know how to outline an essay or how to synthesize their thoughts. "Okay. Here's what you can try to do…"

An hour later, Ryan had managed to construct a decent outline for his essay with Shelby's help, and most of the introduction and summary. James was right, his Mom was a very effective teacher, not just in show choir but also academically. She could actually get the lesson across and gave him a lot of helpful tips. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." Shelby smiled affectionately at her son. "Don't be afraid to ask for help, okay? I'm always willing to help you."

Ryan smiled back. "Okay." His smile turned a bit wistful.

"What is it?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. Just getting used to the fact that I have two parents who spend time with me and teach me things. It just feels like we lost so much time, you know?"

Yes, Shelby did know. She sighed, running a hand through her son's short hair. "I know. We'll catch up, though," she told him. "We've got all the time in the world now." She smiled at him. "Now finish that up."

"Yes, Mom."

* * *

**Hello, everyone, it's been over a week now, I think. I did want to get this out sooner, but real life stuff. You know how it goes. Hope you liked this chapter, next time we'll be getting into season two events. I've got a few things in mind, I just need time to get it down. Thanks for all your reviews. One person said it was getting kind of boring, and I guess I can see their point. Hopefully it'll start to pick up soon. We'll have to wait and see what happens with Puck, I'm still not entirely sure. I might settle into updating once a week, maybe more if time permits. See you next time!**


	35. Chapter 34

"So, you ready for classes to start?" Quinn asked Ryan teasingly as they sat next to each other on the sofa at Quinn's house watching a movie. School would be starting the next day, and the pair were enjoying the last day of summer vacation together.

Ryan smiled. "I guess so. I've got a new plan of attack set out for the glee club. We're going to win Nationals for sure this year, especially since Mom isn't with VA anymore. This is going to be our year," he said confidently. He glanced at her. "How about you? Are you planning on rejoining the Cheerios?"

After a moment Quinn nodded. "Yes. I'm going to see if Coach Sylvester will give me my spot back." If not, she'd find some way to get it back. "Is that okay with you?"

Ryan's smile dimmed a bit, but he nodded. "Of course. If it makes you happy. If you don't mind me asking though, why do you want to go back?"

She looked at him. "I need to get back. I was at the top of the school before, Ryan. And I lost it all. The best way to get some of it back is through the Cheerios."

Ryan nodded, trying to tamp down the insecurities that flared up once again. What if Quinn got all her popularity back and decided she didn't want him anymore? What if Finn Hudson decided to try to take her back? He wasn't under any illusions that anything would change at McKinley. He was still one of the school losers, and their loss at Regionals wouldn't help any. He shook himself slightly. Quinn wouldn't drop him just like that. "Well, I hope you get it back." He leaned into Quinn and gave her a deep kiss.

Quinn returned the kiss enthusiastically, pressing closer to him on the sofa. He was never going to get tired of this. One of his hands tangled itself into Quinn's hair, the other running slowly up and down her back. Quinn pulled back slightly, the need for air overpowering her need to be as close as possible to Ryan. "How about we go upstairs?" she said breathlessly.

Moments later, they were in Quinn's room, sitting next to each other on the bed, locked in a searing kiss. Ryan moved his lips to her neck, heartbeat picking up when he felt Quinn shiver under his ministrations. He started to move lower to her collarbone. "Is this okay?" he asked softly.

Quinn felt a rush of affection for her boyfriend. "Yeah," she answered, running a hand through his dark hair. A moment later she gave a slight gasp as Ryan brushed a particularly sensitive spot, making him hesitate a bit and draw back, letting her decide whether or not to stop. Quinn smirked. A couple of seconds later she started pushing Ryan backwards onto the bed, ending up partially on top of him. Ryan's head was spinning by now, and his mind could hardly keep up.

Suddenly he felt her hand ghosting over his crotch, and he involuntarily bucked his hips up. "S-sorry," he said apologetically.

"You okay?" Quinn asked innocently. Ryan just stared at her for a moment.

"Oh, I'm – I'm – good," he finally got out. She probably hadn't meant to do that.

"Good," his girlfriend whispered, kissing him wetly on the neck. Ryan shut his eyes, trying in vain to get his mind under control from the girl who was practically on top of him. His eyes widened and he gasped as he felt more pressure on his crotch. There was _no_ way that was accidental.

"Quinn –"

His train of thought was effectively cut off by Quinn kissing him hard on the lips, and he let out a choked moan at the feel of her slipping a hand under his shirt. He bucked again when she ground against him, and he screwed his eyes shut, trying to keep it in. The next thing he knew, Quinn was next to him on the bed, a smile playing on her lips. "Let's pray."

Ryan's mouth worked up and down for a moment as he struggled to get his train of thoughts back. Panting, he met Quinn's eyes for a moment. _She was teasing him, the little minx!_ He was almost ashamed that he'd taken this long to figure it out, but hey, he was a little preoccupied. He let his head fall back on the bed, trying to get his breath back. Okay. So that's how it was. He'd have to figure out how to get her back soon.

..

Later that night Ryan was back at home with Shelby. "You have all your things, right?" she asked. "You're not going to suddenly realize that you've forgotten to buy notebooks or whatever?"

"Yes, Mom," Ryan drawled. "I'm all packed, too, would you like to see?"

"Very funny, wise-ass," Shelby answered flatly. "Do you need a ride to school?"

"No, Quinn's picking me up. Thanks, though." The last time Hiram or Leroy had taken him to school themselves was when he was six.

"You better be at school on time," Shelby warned. "If you're late you're coming to school with me in the mornings."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mom, Quinn and I will be on time. Do you have a homeroom this year?"

Shelby shook her head. "No. Since I'm new I'm just teaching English."

"I'm getting an A on the homework, right?"

Now it was Shelby's turn to roll her eyes. "We'll see." She'd checked over his homework, though, and it was pretty good. He'd just need a little guidance, and he'd been good to go.

"Is it okay if we keep, you know, us," Ryan gestured between them a bit awkwardly, "between us for now?"

His mom smirked at him. "Don't want to be branded as the teacher's kid?" Ryan shrugged, smiling a bit. "Don't worry, I won't tell anybody unless they figure it out first. If you're planning on keeping it down, you'd better not slip up and call me Mom," she teased.

"I won't." The two of them had gone over the boundaries that they would need to have while at school. Shelby couldn't be his mom during class, she had to be his teacher. It wouldn't be fair to show favoritism. "Oh well, at least one advantage of you not being around when I was little is that you don't have any embarrassing baby stories of me that could leak out," he joked.

"Right." Shelby gave him a quick hug. "Time for bed, we need to be up early tomorrow. I love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

_Wednesday_

"You ready?" Ryan asked Quinn as the two of them sat in Quinn's car in McKinley High's parking lot.

"Junior year, here we come," she answered unenthusiastically, drawing a chuckle from Ryan as they got out of the car. They made their way to the doors, passing by a pair of hockey jocks tossing another kid into the dumpsters.

"Starting early, aren't they," Ryan commented. He'd long since learned that trying to help the other kids during the bullying would only result in him getting thrown into the dumpster as well.

Quinn sighed. This time last year she hadn't cared about the bullying that went on around her. She'd been on the receiving end last year though. They went into the school. "Come on, let's go get our schedules."

Ryan nodded, and they headed to the office. "Who's your homeroom?" he asked, as they couple perused the papers they obtained from the administrative office. "Mine's Mr. Winters."

"Mine too," Quinn smiled. She took Ryan's schedule, comparing it with hers. "We've got four classes together this year."

"Including English." Ryan pointed it out. They headed to Quinn's locker first, where they found Brittney and Santana.

"Hi Ryan, hi Quinn," Brittney said cheerfully. Santana just gave Ryan a casual wave before going back to her nailfile, studiously ignoring Quinn.

"Brittney, Santana," Ryan answered amiably before turning to his girlfriend. "I'm just going to drop this stuff in my locker, I'll be back in a bit."

"San's still mad at you 'cause you told Ryan about her surgery," Britt told Quinn. Quinn rolled her eyes before starting to put her things in her locker.

"You know, it doesn't really matter if I told him, he would have noticed anyway," Quinn said matter-of-factly. "Those things are just about poking people in the eye." Santana shot her a glare, but went on pointedly ignoring her.

Suddenly the trio was accosted by Jacob Ben Israel, the school blogger/pervert, shoving a microphone in Quinn's face. "So, Quinn Fabray, how has life changed since the birth of your bastard child?"

Quinn glanced in slight confusion at guy behind Jacob who was filming the scene. "Uh, I'm happy to be back, and I'm ready to start fresh." She watched as the cameraman's focus drifted to Santana. She rolled her eyes and pulled the camera back to her. "I'm a lot less hormonal, so there's not really any crying…"

Jacob's attention shifted to Santana, his voice turning seductive (only to him). "How was your summer?"

Santana turned to face him. "My eyes are up here, Jewfro. And it was uneventful."

Brittney jumped in. "People thought I went on vacation, but actually I spent the summer lost in the sewers." Quinn almost laughed. Leave it to Brittney to stop Jacob's stupid questioning in its tracks. Just then Ryan came back from his own locker, and Jacob turned to him.

"Ryan Berry, how do you respond to rumors you're incredibly difficult to work with?"

Ryan blinked at him, slightly taken aback. He glanced at Quinn in confusion, who just shrugged. His camera-ready show face quickly came, though. "Well, as you know, performing is my life. And I do have opinions, and do my opinions sometimes annoy my fellow glee clubbers –"

"Yep," Quinn smirked, earning a mild glare from her boyfriend. Jacob immediately turned to Quinn.

"And what's your reaction to the rumors that the two of you were in a romantic relationship over the summer?"

Quinn and Ryan looked at each other before Ryan answered. "It's true, we've been dating all summer."

"Yes, and we're very happy," Quinn added, grabbing Ryan's hand.

For a moment Jacob was stunned into silence. Then –

"What did you do with all that breast milk?"

..

The glee club had their first meeting during the period before lunch, and Quinn and Ryan headed there together after their history class. They found Artie, Tina, Mike, Finn, Santana, and Brittney already inside. Finn took one glance at their clasped hands and a frown appeared on his face.

"Wow, it really is true," Tina said in surprise. "I kind of thought Jacob Ben Israel was making it up."

Ryan huffed. Was it really so unbelievable that Quinn would date him? Oh yeah. Yes. Yes it was. "As you can see, Jacob Ben Israel was not in fact making up rumors that Quinn and I are together."

"It's true," Brittney nodded.

"Never mind that," Artie interjected. Ryan noticed that he seemed to be sitting as far away from Tina as possible. Looks like Jacob might have gotten the Chang-squared rumor right. "I had the new English teacher for third this morning. She said her name was Miss Corcoran, and she looked an awful lot like you, Ryan."

"Uh, yeah." Ryan ran a hand through his hair. "As you all probably remember from last year, Shelby Corcoran was the coach of Vocal Adrenaline. And she's also my mother. She decided that it was time to leave the world of show choir, and so last year was her final year with VA. She is, however, also an English teacher, and since the spot was opening up here at McKinley, she decided to apply for the job. Needless to say, she got it, and she's now our English teacher."

Everyone else stared at him during his longwinded explanation. They'd almost forgotten how long Ryan could ramble once he got going. "Are you sure she's not spying for VA?" asked Kurt, who had come in with Mercedes midway through Ryan's speech.

Ryan had expected this. "Yes, Kurt, I'm one-hundred percent sure she will not be relaying any insider details on our glee club details back to her former team." His mom wouldn't do that to him.

"Do you think she'd help us with our songs?" Mercedes asked. She'd been on the spying trip to VA with Ryan and Quinn and had seen how good a coach Shelby Corcoran was. Maybe she'd be willing to help them out. Everyone looked at Ryan expectantly.

"Well, as I've said, she wanted to leave show choir behind, but maybe she'd be willing to give us a few tips." Ryan still hadn't managed to convince Shelby to help, but he was sure he could, given time.

Then Mr. Schue came in with Puck following him. "Okay, guys, gather round." He glanced at the papers in his hand as his students sat down. "We need to talk about our recruitment plans for this year. I've got here some recent comments from Jacob Ben Israel's blog. 'Glee club is a giant ball of suck –'"

"We get it, Mr. Schue," Kurt cut in. "We're plankton on the high school food chain. But we don't really care anymore."

"Yeah, Kurt is right," Mercedes added. "We're family now. None of this is gonna break us."

"I'm really glad that you guys have bonded, the problem is all this negative stuff is keeping other students from auditioning," Mr. Schue explained.

"So what? We don't need anybody else," Tina said. Ryan almost rolled his eyes. Of course they needed more members, Matt had transferred out and they only had eleven members, which was one short of what they needed to compete. Mr. Schue apparently agreed with him.

"We're going to need more people if we want to make it to Nationals this year," he said. "We're going to have to go from a small rebel force to a giant wall of sound!"

Ryan nodded, going over to the front, ignoring the glare Finn had fixed on him. "Mr. Schuester's right, you didn't hear Vocal Adrenaline, they were epic. We're going to need a lot more voices if we want to beat them this year."

"I thought you said they lost their coach," Santana commented.

He shook his head slightly. "Yes, but they have a new coach, obviously, and just because they changed coaches doesn't automatically mean we can dismiss them as competition." He glanced at Quinn, asking for help.

Quinn spoke up. "He's right, we really need to get other people to join if we want to win."

"Right," Mr. Schue said. "Nationals are in New York this year, and we are going. So let's go out there and show the school how cool we can be! We'll show them we don't just do showtunes. We're going to give them song of the year, New Directions style!"

..

Shelby got up from her desk after her last class before lunch hour, picking up her things. She'd taken to dismissing the students early on the first day after distributing the year's syllabus, a practice she'd adopted years ago after figuring out that no one actually paid any attention on the first day of classes. She exited her classroom only to encounter a long line of students. Curious, she followed the line and found the billboard where all the extracurricular sign-up sheets were posted. It looked like all these students were signing up for the cheerleading team. A few feet away, she found Will Schuester and the cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester going at it.

"– several others started worshiping a possum carcass as their lord. I guess they lost their humanity a little," Sue was saying.

"Sorry, Sue," Will answered. "Anyone who gets to join glee club gets to join." He pinned up his sheet on the board.

"Let me break it down for you, William. High school is like a dry run for real life. Not everyone can be champions, not everyone should be champions. We need fry cooks, and bus drivers." She spotted Shelby coming toward them "Good morning, Yentl. How's the first day in the trenches?"

"Very refreshing, Sylvester," Shelby answered. She'd met Sue at the faculty meeting yesterday and had found the tall woman's abrasiveness amusing. "Is this the line for your Froot Loops?"

"I'll have you know that my Cheerios are national champions, thank you very much, like your previous team and unlike Q-tip's singing team."

"Wait, hold on a second," Will said, confused. The two women turned to face him. "What are you doing here?" he asked Shelby.

Sue interrupted. "Well, William, people who attend the faculty meetings actually get to meet new faculty members instead of being surprised at the first day of school."

"You work here now?"

Shelby nodded. "Yes. I'm replacing your English teacher, Mrs. Gage, right?"

"She's here to usurp your little glee club," Sue stated.

"No I'm not."

"No she's not," Sue conceded. "But she'd probably do a better job. Did you let everyone who signed up for your team get in?" she asked Shelby.

"No," Shelby admitted. "But then we had more than enough people signing up." She could easily turn down the mediocre voices. "You've probably got the right approach though," she told Will, who nodded gratefully at her. "Just take anybody who wants to join, build up your team." They needed a lot more than a skeleton crew if they wanted to get anywhere.

"You know what, I'm going to like being friends with you two. You make _not_ trying to destroy glee club easy. 'Cause you're doing such a bang-up job of it yourselves." Sue checked her pager. "Whoops, time to feed my gimp. Also, Figgins wants to see us," she told Will. "Ah ah ah. Not you. Hands off that list." She pulled a girl with glasses away from the Cheerios sign-up sheet before walking off.

Will sighed, meeting Shelby's amused gaze. "Well, welcome to McKinley."

Shelby nodded at him. "Thank you. And I meant what I said, I'm not planning on getting involved with your team, so don't worry. I'm not spying for VA either."

"Okay," Will said, offering her a smile. "I should get to Figgins' office. See you later."

..

A few hours later, Shelby sat in her classroom, waiting for her last set of students. Ryan and Quinn were in her next class, along with some of the other glee club names she'd recognized from New Directions' Sectionals roster. Students started trickling in ten minutes before the bell, and finally, Ryan came in hand in hand with Quinn. She gave him a small smile, which he returned before sitting down in the second row. She got a look of surprise when Noah Puckerman came in, but he didn't say anything. The bell rang, and she called the class to attention.

"Good afternoon, everybody, my name's Shelby Corcoran, I'm your new English teacher since Mrs. Gage retired." She let the whispers die down before continuing. "Now, I've been informed that she set you some homework to do over the summer, so please pass it forward now." As the papers started shuffling in, she noted one or two latecomers enter the classroom. This was the first day, though, so she didn't comment. "Okay, now that everyone's here, I'm going to be taking attendance. Raise your hand when I call your name."

She ran through the names quickly. "Alberts…Bradley…Campbell…Chang…" Shelby glanced at the next surname. Her own. "Corcoran…" She knew he was here so she moved on. Most of the students didn't notice. She finished the roll a few minutes later and looked at her students. "Did everyone get called?" She received a bunch of nods in reply, and a few expectant looks. "Okay, I've put the syllabus for this year on your desks, so you should all have a copy." She spent a few minutes going through the syllabus, then spoke again. "All right. If there are no questions, I'm sure you've heard I'm giving free periods this class. So if you've handed in your homework, you're free to go. See you tomorrow."

Smiles broke out everywhere as her students rushed out of the room. Ryan stayed behind, though. "Free period on the first day?"

"Yes, I've found that no one really pays attention on the first day, and besides, today's when everyone signs up for all the clubs, right?" Shelby answered, smiling at him. "Also, it lulls you guys into a false sense of security."

"Sneaky."

"Thank you. I saw your performance outside, very nice. Especially considering you probably only had an hour or so to rehearse."

To her surprise, he turned glum. "Thanks, but everyone else didn't think so. The only people on the sign-up sheet are Buttface McBallnuts and Ass-Braham Lin-Colon."

Shelby couldn't stop her snort. "How creative."

"Not funny."

"I know, I'm sorry." Shelby thought for a moment. She hadn't really had this problem at Carmel, it was an arts school and everyone had wanted to get into Vocal Adrenaline. "You know, you should try scouting for talent. A lot of the time there are really good singers out there, but they don't have the confidence to sign up for a singing group. Just try going around the school, listen for potential. That's how I found some of my performers."

"I guess we can try that." Ryan perked up significantly. "Actually, Mike Chang told me Finn found someone who might want to join. Apparently Finn heard him singing in the showers." He cocked his head a little, before shaking it off. "I'll tell everyone else to be on the lookout. We've already printed up more sign-up sheets to post around the school. Thanks, Mom."

"No problem, sweetie." Shelby couldn't help but be amused by how quick he could bounce between moods. "Do you have a glee club meeting?"

"Not officially, Finn just asked if a few of us could go hear the new kid sing. It's another guy, we actually need more female singers, but I guess we do need people to sway in the background while I sing, right?"

Shelby nodded, laughing at his ego. "Okay, go ahead. I'll see you later."

Ryan made his way to the choir room by himself. Quinn had gone to the Cheerio tryouts to try to get her spot back, and besides, Finn had just asked the guys to come see the new kid sing. When he got the choir room, Puck immediately asked, "Dude, why didn't you tell us your mom was gonna teach here? And what's up with the name change?"

"I fail to see how that's really something I should bring up in normal conversation, Noah," he answered, sitting down next to Mike Chang, who smiled at him. Ryan smiled back, Mike was a nice guy, but very quiet. "And about the name change, I moved in with my mom over the summer, and we deemed it appropriate that I should use her last name instead of my old one." He didn't want to get into the whole story.

"Oh, so that's what that was about," Artie said comprehendingly. He'd heard Ryan and Santana at Quinn's party a few weeks ago.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Puck said quickly. "But seriously, man, your mom's a –"

Ryan didn't get to find out exactly what his mom was since their candidate chose that moment to make his entrance. Finn greeted him. "Hey, man, glad you're here. Guys, this is Sam. Sam, tell us about yourself."

Sam nodded with a shy smile. "Okay, my name's Sam Evans, I just moved here. I like comic books, sports…I'm dyslexic, so my grades aren't that good, but I'm working on it." Ryan studied the blonde kid as he spoke. He seemed nice, a little on the shy side, maybe, from the way he talked.

"Dude, your mouth's huge. How many tennis balls can you fit in there?" Puck asked. Ryan rolled his eyes.

Sam looked confused, but answered gamely. "Uh, I don't know, I've never had any balls in my mouth. Have you?"

Ryan smirked, happy to have someone shut Puck up. He was a real jerk, and after what he'd done to Quinn Ryan's irritation with the other boy had grown. Artie whispered, "I like his confidence. But the Bieber cut's got to go." Ryan completely agreed with him. He finally spoke up.

"Okay, but the question is can you sing?" Ryan offered him a smile. "I'm Ryan Corcoran, I'm one of the New Directions' lead singers, along with Finn here. So, what song are you going to audition with?"

"I don't know, I've never really sung in front of other people before," Sam admitted.

"Don't worry about it," Finn assured him. "What song you got in your back pocket? We'll back you up."

Sam thought for a moment. "Uh, _Billionaire_?" Finn nodded, going over to the drums.

..

About half an hour later, Ryan was pacing the area outside the girl's locker room, waiting for Quinn. He was going home with his mom, but he wanted to see what had happened with Quinn, so he'd arranged to meet her after her tryout. Since it was getting late there weren't many other students around. His mind was occupied with something else, though.

Sam Evans was _good_. He hadn't looked very confident in the beginning, but once he'd started singing, he was actually really good. Not on Ryan's level, of course, but good enough that Ryan could see him doing solos. Which was a problem. Ryan was already splitting the leads with Finn, if Sam joined the club he'd have to share even more. He stopped in front of the large billboard with all the sign-up sheets. Mr. Schue had put up a new one, but nobody had signed up, of course.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a large, heavily-built woman with curly hair approaching the bulletin board. For some reason, she was also carrying three large pizza boxes, which she was balancing while trying to pull down one of the sign-up sheets on the billboard. "Do you need any help?" Ryan asked.

The woman looked at him in surprise. "Uh, yeah. Could you get me that sheet right there?" she asked in a deep, husky voice. She pointed at the football team sheet. "And the one next to it."

"Sure." Ryan reached up and unpinned the indicated papers.

"Thanks."

Ryan glanced at the sheets. "Are you assisting Coach Tanaka this year?"

"Nope, he quit. I'm the new coach. Shannon Beiste."

"Oh." Ryan looked at her again, reevaluating. "Welcome to McKinley, then," he said a bit neutrally. Ken Tanaka, McKinley's previous football coach, had won them exactly one game last year. Moreover, he'd allowed his team to bully the rest of the student populace with impunity. Maybe that would change with this new coach. Still, he wouldn't get his hopes up. "Are you just coaching football?"

"Nah, I'm taking over the whole sports department. You play anything?" Coach Beiste asked. "Football's all filled up, but I need a few more bodies for the soccer and basketball teams." Ryan shook his head. "Too bad. If you change your mind, tryouts for some of the teams are up to next week. What's your name?"

"Ryan," he answered quickly. He'd apparently misplaced his manners somewhere. "Ryan Corcoran."

Coach Beiste nodded. "Got it." She looked down at her pizza boxes. "I don't suppose you want one of these? Some idiot pulled a prank."

Ryan gave her a slight smile. "Well, unfortunately you might have to get used to it. McKinley isn't exactly very tolerant. But no, I couldn't take that. You could probably take it to the staff room though, they might like it."

He received a nod. "Yeah. Come over to the locker rooms if you decide to try out for something." The coach walked off.

The quick conversation had Ryan musing on a different problem. Quinn was trying to get back on the Cheerios in an attempt to regain her popularity. She'd told him otherwise, but Ryan knew he wasn't popular at McKinley. As irrational as it was, he was a bit scared that if Quinn got back into the Cheerios, she'd eventually realize he wasn't good enough for her. And Coach Beiste's offer had made him think. Maybe if he got into one of the sports teams he wouldn't seem like as much of a loser. At the very least he might be able to match up to Finn, or any other jocks who might take an interest in Quinn.

That led him right back to his issue with Sam Evans, who he knew was joining the football team. He sighed. It was only the first day and he already had problems. At least he hadn't been slushied yet.

"Ryan? Hello?" Ryan snapped out of his thoughts as Quinn waved a hand in front of his face. "What's wrong?"

"Sam. Sam's wrong," Ryan answered a bit distractedly.

"O-kay…" Quinn said slowly. "Why don't we start at the beginning. Who's Sam?"

"He's the new transfer from out-of-state. Finn heard him singing in the shower, so he invited him to audition for glee club. So while you were in the gym, I was in the choir room with the other guys. Finn asked us there to listen to Sam, and I thought he'd be fine, if only as a backup singer, but he's got a great voice, Quinn." Ryan stopped for breath.

Quinn stared at him for a moment, amazed at how fast he could talk. "And that's a problem why?"

"Because, Quinn, I'm already splitting all the male leads with Finn because Mr. Schue is obviously biased towards him. If Sam joins, the leads will be split even more and I'll have less solos!"

Quinn put her hands on his shoulders. "Okay, just relax. Breathe. Breathing is good." She waited for him to calm down a little. "You don't know that Mr. Schue's going to let him join the club."

"Please, Quinn, he lets everybody join."

Okay, so he had a point there. "Well, you still don't know he'll get any solos, maybe he won't want to lead."

"Who wouldn't want a solo?" Ryan asked in confusion. He absolutely lived for his solos. Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Not everyone is like Tinkerbell, Ry. And you know what, you'll get your solos. Everyone knows you have a great voice, even if they won't admit it."

Ryan took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Good." Quinn gave him a quick kiss.

"How did your tryout go? Did Sue let you back in?"

Quinn shook her head nonchalantly. "No, her first words were, 'No way, get out.'"

"You don't seem too upset, though," Ryan noted.

"Oh, she'll let me back in," she said surely.

Ryan looked at her. "If you say so."

..

"How was the new kid's audition?" Shelby asked her son during dinner that night. They had opted for Chinese take-out since she hadn't had a chance to go grocery-shopping lately.

"I already went over this with Quinn," he answered irritably. "His name's Sam Evans. You might have noticed him, the blonde guy with the Bieber cut? The one with a big mouth?"

Shelby thought. "Uh, I don't remember anyone talking a lot…"

"No, I mean big mouth. As in his mouth is literally big."

"Oh." Shelby thought some more. She'd seen a lot of students today. "I may recall him, vaguely."

Ryan swallowed a bite. "Well, he's actually pretty good. Not as good as I am, of course."

"That's good, right? You seem to need all the members you can get. I saw Mr. Schue this morning, he said people aren't exactly lining up at the choir room."

"No, they're not. But it'll be fine, we'll figure it out," Ryan said confidently. "It wasn't really an audition, Finn just wanted him to warm up to the idea of joining glee club."

Shelby could sense something fishy. Her kid had a look in his eye that was all too familiar. One time she'd seen it was in the mirror when she was in junior year, and the next day the choir room belonging to the opposing glee club had somehow become infested with a thousand crickets. Of course, she and James had denied any involvement whatsoever.

She needed to keep an eye on her kid.

* * *

_Thursday _

Quinn walked along the corridor to Ryan's locker, looking for her boyfriend. She finally found him stuffing some things into his locker. "Hey."

Ryan looked to his right to find Quinn next to him. He smiled. "Hi." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just wanted to see you." She looked him over. "Is that a different shirt? Did you get slushied?"

"Yeah."

"Does your mom know about that?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, and I'd like to keep it that way, okay?"

Quinn gave him a look. "But she works here, how do you plan on keeping it a secret?"

He shut the locker door. "Okay, so maybe I haven't thought that one completely through. But you know, this has been happening for years now, so either the teachers don't know, or they ignore it. The only ones who know for sure are Coach Sylvester, Mr. Schue, Figgins, and Ken Tanaka, only he's already out."

"He is?"

"I take it you haven't met the new football coach yet," Ryan said. "Anyways, Figgins and Mr. Schue are ignoring the problem, while Sylvester is actively encouraging it. As to the other teachers, I have no idea. Hopefully, Mom won't find out."

Quinn tried to follow his thought process and failed. "Okay, new question. Why don't you want her to find out?"

_Because she can't find out how much of a loser I am. _"Because I need to deal with this by myself. I can handle it, I've been handling it for years now. Besides, when I'm the hottest star in New York, this will all just be another thing on the list of things I overcame when I get around to my autobiography." That drew a chuckle from his girlfriend. "Anyways, are you busy later? Maybe we could go out somewhere?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm staying for the Cheerio tryouts," Quinn answered, shaking her head.

"What? I thought Coach Sylvester wouldn't let you back in?"

"She will, trust me." Quinn was sure of it.

"I'd like your opinion on something," Ryan said abruptly.

"What?"

"If you really wanted something, how far would you go to make it happen?"

Quinn looked at him dubiously. "Are you going to assassinate someone?" She got a look in return. She'd been thinking about it herself. She needed her position as head Cheerio back, and she'd do whatever it took to get it back. She'd rather not have to tell Sylvester a certain secret about the current head Cheerio, but she would if she needed to. "Pretty far," she finally answered.

Ryan nodded. "I thought you'd say that."

"Why? What are you thinking about?" Quinn asked.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later."

..

An hour later, Ryan took a deep breath, looking around the corner at Sam Evans, who was getting some books out of his locker. He walked purposefully toward the other boy, tapping him on the shoulder. Sam turned.

"Oh, hey. Ryan, right?" He smiled.

"Right," Ryan said, flashing him a smile. He handed Sam a piece of paper. "Here's the address for the auditions tomorrow, along with helpful directions."

Sam took the proffered paper in surprise. "Thanks."

"Could I see that?"

_Oh god._ Ryan shut his eyes for a moment before turning around. He was met with his mom, who was looking at Sam with a nice smile. He was so busted.

Sam asked, a little confused. "Yeah, sure. You're the English teacher, right? I thought the Spanish teacher was the one coaching glee club…"

"Oh, he is. I just help out a little." Shelby glanced at the address written on the paper, and Ryan wished that the floor would just open up and swallow him right now. Shelby's face was impassive as she folded the piece of paper. "Well, you'll be happy to know that the auditions are going to be held in the choir room from four o'clock tomorrow, so you won't be needing this."

"Okay, got it," Sam said, glancing at Ryan. "Thanks anyway, Ryan."

"You should get to class," Shelby told him. "Ryan, can I talk to you for a bit?" Ryan just nodded resignedly.

"See you around," Sam said, before leaving.

"Yeah." Ryan gulped when Shelby put a hand on his shoulder.

"My office. Now." She steered him through the corridors and into her office before shutting the door. She pushed him into the chair in front of her desk before taking her own seat behind the desk. She pulled out the piece of paper she'd taken from Sam. "Care to explain? And before you ask, no, it's not optional. I'm asking as a courtesy."

Ryan fidgeted uncomfortably, unable to meet his mom's gaze. Shelby looked back down at the paper. "It seems like you were purposefully trying to misdirect another student to make him miss the auditions." She turned her focus back to him. "Well?"

"I just didn't want him to audition, okay?"

"No, that is most definitely not okay," Shelby told him angrily. "This is the address to a crack house downtown, and you were going to send another kid there?"

"It's not an active crack house!"

"Oh, and that makes it all better, doesn't it?" Shelby said sarcastically. "How did you even know where to find a crack house?"

"How do _you_ know it's a crack house?" Ryan countered, only to shrink back at the withering look on his mother's face.

"What on earth made you think it would be remotely okay for you to send another student, one who is not even familiar with the area, I may add, to a district dangerous enough to have a crack house?"

"Look, I just didn't want anyone coming in to mess up our group dynamic. I was wrong before, we don't need any new members, I did this for the club!" He insisted defensively.

Shelby shook her head. "That's not going to fly with me, kid. You told me yourself you knew you needed more members to win. You didn't do this for your club." He looked away. "I think you were feeling threatened, you did say Mr. Evans had a pretty good voice. So, is that it?"

Ryan immediately deflated. He hung his head. "It's just – I already share all the male parts with Finn. If Sam joins…"

"Then the solos might be split even more," Shelby nodded. From what Ryan had told her about Will Schuester, it was probably true. She personally would stick to one lead, but Will seemed determined to give everyone time in the spotlight. She sighed. "Look, I get that you want the solos, okay? But that doesn't make it okay to shove aside everyone that you deem to be a threat. There are always going to be people who can perform as well as, or even better than you, and you need to learn to deal with it."

"It's just that the solos are the only times when people actually pay attention to me," Ryan said quietly. "I know it's stupid and pathetic and all sorts of insane, but I feel like the only time anyone actually listens to me is when I sing." He paused. "I used to think that if I got all the solos, maybe Hiram and Leroy would start coming to the performances," he mumbled.

Shelby sighed, getting up and walking around the desk to get closer to him. "I get it. And honestly, it's not insane to want the spotlight to be trained on you. If it were then I was insane all throughout my high school and college years too." She smiled slightly before sobering again, sitting down on another chair opposite Ryan's. "But that still doesn't make what you just tried to do okay. You need to learn to share."

"I do enough sharing already," Ryan grumbled irritably. "And it's so frustrating because I know I have a better voice than Finn, but for some reason Mr. Schue keeps making me split leads with him."

Again, Shelby didn't quite agree with Will on this point. He should have had his best singer leading during Regionals, and even taking her bias into account, Ryan was miles ahead of Finn Hudson. "Those are the brokes, kid. When you get to New York you're going to have to deal with a lot of crazy directors, and you're not always going to get the part. This is just the start."

Ryan nodded, then hesitated. "So what now?"

"Well, now you've earned yourself a grounding. Since it's Thursday, it's going to last until Saturday night. You're going to be riding with me to and from school, got it?"

He sighed, then nodded in acceptance. "Got it."

"Good. Don't try anything like that again."

"I won't." He took a deep breath, trying to put the whole incident out of his mind. In all honesty he wasn't exactly proud of what he'd tried to do. He knew he was wrong, and he was almost thankful that Shelby had caught him. He looked around the office. "Kind of smaller than your old one…"

"Yes, it's a bit cozier than before," Shelby agreed. "Wait, weren't you wearing something else this morning?"

"Uh –" Ryan was saved, quite literally, by the bell signaling the start of the next class. "Yeah, I should get going."

* * *

_Friday_

"Yo, Treasure Trail," Santana fell into step with Ryan as he headed to his second period History class. Ryan glanced at her, unimpressed, and continued walking. He wasn't in the best mood today, since he was actually grounded. Santana went on, ignoring him. "I heard this tiny new girl jamming out to _Telephone_ in the ladies room yesterday."

"What is it with us always finding singers in the bathroom?" Ryan wondered. He shook his head. "Continue."

"I told her to sign up for the club."

"'Told her'?" Ryan asked skeptically. "With you, I'm thinking more along the lines of 'terrorized her'."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Whatever. The important part is that she's supposed to come to auditions later."

"Okay, that's good, then, that brings the count up to twelve if she joins. How good is she?"

"How should I know? She was singing Lady Gaga. I guess she was okay. It's not like I was going to join in and sing with her in the bathroom." She rolled her eyes again. "How was that trouty-mouth guy yesterday?"

Ryan looked at her before shaking his head. "He was okay."

"He was good, wasn't he?" Santana smirked, and Ryan glared at her.

"Don't you have class?"

"Nope. I'm just heading to Coach Sylvester's office, she wants to talk about something. See ya." She abruptly left him outside the door to his class.

..

Shelby walked down the corridor on the way to her office after her third period sophomore class. She'd seen Sam Evans in that class, along with a kid in a wheelchair that she knew was in the New Directions. A minute later, she heard what sounded like something – or someone – crashing into the lockers that lined the halls. _Now what? _This was only her third day here and she'd already seen more drama than she'd seen at Carmel in three years. She quickly went over to the source of the noise, stopping short when she spotted Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez yelling at each other.

Just as Shelby got close, Santana slapped Quinn across the face. A crowd had started to gather around the fighting pair, and Shelby started to push through, wondering how she was supposed to pry them apart by herself.

"You can't hit me!"

"Sure I can, unless you've managed to get yourself knocked up again, slut!" Santana taunted, and they started to grapple again. Quinn was thrown to the floor, and fortunately for Shelby, Will Schuester showed up as well.

"Hey, what is this," he demanded angrily, catching Santana across the waist, while Shelby grabbed Quinn. "What happened to us being a family?"

Santana scoffed, trying to pull away from him. "Oh please, she has a family, she's a mother now!"

Shelby sucked in a breath, struggling to keep her hold on the furious teenager in her arms. "Get away, and tighten up that body before you get to class!"

"Okay, that's enough," Shelby told her sternly, and the girl started to calm down as Will led Santana down the corridor. Shelby kept her hold on Quinn while the teenager took a few deep breaths. "Come with me." She led the blonde down the hall and into her office, depositing her into a chair in front of her desk to calm down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Quinn said sullenly, her adrenaline rush wearing off slowly.

"Want to tell me what happened?"

"No."

Shelby looked at her for a moment. "Look, you can either talk to me or to Miss Pillsbury, or we can call your mom. A slapping fight isn't exactly something we want students to be engaged in all too often." Quinn glared at her, and she stared right back. Finally the teenager sighed.

"Fine. I told Coach Sylvester about the plastic surgery Santana had over the summer. Coach has a strict no-plastics policy, so she demoted Santana to the bottom of the pyramid."

"Why did you do that?" From what Ryan had told her, Quinn and Santana were friends.

"Because I need my spot on the Cheerios back," Quinn answered irritably. "You know, this isn't any of your business."

Shelby gave her an icy look, watching as she backed up ever so slightly. "I'm a teacher in this school, and you were just involved in an altercation with another student. So it is my business. Why do you need your spot back so badly that you would do that to your friend?"

"I just do, okay?" Quinn burst out in frustration. "You weren't here last year, I was the top person at this school, I was the head cheerleader, I was dating the football team's quarterback, everyone wanted to _be_ me! Then I made one mistake, and I lost it all! Is it so wrong that I just want one thing from my old life back?"

"No, it's not." Shelby studied the teenager in front of her for a moment. "But have you seriously considered if what you want is worth ruining your friendship? How would you feel if your situations were reversed?"

Quinn shook her head. "Is there anything else?"

Shelby sighed imperceptibly, knowing that she wasn't about to get anywhere with the girl. "No. You can go."

"Thank you," Quinn said almost sarcastically. Shelby watched as she stalked out of her office. Something was off with Quinn, but she didn't know what it was.

It was only her third day and she already had two teenagers to worry about.

..

After having lunch, Ryan set off to find his girlfriend. He'd heard about the fight from the McKinley gossip tree, and he really wanted to make sure Quinn was alright. After searching for a few minutes, he spotted her heading to her locker. "Quinn!" He fell into step beside her. "I heard what happened this morning with Santana."

"Of course you did."

"Everyone's saying you told everyone about her, you know, her surgery."

"Technically, I only told Coach Sylvester. Santana's the one who made me say it in front of everyone else," Quinn answered, not breaking her stride.

"So it's true?" Ryan pulled her to a stop. "Why? You knew she didn't want anyone else to know."

Quinn grabbed his arm and pulled him into a conveniently empty classroom nearby. "I told you I was going to get my spot back, didn't I?" Ryan looked down and finally noticed she was in her Cheerios uniform. He stared at her for a moment.

"So you told Coach Sylvester about Santana's surgery so you could get the Cheerio captaincy back?" he asked slowly.

Quinn glared at him. "I did it because that's what I needed to do to get what my position back. How is it different from what you almost did to Sam Evans?"

Ryan flinched slightly. "Okay, so maybe I deserved that. But I was wrong. I knew it was wrong, and obviously, my mom thought it was wrong too, hence the grounding."

"So you think I was wrong too?"

"I'm just trying to understand why you need your spot on the Cheerios back so badly that you would tell Santana's secret to Coach Sylvester," Ryan said, unknowingly echoing his mother's words to Quinn just a few hours ago. "I thought you two were friends."

"Oh please," Quinn rolled her eyes. "Santana would do the same thing to me, and you know it."

"Yes, but I thought you were done doing things like that after last year," her boyfriend countered. "I know you're so much better than that." Was her popularity really so important that she'd tell on Santana?

"What if I'm not? What if I'm someone else entirely?"

Ryan frowned at that, not understanding. "We've been together all summer Quinn, and I've seen what you're really like, and I don't think the real you would do that to your friend."

"Ryan, Santana got a boob job. She doesn't deserve that spot on the Cheerios if she doesn't have the self-confidence to back it up."

"Why are you so obsessed with her and her boob job anyway?" Ryan asked irritatedly. "So she got plastic surgery. I'm pretty sure I've told you this before, everyone's got something about themselves that they want to change. Not everyone can be as perfect as you!"

He knew he'd made a mistake somewhere when he saw the expression that flashed in Quinn's eyes. "You know what, I don't want to talk about this," Quinn said. "I'm going to be late." She pushed past him, leaving Ryan in the classroom, wondering what he'd said to tick her off so badly.

..

Quinn stalked off to her locker after leaving Ryan, still in a foul mood. She stared at the mirror in her locker, thinking about her conversations with Ryan and Shelby. _No_. She wasn't going to consider what would happen if the situation were reversed. She knew the answer. She'd probably die if anyone here ever found out about Lucy.

Ryan thought Quinn was perfect. And she didn't know how to feel about that.

This face wasn't even entirely hers.

Yes, Ryan was really accepting about Santana's stupid _surgery_, but what would he say if he found out that Quinn was actually someone different? That she'd been lying to him about who she was this whole time?

_Not everyone can be as perfect as you._

And wasn't that what she wanted? To be perceived as perfect? She'd gotten that. But she wasn't herself anymore. She'd created her persona as HBIC of McKinley High. Trying to get as far away as possible from Lucy, she'd become a bully, a bitch, the school's Ice Queen. And now she'd become a hypocrite.

Santana Lopez didn't deserve to be the Cheerios captain. But Quinn Fabray didn't either.

..

In the choir room after class, the entire glee club gathered to wait to see if anyone would audition. But Ryan couldn't exactly concentrate right now, as distracted as he was by what had happened between him and Quinn. She'd avoided him the rest of the day, and he couldn't even text her because his mom had confiscated his phone. Now she was sitting on the opposite side of the room from him.

"Mr. Schue, is anyone really going to audition? I mean, we all saw those names on the sign-up sheet," Mercedes said boredly.

"Well –"

"Cool it, guys, I know that tiny foreign exchange student is going to audition, I made sure of it," Santana cut Mr. Schuester off. Ryan rolled his eyes, almost feeling sorry for the girl since Santana had been the one to find her. Hopefully this Sunshine girl had potential.

Sure enough, at five minutes after four, a very small girl entered the choir room, clutching some sheet music. "Hi, are these the glee club auditions?" she asked nervously.

"Yes, yes," Mr. Schue said eagerly. "Are you here to audition."

"Yeah." Ryan didn't miss the girl's furtive glance at Santana.

"That's great, how about you tell us about yourself?"

"Okay. Hi everyone, I'm Sunshine Corazon, and I'm an exchange student from the Philippines. I love to sing, and I saw you guys singing outside the other day. Then Santana Lopez told me to audition for New Directions when she heard me singing." She glanced at Mr. Schue, who nodded encouragingly. "I'll be singing _Listen_, from the movie _Dreamgirls_." She turned to look at the musicians, who immediately started playing the introduction.

Three minutes later, the audition was over and the entire glee club had been blown away by the petite singer's voice. Even Ryan was impressed into paying attention. Mr. Schue clapped, saying with a broad smile. "Welcome to the glee club!"

"Thanks," Sunshine smiled happily. "I have to go, my mom's picking me up soon. Thanks for letting me in!" She left quickly.

"Did you hear that? She was amazing," Kurt said excitedly.

"Yeah, she did kill that song," Mercedes agreed, a little less enthusiastic. Ryan knew why. Mercedes Jones was their soul singer, and Sunshine had just sung a Beyonce song.

But then the clock ticked on, and the whole team watched as it slowly counted down to five. Ryan stood up. "Well, hate to break it to you, but it doesn't look like anyone's coming." He really wanted this to be over so he could talk to Quinn before his mom came and hunted him down. Plus he didn't want Sam to make it to the auditions, but that was just a side note right now.

"Come on, we said four to five, it's only 4:58," Mr. Schue said as everyone started getting up to leave.

"Yeah, and besides, my buddy Sam's totally going to audition," Finn said confidently. Everyone started filing toward the exit.

"Face it, Finn, you're not the quarterback anymore, you're not the pied piper," Kurt said on his way out. "No one's going to follow you around thinking everything you do is cool."

Wait, Finn wasn't the quarterback anymore? Ryan hadn't heard about that. Whatever, it wasn't important right now. "Quinn!" He hurried after his girlfriend, barely managing to catch up to her as she exited the room. "Wait, Quinn, can we talk?" He looked at his watch, then over his shoulder, half-expecting Shelby to show up and drag him off to her car. "Look, I'm not entirely sure what I said earlier, but I'm sorry, okay?" he said anxiously.

Quinn sighed. "It wasn't you, okay?"

"Okay." Ryan studied his girlfriend for a moment. "This isn't just about the Cheerios, is it?" He didn't get an answer. "I don't understand why you can't talk to me about it, we haven't had a problem talking to each other about everything so far." He sighed when Quinn still didn't respond. "I really need to go, Mom's probably going to come looking any second. I'll text you when I get my phone back, okay?"

"Okay."

Ryan leaned in for a kiss, relieved when she didn't pull away. "You can talk to me about anything. No strings." He gave her a small smile as he reminded her of his initial offer all those months ago. Then he turned around and headed to his mom's office.

* * *

**Hey guys, here's the next chapter. It's mostly events from 2x01, with some tweaks, obviously. I thought about splitting it into two chapters since I rewatched the episode, and there was a lot going on. But I decided not to. The result is a long chapter. Hope you liked it. It's true that the last few chapters were sort of the calm before the storm, and now here come the storms.**

**Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, and favorites, and follows. I just got a piece of fan art from mexicanguest, one of my guest reviewers who never fails to leave a review. I thought it was great :) I'm really touched that someone liked what I'm writing well enough to make something like that. I've got a lot more planned, and I'm hoping that everyone here continues to enjoy.**

**To answer some questions, yes, I will be bringing Blaine in, I've been thinking of that for a while now. I don't know if Shelby is Jewish in this fic, I have no experience with the Jewish culture so probably not unless I find somewhere it fits. Shelby and James' plot is pretty intertwined with the rest of the story, but I might have a chapter dedicated to them sometime.**

**Leave reviews, I'd like to see what you think of this chapter. See you next time!**


	36. Chapter 35

"Mom, can I have my phone back now? Pleeeease?"

Shelby kept her eyes on the papers she was checking. She knew if her son turned those brown eyes on her she'd cave, and besides she wanted to finish these so they weren't hanging over her forever. "It's only five in the afternoon, I said I'd give it back tonight."

"But I've already been grounded for almost three days, and besides, I've already learned my lesson," Ryan said earnestly. "I'll never attempt to send anyone to a crack house ever again, regardless of whether said crack house is active or inactive."

Smothering a smile, Shelby asked, "Why exactly is it so important that you get your phone back right this instant?"

"I need to talk to Quinn."

"I'm sure you just talked to her yesterday, I highly doubt you're going to combust if you wait two more hours."

Ryan sighed in defeat. "Fine." He flopped down on the couch in Shelby's study.

Shelby looked at him. "I've been meaning to ask you, is she okay?"

"I don't know, that's why I want to talk to her. I heard about the fight she got into with Santana. I'm sure you heard about it too, gossip spreads like wildfire at school."

"Oh, I didn't just hear about it, Will Schuester and I were the ones to pry the two of them apart," Shelby answered.

Ryan looked at her in surprise. "I didn't know that. What happened, exactly? I just know the general story, which isn't really all that reliable, and Quinn wouldn't talk to me about it."

"Well, from what I can tell, and from what she told me, your girlfriend told Coach Sylvester about Santana's, ah, cosmetic surgery," Shelby explained. She relayed the rest of the story. Ryan sighed.

"I don't know what's up with her. I know there's something wrong, but she won't tell me what it is. Do you know what it is? Maybe it's a girl thing."

"No, I have no idea what's going on with your girlfriend, she wouldn't talk to me either." Shelby's phone rang. Great, she was never going to finish these papers tonight. "Hello?" She pulled the phone away to belatedly check the caller on the screen. "Oh, hi James."

Ryan immediately perked up. "Can I talk to him?"

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm good. Drowning in paper, but yeah, I'm fine. You called just in time. Your son is having girl problems. You should talk to him, maybe keep him from pestering me for his phone back." Ryan scowled at her, and she made a face at him. A pause. "Long story, very interesting, actually. You can ask him yourself. Hang on." She held the phone out to Ryan. "Here, take it outside."

"Gee, thanks, I'll stop pestering you then," Ryan said sarcastically, taking the phone. "Hi Dad."

"_Hey Ryan. How come your mom has your phone?"_

"Oh, that." Ryan smiled sheepishly. "She caught me trying to give another student directions to a certain unsavory establishment, while giving him the impression that glee auditions were to take place at that location. Needless to say, I've been grounded."

"He tried to send another student to a crack house," Shelby said loudly so that James would hear.

"_Why would you do that?" _James asked incredulously. _"That's dangerous."_

"Okay, again, it wasn't an _active_ crack house!"

"_That's not really the point…"_

"Yes, I've already had the speech from Mom, can we move on now?" Ryan asked. "So, there was another incident at school yesterday –"

"_Hang on, haven't you only been back for a week?"_

"Three days, but yes."

_"Your school must be fun."_

"You have no idea," Ryan deadpanned, stepping out of Shelby's office as she made shooing motions at him. "Anyways, it's kind of a long story, but to be concise, Quinn and one of our classmates, Santana Lopez, got into a fight because Quinn told the cheerleading coach something that Santana wanted to be kept secret. When I found out about it later, I asked her about it, because I wanted to know why she'd do that to Santana. She got upset, and she wouldn't talk to me all day yesterday. But the problem is, I don't really know what I did or said to make her upset." Ryan paced around the living room as he spoke. He stopped. "Are you still there?"

"_Yeah, yeah, of course I'm still here," _James assured him. _"You know, if that was concise, I'm not sure I want to hear the not-concise version…"_

"Very funny. Any ideas on what I should do? I do not understand what happened at all."

He heard James chuckling at him. _"Well, buddy, first, you're not really going to understand anything girls do. I'm almost forty and I still don't understand what's happening half the time."_

"Isn't that sexist?"

"_Unfortunately, yes,"_ James acknowledged. _"But it's true. I don't know, maybe she thought you were taking this other girl's side, Santana, was it?"_

"Yeah, but I wasn't!" Ryan stopped again. "Well, I do think she shouldn't have told Coach Sylvester about Santana's secret, but it seemed like something else." He sat down on the sofa. "Now that I think about it, she's been a little off since Santana – you know what, I might as well just tell you. Santana got breast implants over the summer."

"_Ah. Maybe she's got problems with people who get plastic surgery."_

"Maybe." That would sort of make sense… "Girls are confusing."

"_Wise words,"_ James said amusedly. _"My advice is just talk to your girlfriend, try to figure out what's wrong. Use plenty of tact, and be prepared for her to yell at you. This advice comes from experience."_

"Did mom yell at you a lot?"

"_Many times."_

Ryan laughed at him. They chatted for a few more minutes, before James asked him to give the phone back to Shelby. Ryan went back into the office. "Mom." He handed her the phone before leaving the office to give them some room.

"_Hi Shelby." _

Shelby smiled. "Hi. So how was your chat?"

"_I think it went well. Girl talk isn't really a topic I'm well versed in, the last date I was on ended up with her throwing her drink in my face."_

"Oh?" Shelby smirked.

"_It's a long story, and not my fault. Let's just say my wingman was an idiot."_ James chuckled. _"How's the new job?"_

"Like I said, I'm drowning in paperwork," Shelby said wryly. "But it's okay. It's actually refreshing, at least now I don't have to worry about my kids' routines or whether someone can still compete with a cracked rib."

"_Slave-driver."_

"Award-winning slave driver, thank you very much," Shelby countered.

"_I weep for your students."_

"I'll be sure to let them know. How about you, how are you doing?"

"_Oh, I'm doing fine. Just wrapping all the paperwork for my big exit,"_ James answered. _"Just another couple of weeks and I'll be there to annoy you in person."_

"Hooray."

..

_8:56 PM You busy? – Ryan_

_8:57 PM No – Quinn_

_8:59 PM Are you still mad at me? I told you I was sorry, though I'm not really sure what I'm sorry about – R_

_9:02 PM It's not you – Q_

_9:02 PM No, I'm not mad – Q_

_9:03 PM Then what's the problem? – R_

_9:03 PM I know there's something wrong. – R_

_9:10 PM Can I see you tomorrow? – R_

_9:12 PM Not tomorrow, going to Columbus with my mom for the day – Q_

_9:13 PM Oh. Okay. – R_

_9:15 PM Are you sure you're not mad at me? – R_

_9:17 PM I'm sure. I have to go, talk to you on Monday? – Q_

_9:20 PM Yeah. Okay. – R_

* * *

_Next Monday_

"Good morning." Quinn looked up from her locker to see her boyfriend standing just behind her, with a small smile. She smiled back at him.

"Hi." She shut her locker.

"Can we talk?" He asked her. Quinn looked around pointedly at the dozens of students milling around them, and his smile turned a bit sheepish. "Right. How about later? During lunch?"

"Yeah. Sure." Quinn wasn't particularly enthusiastic, but she knew they needed to talk. She just hoped she could get through it without blowing her secret.

"We're okay, right?" Ryan asked, and Quinn could detect a bit of worry in his voice. _Idiot_, Quinn mentally berated herself. _He probably thinks you're about to break up with him._ She wouldn't do that. He'd become far too important to her. That was exactly why she couldn't tell him. She couldn't lose him.

In response, Quinn pulled him down to her level for a long kiss, smiling as his lips moved against hers in return. She broke off when oxygen started becoming an issue. "We're okay." She smirked at his lopsided smile, before taking his hand. "Come on, we've got Mr. Schue up first."

The two of them walked to Mr. Schuester's classroom. Ryan stopped walking when they came face to face with another boy. "Hey Sam."

"Oh, hey, Ryan." Sam said, a tad shyly, glancing at Quinn.

"Quinn, this is Sam Evans. Sam, this is my girlfriend, Quinn Fabray," Ryan made the introductions.

Quinn looked over at the blonde boy. He was cute, she supposed. Ryan wasn't exaggerating though, those lips were huge. "Hi," she said.

"Hey," Sam answered, smiling at her.

"Why didn't you show up at auditions?" Ryan asked curiously.

"I got into the football team," Sam answered. Quinn felt Ryan tense up slightly, and she rubbed his arm. She knew what he thought about most of the football players.

"Oh, okay. I suppose one extracurricular at a time is okay, especially since you're new here," Ryan rambled. "What position?" He asked politely.

"Quarterback."

"What happened to Finn?" Quinn asked, as Ryan's eyebrows went up. Oh yeah, he'd heard that Finn wasn't the quarterback anymore. But he hadn't really paid attention since he was more preoccupied with what was happening between him and Quinn. And it wasn't like he cared all that much about the football team.

Sam shifted uncomfortably. "He, uh, tried to get his friend, the one in the wheelchair –"

"Artie," Ryan and Quinn said together.

"Yeah, him. Finn tried to get him on the team on Friday, but Coach Beiste totally freaked out, she thought they were trying to get her fired or something. So she threw both of them out," Sam finished.

"Wait, I was pretty sure Artie's legs don't work," Quinn said slowly. The first bell rang before Ryan could answer, causing the three students to look up. "We should get going."

"Yeah." Sam hesitated. "Hey, do you know where Miss Corcoran's classroom is? She's my first class, and I'm still a little lost." He paused again, looking like he had suddenly remembered something, but he didn't say anything more.

Ryan nodded. "Straight down the hall, then left," he directed. "118A."

"Cool. See you around," Sam said, lifting his hand in a wave. "Bye Quinn." He smiled at her, and she nodded back, smiling as well.

Quinn glanced at her boyfriend. "You did give him the right directions, right?" she teased, causing a disgruntled look to appear on his face. She reached up to kiss him on the cheek. "Let's go, wouldn't want to be late for Mr. Schue."

..

A few hours later, Ryan was sitting at the piano in the auditorium, playing around on the instrument as he waited for Quinn. Hopefully she wasn't about to stand him up. He ran through a scale Shelby had taught him over the summer. He was quite confused by Quinn now. The way she acted, it was like nothing had happened last week. And while he was relieved she wasn't mad at him or anything, he still wanted to know what was wrong.

"Hey." Quinn appeared in the left exit, and she started walking up to the stage.

Ryan smiled at her. "Hi."

She came up behind him, resting her arms on his shoulders as he sat on the piano bench. "What are you playing?"

"Nothing, just some stuff my mom showed me." He closed his eyes, relishing Quinn's closeness. "Are you okay, Quinn?"

Quinn rested her cheek on the top of his head with a slight sigh. "Yeah." It really wasn't fair that he could make her relax instantaneously by just being there.

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked gently. "You were really upset last week, and I really don't think it was just about the Cheerios." He hesitated, before asking. "Is it about Santana's surgery?" He felt her tense, and he took her hand to gently pull her to sit down next to him on the piano bench.

"You don't understand." She wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Then talk to me," Ryan urged. "I want to help you." He scratched his head when Quinn wasn't forthcoming. "Do you want to have some kind of cosmetic surgery?"

_No, that was the very last thing she wanted._ "That's not it."

"Then what is it?" He wrapped his right arm around her, pulling her closer into him. "I wouldn't change anything about you."

"What if I've already changed?" she said almost inaudibly.

"What?" Ryan didn't understand, but she didn't answer. What did she mean she already changed?

"Look, can't we just forget about last week?" Quinn asked, almost desperately. This conversation was so confusing, she couldn't decide if she wanted to tell him or not. He was so good at breaking down her walls, she didn't understand it.

Ryan looked at her closely. "No, we can't. I know there's something bothering you, Quinn, and I wish you'd tell me what it was." He sighed. "But if you don't feel comfortable discussing it, then I'll wait until you are," he said decisively.

Quinn met his eyes now, and all she saw in his eyes was trust and acceptance. It almost broke her down, almost had her spilling out what she had been hiding from him. But she didn't. Wouldn't. Couldn't. "Thanks." She didn't deserve him. But she was to selfish to let him go.

He nodded, pulling her back close to him. "Do you have Cheerios today?" He quirked his head. "That sounded a bit strange. I meant practice, not the cereal."

"Yeah," Quinn nodded. "Don't worry, it's after the glee meeting."

"Are you and Santana okay?"

"Oh, don't worry about her, she'll get over it. Seriously. We've fought before, that's just how we are," she shrugged. She wasn't too worried. Santana would deal.

"Okay then."

The sat there together for a while quietly. "Sing me something," Quinn requested.

"What?"

"Anything."

Ryan thought for a moment, before he started singing.

_Sittin' all alone in your room_

_Thinking that the world's let you down_

_All you ever wanted to do is trust _

_Someone to always be around_

_You've had a lot of lessons to learn from_

_Some of them hit you so hard_

_And I keep believing that someday you'll see_

_You don't have to be alone_

Ryan tightened his hold on Quinn as he sang, making sure she knew that every word he sang was sincere.

_There's somebody out there_

_Somebody somewhere_

_To show you the tenderness you need_

_Somebody to hold you_

_When worries control you_

_I'd give anything if only you knew it was me_

_I've been watching you go through_

_All of these things for a while_

_There's gotta be a way to bring you back_

'_Cause it's worth it when you smile_

_It doesn't have to hurt you forever_

_It doesn't have to last too long_

_If you're wondering where to turn to_

_I hope that you know_

Quinn wrapped an arm around his waist, feeling his smooth, clear voice vibrate through his chest as he sang. She closed her eyes, just letting his voice wash over her.

_I wanna be there when you're in need_

_I would never be long if you were waiting_

_When you gonna see_

_If you could only see_

_There's somebody out there_

_Somebody somewhere_

_To show you the tenderness you need_

_Somebody to hold you_

_When worries control you_

_I'd give anything if only you knew it was me_

Ryan cleared his throat as he ended the song. "How was that?" he asked. "I can't play the piano very well, so I can't do accompaniment, much less play and sing at the same time –"

Quinn silenced him with a heated kiss on his lips. "It was amazing," she assured him when she pulled away. "Thank you."

..

"What's for dinner?" Ryan asked.

"I thought I'd make some spaghetti, if that's okay with you," Shelby answered.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Want to help?" She thought this would be a good opportunity to talk to the kid. They hadn't been talking as much since classes had started.

"Okay, but I warn you, I cannot be held responsible for any havoc I wreak on the kitchen."

"Don't worry, I won't be mad," Shelby assured him, pulling ingredients from the cupboard. "You'll just get to clean it up." She set down some things on the counter. "Can you cut stuff up?"

"Only if you want fingers in the sauce." Ryan smirked at his mom's disgusted expression. "Yes, I can cut vegetables up. Without us having to resort to cannibalism."

"Good." She set him to dicing up the onions and garlic, before starting on the sauce. "So, how was your day?"

"Nothing special," Ryan shrugged, carefully cutting up the vegetables. Yeah, he'd been slushied once and knocked into the lockers at least three times by the enormous football players, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "Mom, what do you think about Britney Spears?"

Shelby blinked at the sudden question. "Great as an artist, sort of a hot mess as a person," she answered, recovering quickly. "Why?"

"You know the homecoming assembly is coming up right?" Ryan said. "Mr. Schue wants us to do _Arthur's Theme _or something by Christopher Cross, but our generation isn't exactly…familiar…with his music." Shelby smirked. Christopher Cross was a bit before their time. "Anyways, the club obviously wasn't too enthusiastic, and Kurt brought up the fact that there seems to be a social media campaign for the glee club to perform a song by Britney."

"Ah," Shelby nodded. "So what's the problem? Britney's got a good set of songs, you could probably perform one of the less risqué ones at the assembly."

"Right, but Mr. Schue is firmly opposed to the idea. He shot Kurt down."

"Did he say why?"

"He doesn't think Britney is a good role model for us," Ryan explained. "Plus Brittney – Pierce, not Spears – is sort of against it too."

Shelby considered that for a moment. "Here, fill this up with water," she said, handing him a pot. "Well, I can understand Mr. Schue's point, Britney Spears does seem to be the poster girl of the insane artist."

"Yes, but like we told Mr. Schue, we pretty much grew up with her music," Ryan argued, as he waited for the pot to fill. "She's why a lot of us – the others, not me, my inspiration was probably Barbra Streisand – started singing in the first place. And besides, we sort of need all the goodwill we can get from the rest of the student population. We still need more people."

"That is true," Shelby conceded. "And I do think you're right, just because you do her music doesn't really mean you're taking her as a role model. Besides, I think she's been getting her act together recently. You do understand that she's not the best person to imitate though, right?"

"Don't worry, Mom, I'll tell you before I shave all my hair off."

"You do that." Maybe she'd try to talk to Will about letting the kids go a little bit. She'd kept a strict rule on Vocal Adrenaline, but she'd always been open to suggestions, from her kids. _Bohemian Rhapsody_ had actually been a suggestion from one of her newer students, and the number had won them Regionals last year. "How are things with Quinn?"

"Better," Ryan said, smiling. "We talked a little, during lunch hour. I think we're going to be okay." He checked the water. "What do I do with this?" He gestured at the boiling water. Shelby handed him a package of noodles.

"Put this in, not all at once or they'll stick together," she instructed him. "Then stir it a little."

Ryan followed her directions. "What do you think about me joining an athletic team? Basketball, or soccer?"

Shelby glanced at him. "I wouldn't stop you," she said slowly. "Wouldn't it take focus away from glee, though?"

"It might, but the other guys make it work," Ryan said. "Although the Titans only won one game last year, so their season ended early. I talked to Coach Beiste the other day, she said there were still spots open on some of the teams."

"Doesn't basketball start in November?"

Ryan shrugged. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I was just thinking about joining, anyways, I thought I'd bounce the idea off you." He really liked having a parent to talk to about these things. Hiram and Leroy hadn't cared what he was doing as long as he didn't bother them too much. He loved having someone who actually listened to what he was saying.

"Go for it, if you want to. It's always good to be well-rounded," Shelby said, smiling at him. "Looks good on your college applications, too."

"Yeah," Ryan answered absently.

* * *

The next day Shelby went into the teacher's lounge during her free sixth period. The place was empty except for Will Schuester. "Hey Will." Shelby smiled. "You mind?"

"Not at all," the Spanish teacher said with a nice smile, looking up from his newspaper. Shelby sat down opposite him.

"I heard the glee club's performing at the assembly on Friday. What are you guys singing?"

"I was thinking something by Christopher Cross, or Michael Bolton," Will said, taking a sip from his coffee. "Why, what did Ryan tell you?"

"He didn't tell me about Michael Bolton," Shelby answered. _Not that that was any more modern than Christopher Cross_, she thought. "He said someone suggested Britney Spears."

"I don't want them performing Britney, she's not a good role model for the kids."

Shelby nodded. "No, she's not. Christopher Cross is a bit more of our generation, though. And he's more of easy listening. I'd say Britney's is the way to go if you don't want anyone falling asleep at the assembly."

Will sighed. "I just don't think Britney's the proper role model for these kids. Don't you remember that scandal just last year?"

"But these kids grew up with her," Shelby said. "And the best way to connect with them is through the songs you perform. Everyone knows who Britney is. And let's face it, Will, you need more kids on your team. You've got, what, thirteen members?"

"Twelve, one transferred out this year," Will admitted.

"I had twenty-six last year, that's more than double what you have now. You need to step it up. My replacement is a creep, but you can be sure he's doing everything he can to win. He's got to keep my legacy up, after all," Shelby said with a slight smirk.

"I don't suppose you can give us any info on them?"

Shelby shook her head. "Nope."

"Kind of expected that."

"Just think about what I said, okay?" She patted his hand before leaving the room, passing by the redheaded guidance counselor on the way out.

..

Ryan entered the choir room after classes to find Santana, Britney, Artie, and the new girl Sunshine inside. "Hi everyone."

"Hey Ryan," Artie greeted. Britney waved at him.

"Hi," Sunshine smiled.

"Midget." Santana said curtly. Ryan went to sit next to her. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to check on you."

"I'm fine, 'kay? Don't need trolls checking up on me or whatever," Santana said. She quirked a small smile at him for a second though, and Ryan smiled back.

"Okay then."

"I'm not saying I'm squealing with joy at what your girl told Coach Sue, but let's be honest, I would have done the same thing to her," Santana added matter-of-factly.

Ryan stood up, shaking his head. Looks like Quinn was right. He really did not understand the friendships that went on between girls. "Hello, Sunshine, how are you? Ready for our first performance on Friday?"

The tiny girl nodded. "Yeah, I'm really nervous though, it's kind of weird when people stare at me."

A few minutes later, the rest of the glee club had arrived, Quinn sitting down next to Ryan, and lastly, Mr. Schue came in, followed by Miss Pillsbury and a new guy. "Okay, everyone, settle down." Mr. Schue turned to his companion. "This is Carl Howell, he's a dentist, and he wants to talk to you guys about oral hygiene."

"Hey everyone. All right, here's how this goes," the guy named Carl said. "I'm going to give you guys this capsule. It's got a dye in it that'll turn any plaque on your teeth blue."

"Okay, can I just say, you are the hottest dentist I've ever seen," Santana said flirtatiously.

"I get that a lot." Carl smiled as he handed out the capsules.

"I'm just saying, you can drill me anytime –"

"Santana!" Emma said quickly, clapping her hands.

"It's fine, Ems," Carl assured her. "Besides," he went over to Mr. Schue. "This guy's pretty easy on the eyes too, huh? And you know, no matter how hard I tried, I probably couldn't sing and dance like him." He slapped Will on the back.

"Prob'ly not," Mr. Schue said, smiling a little fakely. Ryan could tell he was totally acting. "Okay, how about we get this done so we can get to the singing."

"That's right everybody. Go chew. Chew, chew!" Emma encouraged. The room was filled with silence for a minute as the twelve teenagers chewed on their capsules.

"That should be good," Carl said after a minute, and the kids all started smiling at whoever was seated next to them. Ryan smiled at Quinn, who smiled back. Fortunately, Shelby had insisted that Ryan go to the dentist a few days before classes had started, and he'd gotten a full cleaning.

"Oh my god." Kurt stared at Brittney's mouth.

As it turned out, Artie and Brittney were the only ones with blue teeth. "I think I'd be better at flossing if I could actually see myself in the mirror," Artie said embarrassedly.

"I rinse my mouth out with soda after every meal," Brittney said. "I always thought Dr. Pepper was a dentist."

* * *

The glee club sat in the choir room the next day, listening to Mr. Schuester lecturing about Christopher Cross. Finn was half asleep, half the club was on their phones, and even Ryan was barely keeping his attention on the teacher.

"Mr. Schue?"

All eyes were suddenly on Brittney, thankful for the distraction. "Yes, Brittney?"

"I would just like to say that from now on, I demand to have all the solos in glee club." Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"What?" Mr. Schue asked in confusion.

"When I had my teeth cleaned, I had the most amazing Britney Spears fantasy. I sing and dance better than her, and now I realize what a powerful woman I truly am," Brittney answered seriously.

Santana nodded. "I went with her, and I had a Britney fantasy too." She looked at Brittney. "Although now that I think about it, I'm not really sure how our fantasies combined…"

"See Mr. Schue, I told you," Kurt insisted. "Britney Spears busted our Britt out of her everyday fragmented haze of confusion, and gave her the confidence to step up and perform."

"I'm better than all of you, I see that clearly now," Brittney interjected. "It's Britney. Bitch."

"We're not doing Britney Spears, and that's that," Mr. Schue said firmly. But Kurt wasn't finished.

"Mr. Schue, you are letting your own issues get in the way of letting us do something that we all really want to do," he insisted, receiving nods from all over the room. "I mean, this club regularly pays tribute to pop culture icons. Britney _is_ pop culture!"

"Okay, enough, Kurt!"

"Just let loose, will you," Kurt exclaimed in exasperation. "Just stop being so uptight all the time!"

Looks of awe appeared all over the room. Mr. Schue looked at him. "Kurt. Principal's office. Now." He led the still-defiant teenager out of the choir room, and the room immediately burst into noise.

"Wow, didn't know Lady Hummel had it in him," Santana commented. Ryan himself couldn't hold in a smile. Finally someone besides him had decided to let their opinions be known in a forceful manner, which seemed like the only way to get through to Mr. Schue sometimes. And for once, Mr. Schue was mad at someone other than him. He jumped up and went to the front of the room, pulling a set of papers from his bag. "Okay, everyone. While Mr. Schue and Kurt are out, I've got something to say."

"And here he goes," Mercedes rolled her eyes. "We don't need another lecture on the superiority of Broadway to other genres." Ryan ignored her.

"I've got sheet music for some of Britney's music here." Suddenly the rest of the club was interested. Typical. They only paid attention when they wanted something from him. He shook it off though. "Since we've got –" he looked at the clock "– forty-eight minutes of the meeting, I thought we could discuss which song we want to do, and maybe get started on an arrangement."

"Are you sure we should be doing this without Mr. Schue?" Sunshine asked apprehensively.

"It'll be fine," Ryan said with a wave of his hand. He pushed all thoughts of the _Push It_ mess last year to the back of his mind. This was completely different. And maybe they'd tune it down on the choreography.

"Yeah," Quinn said. "Unless of course everyone wants to be stuck singing that _Sailing_ song at the assembly on Friday." Ryan smiled at her.

Ryan's idea was met with enthusiasm, and a few minutes later the group had decided on _Toxic_. Puck went out to use the bathroom a while later, but came hurrying back in. "Mr. Schue's coming back, hide the sheets."

The music sheets were promptly hidden away, just in time for Mr. Schue's entrance. "Okay, where were we? Right. Christopher Cross was nominated for…"

Moments later everyone was back to their previous state of glazed eyes and minor drooling.

* * *

_The next day_

"Mom, we have a serious problem," Ryan said, not even bothering to knock on Shelby's office door.

"Yes, sure, come in Ryan, I'm not busy at all," she said sarcastically.

Ryan gave her an unimpressed look. "This is serious," he said irritably. "Mr. Schue finally decided to let us do a Britney song."

"That's good, isn't it?" Shelby said, not seeing the problem.

"There's a catch. He says he's going to be in the performance too."

Shelby blinked, eyebrows going up. "What?"

"Oh, yes," Ryan answered. "We're going to performing Britney's _Toxic_ in front of the whole school with Mr. Schuester as one of the leads. We've already started rehearsing, and while he's admittedly a good singer, I really don't think this is a good idea."

Shelby didn't think so either. What the hell was Will Schuester thinking? The whole faculty was abuzz with that yellow Corvette he'd gotten the other day, and now he wanted to perform with his students? She knew he was after Emma Pillsbury, anyone with eyes could see that, but it seemed like he was going a little overboard.

"Did you ever perform with your students?" Ryan pressed.

"No." She was their coach, not one of the members. It wouldn't have been appropriate. "What do you want me to do about it anyway? I'm not really sure it's any of my business how Mr. Schue runs his club." She would not have appreciated anyone telling her how to run VA, that was for sure.

"Can't you talk to him about it, or something?" Ryan asked. "I can just see all of this going really wrong, you just know Coach Sylvester is going to have something to say."

Shelby hesitated slightly. She wasn't exactly in a position to interfere with the man's apparent midlife crisis. But this was her kid asking her for something, and she knew she'd cave. She'd do anything for him. "Okay." Besides, how badly could this go, anyways?

Ryan smiled brilliantly. "Thanks, Mom!"

"Wait, isn't the assembly tomorrow? You just picked a song now?"

"Well, we might have prepared something without Mr. Schue's knowledge…"

Shelby looked at him amusedly. "And by 'we', you mean 'you'?"

"It was a group effort!"

"I'm sure it was."

* * *

_The next day_

"I thought you told me you weren't here to interfere with the way I run the glee club?" Will asked heatedly when Shelby talked to him in the teachers' lounge later that day. Shelby sighed, resisting the urge to rub her forehead.

"I know, and I'm not," she tried to placate him. "I'm just _suggesting_ that maybe it wouldn't be the best idea for you to perform with the kids at the assembly."

"Well, thank you for your input, but I know what I'm doing," Will said curtly, standing up and leaving her in the lounge.

Shelby shook her head. She really doubted it. But she'd talked to him, like she'd told Ryan, and what happened now wasn't her fault.

..

"Mom, you were supposed to talk to Mr. Schue!" Ryan said to her later in her classroom between classes.

"I did," Shelby said defensively. "It's not my fault he didn't listen!" Wait, why was she the one who was defensive? "Besides, you have class in three minutes."

"Couldn't you have done something else to persuade him?"

"I'm so sorry, was I supposed to use my feminine wiles to convince your teacher to remove himself from your glee performance?" Shelby asked sarcastically.

"Yes! NO!" Ryan shook his head a little disgustedly. He did _not_ want to think about his mom doing anything of the sort. Shelby gave Ryan a look that reminded him who was the parent in this situation. He backed down. "Sorry," he muttered. "It's just…really weird. And it's not just me, everyone else thinks so, too."

"Well, I'm not exactly thrilled about him performing with you either, but he's a grown man and more importantly, your teacher. So just grin and bear it. Now get going, you have class."

"I haven't even told you about the choreography yet –" The bell rang, people started coming in, and Shelby virtually pushed him to get to class.

..

Later that afternoon Shelby went into the gym, a few minutes before the assembly was supposed to start. She saw Will talking to Emma Pillsbury, before he left to go to the glee club backstage. She approached the guidance counselor, who seemed a bit confused by her conversation with Will. "Emma Pillsbury, right?"

"Right. Hello, Miss Corcoran," Emma answered, shaking herself out of her thoughts.

"Just call me Shelby. You okay?"

"Oh, yes, yes, I'm fine." Emma answered. "And you can call me Emma. We should probably sit down," she said as the bell signaling the start of the assembly rang twice. The two teachers sat down at the front of one of the bleachers. Shelby winced a little as the microphone whined and Figgins tapped the microphone.

"Quiet, please, children, quiet now," he said flatly. "First, students who ate the ravioli today, and are not up to date on their tetanus shots, should see the nurse immediately." Shelby's stomach turned slightly at the announcement. Okay, she was definitely making Ryan bring his own lunch from now on.

"Welcome to our homecoming pep assembly," Figgins continued, in the same flat voice. "Because of last week's grisly train derailment, the Dulcimer Club is on hiatus until further notice. But do we ever have a treat for you. Fresh off their last-place finish at last year's Regionals, please give it up for the New Directions." The students gave lukewarm applause as the lights dimmed and the intro to _Toxic_ started up.

_Oh dear god. _Shelby didn't even know what to say. The vocals were great, but that choreography…She was now a firm believer that hats should be kept on the head and not on the groin. Or any other parts of the body besides the head. And Will's dancing was entirely inappropriate for a teacher to do in front of his students. She could just imagine all the schoolgirl crushes that were about to pop up. She should have tried harder to stop him. She glanced at Emma beside her and noted the strange look on her face as Will sang onstage.

The students were enjoying it, though. Some a little too much, she thought with minor disgust, as she heard one of the students yelling at the glee club not to stop. She winced as someone yelled that she wanted Mr. Schue's babies.

Eventually, the number came to an end, and what an end it was. Sue Sylvester, for some reason known only to her, pulled the fire alarm, causing the students to stampede out of the gymnasium in disarray.

..

"So, what did you think?" Ryan asked apprehensively, as his mom drove them back home after the assembly. After last year's assembly he hadn't been exactly enthusiastic about their choreography this time around. And he'd felt more than a little awkward about performing with Mr. Schue as the lead.

Shelby cleared her throat a little. "Well, vocally, you guys nailed it."

"But?"

"The choreography was a little more…provocative…than I would have done it. Especially for a school assembly." Shelby signaled a turn. "The students seemed to enjoy it, though," she smirked.

Ryan groaned. "Ugh, don't remind me. I never want to hear Jacob Ben Israel make those noises again."

"I second that."

"And I did try to warn you about the choreography, but no, you had to practically shove me out of your classroom."

"I did not _shove_ you, I _nudged_. Gently."

"Sure you did. You almost knocked me into Lauren Zizes in the corridor," Ryan grumbled. "Did you see who pulled the fire alarm?"

"It was Coach Sylvester." The ensuing chaos had seen one student punched, another - or was it the same one? - almost trampled, and last she'd seen Sue had been faking a neck injury to a very harassed paramedic.

"Of course it was," Ryan sighed. "We're probably going to get a massive heap of trouble with Figgins on Monday." He perked up. "At least it isn't my fault this time. I still can't believe Mr. Schue let us do that choreography when he went to principal after what we did last year." He was quiet for a moment. "Am I in trouble?"

Shelby glanced at him quickly. "No, of course not. Unless of course you're the one who came up with that choreography."

"Not me."

"Then we're good." Shelby made a face. "I don't think I want to see you dancing like that again for a long time though."

* * *

**Hello everyone, hope you liked this chapter. I couldn't really think of changes I wanted to make to the episode. And I haven't had a lot of time to write, as you can probably tell by my not updating. I'm less than a month into the semester and everything's already crazy. Just one more year… Anyway, hope you liked this chapter. Not sure how I feel about it. Feel free to leave reviews, I love reading what you guys think. Don't want to spoil anything, but one thing I can say is that I think Ryan and Santana will be friends at most, I don't see him losing his v-card to her. Sunshine hasn't really affected the story much in my head, but we'll see. I don't see her as a spotlight hog either. That's all for now, see you next time!**


	37. Chapter 36

"Hi Grams, Grandpa," Ryan said as he entered Sarah and Tom's house in Akron that Sunday.

"Hello, dear," Sarah said happily, wrapping her grandson in a hug.

"Hi, kid," Tom said, content to let his wife hug the stuffing out of the boy as they all stood in the hallway from the front door. "How's your week been? You're back a school right?"

"Yeah. School's okay. The glee club just had its first performance of the year on Friday," Ryan answered.

"You should have been there, the performance was to die for," Shelby said dryly. "I'd say I wish I'd had a video camera, but considering that choreography, it's probably for the best that I didn't." She started pushing everyone into the living room.

"It wasn't that bad!"

The front door opened again. "We're here!" Josh said cheerfully, Shelby winced, as he'd said it almost in her ear. Paige smacked him gently on the arm.

"Not so loud!"

"Okay, everyone in the living room," Sarah directed, and the group shuffled into said room.

"So, kiddo, what's new?" Josh inquired as he sank down on the couch.

"Yes, tell us about your performance," Sarah said.

"You performed?"

"This is what happens when you're late," Shelby told him, as Ryan told them all about the _Toxic_ performance.

At the end of the story, Josh piped up. "Can you show us a sample of the dance?" Shelby just rolled her eyes.

..

"So, how's the wedding coming?" Shelby asked Josh and Paige as the three of them sat at the table later that afternoon. Tom and Sarah had decided to pick some things up at the grocery and Ryan had gone with them. "Less than three weeks left, right?"

"Yeah," Josh nodded. "It's all set, right, Paige?"

"Everything's pretty much set," his fiancée nodded. "Let's just pray nothing falls through at the last minute."

"You're looking really relaxed for someone who's getting married in three weeks," Shelby noted. "Remember when your friend Lorraine was getting married?" she asked Josh. "She broke out in hives the day before the wedding because the band cancelled on her the day before."

"How could I forget?" Josh asked wryly. "She made me run out and get a dozen tubes of concealer because I was the first person she could find. I didn't even know what the hell concealer was."

"We've got everything under control," Paige said. "Besides," she glanced at Josh. "We've sort of got another reason we need to stay relaxed."

"Oh?" Shelby looked at them curiously.

The couple shared a glance. "It's kind of a secret, don't tell anyone yet, okay?" Josh said.

"Okay…"

"We're having a baby," Paige said softly, with a smile.

Shelby looked between them in shock, before breaking out into a smile. "You're having a baby? Congratulations! That's amazing!" She was mature enough not to think of what her baby brother had done to cause the formation of a baby…No she wasn't. Ugh. She pushed it out of her mind. "When are you due?"

"I'm two months along, so April," Paige answered, smiling wider.

"Why don't you want to tell Mom and Dad?"

"We just wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while," Josh said. "And besides, I thought maybe they wouldn't take it too well, since we're not married yet."

"They wouldn't care," Shelby answered. "But your baby, your choice." She smiled wider. "I'm going to be an aunt."

"Okay, okay, let's not jinx it," Josh said teasingly. "Now, on to other news. You're bringing James to the wedding right?"

Shelby nodded. "Yes, if that's okay."

"You need to bring him, we already put him on the guest list as your plus one," Paige said. Josh had told her all about Shelby's complicated love story. "When do we get to meet your paramour, anyways?"

"Yes, Shelby," a voice said from behind them, making all three adults jump. "When are you bringing James around?"

"God, Mom, don't do that, you're going to give us heart attacks," Shelby grumbled at her mother, making the older woman smile.

"That's the fun part."

"Where's my kid?"

"Out in the back with your father. Ryan said he was thinking about joining his school's basketball team, did you know that?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, he asked me a few days ago if he could join one of the teams."

"Hey, that's cool," Josh said interestedly. "But I thought he didn't really go for sports."

Shelby shrugged. She knew why he was doing it, though. She'd been teaching in high school long enough to know that the cheerleaders dated the jocks. She suspected Ryan was trying to play it up for Quinn, since she'd gotten her spot back on the Cheerios.

"Anyways, he's out in the backyard, your dad's giving him some pointers."

..

"You just move it in an arc, and follow through with your hand, that's important," Tom advised Ryan, watching as the teenager threw the ball. It bounced off the rim. "Good for a first try, most people can't even get it to hit the net."

Ryan smiled. "It's really nice of you to help me out." He'd been really surprised to find out his grandfather had been a star point guard for his high school basketball team in Wisconsin decades ago. His team had gotten to the state championships twice while he was on the team, and he'd gone to the University of Michigan on a basketball scholarship.

"Of course I'd help you out," Tom said, easily catching the basketball on the rebound. He was sixty-two years old, but he was still going strong. He threw the ball, getting it neatly into the net.

"Wow."

Tom caught the ball again, dribbling twice before passing it to Ryan. "Here, try it again." Ryan complied, and this time the ball circled the rim twice before falling into the net. "Nice! A little training and you'll be able to get it in most of the time."

Ryan grinned broadly. "Thanks. But like I said, I'm still not sure I'm going to go for it. Basketball season starts in November, I'm still thinking about it."

"That's okay."

Josh came out of the house a second later. "Hey, Dad, Ryan." He held out his hands, and Tom passed him the ball.

"You play too?" Ryan asked curiously.

"I can, but I didn't really play in high school. I was more into the academic stuff, like debate, not basketball."

"Quite the disappointment," Tom teased him, as Josh shot the ball, missing by a few inches. Ryan caught it, shooting the ball again and just managing to get it into the net.

"Good one," Josh complimented. "Let's try some one-on-one." He got into a defensive position as Tom moved to join the three ladies, who were watching from the patio.

"Thanks, Daddy," Shelby smiled.

"Not a problem, Honey," Tom said, wrapping an arm around his daughter. "It's nice to know someone got my skills, anyway." He looked sideways at his daughter. "You should bring James around, then we could play doubles," he said sneakily.

"Daaaad." Shelby rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I will bring him around after he gets settled in Lima, okay?"

"Good."

* * *

The next day, Ryan approached Quinn's locker, only to find Finn Hudson already there, talking to Quinn. Curious, and not just a little bit jealous, he stayed behind the corner, listening to them.

"– Coach Beiste just let me back on the team, and she let Artie join too," Finn was saying. "And you got your spot on the Cheerios back, right?"

"Finn –"

"Come on, Quinn, I know we'd be perfect together, we were before," Finn said. "If I play really well, maybe I could be quarterback again. It could be like before, we could be at the top of the school."

"I told you already, I'm with Ryan now," Quinn said a little irritably. "Just get it in that pea-sized brain of yours that the two of us are over."

Finn huffed. "Fine." He walked off, and Ryan watched him go before going to Quinn.

"Good morning," he said, smiling. Quinn smiled at him in return, pulling a few books out of her locker. "What did Finn want?"

"Oh, nothing," Quinn said dismissively. "Just something stupid. It doesn't matter."

Ryan kept his smile on his face. Finn really did want Quinn back, he thought unhappily. If it came right down to it, Finn had a lot more status in this school than Ryan did, even if he'd lost his position as quarterback. He lightly tranced his finger over Quinn's Cheerio uniform.

"Are you sure you're okay with me joining the Cheerios again?"

He drew his hand back. A moment later he asked, "Are you happy?"

Quinn turned around to look at him. "Yes."

"Then yes. I just want you to be happy. I told you that already." Never mind that he was scared stiff that she was going to decide he wasn't worth her time and run off with Finn or one of the other jocks. He smiled at her, getting a kiss in return. "We should get to class."

..

The next day during his free period he went down to the guys' locker room, a place he never went outside of gym class, looking for Coach Beiste. He opened the door to the locker room, suppressing a shudder at the feet-smell of the room.

"Hey Ryan," Sam said, spotting him from one of the benches. He was sitting with Mike Chang, who smiled and gave Ryan a wave.

"Hi Sam, Mike. Have you seen Coach Beiste around?" asked Ryan.

"Yeah, think she's in her office," Sam nodded towards a door. "Why?"

"I thought I'd ask her if she's got any more spots open on any of the teams."

"That's cool," Sam said. Mike just looked surprised, but then he was always quiet. "Which ones?"

"Not sure yet."

"Okay," Sam nodded. "Well, she's in there."

"Thanks guys." Ryan said, knocking on the door Sam had pointed out.

"It's open!" He heard the coach call from behind the door, and he went inside. Coach Beiste looked up from her paperwork on the desk as he came in. "Corcoran, right?"

"Right. Ryan Corcoran."

"What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you've got anymore spots open for any of the sports teams here at McKinley," Ryan said.

"Played anything before?"

"Not really," Ryan admitted. "Some soccer in grade school. I run regularly, so I think I'm in good shape. I used to take dance classes."

Coach Beiste nodded thoughtfully. "Well, the football team's filled up, but we could use a few reserves. Don't have a soccer team though. Too few kids in this town, and most guys would rather play football than soccer."

Ryan shook his head. He didn't like the guys on the football team, other than Mike Chang and maybe Sam Evans. And he didn't really like the thought of getting smashed into the ground by a 200-pound linebacker. "Football's not really my thing."

"Fair enough," Coach Beiste shrugged. "Basketball starts up in November, if you're interested. I'm thinkin' of doing tryouts in October. Football team needed a lot of work; the basketball team probably does too."

"I'll probably try out for that." He'd found out that weekend with his grandfather that he was actually pretty good at the game. And it made him feel more connected to his family.

The coach nodded. "What else…Ice hockey in winter, but that's at the same time as basketball. Don't have a baseball team yet for spring, but I'm thinkin' of changing that."

"That would be cool," Ryan smiled.

"What year are you in?"

"I'm a junior."

"You think about joining, and then you come see me." She pulled open a drawer and fished out a sheet of paper. "Get one of your parents to sign this too, and bring it to whatever tryouts you want to come to."

Ryan took the permission slip. "Thanks."

..

Shelby went into the teacher's lounge during her free sixth period. The place was empty except for a large woman sitting at one of the tables reading a newspaper. Not seeing the sense in sitting alone, Shelby approached her. "Mind if I sit here?"

The woman looked up at her before nodding. "Sure." Shelby sat down.

"You're the new athletics coach, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. Shannon Beiste." The coach held her hand out. Shelby took it.

"Shelby Corcoran. I'm the English teacher, I'm new too."

"Corcoran? You related to Ryan?"

Shelby nodded. "My son." She smiled. She was never going to get over the high of having her child back. "You've met him already?"

Shannon nodded. "Yeah. Nice kid, met him the first day. He looks like you."

"Yes he does," Shelby agreed. "I think he might talk to you sometime soon, he was asking me the other day if I was okay with him joining a team."

"Yeah, he was down at the locker rooms this morning, asking if I still had room on any of the teams. I told him I've still got reserve spots for the football team this fall, and basketball and ice hockey for the winter season."

Shelby nodded. Her kid worked fast. Will came into the room. "Hi Shelby, Shannon. Anyone sitting here?"

"Nope," Shannon answered. "And I gotta go anyways. See you guys around." She stood up and left as Will sat down at the table with a mug.

"Hi Will," Shelby smiled.

"Hey, listen. I wanted to apologize," Will said a bit awkwardly.

"For what?"

"For going off at you the other day when you tried to talk to me about the Britney Assembly performance," Will explained. "I shouldn't have done that. You were right. It was a mistake, I shouldn't have gotten up there with the kids. I don't know what was wrong with me."

"You were trying to attract Emma's attention," Shelby said lightly, taking a sip from her own coffee mug. "Oh, don't look at me like that, it's kind of obvious, Will. The Corvette, the performance…"

Will nodded. "Yeah. You're right again."

"I usually am."

"Modest," Will said, chuckling. He could see where Ryan got it from. "I figured it out this weekend that I'm not pining over her anymore. She made her choice, and it's Carl." He made a face. "I need to move on with my life."

"Good for you," Shelby said approvingly. Will smiled at her. "How's the glee club looking this year? Think you can beat VA this time around."

"Oh, most definitely." Will grinned broadly. "She didn't have a solo at the assembly, but we've got the new exchange student, you know, the one from the Philippines? She's phenomenal. You should have heard her kill her audition song," he said happily. "And everyone else is doing great, too."

"That's good," Shelby nodded. "I should tell you though, Vocal Adrenaline has their set list planned out months in advance, and if my replacement is worth anything he's already getting it together. You might want to start doing the same."

"We usually get the set list together a few weeks before the competition, the kids stay fresh that way," Will explained. "But we'll think about it. Any other tips?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to interfere with your glee club," Shelby said teasingly.

Will winced slightly. "Fair enough. But seriously, if you ever want to help, the choir room's always open," he smiled. "And my office too."

Shelby blinked at the offer, before smiling at him a bit uncertainly. "Thank you."

* * *

A few days later found Ryan back at work in Burt Hummel's garage, working on a tire change. He was situated on his back under an SUV with muffler problems when he heard Kurt and Mr. Hummel come into the garage talking.

"– dinners' six instead of seven on Friday, Carole and Finn are coming over and she has to work the night shift," Burt was saying.

"No, I can't do Friday. It's the annual _Sound of Music _Singalong night at the theatre. It's a once a year event."

"And last year you had to camp out at the video store so you could be first in line for those Grey's Anatomy DVDs."

"Season six, Dad."

"Those Friday night dinners are a ritual in our family. One your mother started."

"I know," Kurt said, sounding a bit uncomfortable. "But I'm a teenager. Friday nights are important to me. Why are you making me feel guilty about this?" He started to sound defensive.

"Those dinners are more than important," Burt said seriously. "They're sacred. The whole point of having something sacred is that it takes precedence over everything else. And let's face it, we don't got a lot in common. If we miss those, our lives, they just go right by each other."

Ryan was feeling pretty uncomfortable under the SUV. Every once in a while he'd end up witnessing one of the Hummels' family conversations, and it was weird, to say the least. He knew he shouldn't be listening, but he couldn't very well make his presence known this far into the conversation. That would just be awkward.

"I'm sorry not missing something I look forward to all year just for another dinner," Kurt said obstinately.

"I gotta tell you, I'm real disappointed in you, Kurt." Burt turned around and went into his office, leaving Kurt standing in the garage with a mulish expression on his face.

Ryan accidentally-on-purpose dropped his wrench, making the other boy turn around. Then he slid out from under the car.

Kurt looked at him. "I didn't know you were there."

Ryan shrugged. He stood up and started putting away the tools he'd been using. "I think you're taking your family for granted too much."

"That's none of your business."

"Maybe not, but your family's important. You shouldn't fight him so much." Burt was a great dad, Ryan knew that, and it annoyed him a bit that Kurt didn't seem to appreciate it. "A lot of people wish they had what you two had."

"What would you know about that?" Kurt threw back irritably. "You've got two perfect dads, not to mention your mom."

Ryan's anger flared as he met Kurt's gaze. "You don't know anything about me," he almost snarled, before checking himself. He looked away from the other boy's surprised expression. "Look, never mind. I know it's not my business."

"You're right, it's not," Kurt answered. "See you at school, I've got to meet Mercedes." He left the garage, leaving Ryan alone. He sighed. He hadn't meant to get angry at Kurt. It was just almost inconceivable for him that he would pass up a family tradition. He had always admired the Hummels' relationship. He would have given anything to have Hiram and Leroy care about little things like that when he was younger, and now he valued every visit he and Shelby made to his grandparents, every visit James made to Lima, hell, even every time Shelby just sat down to talk to him. He shook his head. If Kurt couldn't see what a great dad he had, then it was his loss.

* * *

_A few days later_

Ryan walked briskly along the corridors, stopping when he spotted a familiar figure. "Hello Sam."

"Hey Dude," Sam grinned when he spotted Ryan.

Ryan smiled back. The new kid really was nice. And he sang really well, Ryan had to admit. Thank god he hadn't managed to send him to that crack house. That would have been a disaster. Now he just had to figure out how to get the blonde boy onto the glee club. He fumbled for something to say. "How was the game the other day?"

"We won," Sam said proudly. "We scored five touchdowns with Finn pushing Artie down the field with the football."

Ryan blinked. "Really? Wow, I didn't actually think that would work." He didn't really follow football, but wasn't that against the rules or something?

"Yeah, Finn said Artie would be like some kind of tank, all that metal driving down the field. I kinda think the other team was scared to come near him. Sort of like an AT-AT."

"I assume Finn pushed Artie faster than an AT-AT? Those things are really tough, but incredibly slow."

Sam looked at Ryan, impressed. "You're probably the first person at this school to understand any of my Star Wars references."

Ryan shrugged, putting his books back into his locker. "I'm a mechanic, and those things were cool." Leroy had brought home a copy of the original trilogy when he was nine. Out of boredom Ryan had decided to pop one of them in and had ended up watching all three. That was maybe a year after he'd gotten interested in cars, and the idea of giant mechanical vehicles shooting lasers all over the place had appealed to him.

"I know, right?" Sam smiled happily.

"Since it looks like you're doing pretty well in football, is there any chance you might want to audition for glee club?" Ryan asked. He'd gotten over his temporary insanity and realized that they did in fact need more people. "That audition was actually just a formality, you can actually come in any time."

"Oh." Sam fidgeted uncomfortably. "I didn't really tell you the truth last time," he said awkwardly. His voice dropped lower. "Do you know how the guys in the locker room talk about you?"

Ryan nodded. "I can imagine."

"I already told Finn, I'm new around here, I can't start my time here as a loser. No offense," Sam added guiltily. "I mean, I think you're cool, but I need to get a rep first, you know?"

"I understand," Ryan nodded resignedly. "Just think about it, okay?"

Sam nodded. "Okay. Maybe. See you later, man." He walked off and five seconds later, Azimio swaggered by, offhandedly knocking into Ryan and making him hit the row of lockers with a slight grunt.

"Oops, didn't see ya there," the large boy smirked.

"Your optic lobe's probably been scrambled to mush on the football field," Ryan grumbled.

"You talkin' back to me?" Azimio advanced on Ryan menacingly.

Ryan glared back. "Just back off."

"Or what, you gonna call your fairy dads on me?" Azimio sneered victoriously when he saw Ryan' expression turn furious. "Don't even know why Fabray's dating a fag like you." He sauntered off, leaving Ryan absolutely furious in the hallway.

..

Later at glee club rehearsal, Ryan stared incredulously along with the other kids as Finn announced that he wanted to pay a tribute to Jesus this week in glee.

Kurt spoke up. "Sorry, but if I wanted to sing songs about Jesus I'd go to church," he said sardonically. "And the reason I don't go to church is because they don't think very much of gay people. Or women. Or science."

"Well, I for one don't see anything wrong with getting a little church up in here," Mercedes put in.

"I agree," Quinn said, surprising Ryan. Although he shouldn't have been surprised; he knew Quinn's family was Christian. He supposed that was why he never saw her on Sundays. She must have been at church. "I had a really tough year, and I turned to God a lot. I wouldn't mind saying thanks."

"Thanks for what?" Santana snarked. "That it didn't come out a lizard baby?"

"Whenever I pray I fall asleep," Brittney said.

"Well, maybe our songs don't have to be about Jesus," Mr. Schue suggested. "Maybe they could be about spirituality."

Puck made a derisive sound, and Finn looked at him. "You got a problem with Jesus?" he asked aggressively.

"Oh, I got no problem with the guy," Puck answered. "I'm a total Jew for Jesus. What I don't like is everybody using him to cramp people's style. 'Cause the way I see it, true spirituality or whatever is about enjoying the life that you've been given. I mean, I see God every time I'm making out with a new chick."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "That doesn't make sense, in fact it's just stupid."

"You calling Mr. Billy Joel stupid?"

Ryan just sighed, listening to Puck's rendition of _Only the Good Die Young_. Later, he and Quinn walked out of the choir room together after the meeting. "What did you think about Finn's spiritual thing?" Quinn asked casually.

He glanced at her. "It was all right. I don't really have any particular feelings about it."

Quinn thought about that for a moment. "What do you believe?"

"Does that matter?"

"Just answer the question."

Ryan was quiet for a moment. "I'm…not sure," he admitted. Religion hadn't been very important when he was younger, and he honestly hadn't really given it much thought. "Hiram was Jewish, but he didn't really bring us to Temple. Leroy was Catholic, though. We went to mass on the important days, like Christmas and Lent, but it didn't really affect us the rest of the time." He hesitated, realizing that he didn't know what his mom believed. "How about you? I know your family's Christian, but how about you? I know it bothers you when the others are overly irreverent at school."

"I grew up at church," Quinn smiled wryly. "So I guess it does bother me a little."

"Do you really think Finn's sandwich had Jesus on it?" Ryan asked skeptically.

Quinn scoffed. "No, I think he just burned his sandwich. Idiot."

"Is it important? That you're a Christian, and I'm not?"

"I kind of wish you were," she admitted. "But no, it's not." She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, and he smiled. She smirked at him. "If we were dealing with my dad, though…"

"Well, fortunately we're not."

"No," Quinn smiled, pulling him in to kiss him again, cupping his neck with her hand. Sparks seemed to run all across Ryan's body as she ran her tongue along his lips, gently coaxing his mouth open, and his knees almost buckled when she started swirling it in his mouth. His hands started to move up to hold her, but then she pulled back abruptly.

"What?" He asked.

Quinn grabbed his hand, pulling him into an empty classroom. "Not in the hallway." She tugged him down again, pressing their lips together.

Right, an empty classroom was probably a better idea. "Won't we get caught?" he asked between kisses. He'd had absolutely no experience with making out in the school.

"Nope."

"Well, in that case," Ryan smiled, maneuvering so that he was pressing Quinn against the classroom door. "I think you look very hot in that uniform," he breathed into her ear, feeling her shiver slightly. He kissed her insistently, tongues battling for dominance as his hands coming to rest on her hips. He closed his eyes as one of her hands ran through his hair, her other arm wrapping around his neck.

Ryan gulped loudly as Quinn's lips found their way down his jaw and onto his neck. He could just feel all his blood pounding south, and he shut his eyes for a second, trying desperately to keep himself together. What he wouldn't give to have her touching him down there right now…

Feeling daring today, he slipped one hand down lower on her leg, inching towards her thigh. Quinn caught his hand though. "Not yet."

"When, then?" he asked almost plaintively. "If you think about it we've been together for a couple of months now." Yes, he knew he'd said he'd respect her limits, and he meant it. But he was a fifteen-year-old guy who was making out with his smoking hot girlfriend. It had been two months and she hadn't let him past first base yet! He could only take so much before wanting more. He started toying with the hem of her top while kissing at the side of her neck, smiling when he felt her breath hitch. But then she pulled his hand away.

"I said not yet."

Ryan sighed disappointedly, dropping his head on his girlfriend's shoulder for a second. "Okay, okay." He took another deep breath, holding back a whimper when the motion accidentally caused a very sensitive part of him to brush against Quinn.

"Thank you." Quinn looked at him, smiling. She placed a more PG-rated kiss on his lips before pushing him off. She grabbed his wrist, checking his watch. "I need to go, I've got Cheerios." She kissed him one more time, lingering – this was _really_ not helping his problem – before leaving him alone in the room.

He sighed again in frustration. Looks like it was time for another cold shower.

_Two days later_

Ryan turned away from his locker just in time for large grape slushy to hit him hard in the face. "How d'you like that, loser?" Karofsky jeered at him. Ryan took a second to wipe some of the slushy out of his eyes before glaring angrily at the larger boy. This was the second of the day, and he was getting really pissed. Before he could say anything, Quinn arrived.

"Back off, Karofsky," she glared at him.

"Looks like you're hiding behind your girlfriend again, gay boy," Karofsky sneered. "Those baby hormones must have really messed you up Fabray, for you to go out with this loser." He swaggered off.

Quinn turned toward Ryan, who was glaring daggers into the back of the football player. "You should get cleaned up." She was surprised when he rounded on her abruptly.

"You shouldn't have stopped him, I could have handled that myself," he said irately.

"What?"

"I don't always need you to fight them off for me, Quinn, I can do it myself. Just because I'm not as popular as you doesn't mean I'm useless!"

"Okay, what the hell is your problem? I was just trying to help you!" Quinn snapped back.

Ryan huffed angrily. "I'm just getting sick of people wondering why exactly you're with me, because since you've gotten back on the Cheerios, it seems like everyone thinks you're out of your mind to date me." He'd seen Jacob Ben Israel's blog that morning, outlining Quinn Fabray's baby hormone insanity causing her to date the only person who'd scored a negative on last year's Glist debacle. Ryan had told himself it wasn't going to get to him, but it did. Especially with the reminder that this time last year Quinn wouldn't have given him the time of day.

"So this is about the Cheerios? I thought you were okay with it!"

"It's not about that, okay?" he said in frustration. "And I am okay with it!"

"Then what's wrong with you?"

"Can't I just be angry? Everyone already thinks I'm a loser, and I'm starting to think you still think so too!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Quinn asked angrily.

"Never mind," Ryan said crossly. "I just need you to let me handle this myself, okay?"

"Fine," Quinn said coldly. "If that's what you want, you go do that." She walked off, passing by Finn Hudson, who had a look of awed surprise on his face.

"You okay, Quinn?" he asked.

"None of your business, Finn," she said irritably.

..

Later that afternoon though, his argument with Quinn was the last thing on Ryan's mind as he waited anxiously outside the English classroom for his mom's last class to finish. Finally the bell rang, and Ryan impatiently watched the students shuffling out of the room. "Mom?"

Shelby looked up. "Hi, sweetie. What's up?" He didn't usually come to find her after classes, preferring to either meet her in the parking lot or catch a ride with Quinn. She was pretty sure most of the school weren't aware they were related yet.

Ryan went inside, closing the door behind him. He surprised Shelby by giving her a hug. She returned it quickly. "Are you okay?" she asked confusedly.

"Yeah," he nodded into her shoulder, before pulling back. He laughed a bit nervously. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Shelby assured him. She wanted him to know he could always come to her. "What's wrong?"

Ryan went over to sit down on his mom's desk. "I'm okay." He took a breath. "I just heard that Mr. Hummel had a heart attack."

"Oh," Shelby said in surprise. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He's in a coma at the hospital."

"Are you okay?" She asked again, unsure about how this news was affecting her son. She didn't know exactly how close he and Burt Hummel were.

"I'm okay. Just a bit shocked, I guess. He seemed fine the other day." He paused, fiddling with his sleeve. "I can't help but feel sorry for Kurt. It's just him and his dad, his mom died years ago. Mr. Hummel's dating Carole Hudson, Finn's mom, but that's different, I guess." He leaned against Shelby. He needed to feel close right now. He shuddered slightly, thinking about what would happen if something happened to his mom. He didn't even want to consider it. "Love you."

Shelby wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I love you." They stayed like that for a moment, before Shelby stood up. "Do you have glee?"

"No, Mr. Schue called it off. He's with Miss Pillsbury and Kurt at the hospital."

"Just let me get my stuff from the office, then we'll go home, okay?" Shelby touched his arm.

The teenager just nodded morosely in response, following her out of the room.

* * *

The next day the glee club sat in the choir room, listening to Mercedes singing _I Look to You_ for Kurt. But to everyone's surprise, Kurt was not very appreciative. "Your voice is stunning, but I don't believe in God," he said flatly.

"Wait, what?" Tina asked in shock.

"You've all professed your beliefs, so I'm stating mine," Kurt continued flatly. "I think God is kind of like Santa Claus for adults. And if there is God he's kind of a jerk. He makes me gay and then has all his followers saying I chose to be this way. I don't want a heavenly father. I want my real one back."

"But Kurt, how do you know for sure?" Mercedes asked. "You can't prove there isn't a God."

"You can't prove there isn't a magic teapot on the dark side of the moon, with a dwarf living inside it that reads romance novels either," Kurt said sarcastically, making some of the other kids look uncomfortable.

"Is God an evil dwarf?" Brittney wondered.

"We shouldn't be talking like this, it's not right," Quinn said sharply.

"Sorry, Quinn," Kurt said quietly. "But you can all believe whatever you want to. I appreciate your thoughts, but I don't need your prayers." He walked out of the room.

The rest of the club dispersed a few minutes later, and Ryan went after Quinn. "Hey."

"What?" she asked huffily.

"I – I just wanted to apologize. I was in a bad mood yesterday, and I know it doesn't excuse my snapping at you, but I'm sorry. I know you want to be on the Cheerios, and it's fine with me." He looked at her anxiously.

Quinn looked at him for a moment, before relenting. "Okay. I forgive you. And I will try not to get involved in your fights with the football jocks. Deal?"

"Deal." Ryan walked Quinn back to her locker.

"What about that other thing?"

"What other thing?" Ryan stalled, not wanting to talk about it.

Quinn gave him a look. "The part where you said you think that I think you're a loser too. I told you, you're not. I don't think you're a loser."

Ryan sighed. "I know, I know." He didn't meet her eyes. "Just…you won't let me touch you. And I thought…maybe it's because you don't think I'm good enough for you. I mean, everyone thinks I'm not," he ended softly. "And I heard Finn talking to you the other day, and I know you said you didn't want him back, but…"

"Oh." Quinn blinked at him. That wasn't it at all.

Ryan felt really terrible right now. "Look, I'm sorry. I know, I get it. It's just hard. But I can wait. I promise."

"I believe you. And about Finn, I promise I don't want the big idiot anymore. I don't care how cool he thinks he is." She smirked. "And don't worry, if I want to break up with you, you'll know. Trust me."

That got him to smile. He hesitated. "Is it okay for me to hug you now?"

Quinn nodded, closing her eyes when Ryan enveloped her in his arms. She hated fighting with him, and she could just feel her tension from the past couple of days draining out. A few seconds later they broke apart.

"Did what Kurt say really bother you?" Ryan asked curiously.

"It's disrespectful, and maybe he doesn't believe in God but other people do, and it's not right to talk that way about God," she said irritably. "Why, do you agree with him?"

"Not completely," Ryan answered slowly, trying to put together what he actually thought. This was a really complicated topic. "But I didn't grow up in a Christian home like you, so I guess I'm not as offended as you are. I didn't really care about God before."

"Why not?"

"The idea of a heavenly father. I didn't need another father who ignored me and left me alone all the time."

Quinn stayed quiet for a moment. "I think I took the opposite approach. I didn't like my dad either so I wanted another one."

"Hey, Quinn, Ryan!" The pair turned, looking at Mercedes. "I was thinking of going with Finn to the hospital tomorrow. I wanted to pray for Burt," she explained, looking at Quinn. "I thought you could come and pray for him too, Quinn, since we're different denominations. Sunshine's not coming but she's praying for him too, and she's Catholic. Odds are one of us is right, and maybe it'll help." She turned to Ryan. "I'm not sure what you believe, but maybe you could pray for him too?"

Ryan hesitated a moment before nodding. "Yeah. I can remember some of the Jewish prayers from Hiram."

"Who?" Mercedes asked.

"My…dad. Long story," Ryan added when Mercedes looked curious. He hadn't told any of the glee club besides Quinn everything that had happened. And honestly he didn't think they'd care. He gave her a half smile. "It'll add another religion to the mix, anyways."

* * *

Once they got to the hospital the next day with Finn, they found Carole Hudson already sitting with Burt. Finn actually looked very conflicted about being there. Ryan supposed he could understand. Finn had found out later than everyone else that Burt had had a heart attack, and had rounded on Kurt for not telling him, saying that Burt was as close as he had to a father.

"Hey guys," Finn said with a weak smile. "What are you doing here?"

Mercedes answered. "We just thought we'd come over to pray for Burt, since we can't do it at school or Miss Sylvester's going to suspend us."

Finn suddenly realized that he was being rude. "Mom, you know Quinn already, this is Mercedes Jones and that's Ryan B – Corcoran. Guys, this is my mom."

Carole looked at Ryan. "You're Burt's assistant at the garage, right?"

"Yes, I am," Ryan answered. Carole gave him a small smile.

"He told us about you. He says you're really good."

Mercedes went first to pray, but when she finished Kurt suddenly came in. "What's going on in here?"

"We were just praying for your dad," Mercedes explained.

"I didn't ask you to do that."

"Honey, I know you're upset, I get it," Carole intervened. "But friends help out even when you don't ask."

Just then a dark-skinned woman in a turban came in. "Mr. Kurt Hummel?"

"Dude," Finn said. "Why didn't you just tell us you wanted to pray in Muslim?"

"I'm not Muslim, I'm a Sikh," the woman said a bit disdainfully.

"She's here to see if acupuncture would improve the circulation in my dad's brain," Kurt said. "Amazingly, needles pierce the skin better than psalms. Can you all please leave now?"

Ryan stepped forward. "Kurt, we just wanted to do something. We all really care about your dad here, okay?"

Kurt took a deep breath. "Well, like I told you, I appreciate your concern, but I don't want your prayers. And I know you care about my father, Ryan, but you said it yourself, he's _my_ father. You've already got two, not to mention your mom, so you should concern yourself with them instead."

"Kurt!" Carole scolded, shocked. Quinn's and Mercedes' eyes widened, and Quinn glanced quickly at her boyfriend, whose face was impassive. He didn't show it, but she knew Kurt's blow had hurt. Ryan nodded.

"Well, Kurt, like I said last week, you don't know everything about me," he said. "I'm really sorry about your dad. He taught me a lot. I hope he gets better soon." He quickly left the ward. Quinn glared at Kurt before following Ryan out. She found him outside in the corridor a few meters away.

"Hey. You okay?"

Ryan smiled at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Yes, I'm fine." He shook himself slightly, straightening up as Mercedes came out of the room. As they went into the lobby on their way out, they were surprised to see Sam Evans at the receptionist's area. Ryan went over, the two girls following him. "Sam?"

Sam turned around, and Ryan saw his arm was in a sling. "Oh, hi Ryan, Quinn."

Mercedes cleared her throat, and Ryan started. "Oh, this is Mercedes Jones. Mercedes, Sam Evans."

"Hey," Sam said with a smile.

"Hi," Mercedes smiled back.

"What happened to your arm?" Quinn asked.

"It got messed up at the game last night," Sam explained. "They wanted to keep me in here to check if I had a concussion or something, so I've been here all night."

An older guy approached the group. "Your coach just called," he told Sam. "The guy who hit you was just expelled. He wasn't supposed to be playing, since he's 23. Who're your friends?" He looked around at the other teenagers.

"Dad, that's Ryan, Quinn, and Mercedes," Sam introduced them. "Guys, meet my dad."

"Nice to meet all of you," Mr. Evans said. "Sam, we gotta go, we still need to pick up your sister from her friend's house."

"Okay. Bye guys," he waved at the other kids with his good arm.

"I guess Finn must be happy," Mercedes said. "He's probably the quarterback again."

..

"You okay?" Shelby asked her son later that night as they were clearing up after dinner. He'd been quiet since he'd gotten home from visiting Burt Hummel at the hospital.

"I don't know." Ryan played around with his food for a bit.

"How's Kurt dealing with everything?"

"I don't know," Ryan admitted. "We're…not really that close. I guess he's having a rough time. I don't think he has any family besides his dad. He had a Sikh acupuncturist at the hospital today to try to improve his dad's condition."

A few minutes later Ryan said, "It's been a weird week." He gave his mom a crooked smile. "I guess the heart attack got me thinking about all the religious stuff, which we were covering in glee anyway. Did you know Coach Sylvester threatened to have Mr. Schue fired because he had us singing songs about spirituality?" Shelby nodded. She'd heard about it from Emma Pillsbury. "I think it's stupid, everyone should have the right to believe what they want," he continued. "Kurt's an atheist, Puck's Jewish, and Quinn and Mercedes are Christians but different denominations, but it shouldn't matter."

"What do you believe?" Shelby asked curiously.

"Hiram was Jewish and Leroy was Catholic, but I'm not really sure," Ryan said. "I think there is a God out there, though. How about you?"

"Same. I think there is something bigger than us out there. Actually, we're Jewish on your grandmother's side, you can probably tell from the nose," Shelby smiled slightly. "But we're not really practicing."

"Kurt said if there is a God then he's a jerk. For making him gay when the world is so against gay people."

Shelby looked at him inquisitively. "What do you think about that?"

"That's it, I don't really know," Ryan said. "I sort of understand why he'd say that. But then why does God make some people sick for no reason at all? And why do some people try so hard, but they don't get anything for their efforts?"

"Those are hard questions," Shelby agreed. "But good things happen too. I mean, look at us. We found each other, even if it took a while."

"Yeah," Ryan smiled. "But is God responsible for that?" he wondered.

"The way I see it is you can't blame God for the bad things and then not credit him for the good. It's sort of unfair that way, isn't it?" said Shelby. "You either believe or you don't. I do think everything happens for a reason. And I'd like to think there's someone out there guiding things. Otherwise we'd be even more screwed than we are now."

"I guess so," Ryan said thoughtfully, before he changed the topic abruptly. "You don't have any history of heart disease, do you?"

Shelby glanced at him. "No," she said slowly. "Why?"

"Nothing," the teenager answered. Shelby got it, though.

"Hey." She waited until he looked at her. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

His dark brown eyes bored into hers. "You don't know that." Look what had happened to Burt.

"No, I can't promise you that," Shelby admitted. She wasn't naïve enough to do that. "But we can't live in a constant state of worry all the time either."

"I know," Ryan mumbled. "Just…I can't…never mind." He shook his head, frustrated at his inability to say what he wanted to.

"It's fine," Shelby said soothingly. "I get it." She gave him a hug. She didn't know what she would do if she ever lost him. He'd only been with her for a few months but it felt like he'd been there forever. "I can't lose you either."

..

Later that night Ryan was sitting in his room, toying with his phone, thinking about what had happened that week. He really hadn't been expecting it. But then, those things were never expected, were they? This was the first time anything like this had happened to anyone he knew personally. He flipped his phone around in his hand. He knew what he wanted to do right now, but he felt really stupid.

He sat there for a few more moments, idly playing with the phone, before he finally pressed the call button. He waited for a couple of rings, almost backing out before it was answered.

"_Hello?"_

Ryan cleared his throat a bit. "Hi Dad."

"_Ryan? Hey buddy, what's up?"_ James' voice filtered through the phone.

"Uh…" Ryan suddenly didn't know what to say. He hadn't really thought this through. "You know what, it's nothing. Never mind. Sorry to have bothered you."

"_Hey, hey, wait,"_ James said hurriedly. _"It's not a bother, okay? And I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have called if it was nothing."_

Ryan sighed. "I just…I guess I just wanted to hear you. I wish I could go over there, but I thought this was the next best thing." James waited patiently for him to continue. "Remember, I told you I work in an auto shop?"

"_Yeah."_

"The owner, my boss, uh, he had a heart attack today. He's in a coma." Miss Pillsbury had sent Shelby a message about Burt Hummel's unchanged condition a few hours ago, and his mom had told him.

"_I'm sorry."_

"Yeah. Anyway, the owner's son, Kurt, he's one of my classmates, and he's in glee with me. His mom died a few years ago, so it's just him and his dad. And I don't know, it's probably kind of stupid. I just missed you all of a sudden," Ryan admitted.

"_It's not stupid," _James assured him. _"I wish I could be there for you too right now. But don't worry, it's just a week or so and I'll be there for keeps."_ Ryan smiled a little at this_. "Does your mom know about this?"_

"Yes." The two of them talked for a little more, just chatting about this and that, Ryan needing to feel close to his dad, and James knowing that his son just needed him right now.

..

Shelby stood just outside of Ryan's bedroom door, listening. She'd gone upstairs to check on Ryan, when she'd heard him talking to someone. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she was curious. She had initially thought he'd be talking to Quinn, but had been surprised to find that he'd called James.

She smiled slightly, very happy that Ryan was comfortable enough with James enough to initiate a call. He hadn't admitted it, but she knew he was still a tiny bit cautious about his relationship with his father. And after a moment, she left, leaving Ryan to talk with James. She knew he'd be alright.

* * *

**Another chapter done! Hope you liked it. I'm glad you all enjoyed the last one, the last few chapters have been a different experience to write, since I'm using the plots from the series, but it's interesting to figure out how the characters as I've written them will react. They're both similar and different from the ones on the series.**

**I like how a lot of people are wondering if Sam's going to break Ryan and Quinn up, and it's sort of fun to keep you guys guessing. But don't worry, you'll get your answer in the next chapter. Might take a bit, though, since I need to write a lab report on _Bacillus thuringiensis _and another on duck embryo development. I don't suppose anyone here's versed in those? :P Just kidding, don't mind me. Leave reviews, tell me what you think, and of course, I'm always open to suggestions. Thanks for reading!**


	38. Chapter 37

"Okay, everyone, settle down," Mr. Schue called. "I've got some bad news. Puck drove his mom's Volvo through the front of a convenience store, and drove off with the ATM. He's in juvie."

The room suddenly broke out into chatter. "It was only a matter of time," said Tina.

"When is he getting out?" Ryan questioned.

"Unknown."

"He's the dumbest person on this planet and that's coming from me," Brittney said, giggling.

"Guys!" Mr. Schue said sternly. "Let's have some sympathy? We can't look at this as a crisis! We should look at this as an opportunity!"

"For what? Further embarrassment and humiliation?" Quinn asked sarcastically. They'd been getting continuously slushied ever since classes had started, no one in their right mind was going to join them.

Mr. Schue smiled. "To welcome in our newest member, Sam Evans!"

All eyes turned toward the blonde boy who jogged into the room, smiling. "Hey everybody, I'm Sam. Sam I am. And I don't like green eggs and ham."

"Oh wow, he has no game," Santana smirked to Brittney.

"Okay, this is gonna be great," Finn said loudly, standing up. "You're not gonna regret joining." He gestured Sam over to a seat, and Sam sat down beside Ryan as everyone clapped.

Ryan smiled. "Nice of you to join us." He got a smile back in return.

"Now," Mr. Schue said. "Question for the group. What's a duet?"

Ryan raised his hand, but Brittney beat him to it. "A blanket." Ryan rolled his eyes while Finn nodded with a smile.

"A duet is a when two voices combine to become one. Great duets are like a great marriage," Mr. Schue explained. Ryan put his hand down, sighing resignedly. Why did he ask if he didn't want anyone to answer? But then, Mr. Schue didn't really listen to what he had to say much anyways.

"The singers complement each other, push each other to be better," Mr. Schue continued. "The point of the duet is to combine the best parts about your voices and use them to make the performance better than it would be if a single person sang by himself. So this week, I want you to pair up and sing a duet. And," he added, "since you all seemed to enjoy the diva-off last year, I'm making this into a competition."

"What's the winner get?" Mike asked interestedly.

Mr. Schue smiled. "Dinner for two, on me, at Breadstix." The room exploded into excited chatter again, with everyone suddenly getting competitive. Ryan and Quinn glanced at each other, smiling. They had this.

..

After the meeting Quinn and Ryan were walking to class. They turned around when the heard Kurt and Sam talking behind them.

"I don't dye my hair, dude," Sam said.

"Yeah you do."

"I'm gonna go, 'cause you're kinda freaking me out," Sam said slowly.

"Okay, wait, wait. Maybe my instincts were a little off," Kurt hurried. "Let me make it up to you. Team up with me for the duet competition. Let's face it, unless you team up with him," he nodded at Ryan, "you're not going to win."

"Thanks," Ryan called over dryly.

"I'm your best bet," Kurt continued.

"Aren't duets supposed to be between a girl and a guy?" Sam wondered.

"Gene Kelley and Donald O'Connor would protest," Kurt said. "_Make 'Em Laugh_? _Singing in the Rain_? 1952? Maybe you are straight," he muttered at Sam's look of confusion. Ryan hid a smirk.

"What?"

"Never mind. Look, rent it, then look up the menu at Breadstix and call me. 'Cause we are going to win this." Kurt walked off, and Sam left with a wave at Ryan and Quinn.

"What was that?" Quinn wondered.

"Looks like Kurt has a crush on Sam," Ryan chuckled. "Too bad Sam's not gay."

"Really?" Quinn asked skeptically. "That dye job _is_ pretty obvious…"

"Quinn, I lived with two gay men for fifteen years. I've met assorted gays and lesbians who were friends with Hiram and Leroy. Trust me, my gaydar is great. And I am 90% sure that Sam is not gay."

"Is anyone else at this school gay?" Quinn asked curiously.

Ryan hesitated. "Well, you'd be surprised, actually. But no, I can't tell you that. It's not really our business."

"Right."

..

That lunch hour Shelby found herself sitting with Will Schuester again. He'd been coming over to sit with her a lot for a while now, ever since apologizing last week. Now she was listening as he enthusiastically told her all about the duets competition he'd planned for the glee club.

"That's an interesting idea," she smiled as she ate her lunch. She hadn't really done that with Vocal Adrenaline, instead preferring to make their competition set list early to get as much practice in as possible. But to each their own, she supposed. And maybe his methods did help them improve.

"Maybe you'd like to watch," Will suggested. "Give them some critiques on the side."

Shelby's eyes went up a little before she smiled. "I'd be honored." Far cry from the guy who'd chewed her out for giving a suggestion a couple of weeks ago.

"Great," Will smiled. "And I was thinking, maybe we could give a demo, show the kids what a real duet is supposed to be like."

"Yeah, no problem," Shelby answered.

Will nodded. "Great. How about tomorrow after class? I'll meet you in the choir room."

"Sounds great."

* * *

The next day, Ryan went into the choir room during his free morning period to find Mike Chang already there. "Hi, Mike."

"Oh, hey Ryan. I didn't think anyone was going to be in here yet."

"I was just going over some songs, I'm still not sure what I'm going to sing for the duets competition," Ryan said absently. "How about you? Are you and Tina singing together?"

"We're still working that out," Mike said ruefully. "Kinda having some problems on the couple front."

"Oh." Ryan glanced at the Asian football player. "Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, it's just all the Asian stuff getting to her, I guess. But yeah, we're singing together. I just don't really feel confident with my singing voice," Mike admitted. "I'm kind of hoping she'll sing and then just let me dance around her."

Ryan smiled. "If you'd like, I can help you there. I am one of the glee club's best singers, and I think I could help bring your voice out. I think you do have a good voice just waiting to come out." He sort of liked the dancer. He was a bit on the quiet side, but he was always ready with a smile. And he'd never participated in the bullying the rest of the football team did.

"You'd do that?" Mike asked in surprise. He hadn't really paid very much attention to the other boy before, mostly just ignoring his antics. He did feel bad when everyone ganged up on Ryan sometimes, but he never said anything.

"Yes, of course. It would be remiss of me not to try to push everyone in the glee club to their full potential, right? Tell you what, Quinn are I are going to be rehearsing during lunch, but I can meet you here tomorrow, I'll give you a few tips about singing." Ryan cocked his head. "Do you know what you and Tina are going to sing yet?" Mike shook his head. "Well, if you haven't decided by tomorrow, I can give you a few recommendations too if you'd like."

"That would be cool," Mike smiled. "Thanks."

..

During lunch period in the choir room, Ryan and Quinn were practicing their duet. After their third run, Ryan sat down somberly. "What?" Quinn asked almost exasperatedly. After scarfing down their lunches, they'd spent most of their lunch hour practicing. Needlessly, she thought, since Ryan's voice was virtually flawless. The rest of the club may find him annoying, but her boyfriend could sing.

"I'm being really selfish," he said.

"What?" Quinn stared at him.

"We need to throw the competition."

"What?" She was really getting sick of asking that. "Why would we do that?" She was a really competitive person, obviously, and so was Ryan. Plus it was free dinner at Breadstix. And Breadstix was, well, Breadstix.

Ryan sat down somberly on one of the chairs. "I'm not really a nice person, Quinn. I don't do things unless there's something in it for me. I mean, just look at last week. Don't tell me you haven't noticed me acting like a jerk."

Quinn sat down beside him. "Well, yeah, you were. But that doesn't mean you aren't a nice person, and besides, you already apologized for that."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you said that already."

"No, I'm really sorry. I know you were just trying to stand up for me with Karofsky, and I was wrong to snap at you. And about…that time in the classroom," Ryan said awkwardly. "I shouldn't have done that. I know you had a hard time last year, and it wasn't right for me to push for more when I know you might have issues with it." He'd been feeling really bad about it all weekend. "I just really need you to know that I do respect you, and I promise I won't do it again."

"I know you won't." Quinn watched him carefully the whole time he was talking. "Why did you push in the first place?"

Ryan looked away. "It's stupid."

"Okay…"

He sighed. "I told you it was because it's been two months, and I wanted to go a bit further, but that's not completely true. I liked how we were in the summer."

"So did I," Quinn said, giving him a small smile. Then it faded. "What happened to us?" she wondered. "It's like when we went back to school everything changed."

"I thought maybe you wanted me to be…I don't know…someone more popular, cooler," he admitted. "I hear what everyone says, you know." He looked away. "They all think you should be with someone else. Besides, I know your popularity is important to you, that's why you joined the Cheerios, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"It's not really helping your popularity that everyone thinks I'm a gay loser," he sighed. "I think I might have been overcompensating a little." He'd thought about it a lot last night before figuring it out. In some twisted way he was trying to be someone else, someone who wouldn't be bullied all the time, someone who wouldn't be given away by his parents. But he'd gone about it wrong. Instead of trying to change himself he'd lashed out at his girlfriend, tried to push her into something she wasn't comfortable with. Although in his defense, he'd thought she would be okay with it, they way she'd been teasing him a couple of weeks ago. "I guess I was trying to match up to Finn or Puck, since everyone likes them so much."

Quinn glanced at him. "You're right, that is stupid." An amused look came to her face as she put her hand in his. "I like you because you're different from all those other morons. I don't want you to try to be someone else."

A small smile appeared on Ryan's face. He could almost feel a huge pressure lifting off of him. "Okay." He squeezed her hand, looking at her affectionately. "How about this. We won't put up any fronts with each other. When we're together, we'll just be us. Quinn and Ryan. Not the cheerleader, not the loser, not the perfect ice queen or the overcompensating idiot. We can be like we were before, when we just talked to each other about everything. You tell me when I'm doing something you don't agree with, and I'll do the same with you. I want you to feel safe and happy with me, Quinn, and I'm really, truly sorry about how I've been acting."

"It's okay," Quinn answered, gazing into those adorable brown eyes. "And yes. You've got a deal. No more fronts."

Ryan smiled. "Good." He put his arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled into him happily.

"I should probably tell you something. About that classroom thing last week."

"What?"

Quinn smiled a bit mischievously. "I didn't really mind. Actually I was kind of trying to push you into it before."

"So I was right!" Ryan exclaimed. "I thought I was imagining things. There goes the stereotype of just boys pushing for more." He stopped, confused. "So why did you stop me last week?"

"Wrong timing. I was on my cycle, and I was sort of having cramps."

"What –" Ryan blushed as the penny dropped, his biology and health classes coming back to mind. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"You could have told me," Ryan said with a touch of exasperation in his voice.

Quinn patted him on the chest, smirking. "Where's the fun in that?"

"For the record, I wasn't trying to – you know, have sex with you," he lowered his voice. "I don't think I'm ready for that, and you probably aren't either. If, and when, we get that far I want it to be special, not some quick rendezvous in a random classroom."

"Good." Quinn kissed him on the cheek before sitting up straighter. "Okay, that doesn't answer the first question. Why do we have to throw the competition again?"

"Right. We need Sam to stay on the glee club, and for that to happen, he needs to feel like part of the team, and the team needs to believe in him," Ryan explained. "That means he needs to win this competition, which means we have to throw the contest."

"Who said Sam was leaving the glee club?"

"No one, but just watch, he'll take a slushy from one of those morons on the football team and he'll be right out," Ryan said. "No, we need him to feel like he belongs here, so he needs to win."

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day you wanted to throw a competition. It's kind of impressive. At least if you didn't have another angle."

"Angle?" Ryan asked innocently.

"Ry, I was here all last year. I know you'd do whatever it takes to win, so you must be getting something out of this. And we need Sam to get to the twelve-member quota for Sectionals, which means we need Sam to stay on the team."

"Okay, Oh Wise One, you know what, let's just pretend there's no angle, and we just need to figure out a way for me to lose a singing contest so Sam sticks around."

"Well, we could always just mess up the song, crack a few notes, go off-pitch in some parts," Quinn suggested. Ryan gave her a scandalized look. "Hey, you're the one who suggested throwing the contest."

"I can't sing off-tune, it's literally impossible, and everyone would see through it in a minute. We have to do something else." He thought some more. "Maybe I could sing with him," he thought out loud. "That way he'd be sure to win."

"Okay, egocentric-much? And what about me? Who am I supposed to sing with?" Quinn said irritably. "Why don't you just let him sing with whoever he wants?"

"Kurt asked him, and Finn says if Sam sings with Kurt, the rest of the football guys are going to come down hard on him. And while I don't think Finn is the brightest crayon in the box, I suspect he's right on this. This isn't exactly the most tolerant of schools." Ryan said wryly. Then his eyes lit up. "Or, you could sing with him."

"What?"

"You're a great singer, and you know, I think your voices would really complement each other's," Ryan said. "Not as well ours do, of course, but well enough to maybe win this thing, especially if I'm trying to lose. And, you're head cheerleader, singing with you would boost his own popularity." He grew more enthusiastic the more he thought about his seemingly great plan.

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "And who would you sing with?"

"It doesn't matter, I'll figure something out so that we lose," Ryan shrugged. "It's perfect!"

..

"Midget."

Ryan looked at Santana from his locker with a raised eyebrow. "What?" he asked suspiciously. She seemed to be in a bad mood today.

"I just thought you might know where Wheezy is."

"_Mercedes_ is upstairs, I just saw her in the cafeteria." He pushed some of his stuff aside, trying to look for his history book, which had just up and vanished. Just then Brittney walked by, not even glancing at Santana. "What's up with Brittney?" Ryan asked curiously. "Did you two have a fight?"

"We're not an old married couple," Santana grumbled. She was still irritated at what had happened last night with Brittney. It was just sex, that was all, no stupid feelings involved. She couldn't sing with Britt, that would mess things up.

"Could have fooled me," Ryan muttered, digging for the elusive history book.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just thought you were a thing already, I mean you're always together," he said absently. "I mean, you're in a bad mood, and she's in a bad mood, it makes sense…There you are!" He finally got his hands on the book, only to drop it immediately as Santana dragged him into an empty classroom. "What are you doing?"

"How did you know about me and B?" Santana demanded.

Ryan looked at her in confusion. "Well, no one told me," he said. "But I've seen the two of you, I know you two like each other."

Santana gaped at him for a moment, and Ryan was almost amused. "Who else knows about this? Did you tell anyone?" she hissed.

"No, of course not." Now Ryan was almost offended. He'd never out anyone without their permission. He'd seen the way Hiram and Leroy were treated in Lima, and he'd met some of their friends who were still in the closet. Not to mention Kurt and how much crap he took from the bigots here in this very school.

"Good. You're not telling anyone, okay?" Santana said menacingly. "Like I told Britt, I'm just making out with her because Puck's in the slammer. This does not mean I'm in love with her or whatever."

Ryan glanced at her. He'd suspected she was at least bisexual, but she always seemed happier when Britt was around. She never smiled with Puck the way she did with Brittney. But hey, if she wasn't sure yet, he wasn't going to push. "Okay. Whatever you say."

"If anyone finds out about this, you are going to get hit with so much shaved ice it's gonna make the penguins freeze, you got it?"

"Relax, you don't need your over-the-top threats, your secret's safe with me." Ryan would have smiled if he didn't think Santana would murder him right there if she thought he was laughing at her. He wouldn't put it past her.

"Good."

"But you know, I still think you should sing with Brittney. I know you're happier when you're with her, and besides, no one's going to mind two girls singing together. There are a lot of great duets involving two girls."

"God, _you_ sound like such a girl," Santana complained. Inside, though, she was quickly changing her mind about the whole Brittney situation. Maybe she should sing with her. If she still wanted to. Crap, she couldn't believe she'd hurt Britt's feelings like that! "I gotta find B." She dragged Ryan back out of the classroom, only to run into Quinn.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asked suspiciously, looking between the two.

Santana smiled deviously. "This and that. Your boy's a good kisser, Quinnie. See you later, Corcoran," she winked flirtatiously at Ryan, almost laughing at the horrified look on his face before she left to find Brittney.

Quinn turned to her boyfriend, eyebrow raised. Ryan hurried to explain himself. "It's not like that at all! We didn't kiss! I promise! She just dragged me into the classroom all of a sudden –" He groaned as Quinn continued to glare icily at him. Fantastic. He was going to have words with Santana later.

..

_Two hours later_

"Okay, when are you going to quit glaring at me?" Ryan asked Quinn as they made their way to the choir room. "It's getting old."

"How about when you stop going into classrooms alone with other girls?" Quinn wasn't really mad at him, she believed him when he said he hadn't done anything with Santana. And besides, she knew Santana was still sore at her. Still, she was pretty sure she was allowed to not like her boyfriend going into empty rooms with random girls. And it was fun to make him sweat a little.

"For the last time, nothing happened!" Ryan said exasperatedly. "Someone's using the choir room."

"Isn't that Mr. Schue?" Quinn said, recognizing the voice. She opened the door, and, surprisingly, found Mr. Schue and Shelby laughing over a set of sheet music.

"Mom?" Ryan looked between his mother and his teacher confusedly.

"Oh, hi Ryan, Quinn," Shelby smiled at the pair. "Will, that should be good, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Mr. Schue agreed. "See you. Bye guys."

Ryan hardly glanced at the teacher as he left. "What were you two doing?" he asked his mom.

"Mr. Schue invited me to help out with your duets competition," Shelby explained. "He thought we'd give you guys a demo of a duet."

"Oh. Okay." Ryan wasn't really sure how he felt about that. It was weird. Turning to his girlfriend, he asked, "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Bye Miss Corcoran."

As she was walking back to her locker, she passed by a person dripping with red slushy. "Sam?"

"Yeah." Sam attempted to wipe the icy liquid off his face without much success.

Quinn watched him for a moment, before sighing. "Come on." She led him to the boy's bathroom. There wasn't anybody around, so she went in with him, helping him get the sticky liquid out of his hair. "The blueberry flavor is the worst," she commiserated. "Especially if it gets down your pants. It looks like a creature from Avatar down there when it does."

Sam looked up at her from the sink. "I saw Avatar like six times," he smiled.

Quinn looked at him for a moment. "Oh." Santana was right. He had no game. "Anyway, you'll get used to it." She handed him a towel.

"You're the head cheerleader. Why do you even bother? You don't need glee club."

That made Quinn stop. "I like to sing, and fact is, those guys were pretty cool to me last year, when I wasn't on top." She wiped at Sam's face with the towel. "What's the point of being popular if you can't do what you want?" An unintelligible stream of words came from Sam, making Quinn blink at him. Was she having a stroke? See, this was what being nice got her…

"It means you have pretty eyes," Sam said. Quinn's mouth fell slightly open. "It's Na'vi? The Avatar language?" Sam said with a shy chuckle.

Quinn couldn't think of anything to say to that. "Oh." Was he making a move? "Thanks," she said slowly, before making her way out of the bathroom. What the hell was that? She turned around when she realized Sam had followed her out. "What?"

"Nothing, just wanted to say thanks," Sam smiled.

"Okay." Quinn turned away, before finally deciding. She turned back to face him again. "Listen, do you have a partner for the duets competition yet?"

* * *

The next day, Ryan pulled his books out of his locker, then went to find Quinn, only to stop short when he found Finn talking to her at her locker.

"I told you I'd be the quarterback again soon," he was saying. "So, what do you say? We'd sound great in a duet together. And we'd be great in other ways too."

"Finn –"

"Excuse me," Ryan walked up to the tall football player, who had the decency to look slightly abashed when he realized that Ryan had heard them. Ryan fixed him with a hard glare. He was done with Finn making moves on Quinn. "I'm pretty sure she's already told you to back off, Finn. She's with me now. And I'll thank you to leave us both alone."

"She was my girlfriend first –"

"With 'was' being the operative word," Ryan cut him off, stepping closer to Finn to look him in the eye, unmindful of the height difference. "And she chose to break it off with you. She's a person, not a piece of meat we're fighting over, and she told you to back off. You might want to respect that." The two stared at each other for a moment before Finn backed down.

"Fine." He glanced at Quinn. "Just think about it."

Ryan watched him walk down the hallway, then turned to Quinn. "Was that okay? I know you can handle him yourself."

"That was fine. Kinda hot, actually," Quinn smiled, giving him a kiss. He smiled as well.

"I realized I should start sticking up for myself, and not just take it." He glanced at her shyly. "You inspired me. I love how confident you are, and I just want to be the best I can. For you."

Quinn blinked. No one had ever said that to her before. "That's really sweet." She smiled, turning back to her locker. Ryan wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her head happily. "He's been bugging me for a while now, and it's probably going to get worse now that he's quarterback again. Don't worry," she said quickly, sensing the concern in her boyfriend. "He's not that bright, but he's harmless."

"If you say so," Ryan said dubiously, before his face cleared. "You've gotten Sam as your partner for the duet, right? He just told me. That's great!

"Yeah…" Quinn answered. "You know, I really don't think you should just let him – us – win."

"Why not? If it keeps him with the New Directions –"

"It's kind of patronizing, and besides, isn't it going to be unfair on whoever you're singing with? And besides, Sam doesn't really look like the type who'll give up because of a few slushies."

Ryan thought about it for a moment. "Well, yes, maybe," he conceded. He hadn't really thought about that. He was coming to find that a lot of his ideas weren't very well thought out. He'd just never had anyone to second-guess him before. "Okay. Fine." He straightened up, a playful glint in his eye. "Then you two had better watch out, Miss Fabray, because my partner and I will be competing to our full capacity."

As soon as he found one.

..

Later that afternoon Quinn followed Sam a bit reluctantly into an empty classroom, watching as he started inspecting a model solar system. She didn't exactly feel like rehearsing right now but they needed to get cracking if they wanted to win the competition. Her moods had been all over the place more and more lately.

"I love astronomy," Sam commented. "Something about space makes all my problems seem kinda small." He pointed at one of the models. "That one's Venus. Planet of love."

"Actually that's Mars, planet of war," Quinn said dryly, glancing at the red Styrofoam ball he was pointing at.

"Which one are we now?"

Seriously? "Earth. So why don't you come back to it and talk to me about duets." Okay, maybe she was being a bit short with him. Calm down, Q.

"Ok. So singing will be easy, so it's all gonna be about the choreography. So I'll just start playing," Sam smiled, grabbing a guitar and strumming a beat out. Quinn had to smile, he was pretty cute in a dorky way. Sort of like Ryan. "Now get behind me." She gave him a look, but he just smiled back at her. "Come on." She rolled her eyes before complying. "Now grab my hips."

She let out an incredulous laugh at that one. "And start swaying." He started to move back and forth, but Quinn just gave him a dry smile, putting a hand on his shoulder. Wait, what was she doing?

"Now here's the cool part. Give me your hand." He took her hand and positioned it on the guitar's neck. "Do you know how to play?"

She shook her head. "No." He was really close…

"It's easy. Just put that finger there," he guided her hand into the correct position. "Just like that. Now do it fast, back and forth." He started strumming out a beat. Quinn obliged, surprised when actual music started coming out. "There you go." She glanced back at him. His face was really close…

"Whoa. Okay. I'm gonna stop you right there. What exactly do you think you're doing?" Quinn asked frostily, stepping away from Sam with a slight glare, the music turning discordant as she let go of the guitar.

"I…"

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing. May I remind you, I've got a boyfriend. So I think we need to stop before you do something we're both going to regret." This had happened last year, and she was not going to let it happen again. No way in hell. Especially not after that conversation she'd had with Ryan the other day. He was starting to act like himself again, and standing up for himself with Finn.

Sam stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You're a really nice guy, Sam, but I really don't think we should sing together. I'll try to help you find a new partner, but I can't be it."

Sam nodded dejectedly. "I think everybody's paired up already, though."

Quinn closed her eyes briefly. Dammit. She couldn't just leave him high and dry, it was already Wednesday and she was pretty sure everyone was partnered up except Ryan. She knew if she decided to partner with Ryan now he'd be able to figure something out, but that would leave Sam out. "You're right." She sighed. "Fine, we can sing together. But this is strictly platonic, you got that? I can't do this again. Not after last year."

"Got it. Just friends. Promise," Sam swore. He felt really bad now. Ryan was a really nice guy, and he'd forgotten for a second there that Quinn was his girlfriend. "What happened last year?" he ventured.

"I just made some really bad decisions that I'd rather not repeat," Quinn answered, in a tone that ensured he wouldn't ask any more.

"Okay."

..

Meanwhile, Ryan went into the choir room and found Mike practicing a few dance moves. He stayed in the doorway for a moment, watching, before the other boy noticed him. "Oh, hi Ryan."

"Hello, Mike," Ryan smiled. "You're really good. You know, I used to take dancing lessons when I was younger, but I stopped a few years ago. I couldn't do that, though," he said, indicating what Mike had been doing.

Mike smiled. "Well, maybe I could teach you sometime."

Ryan's face lit up at the prospect. He missed his dance classes, and he'd always found Mike's popping and locking fascinating. "That would be great!"

"Okay," Mike said. He looked down. "I don't think I really need those vocal lessons though."

"Why not?" Ryan asked, confused.

Mike sighed. "Tina asked Artie to sing with her. I don't have a partner."

"Oh…" Ryan said in surprise. He'd thought 'Chang-squared' was pretty strong. And no, he wasn't being racist, they really seemed like they complemented each other. He had an idea. "Hey, how about we sing together? I don't have a partner either, Quinn's singing with Sam."

"Really?" Mike asked, surprised. He hesitated. "You know I'm not really good, I wouldn't want to sabotage your chances at winning."

Ryan waved his hand. "I'm sure. Besides, you're not bad, I've heard you in the chorus. I'm sure with a little work you'll sound fantastic."

"Okay," Mike smiled. "Thanks."

By the time they were supposed to go back to class, Mike's voice had improved a lot with Ryan's help. He actually had a pretty good voice, Ryan thought. Mike would sing in the chorus, but he didn't have the confidence to sing by himself, and that was what they were working on. He was confident Mike would surprise everyone when the two of them sang tomorrow. "Hmmm, now we just need a song…" He thought for a moment. He wanted something that would showcase his and Mike's voices, and maybe have something for Mike to dance to. He smiled suddenly, remembering an overheard conversation from the other day. "Have you watched _Singing in the Rain?_"

Mike's face lit up as he nodded. "Yeah, the dancing was great."

"Perfect. We're going to be doing _Make 'Em Laugh_," Ryan said enthusiastically. "I know it's not really a duet, but I can fix that. And since you're one of our best dancers, I though you could think up a dance routine for the two of us, and we can work on it tomorrow and perform on Friday."

"Awesome," Mike grinned. "I'll figure something out this afternoon. Thanks. For the lesson, I mean."

"Not a problem." Just then Quinn came into the room. "Hey, Quinn," he smiled, before turning back to Mike. "See you later?"

"Yeah. Thanks again."

Ryan left the room, grabbing Quinn's hand. "You're helping Mike?" asked Quinn.

"Yes, he's actually got a pretty good voice once he starts singing, but he's been lip-syncing or just singing really softly so far."

"That's nice of you."

"Thank you. He's now my duet partner, since Tina's singing with Artie. How was your rehearsal with Sam?" he asked as they walked out of the school.

"Oh, it was fine," Quinn said dismissively. Once Sam had figured out he didn't have a chance with her he was actually pretty fun to work with.

"Just fine? What are you singing?"

"Oh no," Quinn smirked. "This is a contest, and we are totally winning that dinner at Breadstix, Corcoran."

* * *

Ryan was the first one in the choir room the next day, shuffling through his arrangement of _Make 'Em Laugh_ that he and Mike were going to do tomorrow. A couple of minutes later Finn and Sam came in together. "Hello, Finn, Sam," Ryan greeted.

"Hey," Finn said a bit flatly. He was still upset at Ryan since he was with Quinn. He'd almost thought he'd broken them up when he'd prayed to Grilled Cheesus about it, but then they'd worked it out. Sam sat down a couple of seats away from Ryan. "Hey, dude."

Tina and Mike entered a few minutes later, then Santana and Brittney came in, pinkies linked. To everyone's surprise, Brittney went over and hugged Ryan. "Thanks, Ry," she smiled happily.

"For what?"

"You know what," Santana interjected, rolling her eyes. Ryan nodded as Quinn came in and sat down beside him.

"Okay…" Ryan said. "Are you two singing together now?"

"You bet we are, so ya'll better get ready to lose," the Latina said cockily.

The rest of the glee club trickled into the room in twos and threes, and finally, Mr. Schuester came in. "Hey everyone, settle down. So guys, since it seems like some people are a little confused about the meaning of a duet –" he looked pointedly at Brittney and Finn "– I thought I'd invite a guest to give you an idea of what it's all about. So, please give a hand for Miss Shelby Corcoran!" Everyone clapped when the woman came in, the room buzzing excitedly since they all knew her to be the coach of the team that had won Nationals four times in a row. A few furtive looks were thrown at Ryan too, but he didn't pay attention, instead exchanging a smile with his mom.

"Now, before we get to the actual competition, I got the impression that some of you were still a little fuzzy on the concept of a duet," Mr. Schue explained. "So, I decided to ask Miss Corcoran to help me show you guys what a duet should look like." He nodded at Brad, who immediately began playing the introduction to Diana Ross and Lionel Richie's _Endless Love_.

Ryan thought it was an impressive rendition, but he wasn't quite thrilled with his mom singing that duet with another guy. He could appreciate the vocals though, and applauded with the rest of the glee club as they ended. Shelby sat down in a chair that Mr. Schue pulled out for her, smiling at him in thanks. Mr. Schue then sat down beside her, unaware of the woman's son watching his every move like a hawk. "Okay, so anyone ready with their duet yet?"

"That would be me and Britts," Santana said quickly, standing up with the blonde.

"Okay, let's see what you've got," Mr. Schue smiled. The introduction to _Come to My Window_ started up. Ryan watched critically as Brittney and Santana sang. He wanted Sam to win so he'd be sure to stay, but he wanted his friends(?) to do well too. Fortunately, the performance went off without a hitch, and he clapped along with everyone else.

"That was amazing, you guys," Mr. Schue congratulated them.

"Yes, that was very good," Shelby said, smiling. "Good choice of song, it really suited both of you. Your chemistry wasn't bad, either."

"Yeah, well, it was Britt's idea," Santana said offhandedly, trying to hide her pleasure at the compliment. Not to mention Shelby Corcoran was hot. Okay, so maybe she had a bit of a crush on the dwarf's mom. That wasn't weird at all. "You should all know, I've already had custom bibs made," she informed the rest of the club. "'Cuz we be going to Breadstix!" She and Britt high-fived, before going to sit back down.

Mr. Schue laughed. "You hear that guys? You got your work cut out for you!"

..

A few minutes later, Will let the kids go practice their duets, and he and Shelby left the choir room. "Hey, Shelby?"

"Hmmm?" Shelby turned to face him.

"Thanks for coming today, the kids really respect your opinion."

"As well they should," she quipped. "Your kids are pretty good, they just need more practice." Mercedes Jones and Sunshine Corazon had teamed up to sing a Whitney Houston song, and Kurt Hummel had, strangely, ended up singing a solo version of _Le Jazz Hot_ from _Victor/Victoria_. And the last pair, Tina Cohen-Chang and Artie Abrams, had sung a jazz song too. The kids all had potential, they just needed a lot of coaching if they wanted to beat Vocal Adrenaline.

"Yeah." Will smiled nervously. "I was thinking, maybe if you're free this weekend, maybe you'd like to have dinner?" he asked hopefully.

Shelby quirked a look at him. "Are you asking me out?"

"Would you say yes?"

She looked at him, smiling slightly. "Will, you know, with that hair, that dimple, that clunker you drive to school – you're one of the cutest things I've ever seen." He smiled. "But to be honest, I think you're still hung up on Emma. I think you need to take some time before you start dating again. And besides," she added. "I'm seeing somebody." James was moving to Lima this weekend, and they'd already agreed they'd give themselves another shot.

"Oh," Will said disappointedly. Damn, he just couldn't catch a break. Of the two women he was interested in, both of them were already taken. "Oh. I understand." He sighed. "And I guess maybe you're right," he admitted. "I just don't know what to do about Emma."

"Listen, I can't tell you how to live your life –"

"Be my guest," Will interjected wryly.

"Just take some time for yourself," Shelby advised, before smiling gently. "Figure out yourself first, before trying something with someone else."

Will nodded. "Okay."

* * *

"Hey everybody, settle down," Will called as he and Shelby came into the choir room late the next afternoon. "So, this is the last day of the duets competition. Who's up first?"

Shelby smirked as Ryan immediately raised his hand. Of course he'd want to go first. "That would be us," he called out, gesturing at Mike, and the two of them stood up. They went up to the middle of the room.

"Wow, this is a surprise," Mr. Schue commented. "I wouldn't have thought of you two as a duet." Shelby agreed, he'd been strangely tight-lipped about his entry in the competition, and she had thought that he'd be singing with Quinn.

"I know, but we think that our unconventional pairing will be one of the highlights of the duet competition, especially with my vocals and Mike's dancing," Ryan explained. Mike just nodded, smiling.

"Okay, guys, whenever you're ready."

Ryan nodded at Brad the piano guy, and he immediately launched into their song's introductory soliloquy. Shelby watched, impressed at the two boys' delivery of the song from the 1952 classic. Ryan's vocals were spot on, as usual, but Mike's voice was pretty good too, and his dancing was impeccable. She clapped along with everyone else as the song came to an end with the pair flopping down dramatically on the ground.

"That was great, guys," Will said happily as the boys stood up, grinning broadly. "Thank you for finally letting us hear your wonderful voice, Mike, and the dancing was incredible." Shelby thought she saw Ryan's smile dim a bit when Will didn't give him any comments, but she might have imagined it, as his smile was back full-force a split-second later.

She nodded. "Really nice job, boys, who did the rearrangement and the choreography?"

"I did the rearrangement," Ryan said proudly. "And Mike did the choreography."

"Very good job incorporating both of your voices," Shelby complimented. "And I liked the dancing too. Excellent performance."

The two boys beamed at the compliment before sitting back down to another round of applause. "Okay, who's next?" Will asked. Shelby looked around, surprised to find that there were three students who hadn't performed yet – Quinn, Sam Evans, and Finn Hudson. That sort of made sense, since Kurt had sung solo, leaving one student out.

Quinn and Sam stood up and took center stage. Shelby's eyes rose a little at the pairing. "Okay," Sam said as he picked up a guitar. "I just want to say that I'm really excited, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner." He smiled at Quinn, who smiled back. The pair launched into a rendition of Jason Mraz's _Lucky_, and Shelby thought it was a pretty good performance too. The touch with the guitar trick was pretty fun too, and all in all the pair was quite cute. She noticed Quinn seemed to be singing to Ryan though, her eyes flicking toward him with every other line. Ryan's eyes seemed to be glued to his girlfriend, too.

Fifteen minutes later Will had called for all the kids to vote on whose duet they had liked the best, and was tallying the votes from a black top hat, his face getting more irritated with each vote. Shelby smiled in amusement, guessing what was going on. Her hunch was confirmed a moment later.

"Well. Even though it looks like pretty much everyone here voted for themselves, including those who didn't perform," he glanced at Finn, "we have a winner." He turned around, picking up the Breadstix gift certificate. "And the winner, by one vote…Sam and Quinn!"

"What?!" Santana yelped. "What? Screw that, I want my Stix!" She jumped up, but Brittney tugged her back down as Sam and Quinn got up to collect their prize. Shelby glanced at Ryan, who had a disappointed look on his face, but she could tell it wasn't real. He was good, she had to admit, his act wasn't noticeable unless you looked closely.

"Very good performances today," she complimented Ryan as the two of them walked out of the choir room after the meeting. "A little rough, but good, considering that you had less than a week to practice."

"Thank you," Ryan smiled happily. "We only had two days to rehearse, actually, since we only finalized our partnership on Wednesday afternoon. It's still disappointing that we didn't win, though."

Shelby looked sideways at her son. "You were the tie-breaker, weren't you?"

"Hmmm?" Ryan asked innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about, why would I throw a competition?"

"Oh, don't try that with me, I know it was you. What I don't know is why," Shelby said playfully. "Trying to win brownie points with Quinn? And on that note, why didn't you sing with her?"

Ryan looked at her for a second. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. But if I did, then the idea would have been to let Sam win the competition so that he'd stay with the glee club, which would be more likely if he sang with someone as popular as Quinn."

Shelby shook her head. "How do you come up with these ideas?"

"Maybe I'm trying to make up for that crack house incident."

"If you are, then you might be overcompensating a little."

"Well, doesn't matter now," Ryan said breezily. Then he remembered what he wanted to ask his mom. "What's up with you and Mr. Schue?" he asked as they walked out of the school.

"What?" Shelby asked, confused.

"I just noticed you two seem to be friendlier lately," he said casually.

"We're friends," his mom replied. "Well, he did ask me out on a date the other day –"

"_What?!_" Ryan yelped. "Oh my god! You _cannot_ go out with Mr. Schue!"

"Ryan –"

"No, no way in hell! I mean, he's an okay teacher and everything, but no!" he exclaimed in horror. "And what about Dad, I thought you two were –"

"Ryan!" Shelby grabbed him by the shoulders to get him to shut up. "I'm not going out with Mr. Schue, okay? I turned him down."

"Oh." Ryan tried to get some of his dignity back after his outburst. "Well, good." He ran his hand through his hair. "That would have been weird on so many levels. I can't even begin to describe how wrong that would have been."

Shelby smirked at her son's overreaction. She'd heard of kids finding it strange when their parents started dating. She supposed it was a good thing she hadn't really been in the dating game when he found her. And now she was sort of with James, who was his dad, so she guessed it mitigated the squickiness factor. She couldn't resist though. "Well, maybe if the situations were different, we –"

"Okay, you need to stop right there, I don't need to hear what you might have done with my glee club teacher. And you sang _Endless Love_ with him on Wednesday!" Ryan shuddered.

"It's a perfectly good duet," Shelby teased. "And I did tell him he was cute –"

"Dear god, ugh! Just stop!" Ryan clapped his hands over his ears. "I do _not_ want to hear about who you think is cute. You're my mom!"

Shelby ruffled his hair in amusement. "You're cute."

"That's completely different."

* * *

**Hello everyone, it's been a while. You would not believe how busy the past week has been. It's like the week that wouldn't end. I have had literally negative free time. But anyways, I thought I'd get this chapter out. Hope you guys liked it. I thought having Sam break them up was going to be too obvious, although I did write a version of this chapter where the kiss actually happened. But after what happened with Puck I don't think Quinn would cheat that easily, especially since she and Ryan are pretty good right now. On that note, people waiting for smut should know it might be a while. I will probably work that in later on, but realistically I don't think they're going to jump in just like that. Besides, I have zero experience writing that sort of thing. On the conflict side of things, we'll see how things go, although I'm setting up for something.**

**That's it for now, leave reviews everyone, I find it really helps me to try to improve my writing as well as the storyline. No promises on when the next chapter is coming out, I've got maybe half of it written out but I'm supposed to be studying how embryos develop right now. See you!**


	39. Chapter 38

"Mom, I have a question." Ryan sat down at the counter just as Shelby popped some toast out of the toaster the next morning.

"That sounds serious," she said lightly, pulling some jam out of the refrigerator. "What is it?"

"I thought maybe you could come with me to get my student permit sometime soon," Ryan said hopefully. "You know, for my driver's license."

"Oh."

"Now, I know you might not want to, but I'm sure it won't take that long," Ryan continued. "As you know, I'm turning sixteen in December, and I've actually been eligible to get a permit for a couple of months now. I've been reading all the manuals and pamphlets they give out at school, and I'm confident that I can pass the written exam. I –"

"Okay, okay," Shelby stopped his ramble, smiling slightly. "Calm down." She took a bite out of her breakfast. "Are you sure you can pass the written?"

"Of course, I've been studying for a while now. And you know I know cars, I can actually operate most motor vehicles quite well."

Shelby looked at him for a minute. She knew Ryan probably knew a lot more about cars than she did, and she had seen the driver's manual in his room a few times. She hesitated though, not exactly thrilled with the idea of her kid driving a thousand-pound hunk of metal around by himself. It was irrational, she did it every day, but then she wasn't always completely rational where Ryan was concerned. "Okay. I'll take you."

"Yes!" Ryan rushed around the counter to give his mom an impulsive hug. "When? We could go next weekend. Or sooner. Or –"

Shelby poked a slice of toast in his mouth, effectively stopping his excited ramble. "Shush."

Ryan gave her a reproachful look as he took a bite of the toast, pulling the slice away from his mouth. He swallowed. "That was completely unnecessary." He wasn't mad, though.

"Was it?" Shelby asked innocently. "And we can't go next weekend, Josh's wedding is on Saturday and the DMV's closed on Sunday. If we're going anytime soon, we're going today."

"Today?"

Shelby nodded. "Your dad's coming tomorrow, in case you forgot, and it's probably going to take us a few hours to get the permit so we can't do it on a weekday. So if you want to get it anytime soon, you go get dressed, and we'll leave in thirty minutes."

He could hardly keep in his excitement. "I'll be ready in five."

..

Almost five hours later, Shelby and Ryan exited Lima's DMV building, Ryan now the proud holder of a new student's permit. "Thanks, mom!" He grinned at Shelby, who couldn't help but smile back. "Can I drive?"

That wiped the smile off. "Uh…"

"Please?"

_Damn_. "Fine," Shelby relented, handing over the keys. "But if I say stop, you better stop, got it? Otherwise this is going to be the first and last time I let you drive my car."

"Got it." Ryan scrambled into the driver's seat of Shelby's Range Rover wearing a huge grin. Shelby got into the passenger seat more sedately.

"Seat belt?"

"Check." Ryan carefully adjusted the mirrors and got comfortable in the seat. "Okay?"

Shelby sent up a quick prayer, and steeling her nerves, nodded at her son. "Okay." The car was soon moving, and she started to relax marginally, though she kept her eyes peeled for other cars and any insane pedestrians who might suddenly jump out onto the road.

"You can relax, you know." Ryan spared a glance at his mom.

"I am relaxed," she retorted. "Eyes on the road, please."

"There's no one else _on_ the road." He looked over at Shelby again. "I –"

"_Stop!_" The car stopped along with Ryan's heart as he slammed on the brakes suddenly at Shelby's outburst. He looked up to see a mailman who had inexplicably crossed the street in front of the car. Both driver and passenger took a second to calm down before Ryan recovered first.

"Eyes on the road, check."

..

Later that afternoon, Ryan showed up at Quinn's house. "Hey, Quinn," he greeted, smiling. "You busy?"

"I didn't know you were coming over," Quinn said.

"Oh, I can leave, if you want," Ryan teased.

"Just get in here, you weirdo." Quinn pulled him into the house.

"Is your mom here?"

"No, she's went out on an errand." Quinn led him into the living room.

"Ah." Ryan sat down on the couch, Quinn settling next to him. "How was your dinner with Sam last night?"

"Oh, it was fine. He's sort of fun, but he's really nerdy. He makes all these movie references."

"Yes, I've been on the receiving end of a few," Ryan said, smiling. "I understood the _Star Wars_ ones, but not the _Lord of the Rings_."

Quinn chuckled. "He was speaking Na'vi at one point, from _Avatar_."

"That's an actual language?"

"It's made up, like Klingon from _Star Trek_ or Elvish from _Lord of the Rings_."

"Do you speak any of those?" Ryan asked.

Quinn raised her eyebrows at him. "I can barely pass Spanish, I think the only reason anyone passes is because Mr. Schue can't speak it any better than we can."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I asked Santana once, and she says all his syntax is wrong and his accent sounds like he swallowed a kazoo," Quinn said dryly. "Anyways, how was your day?"

Ryan grinned broadly. "I got my student driver permit," he said happily. "Mom and I spent five hours at the DMV, but it was completely worth it. Mom let me drive home, and yeah, I almost hit a mailman, but it was great! Not the hitting-the-mailman part, that was kind of scary," he amended. "But the driving part was fun."

"You almost hit a mailman?"

"Okay, okay, laugh it up," Ryan grumbled. "In my defense, he just crossed without warning."

Quinn smirked at him. "Hang on, I need to go get something in my room."

"Okay." Ryan watched with a smile as she went upstairs to her room. He started looking around the living room, smirking slightly when he remembered that Quinn wasn't particularly enamored with the house's ostentatious décor. He went over to the mantelpiece, observing the knickknacks that were positioned there, along with a few photos. He smiled at the one that showed a small version of his girlfriend, maybe four or five years old, with another older girl. Maybe her sister, he knew Quinn had an older sister. He turned around when he heard movement behind him. He grinned at his girlfriend. "You looked cute as a five-year-old."

"Four, actually, and does that mean I'm not cute now?" Quinn arched an eyebrow playfully.

"You're perfectly amazing now. Very cute, and very hot, as the situation demands." He leaned in, meaning to kiss her on the cheek, but she turned her head at the last minute, catching his lips with hers. He smiled happily into the kiss, his hands coming up to her waist.

"What am I now?" she whispered into his ear, her hot breath making him shiver in anticipation. Then he gulped as his girlfriend put her hands on his chest, slowly pushing him down onto the sofa.

"Uhhh…I…" Ryan couldn't manage to get his words into order. It was hard to have a coherent thought when there was a girl pressing onto him, pushing her tongue into his mouth. His skin felt like it was scorching wherever she touched him, his head was spinning so fast. He shook his head slightly, trying to clear it. He could never quite believe how this girl could turn him on just like that.

"Come on Ryan, how do you think I look now?" Quinn whispered in his ear, smiling as she felt him squirming under her touch. She slid her hand under his shirt, running her fingers over his stomach.

"Quinn, you look amazingly hot right now, just like you do every other day," Ryan breathed out. He reached up to pull her down to him again, their lips meeting once more. He coaxed her mouth open, dominating the kiss this time around, and he heard her moan into their kiss. "You're amazing."

Quinn shuddered as he moved his lips to her neck. She loved feeling him do this to her, she wanted more. She'd never felt like this with anyone else, and it had been easy to keep herself from giving it up to Finn, but with Ryan she just needed more and more. She grabbed his hand, putting it at the edge of her blouse, silently asking. Ryan froze for a second. He broke off their kiss. "Are you sure this is okay?"

"Yes," she breathed. "I want you to." She was ready to go further with him. Not all the way, but further than they'd been going. "Please."

Ryan didn't need any more encouragement as he gently moved his hand up under her blouse. "You need to tell me if you want me to stop."

Quinn nodded, biting her lip to keep herself from telling him to go faster. She wanted him to be comfortable too. She held back a gasp as his hand started to move faster, her skin burning everywhere he touched. Oh god, how had she not let him do this before? She pulled him forward by his collar, catching his mouth in a kiss again, her other hand moving against his stomach, lower and lower. She was suddenly filled with a burning desire to be holding him in her hand, to be touching him as intimately as possible. And she wanted him to be touching her.

It almost scared her, how much she wanted him.

"You okay?" Ryan mumbled into her neck, not breaking contact with her.

"I'm great." Unable to stop herself, Quinn moved so she was straddling his lap, his hardness pressing deliciously against her own arousal.

"Quinn –" He cut himself off with a gasp as Quinn ground down on to him. She inhaled sharply at the heat the movement caused. She looked deep into his eyes, completely blown by now. _He was so hot_. She could feel how aroused he was under her. She pressed their lips together again, their kiss growing deeper and deeper until –

_Click._

Oh shit. Quinn sprang away from Ryan immediately. "My mom's here," she hissed urgently, frantically straightening her top. She did _not_ want her mom to catch them doing anything. Ryan's eyes widened as it hit him, and he immediately sat up. Quinn looked at him, inwardly groaning when she saw his hair was a mess and realized that hers was probably worse. She quickly smoothed her hair down, and Ryan quickly did the same. Thank god she wasn't wearing lipstick, it probably would have been all over their faces by now.

Exactly two seconds after Quinn rapidly straightened Ryan's collar, Judy Fabray walked into the room. "Hi Quinnie. Oh," she said suddenly, noticing Ryan. "Hello. Ryan, right?"

Ryan gave her his best performance-worthy smile. "That's me. Hi Mrs. Fabray." He gave her a short wave, discreetly holding a pillow to hide his rapidly deflating erection. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his still racing heartbeat. "Nice to see you again."

"You too," Mrs. Fabray smiled, looking between the two teenagers. "I'm glad you decided to come over, Quinn's been moping alone all day. Quinn I'll just be upstairs if you two need anything," she continued. Quinn nodded, flopping down on the sofa beside Ryan as her mom went upstairs.

"That was…unexpected," Ryan remarked. His eyes were still a little glazed over from their earlier activities.

"Yeah." Quinn blew out a breath. "Talk about bad timing."

"Don't worry about it," Ryan assured her, giving her a kiss. "We should probably talk though."

"About?"

"About what just happened. Not that I didn't like it," Ryan said quickly. "I liked it a lot. Well, not the part where your mom came home. The part before that." Quinn raised an eyebrow at him, smirking at his ramble. "Okay look, the point is, are you sure you're comfortable with what we did?" he asked.

Quinn nodded. "Yeah. I am." She smiled at him. "I trust you."

Ryan smiled warmly at her. "Good. I trust you too." He interlaced their fingers. "What was that your mom said, about you moping around all day?"

"Nothing, just a mood swing," Quinn said dismissively. "It's nothing." It was sort of true, she hadn't been feeling too great that day. It had been happening on and off for a while now, there were days where she just didn't care about anything. Ryan had quickly changed her mood though.

"Okay," Ryan said slowly. "If you're sure." He stood up. "I should get going, I'm supposed to have dinner with my mom. My dad's coming tomorrow," he said happily. "For good this time. We're helping him move tomorrow, so I probably won't be able to see you. So I'll see you at school on Monday." He gave her a lingering kiss.

"Okay. See you on Monday."

* * *

The next day Shelby was back in the driver's seat as she and Ryan drove to the apartment building James had found with Shelby's help the last time he'd been in Lima. James was finally moving to Lima permanently and Shelby had deemed Ryan too excited to drive safely at the moment. Ryan spotted a large SUV with boxes in the back parked in front of the building. "That must be his," he commented, excited to see James again.

"Probably is," Shelby nodded. A young man in a baseball cap came out of the building just as the two of them were getting out of the Range Rover. He walked to the SUV and pulled out a few more boxes before he spotted Shelby and Ryan. His face lit up when he saw Shelby.

"Hey, I recognize you," he said excitedly. "You're Shelby Corcoran, right?"

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Yes, and you are…?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." The young man snapped to attention. "Corporal Franklin Gehring, Ma'am. Sgt. Walker showed us some pictures of the two of you." He turned to Ryan. "You must be Ryan."

"Yeah," Ryan smiled. Just then James himself came down the steps.

"Oh, you're here!" He beamed widely at Shelby and Ryan, giving Shelby a hug. "Hey buddy." He gently ruffled the boy's hair.

"Hi Dad," the teenager answered happily.

"Yes, hello," Shelby agreed. "We met your friend here."

"I have another one upstairs, they volunteered to help move my stuff," James explained, tugging another two boxes out of the SUV.

"Want some help?" Ryan offered.

"Sure, can you take these?" James handed the boxes over to Ryan, before getting the last two himself. "Come on, let's go inside." Shelby held the door open to let them in, before following them up the stairs. "You know, you're just in time, I just ordered the pizza."

"Goody," Shelby said amusedly as they entered the apartment. Boxes were scattered around the living room, and as James had said, there was another man inside. This one was about James' and Shelby's age, dark-skinned, with the standard military buzz cut.

"Hey Walker, anything else left downstairs?" he asked.

"Nope, this is the last of it." James set down his boxes in an empty spot, gesturing at Ryan to do the same. "Shelby, Ryan, this is Sergeant Simon Dupont, also known as Sim. We've in the same unit for five years now. Sim, this is Shelby Corcoran, and our kid, Ryan."

"Nice to finally meet you," Sim said, smiling. "We've heard quite a bit."

"Is that so?" Shelby asked, quirking an eyebrow with a smile, shaking the man's hand. "I wonder what."

"All good things, of course."

"You must be a good wingman to cover for James like that," Shelby returned dryly.

"Oh, he's the very best," James said sarcastically. "Remember I told you about my last date? The one where her drink ended up in my face? Yeah, his fault."

"I'm sure you deserved it."

Sim laughed. "Oh, you are the perfect match for Walker over here." He looked over at Ryan, who was watching in amusement. "Hey kid, good luck with these two as parents."

"Oh, I'm perfectly aware of my luck," Ryan smiled. It seemed to be at an all-time high recently.

..

An hour later, lunch had been eaten by the whole group in the apartment, and Shelby and Sim went into the kitchen to dump some of the trash, leaving Ryan with James and Frank, who were telling him all sorts of insane stories about their mishaps in the army.

"He really likes you, you know."

Shelby looked up in surprise at the tall man. "Excuse me?"

"Walker. We've been in the same unit for five years, but we've known each other longer."

"You must be pretty close, then."

Sim nodded. "Yeah. He's my best buddy. And you're really important to him, I can tell. I knew there was always someone back home for him. He's dated, sure, but he never really got into anyone." He stuffed a box into the trash can. "And I'm glad he's got you. You'll take care of him, right?"

Shelby nodded, meeting Sim's gaze. "Yes, I will."

"Good," Sim nodded. "He needs someone, and like I said, I think you're perfect for him. He really cares about your kid too."

"I know," Shelby smiled. "Don't worry, we'll take very good care of James. He's important to us too." The two of them looked at each other in understanding, before nodding and returning to the living room.

"Frank, we better be going if we want to make it back to Pennsylvania tonight," Sim said. Frank nodded, and he and James stood up, followed quickly by Ryan.

"Okay," James nodded and the whole group went downstairs to the car. The group stopped at the doorway, and Shelby and Ryan hung back to let James say goodbye to his two friends. "Take care of yourselves, got it?" he said to the other two.

"We love you too," Sim said sarcastically, before smiling and shaking James' hand. "Don't worry, I'll take care of this one," he jerked his head towards Frank, who rolled his eyes before grabbing James' hand in a handshake.

"You take care too, Sarge."

"I will."

Shelby and Ryan watched as the Sim and Frank straightened up, giving James one last salute. He quickly gave them one of his own. "Sergeant, Corporal."

Sim nodded. "Don't be a stranger, man." He looked at Shelby and Ryan. "You guys take care." James nodded back as the two got into their car and drove off, and Shelby went over to him.

"Hey."

James smiled at her, wrapping an arm around her. "Hey." Ryan joined them, smiling, and James pulled him in with his other arm. "I missed you guys."

"We missed you too," Ryan agreed.

"Now for the fun part: unpacking."

* * *

"Morning ladies," Will greeted Emma and Shelby in the teacher's lounge that Monday, sitting down at their table.

"Hey Will," Shelby said easily.

"Good morning," Emma answered, looking up at him from her sandwich.

"What's with your crusts this morning?" Will questioned Emma. "You usually cut them off."

Both women looked at the sandwich. "I must have forgotten this morning," Emma said in surprise. "Carl and I had a great weekend. We hit the revival theater downtown for the midnight showing of Rocky Horror."

Will made a disbelieving noise. "You're kidding, isn't that theater a total dive?"

"Oh, it's disgusting," Emma said. "It barely has a clean surface so you'd think it would be horrible for me, but I guess I just had so much fun I didn't even notice."

Will gave a forced laugh. Shelby glanced at him in amusement. It was so obvious he wasn't over the redhead. "Well, I think that's great," she said. "It's good to let loose once in a while. And Rocky Horror can be very entertaining."

"Have you been?" Emma asked curiously.

"A few times in New York," Shelby nodded. Not really her taste, but it was okay. "It's probably even crazier there than it is here."

"It probably is. And get this. You know how I've always been against Halloween, because I'm opposed to eating candy anyone else has touched? Well, this year, Carl and I are actually going trick-or-treating!" Emma said excitedly.

Suddenly Will spoke up. "Oh, it's so weird that you brought up Rocky Horror, because last weekend I decided to have the glee club perform Rocky Horror for the school musical."

Shelby almost choked on her coffee. The two other teachers looked at her. "Sorry, went down the wrong pipe. Go on." She did so want to see how this conversation would pan out. It was obvious Will was trying to get on Emma's good side.

"Oh. Wow," Emma said in surprise, and slight discomfort as Shelby noticed. Will was oblivious though.

"Yeah, I mean, who knew Rocky Horror was so important to both of us?" he continued, smiling. Shelby decided to try to be the voice of reason.

"Isn't that play a little inappropriate for a high school? You're probably going to have to edit the heck out of it so you can do it in school."

"Well, yeah," Will conceded. "But it's worth it to expose the kids to one of my favorite musicals of all time. Love that show."

"I think you're going to have to edit the whole thing out, if you're going to get Sue and Figgins to sign off on it," Emma commented. She laughed nervously. "But yeah, wow, really exciting." She stood up and started to leave the table.

"Yeah. Let's go, Rocky Horror!" Will held out his hand for a high-five, which Emma returned awkwardly as she left. That left Will and Shelby sitting at the table. Shelby sipped her coffee, pointedly staying quiet.

"Okay, what do you want to say?" Will asked in exasperation.

"You're playing a dangerous game here, Will," Shelby warned him. "Carmel used to have a five-person committee monitoring all the song decisions and the plays that were performed by the students. Obviously we don't have that here, but you know Rocky Horror is going to be controversial."

"It'll be fine," Will said. "I'll fix the script."

"If you say so."

..

"This week's lesson isn't really a lesson. It's a musical," Mr. Schue announced to the glee club at the meeting that afternoon.

Ryan was immediately all ears, mind racing with the possibilities of the musical roles he could play.

"We're going to be doing Rocky Horror." The room quickly burst into excited chatter.

Ryan spoke up. "Mr. Schue, while I admire your choice of the groundbreaking 70's musical, aren't you worried that some of the adult themes might be controversial?"

"Seriously," Kurt added. "A school in Texas couldn't even do RENT. It caused an outrage and the production had to be shut down." Ryan nodded. For once someone agreed with him.

"But isn't that what art's all about? Pushing the boundaries of self-expression?" Mr. Schue shook his head. "I've got it all figured out. I've cut out some of the more risqué sections, and I'm handing out permission slips for your parents to sign. And we're going to charge admission, and use the proceeds to help fund out trip to Nationals in New York," he said, smiling broadly. "Now, let's talk about casting."

"Oh, I'll be playing Brad Majors," Ryan immediately volunteered. He glanced at Quinn, a bit unsure if she'd want the female lead. Sure enough, she shook her head slightly. Ryan had noticed she'd been a bit quiet all day, but he hadn't had the chance to talk to her about it.

"I guess I'll be playing the guy in the wheelchair," Artie said.

"That's what I was thinking," Mr. Schue answered. "And Kurt could play the role of Frank N. Furter."

"Oh no," Kurt said flatly. "No way I'm playing a transvestite in high heels, and fishnets, and lipstick."

"Why, 'cause that look was so last season?" Santana mocked.

"I'll do it," Mike said suddenly, surprising everyone including Ryan.

Tina looked at him, both curious and impressed. "Are you sure? That's like the male lead."

"Yeah, I know," Mike nodded. "But I've been feeling a lot more confident about my singing since the duets project." He smiled at Ryan, who smiled back.

"We're a little short on roles, actually, so we might have to double up," Mr. Schue said.

Ryan nodded. "It's standard practice on Broadway, it'll preserve your voices."

"I'd like to preserve you. In a jar. In my basement." Mercedes' comment drew a laugh from most of the group. Ryan just rolled his eyes.

"Ryan, I was actually thinking you and Finn could double up on Brad Majors."

"But I –" Ryan stopped short as he remembered what Shelby had told him about learning to share the solos. He knew she was right, he wasn't always going to get the leads. And he already knew Mr. Schue was sort of biased towards Finn. He wasn't going to get anywhere arguing. "Fine."

About half the club looked at him in surprise, Mr. Schue included. They hadn't expected him to split the lead so easily. "Okay," Mr. Schue nodded. "Now, Sam, I want you to play the creature."

"From the Black Lagoon?" The blonde boy asked, confused.

"Rocky. He's like Frankenstein, but hotter," Mercedes explained, from her seat besides Sam, who, Ryan just noticed, had his arm around her. _When did that happen?_

"Better start working on those abs," Santana added.

"You kidding me? These babies could cut glass," Sam bragged. "I got no problem showing off my bod."

Mercedes spoke again. "Mr. Schue, who's going to be playing Janet?"

"Well, the only female roles we have are Janet, Magenta, and Columbia, and there are six of you girls. So you'll have to rotate, unless one of you wants to play Janet full time." Mercedes and Tina raised their hands at the same time. "Okay then, you two can split the lead, and the others can alternate Magentas and Columbias."

After the meeting Quinn found Ryan in the auditorium. "What are you doing?"

"Looking over Mr. Schue's edit of Rocky Horror," Ryan explained. "I thought I'd get familiar with my lines. I wanted to run them with Tina or Mercedes, since they're playing Janet, but they were busy. Speaking of Mercedes, what's up with her and Sam?"

"What?"

"They seemed pretty close today in the choir room."

"Oh. I didn't notice." Quinn sat down on the piano bench. "I can help you, if you want."

Ryan smiled at her happily. "Thanks." He handed over a copy of the script, and the two began running through the first scene. "You know, you would've been a good Janet."

"Not really into the whole dancing-in-our-underwear parts," Quinn said dryly.

"Touche, that's why I didn't volunteer you for the part. I know you're conservative. I think you'd play Janet really well, though," Ryan said sincerely. He sat down next to her. "Are you okay? You seemed sort of quiet today. Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine." Quinn abruptly stood up. "I need to go, I've got Cheerios."

Ryan watched her go, slightly confused. He'd noticed Quinn had been quiet all day, and now that he thought about it, there were days when she seemed to be more introverted. He hoped it wasn't anything serious, and hopefully it wasn't anything he'd done. He couldn't think of anything he might have done to upset her lately, but came up blank. Unless he'd done something wrong that weekend. He pensively gathered up his stuff and left the auditorium.

"S'up, Loser?" Karofsky smirked as he knocked Ryan's papers out of his grip, sending them scattering in the corridor. Then he pushed Ryan into the wall of lockers as he passed. Ryan hit the doors hard, barely managing to keep upright. He glared angrily at the larger boy as he swaggered off. He looked the other way and spotted Mr. Schue talking to another student. Typical. The man never did anything to stop the bullies.

..

"I'm not entirely sure how I feel about you guys doing Rocky Horror," Shelby said dubiously after dinner that night at James' apartment. She'd seen the movie and while she did appreciate the musical, she still wasn't convinced that this was a good performance for a high school glee club. She flipped through the edited version of the script.

"Come on, Mom, didn't you play any risqué roles when you were young? Younger?" Ryan hastily corrected.

Shelby kept her face straight. "Yes, but I wasn't a minor…"

James laughed. "She played Sandy in _Grease_ in junior year. Looked like a hooker at one point." He received a hard hit on the arm. "Ow! Just saying! And I know you played Velma Kelly at the community theater that one time…"

"See? Even you played those roles. And besides, Rocky Horror is still an art form," Ryan said. "As an artist, it's important to be…open to anything. Push boundaries."

"I know that, I just think Rocky Horror is a bit too explicit for teenagers." She glanced at the permission slip Ryan had handed to her. "At least you're not playing Frank N. Furter," she quipped. Finally she picked up a pen and scrawled her signature onto the slip. "Here."

"Thank you."

"Now, never mind that, I asked you two here to help me fix my stuff," James informed Shelby and Ryan. Ryan looked around at the randomly scattered boxes before sighing theatrically.

"I knew that free dinner was too good to be true…"

"Har har," James said sarcastically. "C'mon, I can't do this all by myself."

"Actually, I'm a little surprised that this is it," Shelby admitted. "I was expecting more. But then I guess you didn't really collect a lot of stuff since you moved around a lot."

"Right."

The three of them spent two hours unpacking boxes and putting things away, with Shelby commandeering the organization. Just before Shelby and Ryan left for the night, James pulled Shelby aside. "Hey," he smiled at her. "Listen, I was thinking, do you have plans on Friday night? I thought maybe we could go out, just us."

Shelby smiled back, pretending to think about it. "Hmmm, I'll have to check. Yeah, I'm free."

"Great." He gave her a quick kiss that started to deepen before Shelby pulled back.

"We should go, it's a school night." She smirked at James' slightly put-out expression. "Night, James."

"Goodnight, Shelby."

* * *

The next few days of rehearsal turned out to be slightly bizarre. First Sue had turned up demanding to be involved in the Rocky Horror production. Then Mike Chang had told them that his parents weren't going to allow him to play Frank N. Furter. Then Miss Pillsbury's dentist boyfriend had shown up, and was now playing Eddie, who had actually already been written out. Then Mercedes had volunteered to play Frank N. Furter.

"It's absolutely chaotic," Ryan complained to Shelby on Thursday as they sat in her office at McKinley during his free period. He watched her grade a few papers. "I'm not sure how this production is going to work out at all. Mr. Schue doesn't seem to know what he's doing, he pays more attention to Miss Pillsbury than to what's happening. And Dr. Howell is sort of distracting."

"Why aren't you at rehearsal, anyways?" Shelby asked, not looking up. She was sort of torn between interfering in the glee club and leaving Will to figure it out. On the one hand, she'd told him she wasn't going to interfere, but on the other, someone had to do something about this train-wreck of a production.

"It's Finn's turn," he said irately. "And besides, I already know all my lines. We're doing a dress rehearsal later. I haven't even told you the latest development yet."

"This should be good."

"Mr. Schue's going to be playing Rocky."

That got Shelby's attention. "What?" That was probably the most insane move Will Schuester could make. Getting Emma's boyfriend to play Eddie had already been pushing it, but a teacher performing in those gold briefs was not going to fly with anyone with a brain. Although she was starting to think Figgins was a little lacking in that department, what with all the shenanigans that went on in this school.

"Yes. He said the role was a little too adult for a teenager to play." Shelby thought he was right. An adult playing the role with teenagers was a little too much, though. The warning bell rang.

"You should get going," Shelby told him. "You need a ride later?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm not sure when the rehearsal is going to end."

Shelby nodded. She was planning on going over to watch, anyways. Maybe try to talk some sense into Will. She had no idea how he'd managed to get New Directions to Regionals last year if he'd been this flaky. Then she looked up when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in." She looked up to see Quinn coming into her office. "Hello, Quinn, what can I do for you?"

The blonde teenager sat down. "You said I could talk to you, right?"

"Of course. What's this about?"

Quinn was quiet for a second. "I don't know. I think there's something wrong with me."

"Can you elaborate?" Shelby put down her pen, watching Quinn carefully. This seemed pretty serious.

"I don't know, I'm just, I'm having these mood swings. Sometimes I'm fine, and one sometimes I'm really, really depressed. I'm having a hard time with schoolwork, when I never did before. Sometimes, I don't even want to go to glee. And I don't know why," Quinn said desperately. She had been perfectly fine last weekend, she had been happy with Ryan. Now she almost couldn't remember how it had felt.

"Have you talked to anyone else about this? Like your mom?" Shelby asked.

Quinn shook her head. "She's really busy. She isn't really around much, she works a lot." And she still didn't know how to talk to her mom. Things hadn't improved as much as she'd hoped. She didn't have any other adult to talk to besides Shelby and Coach Sylvester, and she'd decided that Shelby was probably the better choice.

"How long have your mood swings been going on?"

"I don't know. A while. No one's really noticed. And I've been trying to fix it." That's why she had joined the Cheerios, while staying with the glee club and throwing herself into her schoolwork. She needed to keep busy. "I thought if I did a lot of things, maybe…But it's getting too hard," she said in frustration. "Ryan's starting to notice. It's getting worse." She paused, looking down. "I found out I was pregnant around this time last year."

Shelby nodded. She had sort of suspected this. "Did you talk to anyone after you had your baby?" she asked the girl gently, coming around to the front of the desk to sit nearer to Quinn. "A psychiatrist or a therapist?" Quinn shook her head. "I really think you should talk to someone."

"No. I don't want to talk to a shrink. This was a mistake –" She started to stand up but Shelby pulled her back down.

"Wait, just hear me out. When I had Ryan, I told you I had a hard time. That was an understatement." Shelby took a breath. "I was really messed up, at one point I went to a bar and ended up drinking myself blind. I spent months in Akron depressed. My parents finally got me to talk to someone and I was diagnosed with postpartum depression." Quinn looked at her intently the whole time she was talking. "I don't know if you've got it quite as bad as I did, but I do think you need to talk to somebody."

Quinn shook her head in denial. "I don't have – that." A voice that sounded suspiciously like her fathers was telling her that only whiny crybabies who couldn't handle life needed to talk to shrinks.

Shelby sighed at her stubbornness, but she understood it. "Maybe not. Maybe I'm wrong, and it's just teenage hormones. But I want you to humor me. Look, I'll even go with you, I can ask around for a good therapist."

Quinn looked at her, and away again. Then she nodded. "Fine."

"Good. I'll find someone, set an appointment for some time next week after school, if that's okay with you." Quinn nodded again. "Quinn, it's okay to be having those feelings. You gave up your child, she was a part of you for nine months, and she's going to be a part of you forever. You need to tell yourself that what you did, you did for her. Because it was the best you could do for her at the time. Understand?"

Quinn nodded one more time. "Yes."

"And I think you should try talking to your mom. She should know."

"Okay." Quinn hesitated. "Thanks, Miss Corcoran."

"It's just Shelby outside the classroom."

"Okay."

..

As it turned out, Shelby didn't get around to doing seeing the dress rehearsal in the auditorium. In her defense, she made it halfway to the auditorium from her office before she was waylaid by a small commotion going on in the hallways. After going over to see what was going on, she found herself in Figgins' office fifteen minutes later, waiting for Will to arrive. He came in a few minutes later. "What's going on?"

"Mr. Figgins is suspending Finn here," Shelby informed him.

"Suspended? Why?" Will asked in disbelief.

Finn fidgeted uncomfortably. "I, uh, sorta came to school in my Rocky Horror costume."

Shelby nodded. "I found him wandering around the hall in his underwear. Apparently he flashed the whole school. There were several rather surprised students." That was an understatement. The two most popular reactions she'd found had been screaming and people stunned into horrified silence. She'd gone for the latter before her brain kicked in and she'd taken him to the locker rooms to change while she waited outside. That was where Figgins had found them.

Will closed his eyes briefly. "Why would you do that?"

"I was trying to get comfortable in my costume, okay?" Finn explained himself. "You don't understand how hard it is for us guys to be exposed like that." He shrugged uncomfortably. "I thought maybe it could make me feel hot enough to get onstage and sing in my underwear."

"I'm recommending one month suspension and summer school to make up for any lost class time," Figgins stated.

Will ran his hands through is hair in exasperation before turning to Finn. "Can we have a moment?" he said, gesturing to the teenager to leave the room, which he did, eagerly.

Shelby glanced at Will, before getting up to leave too. She didn't really need to be a part of this conversation. She went and joined Finn in the small room outside of Figgins' office. "You okay?"

"No," Finn answered dejectedly. "I know it was stupid, but I really needed to get more confident to sing in Rocky horror, you know?"

"Well, if it's any comfort, I don't think the suspension's going to stick," Shelby told him, just as Will came out of the office. "Well?"

"You've just got a warning," Will told Finn, who sagged in relief. "You should get back to the auditorium." He watched as Finn left, before turning to Shelby. "Thanks. I can't imagine what drama would have happened if Sue had been the one to find him."

Shelby nodded. She could just imagine. "I think we need to talk."

"Figgins already gave me the speech –"

"Good. I don't think you've really thought this through. Figgins might not know why you're doing this, but I'm pretty sure I do. And you're not impressing anyone by pushing the kids to perform this musical. It's very risky, Will, and the fallout could be enormous, especially if you're planning on playing Rocky yourself like I've heard. I get that you're trying to push boundaries, but sometimes you need to know where to stop." She gave him a look, before turning around to go back to her office.

* * *

"Did you talk to Mr. Schue about Rocky Horror?" Ryan asked Shelby curiously day as they rode home together the next day. Shelby had let him drive.

"I may have told him to think carefully about the consequences of putting on Rocky Horror if something went wrong. Why, what's up?" Shelby asked.

"The performance has been cancelled," Ryan informed her. "And while I'm slightly disappointed that there won't be a school musical this year, which incidentally is the second year in a row after Sandy Ryerson's failed production of Chicago, it may have been the right decision."

"Oh." Shelby hadn't had the chance to talk to Will that day, and she hadn't known about his decision to cancel Rocky Horror. Ryan was right though, that was probably the right call to make.

"Yeah. We're still going to be performing it though, just not for public consumption. We'll just be doing it for ourselves." He paused thoughtfully. "Mr. Schue said Rocky Horror wasn't about pushing boundaries, or making an audience accept a rebellious point of view. It was sort of for outcasts who were searching for someplace to belong, and that's why it's the perfect musical for us."

"That's good, at least all that practice time won't be wasted. And it'll give you more time to prepare for Sectionals."

Ryan huffed. "We probably won't have a set list until like three days before the date. Mr. Schue talks a good talk about getting ready for Sectionals, but somehow we always end up brainstorming for song choices the week before the competition."

Shelby glanced at him, amused. She'd heard his complaints a few times already, and while she agreed that they should get down to picking their set lists a little earlier, it seemed to work for them. They'd gotten to Regionals that way at least. But they'd probably be able to get further if they practiced more. And it was also a matter of who they were pitted against at Sectionals.

"Maybe you could talk to Mr. Schue again, suggest that we get moving a little?" Ryan asked her.

"Okay, you do realize I'm not completely stupid, right?" Shelby said, with a slight smile. "I know what you're doing, you're trying to slowly get me involved with the glee club. Soon you're going to be asking me to pick songs for you guys, and then to coach a number or two, and sooner or later you're going to be asking me to be co-directors with Mr. Schue."

"Well I – of course not!" Ryan sputtered unconvincingly.

"Ryan, you need to let Mr. Schue make the decisions for the club, he's your teacher," Shelby said sternly. "We've talked about this before, you can't just go around undermining him."

"I know that, but we need to get to Nationals this year, they're in New York, Mom, _New York_!"

"I'm well aware."

"And besides, you're the best," Ryan said sweetly, trying to butter her up. "You could help get us there, you wouldn't want us to lose, would you?"

"I told you, I'm not really looking into getting back into show choir, kid. And besides, I'm not exactly sure my teaching and Will's teaching would mesh quite well." She smirked. "And no offense, but I don't know if your team could take my rehearsals either."

"Well, maybe not," Ryan conceded. His teammates weren't quite as driven as he was, and Shelby could be very…exacting. "But we need help."

Shelby hid a smile. She sort of agreed. "Well, we'll see, okay?"

"Fine."

"Good. Now, are you staying home tonight? Your dad and I are going out," Shelby reminded him.

"I thought I'd go over to Quinn's, maybe take her out if she's free," Ryan answered. "Can't have my parents having all the fun."

"Very funny."

..

Later that evening, Quinn was all by herself in her house again. Her mom had some sort of club thing that night, and Quinn had resigned herself to another night alone and had ordered a pizza. She still didn't know what to feel about what Shelby had suggested that week. She wished Ryan were here, but he was probably busy with his own family. She was happy for him, now that James had moved to Lima, her boyfriend seemed so excited about it. She heard the doorbell ring, and she got up to open the door.

To her surprise, she found her boyfriend standing on the porch, holding a pizza box. He smiled charmingly at her. "One bacon and cheese pizza, for Miss Quinn Fabray?"

She couldn't help but laugh. "What are you doing, you dork?"

"Delivering your pizza, of course." Ryan stepped up to give her a quick peck on the cheek. "I got here at the same time as the pizza guy, so I said I'd give it to you."

"He gave it to you just like that?" Quinn asked skeptically.

"Well obviously I had to pay him first, but yes, he didn't exactly care who got the pizza as long as someone paid for it."

Quinn nodded. She handed him a twenty to pay for the pizza, but he waved her off. "Don't bother, it's fine. But an invitation to help you eat the pizza wouldn't go amiss," he said cheekily, making her laugh again.

"Come on, get in here." She stepped aside to let him into the house.

"Your mom home?"

"Nope."

"Same here," Ryan nodded. "My parents are having a date night or something. I didn't really ask. But I'm very happy for both of them, they suit each other very well." Quinn agreed with him, from what she'd seen of Shelby Corcoran and James Walker, they seemed to match. He set the pizza box down on the coffee table, glancing at the TV. "_Titanic_?"

Quinn blushed slightly. "Yeah. I know, it's cheesy."

"Don't worry, I'm not judging you," Ryan assured her. "It's a great movie, the romance of it all resonates with audiences everywhere. And Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet are amazing. I just object to that part where Jack didn't get onto the flotsam with Rose. The two of them would have totally fit on the board."

"I know." Quinn opened the pizza box, pulled out a piece, and started eating it. "Help yourself."

"Thanks." Ryan picked up his own piece. The pair munched contentedly as they watched the movie play out on the TV screen. Several minutes later, Quinn found herself snuggled up against Ryan on one end of the sofa. She sighed contentedly. It had been a pretty good day. Not like the rest of the week, she'd been increasingly depressed since Monday, that was why she'd finally gone to Shelby. But today, today was good. She'd had fun singing as Magenta in the glee club's performance of _Time Warp_. And now she was cuddled up against her boyfriend watching what was regarded as one of the most romantic movies ever.

"You okay?" Ryan asked, leaning his head on hers. Quinn felt a rush of affection for him at his concern. She knew he was starting to suspect something was up with her. She'd tell him after she talked with the shrink, tonight she just wanted to enjoy being with him.

"Yeah. I'm good. This is great." She squeezed his hand, happy that they were comfortable enough to just stay here quietly together. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Oh, nothing in particular."

* * *

**Hello everyone, new update! I've got a four-day weekend, which equals time to write. I'm happy everyone enjoyed the last update even if it took a while. I hope you guys like this one too. We've reached 200k words, and this story has 200 followers as of two hours ago. Thanks to everyone who's reading :)**

**On that note though, are the chapters getting too long? I've noticed they're getting regularly long, I remember starting out with just 2000 words per chapter, and now I think I'm averaging 7000 to 8000. Tell me if it's getting longwinded or anything.**


	40. Chapter 39

While Ryan and Quinn were having their pizza night, Shelby and James were enjoying their own date across town. "How'd you even find this place?" Shelby asked curiously. It was a small place near the edge of Lima. She'd lived in this town for years and had never known about this place.

"I was talking to my new partner at work, this morning, and I mentioned how I had a really hot date tonight," James said with a sly smile. "Anyways, her cousin owns this place, and she said it was good. And she told me how to get here."

Shelby's mouth curved into a smile. It had been way too long since she'd gotten compliments like that. Her last 'date', if it could be called that, had been a mediocre make-out session with the leader of Vocal Adrenaline's competition last December. VA had beaten them handily and the man had glared daggers at her afterwards. Not that she really cared, she was pretty sure he was gay. "How is work, anyways?"

"Oh, it's pretty good. It's only been a few days, but it's a nice change of pace. We just got three calls this week, a pregnancy and a couple of broken limbs. It's a lot more relaxed than the Army," James admitted. He liked it. "And my partner's nice."

"That's good, I'm happy for you," Shelby smiled. She was glad he was happy so far, she'd been a little worried that he'd have a hard time adjusting to civilian life after all that time in the military. Conversation stopped as their food arrived, and they started eating. "Your partner was right," she commented after a minute. "This place is pretty good."

"I'll be sure to tell her," James agreed. "How about you, how was your week?" He smiled mischievously again. "Did you get involved with Rocky Horror?"

"No," Shelby answered, rolling her eyes at him. "Contrary to your belief, I'm not a total control freak."

"Of course you're not."

"Shut up. Anyways, the production's been cancelled. Long story short, at one point Will Schuester was slated to play Rocky, and one of the kids flashed the school to try to get confident enough to sing in his underwear."

"I sure hope that wasn't our kid," James joked.

"No, thank god," Shelby shuddered at the thought. "Anyways, Will finally got it knocked into his head that Rocky Horror isn't an age-appropriate production for a high school glee club, especially when a man in his mid-thirties is going to be playing one of the raciest roles."

"No it's not, is it?" James took a sip from his glass. "You know, I really want to see Ryan perform, though."

"You'll get your chance soon enough, their Sectionals competition is in December," Shelby informed him. "I think it's just a couple of weeks before his birthday."

Suddenly a pang of guilt shot through James. _He didn't know when his kid's birthday was._ "When's that again?"

Shelby blinked at him before recovering. "December 18th." She looked down. "I'm sorry, I should have told you."

"It's okay." James sighed. "I'm guessing there are going to be quite a few of these moments. For you too, probably, since you didn't really know him until this year."

"Yeah. We weren't kidding when we said we've got a lot to work out."

"We'll figure it out."

Shelby shot him a small smile, tilting her head. "So, moving on. How's the apartment? Are you settling in okay?"

"Yeah," James nodded. "I'm probably going to be getting some stuff next week though. You saw the place, it's half furnished, but it doesn't have a lot of stuff."

"You're the first tenant, right?"

"I am, so the place is pretty much good as new. Just needs a few touches, for example I don't have any place to put anything, so I was thinking of getting a few shelves."

"Ah."

"Here we are," James announced as he pulled up on the curb outside Shelby's house. "Looks like Ryan's not home," he noted.

"I guess he's still at Quinn's, he said he might go over tonight." Shelby checked her watch. It was just before ten, so her son wasn't past curfew yet. She looked up to see James getting out of the car. He walked around to her side of the car and opened the door. "You didn't have to do that."

"Oh, okay." He jokingly started to close the car door again with a smile, before opening it back up and holding out his arm. "Come on."

Shelby rolled her eyes at him good-naturedly. "Cute." He smiled, and walked her to her door, where they stood on the porch. "Goodnight."

"'Night," James answered. He leaned in slowly, giving her time to back away. When she didn't, he caught her lips in a kiss, smile widening at the sensation. He'd missed this so much. She was perfect, she was his person, the one he could never forget about. The kiss started to deepen as he pulled her closer to him, felt her press against him happily. They broke apart a second later for air, and for a moment their eyes met.

Another second later and Shelby was the one initiating their kiss, this one much more powerful and intimate than the first. Hands started roaming, and it occurred to Shelby that they were still on her front porch, probably giving the neighbors a nice show. "James – hang on a sec –"

Shelby managed to disengage long enough to get her keys into the lock and open the door before James caught her lips in another kiss. She pulled the two of them inside and somehow they managed to land on the couch. "You know we can't really go too far, right?" she got out, the sentence turning in a moan as James started licking a trail along her jaw.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say," James answered, far too busy kissing her neck to actually give her words too much thought. His hand started moving at the edge of her top, and when she didn't protest his hand started to slip underneath the blouse. He thought it was fair game since her hands had been all over him for the past minute or two. He smiled into their kiss when he heard her moan as his hand moved higher.

Shelby knew they should stop soon, somewhere in the back of her mind there was something yelling at her that they were going too fast, they shouldn't be doing this yet, but she just couldn't bring herself to care. She'd forgotten how good it could feel when she was with the right person, and for her the right person had always been James.

Her hands had started to unbutton James' dress shirt of their own accord when suddenly the two flew apart as they heard the front door open. Shelby's eyes widened as she remembered that her – their – teenaged kid was living in the house too. The couple glanced at each other in shock before hurrying to fix themselves, James buttoning the top of his shirt and Shelby straightening her top that had ridden up a little too high to be called decent. They finished just in time for Ryan to walk past the living room.

"Oh, you're home," he said in surprise, looking over at his parents' mussed hair and slightly flustered expressions. His dad's collar was lopsided and his mom's lipstick was smeared. _Oh gross_. He shook his head, moving toward the stairs. "Okay, I'm going to bed." He did not want to know what his parents were getting up to. "Goodnight."

"Night, Ryan," the pair chorused, before glancing at each other again with slightly sheepish grins.

"Okay, that was awkward," James said with a nervous chuckle.

Shelby just rubbed her face with her hand, smiling in embarrassment. It had been a long time since she'd been living with anybody who would care if they found her making out on the sofa with someone. "Yeah. Okay. Time for you to go."

"You sure?" James said, smiling at her mischievously. "He's upstairs now, no reason not to continue –"

"Out," she said sternly, although her smile softened the word. "See you tomorrow, okay? We'll pick you up around two tomorrow."

"Got it." He gave her another kiss, laughing as she started to shove him out the door. "'Night, Shelby."

"Goodnight." She watched him get into his car and leave. She locked up the front door and started upstairs, deciding to check on Ryan before she went to bed. "Hey, kid."

"Hi Mom. Where's Dad?" Ryan's faced wrinkled. "Is he in your room? Don't answer that."

"No, he went home," she assured him, smirking slightly. "We're going to be picking him up tomorrow before we go to Akron. Quinn too. The wedding's at four, so we're leaving at two." She'd already calculated for travel time, and they'd be at the church in plenty of time. The wedding was being held in Mansfield, which was nearer to Lima than Akron.

"Okay."

Shelby started to say something, then changed her mind. She did not need to be discussing her sex life with her child. Ugh. "Goodnight, sweetie." She dropped a kiss on his hair.

"'Night Mom."

* * *

"Ryan, come on, we need to go!" Shelby called up from the bottom of the stairs. Ryan came down a minute later, all dressed up for the wedding. "You got everything? I don't want you to remember that you left something behind when we're halfway there."

"Yes, mom, I've got everything," Ryan drawled. Shelby took a moment to look him over critically. She straightened his tie a little and fussed with his hair.

"Phone, wallet, whatever?"

"Yes, I'm good to go. Do you have your stuff?" he countered.

"Yes. Okay then. Let's go." She tossed him the keys. "You can drive to your dad's apartment, and maybe to wherever we're having breakfast, but I'm driving to Akron, got it?"

"Got it," Ryan beamed happily. The two of them got into the car, and Ryan started off down the road. A few minutes later they were at James' apartment. Ryan stopped the car and got down to go ring the bell, and James was soon downstairs.

"Good morning, Ryan," James smiled at his son, who smiled back. "Looking sharp."

"Morning, Dad," he answered, pulling the older man to the car. "Come on, we're still picking up Quinn."

"Okay, okay," James laughed, as he got into the passenger seat, Shelby having moved around to the driver's seat. "Morning, Shelby." He leaned over to give her a quick kiss as Ryan hopped into the back seat.

"Okay, wait a second, if we're going to be road-tripping together, we need a few rules. First is no grossing me out," Ryan complained. "Last night was weird enough as it is."

James just laughed at him as Shelby rolled her eyes. "Sure thing, buddy." Didn't need to traumatize the boy.

A fifteen-minute drive later and the three of them arrived at Quinn's house, and Ryan got down again to knock on the door. Quinn opened the door. "Good morning," Ryan said with a wide smile. "Ready to go?"

"Yep," Quinn answered, stepping outside. Ryan's breath caught as he looked at his girlfriend. He thought she always looked amazing, but he rarely got to see her dressed up formally. She was wearing a dark blue sleeveless dress that hugged her body just right.

"You look perfect," he said reverently, drawing a small smile from his girlfriend.

"Thanks."

Ryan held out his arm, and Quinn took it. The two of them walked to the car, and Ryan opened the door for her to get in first. "Good afternoon."

"Hi Quinn," Shelby answered, giving her a smile. James smiled at her as well. "Does your mom know you're leaving?"

"Yes, I already told her. Thanks for calling her, I think you being a teacher at school helped convince her that I wasn't getting up to anything sketchy. Hi, Mr. Walker."

"Good afternoon, Quinn. It's nice to see my son's beautiful girlfriend again," he said, smiling mischievously, making the blonde blush.

"Daaaad." Ryan huffed. "Can we just get going please?"

..

_Several hours later_

Ryan picked up a glass of red wine from a passing server at the reception. It had been a nice ceremony, short and simple but very sweet. He'd gotten to stand up with his slightly nervous uncle during the wedding, and his now-official aunt had looked exquisite in her wedding gown.

"Oh no you don't." Shelby suddenly appeared beside him, plucking the glass from his hand and almost giving him a heart attack. "Minor."

"Come on, it's a wedding," Ryan wheedled, only to receive an unimpressed look. "Fine. Are there any minor-friendly drinks going around, then?"

"There's some punch over there."

"Thank god Quinn came with me, did you know you don't have any relatives at all within five years of my age? The closest I've found is a twenty-three-ish girl who's even more obnoxious than I am –"

"– that's cousin Sharlene –"

"– and a set of six-year-old twins."

"I think those are Paige's nephews."

"Whoever they belong to, they almost knocked over the cake a few minutes ago, and I think I found their dad trailing along after them looking like he needs a nice long vacation." Ryan went off in the direction she indicated, and Shelby took a sip out of the glass.

James came up next to her, carrying his own wine glass. "Nice party."

"Yes it is. But I'm waiting for Uncle Cecil to start up a poker table," Shelby said dryly, lifting her glass in a mock toast.

"Is that a regular occurrence?"

"Only at every wedding. And funeral."

James chuckled. "You look really good in that dress. In case I didn't say it earlier."

"Thank you. You didn't." She looked up when she saw Josh and Paige coming over, both beaming happily.

"And here's the happy couple," James said, smiling at the newly married pair. "Congratulations, guys."

Paige beamed at him. "Thank you, James. I'm so happy to finally meet you, Josh has told me loads of things."

"That sounds ominous," James quipped.

"It is," Josh assured him mischievously. "So, are you and Shelby up next?"

James and Shelby looked at each other, each waiting for the other to speak up. "Oh, we'll see what happens," Shelby said vaguely. "Excuse me." She left in the direction of the bathrooms, leaving the other three to chat. Going inside, she found her son's girlfriend at the sinks. "Hi Quinn, how are you doing?"

"I'm good, thanks," the blonde smiled.

"Good." Shelby studied the girl. She looked relaxed today, unlike when she'd come to her in her office the other day. "I wanted to ask you something, actually."

"Oh?" Quinn looked slightly wary.

"I was wondering if you would be okay if I consulted Miss Pillsbury about what we talked about the other day. I won't if it will make you uncomfortable, but she's an actual guidance counsellor and she might be able to refer us to a good psychiatrist if she knew what was going on."

"Oh." Quinn thought about that. She didn't really want anyone else knowing what was going on with her, it was still deeply ingrained into her that appearances were paramount, and she was just starting to break through that preconceived notion with Ryan. Still, she recognized that Shelby was right, and if she really wanted help she might need to talk to other people. "Okay."

Shelby smiled at her. "Good. I can probably get something scheduled sometime this week. Have you talked to your mom about it?"

Quinn looked down, and shook her head. "No."

"Do you –"

"I'll tell her, okay?" the teenager said anxiously. She didn't know how, but she'd have to do it eventually.

"Okay," Shelby relented. She knew it could be hard for teenagers to talk to their parents. She'd counselled kids through school problems, home problems, anorexia, depression, and a myriad of other problems over her time as a teacher, and a lot of them had resisted going to their parents about it. But if things got too serious she would personally talk to the parents herself. This would be no different. She smiled at Quinn, trying for some levity. "You look really good in that dress, Ryan couldn't keep his eyes off you."

She smiled when Quinn's eyes lit up. "You think so?"

"Of course," Shelby said. "He was staring at you for most of the ceremony." She'd been torn between amusement and rolling her eyes at the laser focus Ryan had on his girlfriend.

"I should be getting back to him," Quinn decided, before pausing. "Thanks."

Shelby just nodded. "Go on."

Quinn made her way out of the restrooms, immediately spotting Ryan when she reentered the reception. Shelby was right; Quinn didn't miss the way Ryan's face lit up when he saw her. "Hey, Quinn, the band just started up," he said with a smile. "May I have this dance?"

She laughed at him. "Of course." She took his arm, and Ryan led them out to the dance floor, putting his arms around her as they moved to the music.

"You took a while in the bathroom," he commented.

"Yeah," Quinn nodded. "Your mom was in there, and we had a little chat."

"Oh," Ryan nodded. He probably didn't need to know what they had talked about. He gave her a mischievous smile. "I thought you were just doing Number 2."

Quinn's mouth fell open and she hit him on the arm. "Jerk."

"Okay, okay, sorry," Ryan said, laughing and pulling her closer. Quinn sighed contentedly at the contact, relaxing against him. She'd never really been into partner dancing before but doing this with Ryan felt really…safe. The song ended, and she disengaged from Ryan's hold with some reluctance. She saw him looking thoughtfully at the wedding band. It was a four-piece instrumental jazz band, and they sounded pretty good to her. "What? Something wrong with the music?"

"Hmm? Oh, no," Ryan said, before a smile broke out onto his face. He grabbed her hand. "Come on."

"What?" Quinn let him pull her towards the area where the band was set up.

"Hello," Ryan said with a smile to the pianist, who seemed to be the band's leader. "I couldn't help but notice you don't seem to have a vocalist."

"Yeah, he's out with the flu," the man nodded. "Thought we were gonna lose the gig, but the bride said it was cool."

Ryan's smile grew. "Well then, I'd like to offer my services for a few numbers." Quinn glanced at him in surprise before smiling in amusement. Her boyfriend never would miss an opportunity to perform.

The pianist looked him over skeptically. "You sure you can sing, kid?"

"Of course I can."

After a few moments, the pianist shrugged. "Whatever. But you better not make us look bad, kid. If the bride gets upset we'll be very unhappy, capisce?"

Ryan smiled confidently. "Oh, she'll be perfectly happy."

..

_A few minutes ago_

"Hey." She turned around when James tapped her on the shoulder as she came out of the restrooms. "You seem pretty deep in thought there," he said jokingly.

"Yeah, just thinking."

"Want to dance?" James asked, holding his hand out. Shelby smiled.

"Why not." She took his hand and allowed him to lead them out to the dance floor, where other couples were starting to congregate. The wedding band had struck up a medium-tempo piece, and they swayed along to the music.

"So, what were you thinking about?"

"Just a little nostalgia. Weddings make me feel old sometimes," Shelby said, laughing slightly at herself.

"I know what you mean. Especially when one of the newlyweds was an angsty preteen last time I saw him," James chuckled. "But hey, we're not old. We're not even forty yet. We're just starting out in the happy realm of middle age."

"Right," Shelby laughed at him.

He nodded at the two teenagers. "They're cute together."

"Yes, they do make a nice couple, don't they?" Shelby agreed.

"Think they'll go the distance?"

Shelby smiled thoughtfully. "You know, they just might. They've got a lot of stuff to sort through, I think, but they're good together." She laughed slightly. "Look at us, speculating on our kid's love life."

"Too pathetic?" James joked.

"Just a bit." She smiled. "They're kind of like us. I think they were friends before they started dating. And I'm pretty sure she didn't like him at first."

"You liked me at first, didn't you?"

"You keep thinking that," Shelby said sarcastically.

They finished the song, and sat out the next one to have a few drinks. To Shelby's surprise, a familiar voice started accompanying the four-piece band in their rendition of _Girl from Ipanema_. Her head swiveled around to see Ryan holding a microphone and singing along with the band. James looked in the same direction, and his smile widened when he saw that it was their son who was singing.

"Wow, he _is_ good," he commented.

"Yes he is," Shelby nodded with a wry smile. This was what happened when her kid got bored. A few seconds later her parents showed up as the song changed.

"Shelby, that kid of yours is really something," Tom commented with a smile.

"Oh, I know."

"He's great," Sarah enthused. "Paige is over the moon, apparently the vocalist came down with the flu yesterday, but she couldn't find a replacement on such short notice so she just stuck with these guys."

James chuckled. "Well, it's good. Gives him something to do, I've noticed there aren't a lot of people here his age other than Quinn. Besides that obnoxious twenty-year-old over near the minibar."

"Cousin Sharlene," Shelby and Sarah said together.

"I take it she's notorious."

"You know how all the family weirdos come out of the woodwork at weddings?" Shelby said. "Weddings are the only times we see her, and every single time she ends up annoying the hell out of everybody." The conversation was broken off by the sound of applause as Ryan ended the song. Shelby and James watched proudly as the teenager bowed, and the band started up a new song.

..

Quinn clapped for her boyfriend along with the rest of the people in the room as the song came to an end. "How was that?" she heard Ryan asking the band leader.

"Kid, you can keep singing all afternoon if you keep it like that."

Quinn came over to Ryan, smiling back. "That was perfect, Ry," she complimented, giving him a kiss. She loved his voice, and he looked so handsome up there in that suit. "And by the look of your aunt over there, she's more than happy."

Ryan smiled, preening at the praise. The band struck up a new song, and his face lit up as he recognized it. He grabbed Quinn's hand, pulling her over to the mic stand. "You have to sing this with me," he said enthusiastically, as the intro to _L-O-V-E_ started playing. Quinn looked around self-consciously.

"Ryan, you know I'm nowhere near as good as you –"

"Your voice is beautiful, Quinn," Ryan said firmly. "Mr. Schue's insane not to give you more solos. You can do this."

Quinn looked at his dubiously before softening at the earnest expression on his face. "Okay." Ryan smiled as he bowed slightly, letting her lead. Quinn smiled at him, shaking her head as she sang the first verse.

_L is for the way you look at me_

_O is for the only one I see  
_

_V is very, very extraordinary  
_

_E is even more than anyone that you adore_

Ryan smiled at his girlfriend happily as he harmonized with her on the chorus. He loved her voice, it was low, smoky, sultry, and dare he think it downright sexy to his ears.

_Love is all that I can give to you  
_

_Love is more than just a game for two  
_

_Two in love can make it  
_

_Take my heart and please don't break it  
_

_Love was made for me and you_

He took over the next verse, dancing a bit to the music. He smiled when Quinn giggled at him, before nodding at her to rejoin him in singing.

_Love is all that I can give to you  
_

_Love is more than just a game for two  
_

_Two in love can make it  
_

_Take my heart and please don't break it  
_

_Love was made for me and you_

Applause was heard all over the room as the song ended, and Ryan grinned at Quinn. She gave him her own wide smile. This song was perfect for them, it was fun, catchy, and altogether lighthearted. She saw his aunt and uncle coming over to the makeshift stage.

"Guys, that was absolutely perfect," Paige gushed, smiling at the two of them. "Thank you."

"I don't suppose you could keep doing that for the rest of the time," Josh said hopefully.

Ryan beamed happily. "I could do this forever," he said confidently. "Any requests?"

Josh leaned in to whisper in his ear, and Ryan nodded. "I can do that." Paige looked at the two boys questioningly, but didn't get an answer. Just then Shelby, James, Sarah, and Tom came over.

"That was beautiful," Sarah said, smiling at the two teenagers. Ryan puffed up in pride, while Quinn just blushed. She wasn't too used to having people compliment her singing, she usually stayed in the background in glee.

"Yeah," James agreed. "Right on par with Nat King Cole."

Josh intervened. "Okay, everyone, let's go, the wedding singer needs space." He winked at Ryan, who nodded and turned to the band. Quinn touched his arm, signaling that she was going to sit this one out. She followed Shelby and James back to their table and sat down.

"Hello everyone," Ryan said through the microphone. "I've got a special request from the groom himself, and according to him, this was the first song he and the bride danced to four years ago. So, if everyone could clear a space, let's get started." He nodded at the pianist, who started playing _Someone to Watch Over Me_.

_There's a saying old says that love is blind_

_Still were often told, seek and ye shall find_

_So I'm going to seek a certain lad I've had in mind_

_Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet_

_Although he may not be the man some_

_Girls think of as handsome_

_To my heart he carries the key_

_Won't you tell him please to put on some speed_

_Follow my lead, oh, how I need_

_Someone to watch over me_

The song ended, and at the end of the applause someone started clinking a glass, prompting the newlyweds to kiss. Josh dipped his bride dramatically before acceding.

The reception went on, and Ryan kept singing, occasionally with Quinn, taking requests from the guests. After several more dances, Sarah and Tom were content to sit down and listen to the music, with James and Shelby joining them a little later. A few songs later, the master of ceremonies announced the mother-son dance, and Josh showed up, whisking Sarah off onto the dance floor as Shelby watched.

Suddenly Ryan appeared out of nowhere. "May I have this dance?" He quirked a smile at her, holding out his hand.

Shelby smiled back. "Of course." She took his hand, and he led her out to the dance floor. The music started, and he started to lead them around the floor. "You're pretty good at this," Shelby commented as he spun them around effortlessly.

"Thank you. Must be all the classic musicals I watched when I was a kid," he answered as Shelby started to relax into the music. "You know, this is my first time dancing in the mother-son dance at a wedding. I guess that's kind of obvious." He gave her a lopsided smile.

"This is my first time, too," Shelby said, smiling as it hit her. "And I'm glad I have a very competent partner who isn't stepping all over me." She had to look up at Ryan now. The first time they had met he'd been a little shorter than her if she wore heels. Now she had to look up, even with her three-inch heels. _When had that happened? _She sighed, leaning into him slightly. Time was going so fast.

The song soon came to an end, and Ryan brought them to the edge of the dance area. She smiled at him. "Thank you." She straightened his jacket slightly, not that it was crooked, before stepping back to look him over. No matter how much she looked at him, she never got tired of it, never tired of marveling over how this person had come from her.

"What?" Ryan cocked his head slightly.

"Oh, it's nothing," Shelby said fondly, turning around as Tom tapped her on the shoulder. "Hi Daddy."

"Might I have a turn with my beautiful daughter?" he asked charmingly, smiling at her.

"No need to ask," Shelby assured him, putting her hand in his, letting him lead them out. They started dancing to the slow music.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Dad," Shelby said with a small smile. "Having James back is…nice. And things with Ryan are going as smoothly as it can." She looked over to where her son was dancing with his grandmother. "You know, it feels like my life's the best it's been in a long time."

Tom smiled lovingly at his daughter. She'd never stop being his little girl. He knew she hadn't been happy for the longest time, and he was so happy that her life was turning around. "That's wonderful, honey. You know I like James, and I'm glad he makes you happy." They were quiet for a second. "But you know if he hurts you or Ryan, we will be having words."

Shelby rolled her eyes at her father's protectiveness. "I'll be sure to let him know." She smiled at him affectionately. "Love you, Dad."

"I love you too."

..

A little while later, the reception had wrapped up, and the newlyweds had gone off on their honeymoon. Ryan exited the restrooms, and quickly found Quinn sitting on a bench just outside the hotel. "Where is everyone?"

"Just some last minute details with the hotel," she answered.

"How come you're out here?"

"Just thought I'd get some fresh air," Quinn said, smiling as he sat down beside her. "I had a very nice time."

Ryan smiled at her, happy that she hadn't been bored out of her mind. "I'm glad you came with me," he said sincerely, giving her a quick peck. He felt her shiver slightly. "Cold?"

"It's Ohio in late September, of course it's cold," she said dryly. Ryan thought for a minute, before taking off his suit jacket and putting it around his girlfriend. Quinn raised an eyebrow. "You know that's incredibly cheesy, right?"

"I know," Ryan answered, as she slipped her arms into the jacket, smiling at the warmth. He wrapped an arm around her. "But what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't do something that could ease your discomfort? Not a very good one."

"I guess not," Quinn agreed. She turned her head, kissing him on the lips. Ryan smiled, fully enjoying himself as he turned to give himself a better angle. Just as they were getting into it, they heard someone clearing their throat. Ryan groaned as he broke away from Quinn.

"As happy as I am to see you having fun," James said with a smirk, "it would probably be a good idea to stop, since everyone's going to be out in a minute."

Quinn blushed slightly, while Ryan just sighed. "Okay." Sure enough, Shelby and her parents came out of the hotel a few seconds later.

"It was a very nice wedding, Mom," Shelby said, as they walked out of the hotel to find James standing over Ryan and Quinn, who were sitting on a bench. She noticed that Quinn had somehow ended up wearing Ryan's suit jacket.

"Thank you. After all that planning, it should be!"

"We should be getting home," Tom said. "Almost two hours back to Akron, and I'm beat."

"Why don't you come over tomorrow?" Shelby suggested. "We can have lunch at my place."

Sarah brightened. "That would be perfect. I'll bring the food."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "For the last time, I know how to cook!" Sarah just made shushing motions at her, and the two teenager stifled their laughs. "Ryan, Quinn, tell her I can cook."

"She's right, Mrs. Corcoran," Quinn agreed. "She cooks really well, I've had lunch over there a few times already. I was surprised that she cooked too." Shelby gave her a halfhearted glare.

Ryan sprung to his mom's defense. "She cooks wonderfully, Grams. Although I don't know if she does it better than you," he added thoughtfully.

Shelby sighed. She wasn't going to win here. "Whatever. Fine, bring lunch. We'll see you tomorrow."

After an hour of driving they were back in Lima, approaching Quinn's house. Shelby pulled up to the Fabray household and turned in her seat, only to smile at the sight of the two teenagers were sitting in the back seat, fast asleep with Quinn leaning on the car door and Ryan leaning on Quinn. James reached back and shook Ryan's arm. "Ryan? Wake up."

Ryan blinked groggily. "What?"

"We're at Quinn's house, wake her up."

"Oh. Okay." Ryan turned to his girlfriend. "Quinn? Hey." He gently rubbed her arm. "We're home."

The blonde moaned in her sleep before finally opening her eyes. What happened? She'd been pretty comfortable, considering she'd been sleeping in a car. "What?"

"We're at your house."

Quinn looked around. "Right." She tried to move. "Want to get off me?"

Ryan looked down at their position and hastily moved back. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Thanks for bringing me along, Shelby."

"It was a pleasure having you, Quinn." Shelby smiled at the teenager, who smiled back.

"Bye, Mr. Walker."

"See you around, Quinn."

Quinn's door opened before she could pull on the handle, and to her surprise, Ryan was outside. She smiled, figuring out that he must have gotten out of the car to pull her door open while she was talking to his parents. She could totally get used to this, her boyfriend was a complete gentleman. The other boys at McKinley were just chauvinistic pigs. Ryan helped her out of the car and walked her to the door. "Goodnight," he said with a charming smile.

"Night." Quinn stepped close and gave him a long, sweet kiss. Ryan broke it off sooner than either of them wanted.

"I should probably go before my mom starts honking the horn," he said wryly.

Quinn chuckled, totally believing that Shelby would do that. "Okay." She watched as he walked back to the car and got inside, before entering her house.

* * *

"Ryan, I need you to stay here, your grandparents are coming in about an hour and I need to go buy some stuff," Shelby instructed her son the next morning as she scrambled around organizing the living room while Ryan sat on the couch texting with Quinn.

"Okay…"

"And your dad's coming over later too."

"Got it. Hey!" he complained as Shelby smacked him lightly with a pillow. "What?"

"How about you get moving and help me tidy up the house?"

Ryan let out a longsuffering sigh. "Fine. For the record though, I think the house is tidy enough, we don't need to go to Miss Pillsbury's level of tidiness. Did you know she measures out the object placement on her desk?"

Shelby left a few minutes later, just missing the arrival of the red coupe that drove up a little while later. Quinn got out and knocked on the door, which was immediately opened by Ryan. "Hey."

"Oh, hi!" Ryan smiled, giving Quinn a quick kiss. "Come on in." His mom wasn't home, but his grandparents were coming in a while so he figured he wasn't exactly breaking the rules… "Help me fix up the living room."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I came over here," she said as she followed her boyfriend into the living room.

Ryan pulled Quinn close, wrapping his arms around her waist. His lips curved into a mischievous smile. "Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint…" He dipped down to give her a long kiss, only to have her pull away.

"Actually, I came to bring this back," Quinn said a bit breathlessly. She held out his suit jacket from the night before. "I forgot I was wearing it last night," she said sheepishly.

"I forgot about it too," Ryan admitted, taking the piece of clothing. "Thanks." He smiled at her before pulling her close again, dropping the jacket onto a nearby armchair. "But since you're here already…" He caught her mouth in another kiss, running his tongue along her lower lip. This time Quinn leaned into the kiss, quickly taking control, and suddenly they were on the coach with Quinn on top of him and Ryan felt like he was literally on fire.

He moaned as her tongue entered his mouth, desire running through him as their bodies pressed closer together. He threaded his fingers through her golden hair, pulling her even closer. They broke apart a second later, gasping for oxygen, and Ryan felt himself burning even hotter as he met her eyes, her pupils completely blown. He crashed their lips together again, before breaking the kiss and peppering kisses down her jaw and toward her neck. He was rewarded with a gratifying moan from Quinn. Then she ground down onto him and his mind blanked for one almost frightening moment at the pleasure, which only grew when the blonde slipped a hand into his shirt.

"You know," Quinn panted out. "I'm sort of disappointed we're not going ahead with Rocky Horror in full costumes."

"Why's that?" Ryan asked, equally as breathless.

Quinn's mouth curved into a mischievous smile. "I was looking forward to seeing what you're hiding under those animal sweaters of yours."

Ryan suddenly couldn't think over the sudden wave of lust that came over him. She was going to kill him if she kept doing this. He wanted her so bad. "Well, maybe –"

Suddenly they heard a knock on the door. Oh god, Ryan groaned internally, resting his head on Quinn's shoulder for a moment before pulling himself away. What was it with the interruptions? He got up unsteadily to answer the door, taking a minute to compose himself. He found his grandmother on the front porch. "Hi Grams."

"Hi Sweetie," Sarah gave him a hug. If she noticed his breathlessness or the slightly glazed look in his eyes she didn't comment.

"Uh, where's Grandpa?"

Sarah pointed toward the car parked on the curb. "He's getting the food out of the car. Could you go give him a hand?"

"Sure." Okay, he could do that. He ran a hand over his face, trying to get his hormones into check, then went out to join his grandfather in hauling what looked like a week's worth of food into the house. "Hi Grandpa."

"Hey kid." Tom ruffled the teenager's hair before handing him a bag of groceries. "You okay? You're looking a little flushed."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Are we expecting more people, or what?" Ryan asked, trying to change the subject as he peered into the car.

"Oh, that's your grandmother for you. It's like she's expecting a small army to come have lunch with us. On the plus side, you'll have food for the next week." The two of them made their way into the kitchen, where they found Sarah and Quinn. Ryan didn't notice the knowing glance exchanged between the adults.

"Ryan, where's your mom?" Sarah asked.

"She said she had to go get something," Ryan shrugged. "She didn't say what."

"Hello, Quinn," Tom smiled at Quinn as he put down the bag he was carrying.

"Hi, Mr. Corcoran," Quinn answered, smiling back, before turning to her boyfriend. "Ryan, I should probably get going."

"Why don't you stay for lunch?" Sarah asked. "If you don't have any plans, that is."

"Yeah, it's not like we're about to run out of food anytime soon," Tom said wryly, earning a soft smack on the arm from his wife.

"Oh, I can't," Quinn said apologetically. "My mom's expecting me for lunch." And she desperately needed a cold shower. And a new pair of panties.

"I see. Well, I'm sure my daughter will back me up in saying you're welcome over here anytime."

They all heard the front door open and close, and Shelby walked in a few seconds later. "Oh, you're here," she said. She looked around her kitchen. "Okay, I don't know who you're expecting, but I only invited James, not the entire street. Hi Quinn."

"Shush," Sarah scolded. "Speaking of your boyfriend, where is he?" She noted with interest that Shelby wasn't denying that James was her boyfriend anymore. Looks like she was going to have a chat with her daughter later. It looked like there was a _lot _going on in this house.

They heard another knock on the door. "That must be him," Ryan said. "I'll get it."

"I'll go with you," Quinn volunteered. "I should go anyways."

The two of them went to open the door. "Hi Dad," Ryan greeted, finding James standing on the porch.

"Hi Ryan. And Quinn."

"Hello Mr. Walker. Nice to see you again." Quinn smiled at the older man. "But I really should be going. See you at school, Ry." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before going to her car and driving off.

"Your grandparents here yet?" James asked Ryan as they stepped into the house.

Ryan nodded. "They're in the kitchen with Mom." The two of them went into the kitchen.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Corcoran," James greeted, smiling at the couple who had been almost like parents to him during his high school years. They hadn't really gotten to talk much at the wedding yesterday.

"James," Tom said pleasantly, holding out his hand. "Nice to see you again."

"You too," James smiled as he shook Tom's hand. Sarah came over to give him a quick hug.

"None of that," she said sternly. "It's Tom and Sarah, like back when you were 17."

James smiled sheepishly. "Right." Shelby smiled as he went to stand next to her. He put his arm around her.

"I can't believe I forgot to ask this, but do they know about us?" he asked her quietly. A shake of her head was his answer. "Okay, then."

Sarah watched the two of them amusedly. Oh, they were _so_ back together. It was obvious. They'd never been subtle, even when they were kids. And she'd seen them shooting gooey eyes at each other throughout the reception yesterday. "So James, what have you been up to lately?" Sarah asked, motioning everyone to sit down.

"I've stayed with the army," James answered. "I was stationed in Pennsylvania for the last few months. Before that I was here and there for a little while, and Afghanistan before that."

"Exciting," Sarah commented. She smiled at him. "I guess you really did get to see the world, didn't you?"

James smiled as well. "Yeah. It's been great. I think Italy's my favorite, though, there's so much history in the cities, and there's so much to see."

"Are you here permanently already? Or is this just a visit?" Tom asked.

"I just moved into my new apartment in Lima last weekend, and my job at Lima Memorial starts next week."

"That's wonderful," Sarah smiled. "At least we'll be getting to see a little more of you. We've missed you, dear, you're like the other kid we never managed to have." Tom nodded in agreement.

James smiled, touched at the sentiment. "Thanks."

..

After lunch, the three guys went outside. "What are we doing, is there more food in the car?" Ryan asked. Honestly he wouldn't be surprised if there was.

Tom chuckled. "No. I actually brought you something."

"What?" Ryan peered into Tom and Sarah's car. He'd helped unload the food from the backseat earlier and hadn't seen anything else.

His grandfather just smiled and opened the trunk. "James, give me a hand with this." James went over, and a smile appeared on his face as well as he helped Tom pull out a backboard with a basketball hoop attached. "I thought you could use one of your own," Tom explained. "I thought you could put it up above the garage. The driveway's just about the right space."

Ryan grinned. "That's so cool! Thanks! Mom's got a ladder in the back, I'll go get it." He went around to the back of the house, quickly returning with said ladder. "Tools are in the garage." Tom smiled broadly at the teenager's enthusiasm.

"I didn't know he played," James commented. Tom glanced at him.

"Yeah, we started playing when he was at our place a few weeks ago," Tom explained. "He says he hadn't really played before, but he's actually pretty good."

"Got that from you, then," James grinned. He had plenty of memories of shooting hoops with Tom and Josh back when he was in high school.

Tom smiled proudly. "That he did." Ryan soon emerged with his toolkit, and the hoop was quickly mounted just above the garage door, which luckily proved to be exactly the right height. Tom went back to the car and pulled out a ball, tossing it at Ryan who quickly shot it cleanly into the hoop.

"Nice three-pointer," James said, impressed. He caught the ball as it rebounded, before dribbling twice and taking his own shot. The ball circled the rim twice before going in.

"What are you guys doing?" Shelby asked, as she and her mom came out of the house just as Tom caught the ball. She eyed the new attachment on her garage. "I don't suppose you thought to ask me first," she said dryly.

"You're not mad, are you?" Ryan asked, semi-anxiously.

Shelby smiled at him. "No, of course not. It's fine. Just ask next time you hammer something into the house, yes?"

"Technically we screwed it in…"

James and Tom snickered as Shelby rolled her eyes. "Did you decide if you're trying out for the basketball team yet?" Tom asked Ryan. He shook his head.

"No, not yet. But I think tryouts should be soon. Maybe next week. We'll see."

"Don't worry, no pressure," Tom assured him, passing him the ball. Ryan took another shot, and the ball bounced off the backboard and into the ring. Tom smiled. "Shame to waste that talent though."

A few minutes later Sarah managed to get Shelby alone in the kitchen while the boys were playing. "So, what happened?" she asked her daughter expectantly. "When did you two get back together?"

Shelby stared at her mother. "Are you God or something? Do you have cameras on me?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I have eyes everywhere, you should know this by know," she said patiently. "You're a little bit obvious."

"Am not!"

"Oh please, Shelby."

"Fine," Shelby said with a sigh. "We went out for dinner last time he was here, and we talked. About a lot of things. And we went out on a date Friday night."

Sarah nodded. "Good."

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Good? That's it?"

"Yes, that's it. I'm glad you've gotten your heads out of your asses and figured out that you still like each other. I hope it works out for both of you."

"Thanks."

"Oh, and Shelby, you may want to keep an eye on your son and his girlfriend. I would hate for you to walk in on them doing something inappropriate. Believe me, seeing your kid getting it on with someone is not an image you want seared into your brain." Sarah patted her daughter on the cheek before walking past her out of the kitchen.

"Wait, what?"

* * *

**Hey everyone, here's another chapter! This one's a bit of a filler, but it was fun to write. I thought I'd include Shelby and James' date as a bonus, I wasn't initially going to put that in. **

**Anyways, thanks for the comments last time, I'm glad my writing isn't dragging, and I was sort of surprised (but gratified) that you wanted them longer. I'll see what I can do. I'm happy you liked the way I'm going with Quinn's personal storyline to explain crazy canon Quinn. I have thought about going into other characters' POVs but I haven't gotten around to it. I might in the near future. Also, if you've got thoughts about it, do you guys want Ryan on the basketball team? I could go with or without it, although it would be interesting to write. **

**So that's it for now, leave reviews, I love hearing what you guys think.**


	41. Chapter 40

The next day, the bell rang, signifying the end of third period, and Ryan and Quinn's English class. They stood up to leave and were at the door when Shelby called out, "Quinn, can I talk to you for a second, please?"

Ryan looked between his mom and his girlfriend inquisitively. Quinn gave him a small smile. "You go ahead, I'm sure this'll be quick." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before gently pushing him out of the classroom.

"You haven't told him?" Shelby asked, getting up to erase the blackboard.

"Not yet." Quinn didn't want him to know about this yet. "After. I'll tell him after."

Shelby nodded. "Are you okay? How are you today?"

Quinn just shrugged. "I've been worse."

"But you've also been better?" Shelby asked her knowingly. The teenager shrugged again. "I spoke to Miss Pillsbury, and she gave me the name of a good psychiatrist at Lima Memorial. I've called her, and she has an opening on Wednesday after class, if that's okay with you."

"Okay. I guess Wednesday is okay," Quinn said, fidgeting with the books she was holding.

"Good. Come to my office after class, I'll drive us there."

"Thanks." Quinn turned around and left the classroom, immediately going to her locker. She still wasn't sure what to feel about this trip to the doctor. Part of her kept telling her she was fine, that she didn't need any help. She could handle this by herself. But there was another part of her that was crying out for help, needed someone who could make her feel better, feel good about herself, again.

"Hey." Quinn almost jumped as she turned around. She calmed down when she saw it was Ryan. "What did my mom want to talk to you about?" he asked curiously.

Quinn just shook her head. "Oh, nothing important. I'll tell you later, we need to get to class."

..

That afternoon, Mr. Schue came into glee, late once again. "Okay, everyone, settle down. First, let's welcome back Noah Puckerman," He gestured at the mohawked boy, and everyone cheered. "Puck, I hope your time in juvie has taught you a lesson or two about right and wrong?"

"Are you kidding me? I ruled that place. All I did was crack skulls and lift weights all day."

"Oh wow, what a catch I can't believe I ever let you go," Quinn said sarcastically, making Ryan roll his eyes.

"And now," Mr. Schue cut in. "Drum roll, Finn… I have in my hand our competition for Sectionals next month. First, the acapella choir from the all-boys private school in Westerville, the Dalton Academy Warblers."

Santana held up a hand with a smirk. "Okay hold up. Like a million awesome gay jokes just popped into my head."

"And the other team to beat," Mr. Schue continued, "The Hipsters, a first year club from the Warren Township continuing education program. Now they are a glee club composed entirely of elderly people getting their GEDs."

Ryan raised a hand in confusion. "Is that legal?"

"How are we supposed to compete against a bunch of adorable old people?" Mercedes asked.

Puck smirked. "Are you kidding? Brittle bones; give one of those old ladies a good luck pat on the rear, shatter her pelvis."

"Moving on," Mr. Schue continued. "Since it seemed to get you guys jazzed about Sectionals last year I want to make this week our second annual boys-vs-girls tournament. So, split up into two groups and figure out what songs you're gonna sing."

Ryan's brain immediately went into overdrive, thinking up songs they could mash together. He noticed Kurt go over to the girls' side before Mr. Schue told him to join the boys' group. Kurt complied with a hard look on his face and hardly talked the rest of the meeting. Ryan had noticed he seemed to betting moodier and moodier lately. In correlation, Karofsky had been getting worse, too. He'd always picked on Kurt especially for being gay, and on Ryan for being the only kid who had gay fathers.

He shook his head quickly before getting back into performance mode. He could worry about that later. The performance always came first, and he focused back on the song selection for the competition. "Okay, guys, I've got a few mash-up ideas we could do, just like last year. I think we did really well with _It's My Life_ and _Confessions_ last year, so I think we should go with rock again, since it suits most of our voices." Well, Kurt's voice didn't particularly suit the rock genre, but they could work around it.

"Maybe we could do something with AC/DC," Sam suggested eagerly. "Something with one of those wicked guitar solos."

"Yeah," Finn agreed. "That would be really cool."

Ryan quickly wrote down some of the top AC/DC songs and began figuring out how to mix them together. "Hey, Kurt, do you have any ideas?" he asked, trying to get the other boy involved.

"No, not really," Kurt said disinterestedly. Ryan sighed. Well, if he didn't want to join, nothing he could do about it.

* * *

The next day, Sam Evans pulled up to Hummel's Tires and Lube shop after school in his dad's Chevvy pickup. They'd been having some engine trouble the past week, and his dad had finally decided to have it looked at. Since he had work, he'd asked Sam to look around for a garage. The family was still new in town, and they didn't know where everything was. Fortunately, Finn had told him today in the locker rooms that Kurt's dad owned a tire shop, and had given him directions. So here he was, with a car that was making weird rattling and gurgling noises, looking around awkwardly.

"Hey, Sam!" He spun around in confusion when he heard his name, before grinning when he saw a familiar face.

"Oh, hey, Ryan, what are you doing here?" He walked over to Ryan, who was working on a tire change.

The dark-haired boy grinned at him. "I work here. Part-time, obviously, and I haven't been here in a couple of weeks, but I've been working here for a while now." He gave another tug on the wrench. "I'll be right with you, unless you want to go get Mr. Hummel from the office."

"Nah, it's fine, I can wait," Sam said, smiling. He thought the other boy was pretty nice. He knew Ryan wasn't exactly popular at school, but he'd been nothing but nice to Sam since Sam had started at McKinley. Sam felt a twinge of guilt when he remembered he had almost kissed Ryan's girlfriend. Thank god Quinn had stopped him from making a complete idiot out of himself. That would have been bad. "This place is cool, it's kind like Tony Stark's workshop," he said, looking around interestedly at all the equipment.

"Not really sure who that is, but yeah, this place is very cool."

Sam gaped at him for a moment. "Tony Stark, you know, Iron Man? The one in the movie a couple of years ago?" Ryan looked at him blankly. "Dude, we gotta get you caught up on action movies."

"Hey, I got your Star Wars reference last time, didn't I?" Ryan bantered back. "But that might be fun, I've never really had anyone to watch things with." He inspected the truck. "Is this yours?"

"It's my dad's, it's been making this noise when we start it up, and we can't figure out what's wrong. My dad's a decent mechanic, but we decided it was time to take it to a shop," Sam explained.

Ryan nodded. He started the car, hearing a knocking sound, before shutting it off and opening the hood. "I'll just take a look then, let's see if I can figure out what's wrong. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"You got any ideas for the competition yet?" Sam asked, as he watched Ryan tinker with the engine. "We need a mash-up by female artists, right?" Mr. Schue had told them this morning that he wanted the guys to perform songs traditionally done by girl groups, and vice versa. Which was sort of making things complicated. Plus Kurt wanted them to dress up in those fuzzy snake things…mambos? Or was it cobras? Oh wait, boas.

"That's right, and no, I haven't actually managed to think of anything yet," Ryan admitted, drawing back Sam's attention. "But don't worry, we can keep brainstorming. Unless you've got any ideas now?"

"No, but I've been listening to my dad's music collection, and he's got some stuff by the Supremes that sound like they'd be pretty cool." His dad had a pretty good vinyl collection.

"Hmmm," Ryan thought about it. "Yes, that might be a good idea. We'd have to think of something to mash it up with, but I'm sure we can come up with something by tomorrow."

Sam smiled, pleased. "Hey, I wanted to ask. Your mom's the English teacher, right?"

Ryan looked up at the sudden question. "Yes, why?"

"Just wanted to confirm," Sam nodded. "You guys sort of look alike, and you've got the same last names. But no one seems to talk about it."

"It's…complicated," Ryan said vaguely. "The New Directions know about us, but I don't think the rest of the school knows."

"How did that happen?"

"It's a long story, but she just started working at McKinley this year, and I just moved in with her over the summer. And my last name used to be Berry, not Corcoran. That's why most of the school hasn't really made the connection. I haven't exactly been advertising it, either."

"Oh." Sam nodded again. "She's cool. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm kinda dumb though, I'm not good at English." Miss Corcoran was pretty cool, for a teacher, but Sam could never shake the nagging feeling that his teachers were just watching and waiting for him to screw up somehow, like one of those lions on Animal Planet that were always stalking the zebras.

"I highly doubt she thinks you're dumb. She's a really good teacher," Ryan said almost proudly. He knew firsthand. "You're dyslexic, right?"

Sam looked down. "Yeah. I'm working on it."

"Have you tried asking for a special ed teacher? I think I read about those somewhere…Oh." Ryan straightened up. "I think the engine bearings are worn down. If I'm right you're going to have to get those replaced." Sam craned his head to see.

"Oh." Sam scratched his head. "You wouldn't happen to know how much that costs, do you?"

Ryan hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think we're going to have to take the engine apart to do it, that might take a while," he said slowly. "I'll ask Mr. Hummel if you'd like."

A few minutes later Mr. Hummel had come out and confirmed the diagnosis. He quoted a price, and Sam's mouth dropped open in shock. Ryan didn't seem to be too surprised. "Okay, thanks, Mr. Hummel. I'm gonna have to tell my dad," Sam said. Burt nodded.

"Tell him you should get it replaced as soon as possible, you can bring it by anytime." He returned to the back to finish up the welding job.

Sam whistled. "Wow. I didn't know repairs could go that high."

Ryan chuckled at him. "Yeah, it depends on the damage, but I've seen repairs that run up to the point that it would actually be cheaper to buy a new car. One reason it's a bit expensive though is that your truck's pretty old. The parts are harder to find."

"Oh, okay. Hey, thanks, Ryan," Sam said. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. Sam smiled before getting in the car and leaving. He had to get back home, he'd promised to take his little brother and sister to the park today.

..

A little after seven that evening, Quinn walked into Breadstix, scanning the restaurant for her boyfriend. She spotted Ryan sitting in a booth, waiting for her. She walked over, and she could see his face light up when he saw her. "Hi Quinn!" He stood up, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Then he let her sit down before he slid back into the booth.

She couldn't help her own smile, either. He just had that effect on her, even when she'd had a crappy day. She'd woken up out of sorts, she'd left her homework at home, and Sue Sylvester was extra bitchy these days since Rocky Horror fell through. She was also worried about that therapist appointment tomorrow, and her smile quickly faded.

"Hey. You okay?" Ryan put a hand on hers across the table.

Quinn nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just a bad day."

Ryan squeezed her hand sympathetically. "Cheerios? I heard Sue was being extremely unreasonable ever since she lost her chance at the local Emmy when Mr. Schue cancelled Rocky Horror. She was perfectly poised to do an expose on the corrupting influence of the arts at public schools."

"Yeah," Quinn chuckled.

"Well, hopefully dinner – and your very special dinner companion – will get your mind off of that," Ryan said with a grin, handing her a menu. Quinn smiled, shaking her head.

Soon their orders were placed, and Quinn was flipping through the menu, wondering if her waistline would get away with having dessert tonight when she noticed Ryan staring at her. "What?"

"Just admiring my amazing girlfriend," Ryan told her, smiling at her adoringly. "You're beautiful."

Quinn blushed, lips curving into a smile. Logically she knew she was considered one of the hottest girls at school, but there were days, like today, when she felt really fat. They'd been occurring more after she'd had Beth – she'd made good headway in getting the baby flab off, but she was pretty sure she'd never get her pre-pregnancy body back – and it was flattering to know that her boyfriend thought she was beautiful. And more importantly she knew he wasn't just saying it to get in her pants. It was such a confidence booster to have someone tell you that you were pretty without expecting anything in return. "Thanks. You look pretty good yourself."

Their food arrived, and they started eating. As they were finishing up, they saw Santana, Brittany, Puck, and Artie come in and sit at one of the booths. "I didn't know Britt and Artie were a thing," Ryan commented. He wasn't surprised at Puck's presence, he was known for dating anything in a skirt after all, but he didn't know Artie was interested in either Santana or Britt.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "They're not. At least not yet. It's sort of insane. Puck and Artie came into the choir room while the girls were thinking up songs for the competition. They used some kind of reverse psychology to get Britt and Santana to go with them, it was weirdly fascinating. Not to mention stupid, I think everyone's IQ dropped ten points during that conversation. I knew Britt isn't all that bright, but Santana played right into it too."

Ryan looked at her weirdly, before shaking his head. "Okay. Speaking of song choices, have you thought of anything? The guys are having a hard time thinking of songs by female artists," he admitted.

"Well, we've got something in mind," Quinn said vaguely. She'd actually gone to Shelby to ask for song suggestions, and she had helped them out. But she wasn't going to tell Ryan that.

"Kurt wanted to do a Diana Ross number with feathered boas. You can imagine how that went."

Quinn couldn't help her laugh. "Seriously?" She could just imagine Puck and Finn dancing around in feathers and heels.

"I kid you not." He looked thoughtful. "Do you think I could pull that off?"

"Uh, no offense, but _god_ no."

..

"Isn't your mom home?" Ryan questioned a little while later, as Quinn dug around in her purse for her keys, the two of them standing on the front porch of her house.

"Not tonight, she has a dinner even thing for work," Quinn explained as she unlocked the door. "Want to come in?"

Ryan checked his watch. It wasn't that late yet, Shelby wouldn't be expecting him home for another hour or so. "Sure."

Quinn smiled and led him into the living room, pulling him down onto the couch next to her. "Thank you for taking me out," she said sincerely. "I needed that."

"It was my pleasure," Ryan smiled, gazing adoringly at his girlfriend. God, she was so beautiful, he knew he would never get tired of looking at her. "I enjoyed it as well." He moved forward, giving her time to stop him if she wasn't in the mood before pressing their lips together in a tender kiss. He quickly lost himself in the feeling of her lips moving against his, and seconds later, the kiss started to change from sweet and tender to hot, deep, and passionate, becoming more and more intense before they had to break apart for lack of oxygen. The pair of them stared at each other for a moment, and Ryan's breath caught at the sight of his girlfriend, pale cheeks completely flushed, eyes dark, chest heaving as she tried to catch her own breath.

This time Quinn made the first move, and Ryan groaned as he felt her tongue swiping into his mouth, one of her hands cupping the back of his neck as the other roamed slowly over his chest. Their lips moved together in a heated frenzy, his hand tangling itself into her silky hair. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, and his eyes fluttered for a moment when he felt her moan into his mouth, sending an electric heat pulsing all over his body.

He pulled back from the kiss, as he breathlessly tried to remember how to talk. "I – you – isn't your mom going to be home soon?" The last thing he wanted was for Mrs. Fabray to walk in on the two of them on the living room couch.

Quinn shook her head, giving him a sultry smile, stroking a hand up and down his abs. "She said she'd be home late." She pressed a light kiss on his lips. "Relax."

"Okay," Ryan smiled, capturing her lips with his again, one hand settling on her hip while he braced himself against the couch with the other. To his surprise, he felt Quinn take his hand, slowly pushing it up into her shirt. He hesitated. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she breathed out. "I need you." She crashed their lips together again, sucking gently on his lower lip. Ryan closed his eyes at the sensation, his hand instinctively tracing out a pattern on the blonde's stomach. He was in awe at how warm she was under his hand, how he could feel her muscles twitch as he skated over the flat plane of her stomach. He heard her moan breathily as he moved his lips to her jaw, stroking lightly at the skin under her top.

"Is this okay?"

"God, yes." Quinn pulled his lips back to hers, their tongues dancing together as their hands roamed all over each other. Ryan could feel his pulse thundering in his ears, and he pulled back, trying to get his body under control, but Quinn simply moved her lips to his neck, sucking gently at his pulse point, and he could literally feel all his blood rushing out of his head. Quinn kissed a trail up his neck, stopping to kiss at a sensitive patch of skin just under his ear exactly as she brushed hand lightly over his lap, and he almost lost it.

He was going out of his mind, he wanted – needed her – so badly, his whole body was running hot, he was so incredibly aroused. He was completely hard, almost painfully so, and if they didn't stop soon he wasn't sure he was going to be able to. He knew they needed to stop soon, but he couldn't.

Finally, he manage to wrench himself away from her, gasping at the sudden loss of her warmth against his skin. Quinn looked at him, pupils completely blown, chest heaving as she blinked in surprise. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing's wrong," Ryan got out. "I just –" He stopped, embarrassed to say that he needed to stop, otherwise he was going to make a mess. "I think we need to cool down. Otherwise I'm not sure I'll be able to stop myself later."

Quinn nodded, blowing out a breath. "You're right."

Ryan leaned his head back on the sofa as he waited for his pulse to return to normal. "That was…"

"Incredible," Quinn finished with a smile.

"Yeah." Ryan smiled as well, relieved that she thought so too. He hadn't had any experience with this sort of thing, and if her were honest with himself he was a little insecure about how he would measure up to the other guys Quinn had been with. He knew it was sort of stupid, but still. It was a bit of an ego boost to know that Quinn had enjoyed what had just happened. He checked his watch a minute later. "I should go, I have to be home by ten."

..

Quinn went up to her room a few minutes after Ryan left. She needed one seriously cold shower after that. She'd never felt that aroused with anyone else before, never with Finn and certainly not with Puck, even if she had been high on alcohol that night. She shivered happily, thinking about what had just happened. Ryan was right, stopping had been the right call, and she was glad he'd stopped them. Because she wasn't sure she would have been able to.

And that was just what he loved about him. She knew he wasn't going to push her into anything she wasn't comfortable with. She trusted him. She smiled softly, tracing a finger over her lips.

After her shower, she heard her mom coming into the house. She sighed, knowing she should probably talk to her. But no, not now. She heard her phone chime with a new message. She picked it up.

_Sweet dreams xox – Ryan_

Quinn smiled.

_You too xox - Quinn_

* * *

_The next day_

Shelby flipped idly through a magazine as she sat in the waiting room of the psychiatry floor at Lima Memorial Hospital after classes the next afternoon. She had set an appointment for Quinn with Dr. Kyra Maddox, the psychiatrist Emma had recommended. Shelby had been sitting there for an hour when Quinn finally came out of the doctor's room. She looked up expectantly at the blonde.

"She, uh, she thinks I might have mild postpartum depression," Quinn informed her quietly. "She says it's different from person to person, and she doesn't think I need any medication right now, but she's advising me to get counseling. She gave me a list of therapists I could check out." She sat down next to Shelby.

"Then you should do that." Shelby looked at her for a moment. "Come on, we should get back to school." They got onto the elevator, getting off in the hospital lobby, both women silent all the way to Shelby's car. "Talk to your mom yet?"

Quinn shook her head. "No."

"You should talk to her soon. Especially if you're going to be doing the counseling sessions. She can help with finding someone you're comfortable with."

"How did you arrange this appointment anyway?" Quinn asked, glancing at Shelby curiously. "You're not my mom."

"No, but I'm your teacher. It gives me some leeway, and Miss Pillsbury helped."

"Oh."

"Did Dr. Maddox say anything else?" Shelby prodded.

"Just that I need to take care of myself. And I need a good support system." Quinn let out a sharp laugh. "Fat chance. I've got a mom who works all the time and a dad who pretty much disowned me. My sister's halfway across the country, not that it matters, and I messed things up with my best friends by being a selfish bitch," she said in a sudden burst of self-loathing.

"I'm sure that's not true, you've got a lot of people who are concerned for you. You've got Ryan, he really cares about you. You've got the rest of the glee club, and Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury. And you've got me too, if you ever need anyone to talk to. You know I understand how you feel. And I'm sure your mom will help if you talk to her."

"Yeah."

"And I'm sure you could patch things up with Santana if you tried."

"Have you met Santana?" Quinn took a deep breath. "Can we go now? I don't really feel like talking right now."

"Yes we can." Shelby started the car, driving back to McKinley High. "Just don't feel like you're alone, okay? You're not."

..

Quinn quickly left the car with a hurried thanks as soon as Shelby turned the engine to the Range Rover off. She made her way to the choir room and sat down in the nearest vacant seat, which was next to Mercedes. She saw Ryan trying to catch her eye, but she really didn't want to talk right now.

"Well, I hope you're happy," Mr. Schue was saying angrily. "Because Coach Beiste has quit."

"Wait, what?" Finn asked, confused. Over half the club was. "That's terrible."

"Yeah, that's not what we want," Sam said.

"That's the opposite of what we want," Artie spoke up. "The football team was actually winning."

"Well then, you'd better put your heads together and figure out a way to get her back, because I'm really ashamed of you right now," Mr. Schue lectured. "You really hurt someone who was a great addition to this school."

"Okay, wait. What exactly did we do?" Ryan inquired. Quinn was wondering that herself. She didn't remember any drama happening this week. Of course, that might have been because she was too wrapped up in her own issues right now to take notice.

Finn fidgeted. "We sort of figured out that picturing Coach Beiste in her underwear was better than a cold shower." Quinn stared disbelievingly at him, along with the rest of the girls, minus Tina who just blushed and looked straight ahead.

"Can I just say that this is what happens when people don't put out?" Santana interjected matter-of-factly. "If everyone just put out we'd have a winning football team." Quinn just rolled her eyes. Wait, did Ryan do it too? She wasn't 'putting out', as Santana so crudely put it. God, maybe that was why he wasn't pushing for more. Ugh, one more thing to add to her list of shit to deal with.

The meeting was soon dismissed, and Mercedes turned to her. "You okay, white girl?"

Quinn was startled out of her thoughts, looking at the other girl for a moment before she mustered up a fake smile. "Fine. Totally fine." She saw Ryan glancing over at her from the boys' huddle.

"All right," Mercedes said slowly. She'd been sensing something off with Quinn recently, she just couldn't put her finger on it. "C'mon, we should go dream up some rock songs for us to sing."

The blonde nodded and stood up to follow Mercedes out of the room, only to be held up by Ryan. She sighed, not really wanting to talk right now. "Yes?" She almost winced at the irritation in her tone but she shook it off.

Ryan blinked at her, obviously taken aback by her curtness. "Are you okay?"

"God, why is everyone asking me that?" Quinn asked in frustration. In the back of her mind she knew she probably shouldn't be going off at him, but everything was just getting to her suddenly.

"You were late to glee, I went looking for you, where did you disappear to?"

"I had something to do, I didn't realize I had to ask your permission to go places now," the cheerleader snapped. "And while we're at it, that's disgusting, Ryan, I know I'm not 'putting out', but that does _not_ mean you get to think of Coach Beiste in a tutu to cool off."

"I didn't –"

"Look, I just had some stuff to do outside, that's why I was late. I'll see you later, we need to rehearse." She walked off to follow Mercedes, leaving her bewildered and hurt boyfriend behind.

..

Later that afternoon Shelby was in her office doing some paperwork when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she said absently.

"Hey Shelby."

She immediately looked up at the familiar voice, and sure enough, she saw James standing just inside the door to her office. "Oh, hi! This is a surprise," she said, putting down her pen.

"You busy? I though the school day was over, I can come back later."

"No, it's fine."

James smiled. "Actually, I was looking for Ryan."

"Oh, so I'm just secondary," Shelby said, nodding knowingly.

"Yeah, you just happened to be here," James deadpanned, taking a seat on the edge of her desk. "I need some help with putting up some stuff at the apartment, if he's free. It's a two-person job, but you could come too, if you wanted to."

Shelby shook her head. "I'll pass, I've got a meeting with some parents later. Besides, it'll be good for you and Ryan to spend some time together. Do the father-son bonding thing."

"Exactly what I was thinking," James smiled. "You could still come over for dinner, though. Tonight's gourmet menu is deep-fried egg rolls from Mr. Wang's Chinese place. Or something similar."

"Tempting."

"I know, right?" Another knock sounded on Shelby's door, and Ryan came in, not really waiting for a response.

"Hey Ryan," James grinned at him from his seat on Shelby's desk.

Ryan stopped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I actually wanted to borrow you for a bit."

"Me? For what?" Ryan asked curiously.

"I need some help setting up some of the shelves in my apartment," James explained. "They're prefab, but they're pretty heavy and I can't put them up by myself. I thought we could set them up together, we haven't really spent any time together yet since I moved in."

Ryan couldn't help his broad smile, his mood picking up from his confusion over what had just happened with Quinn after glee. His dad wanted his help. "Sure."

"Just the two of you for now," Shelby added. "I've got a meeting, so I'll be around for dinner later."

"Okay," Ryan said agreeably.

"Great." James hopped off of Shelby's desk, walking over to where Ryan was standing. "Bye Shelbs."

"Bye, Mom!"

"See you later," she answered, going back to her work. James put a hand on Ryan's shoulder and the two walked out of the office. He noticed a big kid in a letterman jacket watching the two of them, but thought nothing of it.

..

"So, how was your day?" James asked his son as they went into his apartment.

"Oh, it was okay," Ryan answered vaguely. He'd gotten a lime slushy to the face this morning and been shoved into the lockers again by Karofsky, but that paled in comparison to the drama with Coach Beiste and the other guys. Not to mention Quinn's apparent ire with him. "How was your day?"

"It was pretty good, nothing big today. We picked up a guy with an allergy reaction." James looked at Ryan a bit curiously, noticing his deflection from his school day. He let it pass though. "You can put your jacket…anywhere you like, actually, I haven't got a coat hook set up yet."

Ryan smiled in amusement. The apartment was brand new, and James was the first tenant. While it was had the basic furnishings, the little things weren't there yet. "Okay, so what are we doing?" He looked around at the disassembled furniture parts leaning against the wall.

"Basically, it's a sort of bookshelf. I need you to either hold the parts up while we stick it together, or I'll hold it up and you put the screws in."

"Got it." The pair quickly set to work, Ryan telling his dad about the glee club's competition and the difficulty they were having coming up with songs. "It's mostly because the other guys don't want to do anything they deem as too girly," he explained. "And to be honest, they're kind of lazy. I mean, I'm not expecting the kind of drive I have, but they should have at least some initiative."

"Well, I can't really give any advice on the music, you'll have to ask your mom for that," James admitted. "But you're right about the initiative, you're not going to get anywhere if your guys don't want to work."

A few minutes later, Ryan got up his nerve to ask something he wanted to talk about. "Dad, I've sort of got a problem. A girl problem."

"Oh?" James looked at him inquisitively.

"Yes. And I know I could probably talk about this with Mom, but I thought that I'd ask you about it, since from my understanding men and women view romantic situations differently, and I wanted to get another guy's perspective. If that's okay with you, that is," Ryan ended a bit self-consciously.

James was smiling in amusement. His kid rambled just like Shelby did when he was nervous about something. It was cute. "Totally fine," he assured Ryan. "Something up with Quinn?"

"That's just it, I don't really know," Ryan said a bit agitatedly. "I thought things were just fine, but she came in late to glee this afternoon, and when I tried to ask her about it she pretty much bit my head off."

"Well, did you do anything that might have ticked her off?"

"No," Ryan said defensively. He'd been thinking about it, but he couldn't remember doing anything that might have upset Quinn. Unless she was upset about what had happened with them last night. And then there was today's little revelation with the Coach Beiste issue. "At least, I don't think so…"

"Sounds like there might be…"

Ryan reddened slightly. "We're sort of…moving forward…a bit in our relationship. With the physical side, I mean. Maybe she's not quite as comfortable with it as I thought."

James raised an eyebrow. "Were you pressuring her?"

"No!" Ryan said immediately. "I wouldn't – I always let her set the pace, and she said she was okay with it!" He ran a hand through his hair. "It's not that. Maybe she was mad at me about the Coach Beiste thing."

"The what?"

"It's kind of a long story…" Ryan sighed. "And kind of embarrassing. It's an issue with our new athletics coach, Coach Beiste. She's, well, I suppose mannish would be the right term to describe her."

"Husky lady with curly hair?" James asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I may have passed her on the way to your mom's office."

"Oh. Okay," Ryan shrugged. "Anyways, you know when you're doing – things – with a girl, and – things – start getting a little hot…"

James looked at him, amused. "Don't worry, kid, I'm not a total prude. I was in the army, I've heard a lot. You can say whatever you like."

"Okay…anyways, when the guys get a bit excited, and they need to keep from, you know –"

"Blowing their load?"

Ryan flushed. He wasn't used to talking about sex. He glared halfheartedly at James, who was smirking. "Yes. Well, the other guys have taken to, um, how do I say this. When they're feeling a bit too amorous with their girlfriends, and they need to 'cool down' a bit, they sort of think of Coach Beiste in embarrassing…positions…"

"Ah." He got it. "Okay."

"Yeah."

"Huh. Well, I'm all for finding your own mood killer, but I think that's a pretty mean," James said, shaking his head. "How do you think your coach would feel if she found out what you were imagining about her?"

Ryan nodded. "That's what I thought, and for the record, I haven't done it. But I was talking to some of the other guys, and they seem to think that it's okay since she doesn't know, and besides, they're just thinking it."

James thought for a moment. "Well, I guess it's just a matter of respect. Your coach is just that, she's your coach. And she deserves your respect, as a person." He sat back. "Here's the rule of thumb one I heard once. If you don't want some other guy thinking it about your mom, or your sister, or your girlfriend, or whatever, don't think it about anyone else."

Ryan thought about that. "That makes sense." He shuddered when he considered one of the guys imagining that with Quinn, or god forbid, his mom.

"Good, because that sounded kind of preachy, didn't it?"

"Just a little bit," Ryan smirked, as James handed him the next part they needed to put up.

"Anyways, back to the original topic. What does this have to do with you and Quinn?"

"Oh, right." Ryan started attaching the correct bolts to hold the parts in place. "Mr. Schue told us in front of the whole glee club this afternoon that Coach Beiste had found out, and naturally, the ones who didn't know about what was going on were mildly offended. And Quinn might have accused me of using…that particular imagery…to cool off whenever we make out."

"Do you?"

"Of course not!" Ryan said, offended. "I actually only found out about it this afternoon, and even if I had known about it, I'd like to think I had enough respect for Coach Beiste to not do it."

"Good," James nodded. "Did you tell her that?"

"I tried, but she wouldn't listen to me," Ryan said unhappily.

"Well, buddy, I don't really know what to tell you besides to go talk to your girl," James admitted. "It's possible that she just took issue with the whole coach situation, but maybe there's something else making her mad. Either way, the only way you're going to be able to fix it is by talking about it. Maybe give her some time to calm down, though."

Ryan nodded resignedly. "Okay." James was probably right. "I'm just very confused right now. I mean, we were fine last weekend. And we were _really _fine last night. Then today she's just unreasonably upset for some reason. It's like Katy Perry's _Hot N Cold_."

James nodded sympathetically before asking out of curiosity. "So, how far exactly have you and Quinn gotten?" That sounded gossipy, but never mind. He was just being a concerned parent, he did _not_ want his kid to have to deal with STD problems or a teenage pregnancy.

"Oh, ah…" Ryan fidgeted. "We haven't really gotten, that is –"

"Use the bases, kid."

"We're halfway to second base."

"Ah." That was a little surprising, what with teenage hormones and especially since James knew the pair had been dating all summer.

"We're taking it slow."

"Good for you. That's usually a good idea. You don't really get anything by rushing into things. Just makes things worse."

"Yeah. Did Mom tell you about BabyGate?"

James glanced at him as he assembled the next part of the shelf they were setting up. "No, what is that?"

Ryan gave a half-smile. "A very long story."

..

Shelby knocked on the door to James' apartment at about seven in the evening. Ryan opened the door, smiling widely. "Oh, hi Mom." He stepped back to let her in.

"Hi Ryan." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "How was your afternoon?"

Ryan grinned. "It was pretty good. We're almost done with the shelves, just a few more pieces to put up."

"Hey, Shelby," James smiled happily as he came up behind Ryan. "You're just in time, the food got here like five minutes ago." The three of them sat down at the table, Shelby smirking at the sight of the Chinese take-out. "Shut up," James said teasingly.

"I didn't say anything." They quickly dug in, and a moment later, Shelby asked Ryan, "Did you hear Coach Beiste quit all of a sudden today?" She frowned as Ryan choked on a sip of water. "What?" she asked confusedly.

"Oh, nothing," Ryan answered after coughing. "Yes, I did hear about that. The glee club is also going to try to get her to stay, after all this is the first winning season McKinley has had since RENT opened, and most of the glee guys are in the football team."

"Okay…" Shelby looked at him suspiciously when he wouldn't meet her eyes. She glanced at James, who had an amused look on his face. "What?"

James shook his head. "Nothing, it's nothing."

Shelby couldn't shake the feeling that there was something going on. "Okay, kid, what is it? Did you do something?"

"Thanks, Dad," Ryan grumbled. "You have zero poker face. Seriously."

"Well, it wasn't me," Ryan hedged. He cringed at the look on his mom's face. "You're not going to like it."

"Well that sounds encouraging."

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you," Ryan sighed. "Some of the glee guys figured out that picturing Coach Beiste in lingerie and stuff helps cool them off. Long story short, Coach Beiste found out and she was so upset she quit."

Shelby looked at James in confusion, then realization as she figured out what 'cooling off' meant. Her face took on a disgusted expression. "Okay…I don't think I want to know if you participated in this rather distasteful practice."

"I didn't, I swear," Ryan said hastily. "I just found out about it today."

"Good." She glared at James, who was hiding a laugh. Boys.

"On that note," Ryan continued, trying to move the conversation along. "We need a mash-up of two female groups, to be sung by the guys in glee club to Coach Beiste in order to apologize. Sam suggested the Supremes, and we're probably going to do _Stop in the Name of Love_. We just haven't thought of the right song to mash it up with. Any suggestions?"

"Not offhand," Shelby admitted. Quinn had come to her the other day, asking if Shelby had any suggestions for a rock mash-up for the girls. She found the fact that she was helping both the girls' team and the boys' team on song selection amusing, but she kept a straight face. "Give me some time, maybe we can find something in the music room when we get home.

* * *

Santana Lopez walked down the halls of McKinley to the choir room, students parting left and right for her. She smirked. Oh yeah, she loved the power that came with this uniform. Then she spotted Brittany talking to Artie as she pushed him in his wheelchair. The blonde was giggling at something Artie said, and Santana instantly felt her good mood evaporate. Who did he think he was, asking Brittany out? She and Britt had gone on a double date with Artie and Puck the other night, and she'd spent half the night pretending to listen to Puck's idiotic stories about juvie, and the other half glaring at Artie for making googly eyes at Britt.

They'd ended up going to Puck's place for some fun, without Artie, but Santana didn't exactly enjoy herself. She much preferred it when it was just her and B. She scowled again as she saw Britt put a hand on Artie's shoulder. Fuck. She stalked into the nearest classroom, which turned out to be the choir room. And since her luck was fantastic, Ryan was inside.

"Hello Santana," he said, glancing at her as she came in. "Is there something you needed?"

"No," she said shortly, tossing her bag on top of the piano as she sat down at the bench. She might have damaged the instrument but she didn't care right now.

"I'm sure my concern will be unappreciated, but what's wrong?" Ryan asked, just in time for Britt and Artie to pass by the door of the choir room. He glanced at the two, then at the irritation on Santana's face. "Oh. Hey, I saw you and Brittany with Artie and Puck at Breadstix the other night," Ryan said curiously. "What's up with that?"

Santana shrugged offhandedly. "Puck and Wheels asked us out and B wanted to go, so yeah."

"You should talk to her, you know."

"What?"

"Brittany. You two should talk, I'm sure you wouldn't regret it. I mean, isn't that what everybody's looking for? The person who makes them happy? I know you really like Britt, and she adores you."

"I don't know what you've been smoking, _Corcoran,_ but me and B don't roll that way." She _so_ didn't need him to be getting all up in her business right now.

"I actually notice a lot of things," Ryan said gently. "People don't seem to appreciate my comments though, even if I try to word them in an inoffensive way. I usually end up making them mad anyways. So I keep a lot of my observations to myself. Not to mention some of the things I know might be damaging to certain reputations."

"Well, if last year was you keeping things to yourself, then I don't think I wanna see it when you do decide to spout things off," Santana grumbled. Inside she was panicking, though. Was she being that obvious? She couldn't let anyone know she was into girls _that way_. It was okay for people to know she and B were having sex, everyone thought they were just doing it to make to boys hot. But it was _not_ okay if people actually knew she had _feelings_ for the tall, adorable, galactically dim blonde.

Almost like he could read her mind, Ryan continued. "I knew Tina was faking her stutter last year. I know Britt is a lot smarter than she seems. She makes all these weird comments, but she's not stupid. She just sees the world in a different way than the rest of us do." Ryan glanced at her. "And I think she likes you too."

"She does?" The question fell out before Santana could stop it. She shook her head quickly. "Whatever. It doesn't matter, you know why?" she said flippantly. "'Cause you're wrong. I don't like B that way. So fuck off and mind your own biz. I liked you better when you were scared of me." To her satisfaction, Ryan just stayed quiet. Okay, maybe that might have been mean. Damn, why did she feel like she'd just kicked a puppy? Those brown eyes of his didn't help with her conscience, either. "What's up with you and Quinnie-bear, anyways?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Nothing," he answered. "We're fine."

He didn't meet her eyes though, something Santana immediately picked up on. "Oh yeah? She seems pretty out of it these days. Although I guess she's not as much of a bitch now."

"She wasn't a bitch," Ryan spoke up, defending his girlfriend. "She was just…outspoken."

"Oh please. She was a manipulative bitch up until the preggo hormones kicked in, then she just became a weepy mess," Santana said dismissively.

Ryan glared at her for that. "You don't have any right to judge, she went through a lot last year. Do you think you'd fare any better if the school man-whore got you pregnant and then your parent's kicked you out for it?"

Santana faltered. No, she wouldn't have. She couldn't imagine her parents kicking her out with just half an hour to pack her things. Especially with what had happened this summer and with the surgery. She couldn't have done that without her Mami and Papi. And she couldn't imagine getting kicked out of the Cheerios, either. "Fine."

"Fine?" Ryan blinked, not expecting a concession.

"You're right. I'm a judgmental bitch, but maybe you have a point." She knew he did, and she got why Quinn did it. To be perfectly honest she probably would have done the same thing. But she was still a bit sore at Q for getting her demoted to the bottom of the pyramid. Seriously, that cow Tammy Davis in the third line needed to lose a few pounds. "But I'm right about Q, something's up with her. Did you mess her up?"

"No!" Ryan hesitated. "I don't think so. But you're right, she has been a little distant lately, but I don't know why."

"Huh. Well, I've known Blondie since eighth grade and when she gets really quiet then there's something messing her up. You should figure it out." The midget – though she couldn't really call him that anymore – was starting to grow on her, and she grudgingly did think he was good for Q. "But be careful, you push her too far and she'll slap you. And she slaps hard. Trust me."

Ryan looked at her in surprise. "Thanks."

"Whatever." Santana stood up, getting bored of this conversation. And he was making her want to spill all her secrets. Stupid puppy eyes. "I gotsta go, we're singing today and we're gonna kill it. Don't even bother thinking up of your own mash up, 'cuz the girls gots this." She smirked, starting to walk out of the choir room. "And remember what we talked about last year, Hobbit. You mess Q up, I mess you up. Even if I think she's a bitch right now."

"Noted."

..

After the girls' performance that afternoon, Ryan waited for Quinn to come out of the Cheerios locker room, where she was changing out of her costume. The girls had sung a mash up of _Livin' on a Prayer _and _Start Me Up_, wearing black leather rocker outfits. Finally, Quinn came out in her Cheerios uniform, stopping momentarily when she saw him.

Ryan gave her a small smile. "Hey."

"Hi." Quinn didn't meet his eyes. "I, uh, I need to get to the gym, I've got Cheerios." She started to move away.

"Wait, Quinn, we need to talk," Ryan said anxiously, falling into step with her. "I'm not really sure what I did wrong here. If this is about the Coach Beiste thing, I swear I never found out about it until yesterday, so I haven't even considered using her to calm down."

"It's not that."

"Then why were you upset with me yesterday?" Ryan asked, confused.

Quinn kept walking, but Ryan thought he saw her wince slightly before facing him. "I just – look. I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just dealing with some stuff right now, okay?"

"You know you can talk to me." He reached out to stroke her cheek lightly. Santana was right, there was something messing Quinn up, but she wouldn't tell him. And it sort of hurt.

"I know." She bit her lip. "Just – not yet, okay?"

Ryan looked at her worriedly. He wanted to help. But he didn't want to smother her either. Plus, there was that little tidbit Santana had thrown out earlier about what would happen if he pushed Quinn too far. "Okay," he relented. For now. "I'm right here whenever you're ready, okay?" He tried to convey all his concern for her in his offer.

"Okay." Quinn gave him a small smile. "Are we good?"

"Yeah. We're good." Ryan smiled at her gently as he took her hand. "I'll walk you to the gym." They set off, hand in hand. "Your performance was really good, by the way," he complimented her. His smile turned mischievous as he leaned in close. "I thought you were incredibly hot."

Quinn tried and failed to keep from smiling. "Well, maybe I can wear it again sometime," she answered sultrily. Her breath was hot in Ryan's ear and his heart almost stopped. _Cool it, man, you do not want a hard-on in the middle of school…_

"O-okay," he stammered out. They arrived at the gym a moment later, and Ryan gave her a searing kiss before he left, smiling when he saw the slightly dazed look he left on his girlfriend's face. "See you."

* * *

The next day Ryan stood with the rest of the boys, and addressed Coach Beiste, who Mr. Schue had somehow convinced to come. "Coach Beiste, this is actually the boys-vs-girls contest for glee club. But after the grievous insult that's been made to you, we've decided we would like to express our regret for what happened in musical form. We've made a special mash-up just for you."

"We just wanted to apologize for hurting your feelings," Sam said.

"Coach Beiste, we think you're awesome," Finn said. "And even though you're all hard and tough on the outside, that doesn't mean you're not the opposite on the inside."

"Like a chocolate turtle," Sam chimed in.

"Yeah, totally," Finn smiled. "You're nougat-y. And we totally get that now. You're like…a mash-up."

Will smiled despite himself. "Why don't you guys get to the song?"

Artie smiled too. "Yeah. Totally. This mash-up's dedicated to you, Coach. Hard and badass on one hand, and soft and curly on the other."

"And we hope it makes you smile," Puck added. "You're pretty when you smile. Seriously. It lights up the room."

Ryan nodded to the drummer, and he started the song off. Shelby had come through for him, finally coming up with the idea of mashing together the Supremes' _Stop in the Name of Love_ and En Vogue's _Free Your Mind._ She'd even helped him come up with the arrangement over lunch yesterday.

And it worked. Somehow, the song got Coach Beiste to smile. And if Quinn's smile was anything to go by while Ryan was singing to her, the other girls liked it too. She came up to him after the performance, giving him a long kiss as she wrapped her arms around him. "That was great, Ry."

Ryan smiled happily. "Thanks." He returned the hug, and the two of them walked out of the choir room together. "Do you have plans for Sunday afternoon?"

"No, why?"

"I thought maybe we could go out, spend the afternoon. Maybe the mall. Whatever you like." He turned to his girlfriend, taking both her hands in his. "I know something's been bothering you this week. Don't worry, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said, when Quinn opened her mouth to say something. "It's fine. I'm here to listen, but you're allowed to have your space, too. Anyways, I thought we could use some time to just relax. Whatever you want to do."

Quinn looked at him for a moment, a smile playing on her lips. "You're just amazing, you know that?" She hugged him, and Ryan contentedly wrapped his arms around her, relieved that he'd done something right. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," Ryan smiled, watching as she walked to the football field for Cheerios before he turned to go to his locker. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a cupful of bright red crushed ice came flying into his face. For a moment he couldn't speak from the shock of the cold liquid.

"Nice!" Karofsky high-fived Azimio as they walked off, looking over their shoulders at Ryan. Ryan stood there in shock for a minute, before making his way to his locker to get his slushy kit. He pulled out the bag with his set of extra clothes and closed his locker. Then he stopped short as he was faced with his mom looking at him in surprise.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing, just an accident," Ryan answered quickly. "Someone was walking a little too fast in the hallway while carrying an uncovered drink."

Shelby looked at him suspiciously. She knew something was going on in this school, she wasn't stupid. She'd seen quite a few kids with drinks on their shirts walking the hallways, and either the students here were unspeakably clumsy or someone was up to something. Unfortunately, if it was true, the culprits were quite adept at hiding from the teachers, since she hadn't seen anything. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm just going to get changed."

"Why do you have spare clothes?"

Ryan gaped at her for a moment, trying to come up with a plausible answer. "For glee, because sometimes we have physically intensive routines, so I just keep a spare set in here for emergencies." That was okay, right?

Shelby studied him for a moment. Yes, that sounded reasonable, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on. "Okay…" she said slowly. "Do you want a ride home, or are you waiting for Quinn?"

Ryan almost sighed in relief. "I'll take the ride, if that's okay."

"Of course. I'll wait for you in the parking lot, okay?" Shelby said, receiving a nod in return. She folded her arms thoughtfully as she watched him go. She needed to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

**Woo, another chapter done! Over a week since last time, but I've been busy with life. Thank you for the reviews last time, they always make my day. I will most likely be continuing this fic until their graduation in season 3, assuming of course that people are still sticking with me. I'll probably be deciding in the next chapter or two whether I'm going ahead with the basketball line, but it looks like a yes so far. I'm also looking into expanding relationships with the other glee club members, since I've mostly been focusing on my main characters. On that note, I like how people are enjoying Shelby and James' relationship. I wasn't sure if they would quite hit it off with you guys, but I'm glad they did. I'm thinking of doing a oneshot or a short for just the two of them, maybe sort of like a prequel or something. That's still kind of a vague idea.**

**Anyways, there's the latest chapter, hope you guys liked it. Tell me what you thought, good or bad, and if there's anything in particular that you would like to happen. See you next time!**


	42. Chapter 41

"Quinn, can you stay for a sec?" Shelby held the blonde cheerleader back after class. Ryan looked at them inquisitively, before leaving the room at Quinn's nod. Shelby held back a smile, the two of them were sort of cute.

"What is it?" Quinn asked. "If this is about the therapist –"

"It's not," Shelby said quickly. "Although I'm happy to talk if you need it. I actually wanted to ask you about something else." She paused. "I found Ryan wearing one of those iced drinks on his face and shirt last Friday, and he was really evasive about it when I asked. I've also seen some other students with the same problem. So, I want to know if there's anything going on that I should know about." The teenager looked away guiltily. Aha, so there was something!

"I'm not really sure he'd want me to tell you…"

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Quinn, if there's something going on here, I need to know so that I can do something about it."

Quinn looked at her for a moment. "I don't think Ryan would want me to tell you, but you should ask Mr. Schue." The bell for the next class rang. "I should go, I've got Geometry."

Shelby watched her go. She didn't exactly appreciate having to go on a treasure hunt for information, but she'd been right. Now she had to find Will.

Two periods later, she found him in the teachers' lounge. She sat down opposite him. "I need to talk to you," she said without preamble.

"Okay…" Will put down his newspaper.

"I've seen several students walking around looking like they've spilled those slush drinks on them, you know, the ones from the cafeteria? School's only been in for about two months, but I think I've seen a couple of dozen of them. Now, I really don't think everyone here is that clumsy, but I asked around, and it sounds like something's up. And I heard that you know about it." Shelby looked at him expectantly.

"Wait, you didn't know about that?" Will asked. "I thought Ryan would've told you about it."

"Well, obviously not," Shelby said sarcastically. "What is 'it,' exactly?"

Will sighed. "Well, it's sort of a thing for the popular kids, like the football team and the Cheerios, to, uh, toss slushies in the faces of the less popular kids. The glee kids seem to be popular targets."

Shelby gaped at him. "And you haven't been doing anything to stop it?"

"Shelby, I've tried stopping it, but the teachers can't be everywhere at once."

"So that's it?" Shelby asked disbelievingly.

"Look, I've already gone to Figgins about it, but he says we can't do anything unless we have actual proof. And kids will be kids, we can't really stop them."

Shelby shook her head. "Will, our job is to teach these students, your inaction is simply teaching them that it's okay to throw things in people's faces, it's okay to call other people names, because there aren't going to be any consequences for their actions," she told him. "And it's teaching your glee kids that there's no one who cares enough to do anything about it."

"Of course, I care," Will argued. "But there's only so much we can do."

"That's where you're wrong, Will. We should be able to stop this. And how long will it be until something really serious happens? Those football players are getting away with it, it's just going to get worse and worse. And it's not just them we have to worry about, have you thought about what this does to the victims? This is exactly how school shootings start." She stood up. "You might want to turn a blind eye, but I sure as hell won't."

..

"We need to talk."

Ryan glanced at Shelby as he came into the house after working in the garage for the afternoon. She had a strange look on her face, and even though they'd been living in the same house for months now he still hadn't quite grasped all of her expressions. "Okay, what's up?"

"I talked to Mr. Schue this afternoon."

"If this is about my hogging the solos again, he doesn't have any right to talk, because he insists on giving solos to everyone in the glee club, even if it will ruin our chances –"

"It's about that slushy situation I saw last week."

Ryan froze. Uh-oh. "What about it? I told you, it was nothing, just an accident."

"Don't lie to me, Mr. Schue told me about what the football players and the cheerleaders do. Not to mention I know something's been going on between you and that Karofsky kid," Shelby said sharply. "I'm not a moron, you don't think I notice you come home different outfits from the one you left the house in? How often does this happen?"

Ryan looked away, he did not want to talk about this. It was embarrassing enough that it happened at school, he didn't need it here either. "Look, it doesn't matter, okay?" He tried to move towards the stairs, only to be stopped.

"No, you're not going anywhere until we talk about this," Shelby stated angrily. "You're going to tell me everything."

"There's nothing to tell." He tried to move away again.

"Just talk to me!"

"Every day, okay?!" Ryan finally answered explosively. "This has been happening every single day since freshman year. Is that what you want to hear? You want to hear your kid's such a massive loser that he gets a slushy facial every damn day? Well congratulations, there it is!" His mom just stood there in shock while he ranted complete with emphatic gestures. "I don't even know why you're mad at me, it's not like I _asked_ them to throw red ice at my face."

Finally Shelby snapped out of it. "I'm not mad at you."

"Really?" Ryan said sarcastically. "Because it sure seems like you are."

"No, I'm mad at those students who think that it's okay to throw ice in people's faces, I'm mad at the teachers for not doing anything about it, but I'm not mad at you, okay?" Shelby tugged him down so they were both sitting on the sofa. "Well, maybe I'm a bit mad at you," she amended. "I don't understand why you didn't tell me."

Ryan sighed, shoulders sagging. He wasn't exactly sure either, it just seemed really important that she didn't. "I didn't want you to find out."

"Why not?" Shelby frowned. "Is this like when we got into a fight after that egg thing with Jesse?"

Ryan flinched slightly at the reminder. His pride had nearly ruined his budding relationship with his mom after he'd lost his temper. He took a deep breath to calm down. He wasn't about to do that again. He just shrugged in response.

"Did you think I was going to leave, like you did with Jesse?" she asked sorrowfully. "Because I thought –"

"No," Ryan cut her off. "I don't think that. I know you won't." He knew she wasn't leaving him. He was over that, and he could see that his mom was relieved by his answer.

"Good."

"The other kids at school don't like me," he admitted. He knew that. He'd never been able to make friends when he was younger. He knew he could be obnoxious and self-centered at times, but he couldn't help it, even if he tried. He always somehow ended up saying something wrong. It had been happening forever. Something about him just put people off. It had happened all the time in glee club. "I just didn't want you to think I was a loser like everyone else does."

"Hey." Shelby turned on the couch so she was facing him. "You are _not_ a loser."

"You see, that's the problem, because I do know that. It's just really hard to keep believing it when that's what people say every day."

"Well, they're wrong," Shelby almost growled. "You're the exact opposite of a loser. You're more talented than any student I've ever coached, and I have coached a lot." That drew a smile from him. "Besides, what they say doesn't matter, because what do they know?"

"I know that." Ryan gave her a half-smile. "Someday my name's going to be up in lights in the most prestigious theaters in New York, and they'll be serving fries at the McDonald's in Lima's only mall."

Shelby let out a small laugh. "You know, if you didn't want me to find out about this, getting me to work here at McKinley probably wasn't your brightest idea ever." Ryan felt himself flushing slightly.

"It's been happening for so long that we – everyone in the glee club – just got used to it. Coach Sylvester actively encourages the Cheerios to do it to everyone else, and Coach Tanaka, that's the old football coach, didn't really care if the jocks were throwing ice at people. Actually, he didn't really care about the football games either, but that's beside the point. I don't know about Coach Beiste. Figgins is just useless."

"I know, I talked to him about it earlier and apparently he can't do anything," Shelby said grumpily. "Still, you should have told me. I could have done something about it."

"I need to deal with it."

"That's not the point, you shouldn't have to deal with it," Shelby argued. "You're supposed to be in a safe learning environment. You're not supposed to have to worry about flying ice projectiles."

"Tell the Neanderthals that."

Shelby got a peculiar smile on her face. "I might just do that."

* * *

The next day, Ryan looked anxiously at the mirror in the bathroom with his mouth open. His throat was a little sore, and he was afraid he was getting tonsillitis again. There was a bug going around the school, and he was worried that he'd caught it after Lauren Zizes had let out a monster sneeze while he was in the vicinity. He couldn't have that, it was less than a month until Sectionals, and he needed to be on his game. Fortunately he hadn't gotten hit by a slushy yet. After a few more minutes of checking his throat, he left the bathroom and went to his locker.

"Ryan?"

Ryan turned at the sound of his name, smiling when he saw a dark-haired boy in a preppy blue private school blazer.

"Blaine Anderson. I thought I saw you around," Ryan smiled at the other boy.

"Oh good, you remember me," Blaine grinned. "It's been a while."

"Yeah. What are you doing here?" Ryan asked curiously.

"I was visiting Kurt Hummel, actually," Blaine answered.

"Really? I didn't know you two knew each other."

"Well, he came to Dalton last week. We thought he was spying on the Warblers at first, so we gave him a show. But then we figured out that if he was a spy, he wasn't doing a very good job. As it turns out, he needed some advice about a bully. Apparently someone's been on him because he's gay, and very open about it."

"Yes, that would be Dave Karofsky, biggest homophobe in Lima, Ohio," Ryan said dryly.

"That would be him," Blaine confirmed.

"I suppose you being here makes sense, then, if you're here for Kurt." Ryan knew about what had happened to Blaine in middle school. He had been bullied for being gay before he had entered Dalton in freshman year. "He's been having a tough time with Karofsky, and apparently the teachers can't do anything until Karofsky actually assaults him, which is stupid and completely counterintuitive."

"Yeah, that's sort of why I'm here. Are you close to Kurt?"

Nowhere near. "No, not really. He's an excellent performer but we clash. A lot. He doesn't really like me," Ryan admitted. "Is it really getting that bad? Karofsky is a douche of epic proportions, but I don't think he'd actually do anything that drastic." He pushed some of his books into his locker before looking up, smiling as he saw his girlfriend approaching. "Hi Quinn."

"Hey Ryan. Who's this?" The blonde came up to stand beside him.

"Oh, this is Blaine Anderson, he goes to Dalton Academy. Blaine, this is my girlfriend, Quinn Fabray."

Blaine smiled easily and held out his hand, which Quinn shook. "Nice to meet you."

"Blaine and I used to have the same vocal teacher when we were in middle school," Ryan explained to Quinn. "We knew each other for a year or so before he moved away."

"Ryan, I should be going, I need to get back to Dalton," Blaine said.

"Okay. See you around, I guess, if you're going to be helping Kurt."

"So you did have friends before high school," Quinn teased Ryan, after Blaine had left.

"Of course I did!" Ryan answered, acting offended, before smiling at his girlfriend and giving her a kiss.

"He's cute."

Ryan looked at her in surprise and slight irritation, surprised at the sudden jolt of jealousy that shot through him. He quickly tamped it down though. "Well, he's also gay, so you can nip that line of thought right in the bud." He wasn't quite successful, and Quinn smirked at him.

"You're kinda cute when you're jealous." She gave him a peck on the cheek, latching onto his arm.

"You seem happy today," he observed, before sneezing. Twice.

"You okay?" Quinn asked in concern.

"Yes, I'm fine," Ryan said dismissively. "Come on, we should get to class."

..

Hours later, Shelby suddenly woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone moving around downstairs. She panicked for a moment before deciding that it was probably Ryan going downstairs for something. She looked at the digital clock on the table. 3:59 AM. Okay. Something felt off, though, something she couldn't place. When she didn't hear Ryan coming back upstairs, she got up, put on a robe and went downstairs. She found her son in the kitchen, looking asleep on the counter.

"Ryan?" The teenager's eyes opened blearily at the sound. He looked up to see his mom standing next to him in a bathrobe. "What are you doing down here?" Shelby asked him, frowning. He didn't look so good.

Ryan looked around, pulling the thermometer out of his mouth. "I –" The rest of his words were drowned out by a massive fit of coughing. Shelby took the thermometer, worriedly putting a hand on his forehead. He was burning up. She checked the thermometer. 101.3.

"I just needed a drink."

Shelby nodded, rubbing his back gently. "Come on, you need to get back to bed." She helped him back into his room. "I'll be right back." She quickly went into her bathroom to get some Tylenol and a glass of water, then went back to Ryan's room. "Here, I need you to drink this." She helped him take the meds before dragging his desk chair over next to the bed.

"What are you doing?"

"You're obviously sick. I'm staying here."

"You don't have to do that," Ryan mumbled blearily.

"I know. Go to sleep," Shelby urged him, brushing back a lock of his hair from his forehead. He needed another haircut soon, she thought idly.

"Okay."

Shelby watched him start to drift off, before he woke up again, coughing. She gently rubbed his back until it stopped.

"Thanks."

"Shh. Sleep." Shelby glanced at the clock on his bedside. 4:33 AM. She leaned back, watching as her son slept fitfully. After a few more minutes to make sure he wasn't waking up again, she pulled his blanket up over him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She sighed. His temperature didn't seem to be going down despite the medicine she'd given him. After another anxious look, she went back to her own room to try to catch a little more sleep.

She woke up again a few hours later, her mind automatically back on Ryan. Going back to his room, she found that he was still sleeping. She put a hand on his forehead again. Still hot. He stirred under her touch. "Mom?"

"Go back to sleep, sweetie, you're not going to school today." Neither of them were, she couldn't leave him alone like this.

"No, I'm fine, I need to go to school, there's a quiz today in chemistry, and I have to go to glee –"

"You're not going anywhere like that," Shelby said sternly. "I'm calling you in sick."

"But I –" Any argument was again cut off by another coughing fit. Shelby handed him a glass of water after he finished.

"Are you okay?"

"No."

"Good to know." It was probably the flu, Shelby thought. It was going around at McKinley, she'd had at least several absent students because of it. Or maybe it was from getting caught in the rain the other day. "Go back to sleep, I'm going to call the school, okay?"

The sick teenager nodded, burrowing down into his covers. Shelby smoothed his hair back before leaving the room. A few minutes later, she had arranged for the school to get a substitute to cover her classes, and she went downstairs to have some breakfast.

"What are you still doing here?"

Shelby spun around, eyes widening when she saw Ryan standing there, looking absolutely miserable. "What are you doing out of bed?" she countered, getting up.

"My throat's sore, I was going to make some tea," he said a bit raspily, a complete contrast to his usually clear voice.

"Well, you can go back to bed, I'll bring the tea up," Shelby said, immediately going to fill up a mug from the thermos of hot water. "Go on."

Ryan seemed to debate on what to do for a moment, before turning and going back upstairs. Shelby sighed, rummaging around in the cupboard for the teabags. What was the boy thinking, walking around like that? She took the tea and followed her son upstairs. "How are you feeling?" she asked, handing him the mug.

"Not so good," he admitted. "I'm kind of dizzy."

"That's because you shouldn't be walking around," Shelby chided him gently.

"You didn't answer my question."

Shelby looked confused. "What?"

"What are you still doing here? You're going to be late for work."

Oh. She shook her head. "I called the school to tell them we're both staying home for the day."

"Why?" Now Ryan looked confused.

"I can't leave you here by yourself like this," Shelby explained patiently.

"You don't have to do that, I can take care of myself. I've done it before," Ryan mumbled.

Shelby's eyes flashed as she scowled. "They left you alone while you were sick?"

"I don't really get sick very often," Ryan explained quickly. "Maybe just once or twice."

"Well, I'm not about to do that." What kind of idiot would leave a sick child alone for the day? "Do you think you can eat anything? Toast or something?" He shrugged. "Okay. I'll get you some toast for now, maybe it'll settle your stomach."

She left Ryan in the bedroom, looking after her thoughtfully. He hadn't really been expecting his mom to stay at home with him. Although now that he thought about it, he should have. She seemed to do everything opposite of what Hiram and Leroy did. He smiled softly, closing his eyes and leaning back. He hated to be missing school, especially glee, but it was good to know that he wouldn't have to power through this miserable flu. A few minutes Shelby came back in, carrying a plate.

"Here you go."

"Thanks." Ryan looked at her, smiling gratefully as he started nibbling at the toast.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie." She pulled out a couple of pills, setting them on the bedside table. "Drink those after the toast," she instructed. They heard a phone chime. "Is that yours?"

"Mm-hmm. I think it's on the desk."

Shelby went over to pick up the phone, handing it to her son, who glanced at it. "It's Quinn." He opened the text message. "She's looking for me." It was nice to know someone had noticed he wasn't at school. He sent his reply before finishing most of the toast. Then he drank the two pills Shelby had given him. "I'm kind of sleepy again."

"Good. You need all the rest you can get." The phone chimed again.

"She says to get better and that she'll collect my homework for me," Ryan said, smiling. He sent a _thank you_ back, before putting the phone on the bedside table. "I think I'll go back to sleep."

Shelby nodded at him, pulling the blanket up over him. "Okay. I'll just be downstairs if you need me okay?"

"Okay." He was fast asleep in no time. Shelby put a hand on his forehead again worriedly. His temperature was still really high. If it didn't go down by tomorrow she'd take him to the hospital. She went back to her room, picking up her phone to make a call. After a few rings it was picked up.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi Mom, it's me," Shelby said, sitting down on the bed.

"_Hi sweetie, what's up? Shouldn't you be at work?"_

"No, I took the day off. Ryan's sick, I think he's got the flu. He's been coughing since about four in the morning, and his fever's at 101."

"_Oh, that's too bad. Did you give him anything for the fever?"_

"Yeah, I gave him some Tylenol but his fever hasn't gone down," Shelby said anxiously. "Should I take him to the hospital?"

"_Well, if it's the flu, I don't think you need to take him unless his fever spikes,"_ Sarah advised. "_Just keep an eye on his temperature. Make him some soup."_

Shelby smiled through her worry. "Okay."

"_Don't worry so much, it's probably just the flu."_

"Okay. Thanks, Mom."

"_No problem, Shelby. Tell Ryan to feel better."_

"I will. Love you." Shelby hung up the phone. She had no idea what she was doing. She'd never taken care of a sick child before. She went to Ryan's room to check him again, sitting down on the chair next to the bed. He looked so young when he was sleeping, she could almost imagine him as the small baby she'd glimpsed all those years ago. Suddenly she felt tears fill her eyes, all those years she'd lost with him suddenly hitting her all at once. It wasn't fair. She'd been so stupid. He started coughing again, and her hand automatically went out to rub his back to help him relax. It seemed to work. She hated seeing him miserable.

..

A few hours later, Shelby was stirring a pot of chicken soup in the kitchen when her phone rang. She picked it up, seeing James' name on the screen. She'd forgotten about him. "Hello?"

"_Hey Shelby. We still on for dinner tonight?"_ Right. The three of them were supposed to go out for dinner that night.

"Sorry James, I don't think so. Ryan's come down with the flu."

"_What? When?"_ James' voice became worried. _"What's his temperature?"_

"102 last I checked," Shelby sighed. The Tylenol didn't seem to be working. "It started this morning, around three or four in the morning."

"_Why didn't you call me or something?"_

"I forgot, okay?" Shelby said exasperatedly. "I was a little worried about the teenager hacking his lungs out to remember to call people with an announcement."

"_Can I come over after my shift?"_

"Of course. But he's asleep most of the time, you probably won't get to talk to him."

"_That's okay. I'll be there around five."_

"Okay."

"_I have to go. Bye Shelby."_

"Bye." She ended the call, turning off the stove. Then she went back upstairs to check on her son, who was now awake. "Hi sweetie, how are you feeling?"

"Miserable," Ryan said hoarsely. "I have a massive headache, I'm nauseous, and more importantly I'm missing school. We were supposed to be picking songs for Sectionals, and the competition is just a few weeks away."

Shelby smirked. Leave it to her kid to be more concerned about his performance than his fever. "I'm sure the glee club is functioning fine without you. They can manage a few days, right?"

"You don't understand," Ryan said agitatedly. "Finn's going to get all the solos, and we'll probably end up singing with the lamest set list in the competition, especially if Mr. Schue's picking the songs. He'd have us singing Journey's entire discography if I weren't around to stop him."

"Okay, okay. Calm down. You can't really do anything about it, so just focus on getting better so you can get back. Now, are you hungry?"

"No."

"You need to eat something, though," Shelby told him, checking his temperature again. Slightly lower, but not much. "I made some soup."

"You did?" Ryan asked, surprised. He had never really had anyone take care of him when he was sick. Not in a long time.

"Yeah. I can help you downstairs to the couch, if you're tired of the room. We can watch some TV."

Ryan gave her a small smile. "Okay."

..

Later that afternoon, Ryan sat on the couch in the living room, wrapped up in a quilt with Shelby sitting beside him, the two of them watching _Chicago_. "You know, you didn't really have to stay home. I could have stayed by myself."

Shelby looked at Ryan. "Don't be silly. Of course I'd stay home. You're a kid, I'm your mom. That's how it works." Her blood just boiled when she thought that Hiram and Leroy had just left him alone when he was sick when he was younger. "Why? Problem?"

Ryan looked away. "No, of course not. It's nice. I'm just worried it's too much trouble for you. I don't want to put you out."

"Hey. You're not putting me out," Shelby said sternly. "You're my kid, there's nowhere I'd rather be. This is just what parents do. Your dad's coming over later, he wants to see you too."

"He does?"

"Yes."

Ryan smiled. He could get used to this. His smile faded a bit. "I remember when I was six, I got chickenpox, and it itched like crazy. I thought I was going to go crazy. I wanted my – Hiram and Leroy – to stay home with me. And I think they tried. I think the first few days they alternated days. But then eventually, I suppose they missed their jobs and their business trips, and they found me a sitter. I think it was our neighbor from down the street. She was nice, but I wanted my dads."

Shelby listened quietly during the story. Why was he telling her this? She wasn't sure what to say. She was upset, she was pissed at those men for neglecting her baby.

"I think that was one of the first times I really wanted a mom. Someone who would stay with me all day when I got sick, and watch movies with me, and rub that weird lotion all over those stupid itchy spots. Mrs. Patrick was nice, but she wasn't my mom." He smiled wistfully. "I used to imagine my mom would have dark hair and brown eyes like me. She'd be a bit on the short side, because I was always small for my age. She'd sing for me, and she'd be the best singer in the world, next to Barbra Streisand and Patti Lupone. I even imagined she'd be working onstage, like I wanted to."

Shelby's eyes were watering by now. She wondered if he was disappointed, because she wasn't onstage. If she lived up to his expectations of what a mom was supposed to be. "And how do I stack up?" she asked lightly. She felt him grab her hand, snuggling into her.

"Well, you don't have my eyes, and you're not short," Ryan admitted, with a small smile. "But I was right, you've got the best voice, and maybe you're not onstage but that's okay because otherwise I wouldn't have found you. And you're here now, and you made me soup and you're watching _Chicago_ with me even though you've probably seen it a dozen times." He coughed a few times. "So you stack up very well."

Shelby cleared her throat. "I'm glad." She wrapped an arm around him, with a bit of difficulty as bundled up as he was, before placing a kiss in his hair.

About half an hour later, their movie was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Shelby got up to answer it, coming back with Quinn in tow.

"Hey, Ry. How are you doing?" she asked softly. He smiled wryly.

"I've been better. How was school? Did you guys settle on anything for Sectionals? Who's getting the solos? Is –" He was interrupted by another bout of coughing. "Well?" he asked once he recovered.

"Relax, you're safe," Quinn said amusedly, as Shelby rolled her eyes. "Kurt found a substitute teacher for glee. Miss Holliday."

"The one who told people to discuss Lindsey Lohan's rehab in Spanish?" Ryan asked confusedly, before coughing a few times. He remembered Quinn telling him about Miss Holliday subbing for Mr. Schue the other day, and she seemed a little too happy and upbeat to be a serious teacher. "What does she know about glee club?"

"Wait, is this Holly Holliday?" Shelby asked in amusement.

"Yeah, do you know her?" Quinn asked curiously. "She seems like a very cool teacher. She sang a Cee Lo song in glee today, and she's actually pretty good."

"You could say that," Shelby nodded. "I went to OSU with her, we're friends. The students love her. But her teaching methods are a bit, shall we say, unorthodox."

"Anyways, I've got your homework," Quinn told Ryan. "There's not really a lot, just a few worksheets for math, and you're supposed to read the history textbook. And yes, I got it out of your locker for you." She handed her boyfriend the book and a few papers.

"I didn't know you knew my locker combination."

"I didn't, but Santana did. Don't ask me how she knew," Quinn answered. "There's no homework for English," she said, smiling innocently at Shelby.

"Very funny."

"Thanks, Quinn," Ryan smiled at her tiredly. All this talking was making him sleepy. "I'd come over there for a hug, but as you can see, I'm all wrapped up, and I wouldn't want to get you sick."

"That's okay. I should get going, anyway."

"I'd ask you to stay for dinner," Shelby said, "but like Ryan said, we shouldn't get you sick too. Thanks for bringing the homework, Quinn."

"No problem. Bye Ryan, bye Shelby." Quinn left the room, with Shelby following. When they got out, the found James just about to knock on the door.

"Hello, ladies," he said pleasantly.

"Hi Mr. Walker," Quinn answered politely. She wasn't quite as comfortable with Ryan's dad yet as she was with his mom. "I was just going."

James nodded as she left, before turning to Shelby. "How is he?"

"A bit better. He's awake, dozes off a lot. His temperature's a little lower now, it was at 100 last time I checked." The two of them went into the living room to check on their ailing offspring, who was drifting off to sleep after that conversation with Quinn.

"Hey, buddy," James said softly. "How are you?"

Ryan opened his eyes with a bit of effort. "I'm fine."

"Really?" James asked skeptically. "You don't look too hot."

"Fine, I don't really feel so good. But did you know Mom makes really good soup?"

James chuckled at the tangent. "No, I didn't know that. You should get some rest so you can kick your flu." He could see the teenager was tired.

"Okay. Are you leaving?"

"Not for a while."

"Okay." The word slurred a bit as Ryan was starting to fall asleep. Shelby picked up the remote and turned down the volume of the TV.

"I wish you'd called me," James said almost reproachfully. "He's my kid too."

Shelby sighed. "I know that. It just slipped my mind, okay?" She sat down on the armchair with a forlorn sigh. "I don't know what I'm doing, I've never taken care of a sick kid, what if it's not the flu? What if it's something else –"

"You need to calm down," James told her. "It's fine, he'll be fine. It's just a flu, everyone gets it at some point." He moved behind the chair and started to rub her shoulders, trying to get her to relax. She started to lean into him, losing some of her tension.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." He kissed her lightly on the top of her head. "Come on, I'll help with dinner."

* * *

_Thursday_

_9:40 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – Miss you._

_9:43 AM From: Quinn Fabray – I miss you too._

_9:44 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – Aren't you in class?_

_9:44 AM From: Quinn Fabray – Yeah, but Miss Holliday doesn't care. How are you?_

_9:56 AM From: Quinn Fabray – I'm guessing you fell asleep on me._

_1:12 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Sorry, I fell asleep. I'm coughing ever five minutes and the room spins like a merry-go-round when I get up, but never mind that. How's glee? Have you started thinking of a set list? Who's getting the solos?_

_1:14 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Relax, no one's getting any solos. Nothing's happening._

_1:14 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Actually, Coach Sylvester's been revamping the cafeteria menu, and Mercedes has been bitching about the Tots being outlawed. She started a minor riot in the cafeteria at lunch._

_1:18 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – I distinctly disapprove of Coach Sylvester being the interim principal, but I must say that I agree with her on this point. The cafeteria foot is totally unacceptable, how exactly do they think Potato Tots and Mystery Meat are going to provide adequate nutrition to teenagers?_

_1:19 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Nice rant._

_1:20 From: Ryan Corcoran – Thank you._

_.._

_4:33 PM From: Unknown Number – Whazzup Midget_

_4:35 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Who's this?_

_4:35 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Santana? How did you get my number?_

_4:36 PM From: Unknown Number – I have my ways_

_4:36 PM From: Unknown Number – Chill, st0le frm Qs fone_

_4:38 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – I'll be sure to tell her to take better care of it then. Is there a particular reason you're texting me? Or did you just want to send insults in a new format? And on that note, could you please refrain from using 'text speak,' it's distracting._

_4:38 PM From: Unknown Number –u need get better s00n Lady &amp; Wh33zy bein diva b*tches ag4in._

_4:41 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Oh. Thanks. That's kind of sweet. And surprising. Not the part about Kurt and Mercedes, the part about get well soon. I'll ignore the disgusting text speak for now._

_4:42 PM From: Unknown Number – Whatever._

* * *

_Friday_

_8:09 AM From: Quinn Fabray – H3lo Ry4n, how u?_

_8:10 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – Quit that, you know I abhor text lingo, it's a butchering of the English language._

_8:10 AM From: Quinn Fabray – ;) How are you doing?_

_8:11 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – I'm a little better, fever peaked last night but I think it's going away now._

_8:11 AM From: Quinn Fabray – Good._

_10:27 AM From: Quinn Fabray – Ryan, Mr. Schue's been fired, and Miss Holliday's about to take over his position._

_10:29 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – What?! Well, is she any good? Does she know how to run glee?_

_10:29 AM From: Quinn Fabray – I'm going to ignore the fact that you don't seem to care about Mr. Schue being fired…_

_10:31 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – Ok, sorry, that was a little insensitive. Have you seen him? Is he okay? I hope he gets his job back. We disagree sometimes, but he's still a good guy._

_10:32 AM From: Quinn Fabray – No, he hasn't been here._

_2:05 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Mercedes shoved a bunch of potato tots in Coach Sylvester's tailpipe, and I think Miss Holliday's involved somehow. You need to get better soon, you're missing all the fun._

_2:09 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Oh, believe me, I can't wait to get back._

_4:13 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Mr. Schue's back in glee, I think Miss Holliday's staying as a sub._

* * *

_Sunday_

Late in the afternoon, Quinn knocked on the door of the Corcoran house. Ryan asked Quinn to come over so he could borrow some of her notes, because as he said, 'it would be completely unacceptable for his grades to slide just because Lauren Zizes happened to spread her virus in public.' And Quinn was one of the top students at McKinley, so could she please help him out. Quinn had rolled her eyes and agreed. She wasn't above flattery after all.

"Hey Ryan," the blonde cheerleader smiled at him as soon as he opened the door.

"Hey yourself," Ryan grinned, standing aside to let her in, leading her into the living room. Quinn put the bag holding her notebooks down near the coffee table, sitting down next to Ryan.

"You look a lot better." He had a bit of shadow under his eyes, but at least he wasn't trying to hack a lung out. His hair was slightly tousled, he was wearing a gray sweatshirt, and Quinn thought he looked adorable, especially with those warm brown eyes.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better," Ryan answered, beaming. "Thanks for coming over. Don't worry, I'm not contagious anymore."

Quinn smiled, leaning over to give him a kiss, running her tongue over his lip teasingly before pulling away. "Good. Is your mom around?"

Ryan blinked before shaking his head. "No, she and my dad went out, he said she was going insane after four days cooped up in the house, and I agreed, she was getting a little crazy. And since my health is much improved, we were able to convince her to go out with my dad for a few hours. They should be back in a few minutes."

"Right." Quinn reached over for her bag, pulling out a few notebooks. "I brought all the notes I took for the past three days." Ryan took one and started leafing through it, stopping at a page with a cartoon doodle of a sleeping kitten in the margin. Quinn flushed slightly when he smiled. She'd forgotten about that.

"It's cute," he said. He flipped to the next page. This time there was a panda bear sitting in the margin. "You're good." Ryan went through then rest of the notebook, stopping interestedly at the drawings. "Is this the aquarium in the biology room?"

Quinn looked at the picture, which took up the better part of two pages. "Yeah. I was bored."

"It's really lifelike," Ryan said, impressed. "You're very talented."

Quinn shrugged, taking the notebook. "I liked to draw when I was in grade school. I don't really do it a lot now."

"Why not?"

"No time, I guess." She still did, sometimes, but drawing had been an escape for her when she was younger, when no one had wanted to talk to the chubby girl with the large glasses and the big nose. When she'd moved to Lima and gotten a fresh start, some things had fallen to the wayside.

Ryan's voice pulled her from her thoughts. "That's too bad. You're really good, it's a shame to waste the talent." He glanced at her. "I missed you," he said, intertwining their hands. "The texting was fun, but I missed being with you." He leaned in, drawing her into a kiss.

Quinn smiled. "I missed you too." She pulled him closer, cupping a hand around his neck as she caught his lips in hers.

"Okay, enough of that," Shelby's voice cut in, as she walked past the living room carrying a bag of groceries. "Don't make me squirt you with a water bottle." She went into the kitchen.

"Ugh," Ryan groaned, as Quinn pulled away in embarrassment, flushing. "Sorry about her."

"It's fine," Quinn assured him. "Should we go help with the groceries or something?"

"Okay." He pulled her up from the couch, and the two teenagers went into the kitchen, where Shelby was putting some groceries away.

"Hi, Shelby."

"Hello, Quinn," Shelby shot her a smile. Quinn let out a breath, relieved that she wasn't going to say anything about her and Ryan on the couch. Just then, Ryan's dad walked in, carrying another couple of bags of groceries.

"Hi kids," he smiled, before dumping the bags on the kitchen table.

"Hello Mr. Walker," Quinn said politely.

"Quinn, you want to stay for dinner?" Shelby offered. "I'm cooking…uh…something, I'm not sure yet. I was thinking something quick, maybe tacos. Anyways, James here is staying because he's a mooch, and you could stay too, if you want."

"I am not a mooch!"

"Sure you're not," Shelby said placatingly, giving him a kiss as she walked past to get to the sink. "You're just here all the time hanging around for free food." James glared at her.

Quinn stifled a smile. "It's okay, you don't have to feed me."

"I know that, but you're welcome to anyway."

"Yeah," Ryan agreed, looking at her hopefully. "We haven't spent any time together in four days. Stay."

"Okay, okay, fine," Quinn relented with a smile. "Just quit it with the puppy eyes."

"Thank you." Ryan kissed her on the cheek before turning to Shelby. "You need any help with dinner?"

"Sure. Everyone okay with tacos?" After getting a round of nods, Shelby started pulling out the ingredients. "One of you chop the tomatoes, someone do the onions, and whoever's left, grate the cheese."

"Yes, Ma'am," James teased, giving her a quick salute, drawing an eye roll from Shelby.

Quinn smiled at their antics. When she was smaller she could almost remember her parents acting like this. In later years her parents had become less affectionate, and when they did get playful with each other it was cringe-inducing. And not in the _oh-my-god-my-parents-are-so-gross_ way. No, it was almost painful, how fake they were, each of them with a glass of alcohol, acting the part of the perfect WASP family, the one with 2.2 kids and a house with a white picket fence. And the worst part of it all was that she knew, she knew that she was expected to grow up and marry a boy just like her father, and become a housewife just like her mother who catered to her husband's every whim.

This family, though, it wasn't like that. Ryan's parents were natural with each other, she could see it in the way Shelby teased James effortlessly, and in the way James lightly brushed Shelby's back as he passed by. And it was ironic, because they weren't married, and they had a child out of wedlock, and if she thought about it their dynamic shouldn't work. But it did.

And she wanted that. She wanted that easy chemistry with someone, she wanted someone who would look at her the way James looked at Shelby.

She was broken out of her thoughts by Ryan sneaking a pinch of cheese from the bowl she'd been grating cheese into. "Hey!"

Ryan looked at her innocently. "What?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and he relented. "Okay, I'll stop." He looked at her warmly, and Quinn realized that she'd seen James' expression before.

It was the one Ryan wore when he looked at her.

* * *

_Monday_

Finally, after a total of five days spent at home, Ryan was finally allowed to go back to school. He was happy to be back at school. He shut his locker, and found Quinn coming toward him in her Cheerios uniform. "Hey," he grinned, giving her a kiss.

"Hey yourself," Quinn teased him, pulling him back down for another quick kiss. They passed Brittany walking by, pushing Artie in his wheelchair. Ryan watched curiously as Brittany laughed at something Artie said before leaning down to whisper something in his ear. "What happened with those two?"

Quinn looked. "Oh, that. They're dating now, don't ask me how it happened. I have no clue."

Ryan's brow furrowed for a moment. "What about Santana?"

Quinn glanced at him sharply. "What about Santana?"

"Nothing, why, what do you know?"

"What do _you _know?"

The pair stared at each other for a moment in confusion before Quinn's eyes widened. "Oh my god, you know she… you know…likes B?" she questioned in a whisper.

"Wait, how did you know?" Ryan asked. "I was under the impression that no one knows, and I'm pretty sure Santana thinks so too."

Quinn rolled her eyes dismissively. "Please, we've been friends forever, I've been the third wheel since eighth grade. How did you find out? Did she tell you?"

"No," Ryan admitted. "I just…noticed. She's a lot less…intense…when Britt's around. Besides, I already told you, I have a great gaydar." They set off again and he looked sideways at his girlfriend. "Do you have a problem with it?"

"Of course not." She wasn't her dad. She shrugged. "Doesn't matter, anyways."

Ryan looked at her for a moment, hearing the wistfulness in her voice. "You miss them, don't you?"

"No, I don't."

Ryan could see that wasn't completely true, though. "You should go talk to her. I'm sure she misses you too. I know if I were friends with someone for over three years I'd miss them if we suddenly stopped talking. Even if it was because of a fight. Besides, underneath it all I think Santana Lopez is one big marshmallow."

Quinn stayed quiet. "I'll think about it."

"Good." Ryan gave her a quick kiss, opening the door of the classroom for her.

..

Meanwhile, back at McKinley, Ryan was waiting outside the locker rooms for Quinn to come out. Cheerios practice had just finished for the day. He was just inspecting the trophy case across from the locker room doors to pass the time. "Corcoran."

Ryan turned around, and saw Coach Beiste coming out of the locker room. "Hello, Coach. What can I do for you?"

"I'm holding basketball tryouts this week, and I remember you said you might be interested. And I need all the guys I can get."

Ryan considered this. It could be fun, he enjoyed playing with his dad and his grandfather. And maybe Quinn would like it. He knew she had said she didn't need him to be popular like Finn and Puck, but he knew she was getting some flack from the other cheerleaders for dating a loser like him. He smiled. "Okay. I'll be here."

Coach Beiste smiled. "Great. You still got that slip I gave you?" Ryan nodded. "Get your mom to sign that, and show up at the gym on Friday at four."

"Got it."

"Good." The coach nodded at him, before going back to the locker rooms just as Quinn came out.

"Hey," Ryan smiled, going over to his girlfriend. "Are you okay?" He'd noticed Quinn had started out the day relatively okay, but had grown progressively quieter over the course of the afternoon. Yes, he was keeping track of his girlfriend's moods, and no, it wasn't in a creeper way either.

"Yeah." Quinn gave him a quick smile, but Ryan could tell it wasn't exactly genuine. He wished she'd just talk to him, and part of him wanted to just make her tell him what was wrong already, but he also felt like she needed some space. Just then he spotted Sam coming toward them.

"Hey, Sam," Ryan smiled at the blonde boy as he came down the hall with two small kids, a girl and a boy, in tow. They had blonde hair just like Sam and were obviously his siblings.

"Hi Ryan, Quinn," Sam grinned.

"And who are these two?" Ryan asked with a smile, leaning down slightly to look at the two children.

"I'm Stacy," announced the little girl. "That's my brother Stevie. We're twins."

Ryan smiled at Stacy. She was adorable, with her straight blonde hair tied into two pigtails. "Wow, that's really cool. I don't think I know any other sets of twins. How old are you?"

"Thix," Stevie answered. Upon closer inspection, he had a missing tooth, which explained the lisp. "And we're in firtht grade."

"They're my little brother and sister," Sam explained. "Stevie, Stacy, these are my friends. That's Ryan, and that's Quinn." He turned back to Ryan. "I just picked them up from the grade school, then I remembered I left my history homework in my locker." Ryan nodded in understanding.

"Thammy, can we go now?" Stevie piped up. "You said we could get ice cream."

Sam chuckled slightly, and Ryan had to smile. It was obvious Sam really took good care of his brother and sister. "Right. So I gotta get these two home. Later, dude. Say bye, guys," Sam told his small siblings.

"Bye, guys," the twins chorused mischievously. Sam rolled his eyes.

Ryan laughed. "Nice. Bye Stacy, Stevie. See you tomorrow, Sam." The three blonde siblings walked off toward the entrance, and Ryan turned to Quinn. "They're cute, huh?"

But Quinn wasn't there, and Ryan found himself talking to an empty hallway. Ryan walked back to the choir room, passing Quinn's locker on the way. When he didn't find her, he started to worry. He hadn't wanted to push her, but he was starting to think something was really wrong. He grew more and more worried as he went through the school without finding her. Finally, he spotted his girlfriend sitting high on the bleachers overlooking the football field. He quickly made his way up, taking the seat next to her. "What happened, why'd you disappear?"

He didn't receive an answer, and Quinn wouldn't look at him. "Hey, what's wrong?" Ryan gently cupped Quinn's cheek with his hand, turning her toward him. She turned away, but not before he could glimpse the pain and anguish in her hazel eyes. "Talk to me. Please."

Quinn shook her head. "It's nothing."

"Quinn, I know it's not nothing," Ryan said, moving closer to her. "I've noticed you've been off the past few weeks, I'm not completely unobservant. I know there must be something bothering you, and it's killing me that you won't let me help. Please just talk to me." He spotted a tear running down her pale cheek, and carefully wiped it away.

He was starting to think she wasn't going to say anything when she finally spoke. "That little girl. Sam's sister."

Ryan watched her anxiously. "What about her?"

"She – she looks like those pictures of me when I was a kid. And I couldn't help thinking – what's Beth going to look like when she's that age?" Quinn finally choked out. "I saw – on the pictures – she looks like me." She gulped back a sob as she covered her mouth with her hand, trying and failing to regain her composure. "And I'm not going to be her mom – even if I ever get to meet her I won't be the one she comes to in the middle of the night, or the one who takes her to school for the first day, and all that other crap moms get to do, because she'll have Mrs. Waterson to do that for her – and I know that it's the best for her – but it's still killing me!"

She was crying in earnest now, and Ryan couldn't do anything except wrap her in a hug, trying to calm her down. He pulled her close, rubbing a hand back and forth soothingly on her back as she shook in his arms. He sighed, heart breaking for this girl at what she was going through. It wasn't fair. Quinn did what was right for Beth, but she didn't get anything in return. All she got was this heartache. He closed his eyes, leaning his head on hers as she cried out her grief for the baby she had given up.

He didn't know how long they sat there together on the bleachers. After what could have been hours or mere minutes, he felt her calming down, and she pulled away, leaning her arms on her lap, not meeting his eyes. He understood that she just wanted some time, and he kept silent, tucking back a lock of hair that had escaped her Cheerios regulation high ponytail.

"I was at the hospital last week. That day when I was late to glee."

Ryan was immediately all ears. "The hospital? Why? Are you sick?"

"No…Yes…" She sighed. "You know how I've been sort of quiet sometimes?" He nodded. "I talked to your mom a couple of weeks ago, before your uncle's wedding. And she thought I might have PPD. Postpartum depression. She took me to see a psychiatrist."

"And?" Things were starting to fall into place – her mood swings, her quiet spells…

"She was right. That's why I'm a bitch sometimes and I've been having weird mood swings all over the place and –"

She was cut off by her boyfriend suddenly wrapping her in a hug. "Are you okay?" Ryan asked, concern bleeding through in his voice.

"Yeah." Quinn sniffed slightly, wiping at her face. "Most of the time anyway. The doctor advised counseling. No meds or anything, but we'll see how it goes."

"Okay. Don't worry, we'll get through this. I'll do anything to help." Ryan looked at her directly. "I promise. I'll be right here for you. Okay?"

"Okay." She took a deep breath, and Ryan pulled her in for another hug, giving her a kiss on the head. She let out a choked laugh. "I'm sorry –"

Ryan cut her off quickly, shaking his head. "No, don't be sorry. It's okay. I know I'm never going to understand how you feel right now, but I can imagine. Never apologize for how you feel, Quinn, especially not to me." He pulled her snugly against him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You would have been a great mom, Quinn. I'm sure of that. And I think you still will be one day. But you just need to remember that you did what was best for Beth right now. She'll understand that you love her so very much, and that's why you had to give her to a set of loving parents who could give her everything you can't."

Quinn sniffed, tearing up again. Ryan produced a handkerchief from his jacket pocket. "Don't worry, it's clean," he said with a small smile.

"You couldn't have given me this ten minutes ago?" she ribbed him tearfully, with a watery laugh. "Thanks."

"No problem, I make it a habit to carry a handkerchief for emergencies."

Quinn gave him a wobbly smile. "Not just that. For what you said. For looking for me. For staying here with me on the bleachers."

"I'd stay here forever if it made you feel better." He gave her another kiss before rubbing his hands together. "But now that you mention it, maybe we can go inside, where it's warm."

"Okay." He stood up, extending a hand to help her up. She took it, and he pulled her up fast, making her squeal slightly before catching her in a hug. He held her in his arms for a moment, feeling her melt into him. "We're going to be okay."

* * *

**Another chapter! Thank you for the positive reviews for the last chapter, I'm happy you liked. I hope you liked this one answer to reviews, the slushy machine will likely be gone soon, if Shelby has anything to say about it. I'm glad people are sticking with this story, honestly I never thought I'd get this far. Season 3 will likely be the endpoint of this fic, then if I'm inspired and people are interested maybe a sequel. I don't know. Lucy Caboosey will be coming very soon, especially now that the depression issue has come out and Quinn has seen how Ryan reacted.**

**I would also be interested in knowing which characters you would like me to focus on, other than the main ones. I've started building a rapport between Ryan and Sam, and I've introduced Blaine here, even if I can still go either way with him. So leave reviews, tell me what you thought, and I'll see you next time.**


	43. Chapter 42

Late on Tuesday afternoon, James was coming off of his shift as one of Lima Memorial's paramedics. He was a month into his job, and he was finding it quite enjoyable. Hectic at times, what with his dealing with medical emergencies, but highly satisfying. He'd been worried about missing his military life, but he was integrating into his new life very well.

"You going home?"

James looked up to see his ambulance partner Lisa Vance coming toward him. "Hey. Yeah, I'm thinking of heading home. How about you?"

The brunette shrugged. "Eh, yeah, probably. Nothing better to do, anyways."

James smiled. "Too bad." Lisa was maybe a couple of years younger than him, but had lived in Lima her whole life meaning that she knew the town and its roads better than anyone. Hence, she was usually the driver on their calls. He nodded at her with a smile. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

James exited the hospital, making his way to his car thoughtfully. He was home a few minutes later, but after getting inside, he decided he wanted to see Shelby and Ryan. Besides, there was something he wanted to talk to Ryan about. He decided to walk over. It was a nice day out, after all. A little while later he approached the house, and he saw Ryan outside with his basketball. He watched for a moment as Ryan shot the ball at the net, only to have it rebound from the backboard. James quickly moved to catch it, smiling at his son. "Hey."

Ryan smiled as well. "Oh, hi. I didn't know you were coming over today."

"I wasn't, I just thought I'd surprise you." Ryan smiled, catching the basketball as James passed it to him. The older man moved to a defensive position in front of the net.

"When are your tryouts?"

"Friday," Ryan answered, dribbling the ball before faking around James' defense to sink the ball into the net.

"I'm sure you'll get in, James said encouragingly, catching the ball as Ryan moved to defense. James took a shot, sinking the ball neatly. "How's glee?"

Ryan shrugged, catching the ball. "It's okay, I guess. We're supposed to be setting up for Sectionals, it's at the end of November, but Mr. Schue isn't very logistically minded. We'll probably have to make something up on the fly, and I'll be expected to pull something out of a hat to get us to win. Then the club will go on without a word of thanks, and they'll more than likely ascribe the win to one of our other members." He took his own shot, the ball narrowly missing the rim.

"That sounds very specific."

"It's what happened last year. Don't worry, I have an expansive repertoire, and if needed I can come up with a set list on the fly. Of course, I'd prefer to have time to polish our performance, but Mr. Schue doesn't quite seem to agree."

"Ah." James caught the ball this time, bouncing it twice against the ground. "How about with your friends, how are things going?"

"Okay."

"Is anything out of the ordinary happening?" James prodded, passing the ball.

Ryan glanced at him as he caught it. "Is this an interrogation? What…oh." He frowned, looking away. "Mom told you about the slushies, didn't she?" He shot the ball into the hoop.

"Yeah. She told me while you were sick. She also told me it's been going on for a while."

"She shouldn't have told you, I can take care of it myself."

"You're not supposed to."

"I don't need you to feel sorry for me, okay? I'm fine."

"I wasn't," James said, scowling. "I was pissed, sure, but that was because those kids shouldn't be allowed to get away with bullying you, or anyone else in the school."

"Unfortunately, that's how high school works. I'm not popular; I never have been and I don't see that changing anytime soon. The teachers know what's going on, I've been slushied in front of Mr. Schue once and all he did was gape at me like a goldfish. And I've told myself I'm not going to stoop to their level by retaliating. Besides they'd probably do something worse. I've handled it for over two years, and so while your concern is appreciated, it's unnecessary." He tossed the ball onto the lawn before turning and entering the house.

James stood there for a moment at a loss. Then he went into the house, where he found Shelby in the kitchen. "Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah."

Shelby looked at him for a moment, leaning forward on the counter, facing him. "I guess he didn't take it too well."

"No kidding." James sighed. He wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do here. Was he supposed to chase after the kid, or leave him alone to cool off? "What do I do?"

"Maybe give him some time," Shelby suggested. "He's rather dramatic, and sometimes he needs a cooldown period before anything gets through to him."

"Like you, then."

"And you," Shelby retorted. James chuckled sheepishly. He knew it was true. He moved over to stand next to Shelby, with his back to the counter. Shelby turned to lean her head on his shoulder. "I can't really get over how much he's like me. Like us," he added. "I mean, I know he's our kid, but there are times when I forget, and then he does something that's exactly like what we would have done back then, and it's like it hits me all over again."

Shelby smiled slightly. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

They stood there contentedly for a minute, before they heard the dishwasher finish its cycle. Shelby leaned up to give James a kiss before pushing herself away from the counter to get the dishes. James watched her affectionately, with a small smile on his face. He'd imagine something like this a lot of times over the years. What would have happened if he'd stayed, or if he'd had the guts to ask her to wait for him. It was the small moments like this that made him wonder. Maybe they'd be fifteen years into marriage by now, maybe they would have had more kids. But if he really thought about it, he knew all his possible futures contained Shelby Corcoran in them.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Shelby looked at him inquisitively. "Where did you go just now?"

"Oh, nowhere," he said vaguely. "Are you sure Ryan's okay? At school?"

Shelby hesitated. "I think that he thinks he's okay," she said slowly. "He won't let it get to him, he's too stubborn for that." James let out a laugh. "But I don't know. It isn't doing anything for his self-esteem, and god knows it's messed up enough already after…" She shook her head. "And it just makes me crazy that it's been going on forever and no one's stopping it."

"But you're going to do something about it, right?" James asked. "You can't keep letting this happen."

"Oh, don't worry, I fully plan to stop this as soon as possible," Shelby assured him. "I'm still figuring it out, though."

"Well, if you need any help, I'm completely in."

"Thank you." She leaned up to kiss him, and James closed his eyes as he responded. He turned to face her properly, angling his head to deepen the kiss. He smiled as she sighed into his mouth, her hand coming up to tangle in his hair, the other curling in his shirt. He moved his own hands to pull her flush against him, their kiss intensifying before he had to come up for air.

He leaned his forehead against hers for a moment, getting himself under control. This probably wasn't a good idea, they were in the kitchen with their kid just upstairs after all. Then Shelby started kissing at his neck and all his thoughts flew out the window as hands started to roam. Suddenly he jerked involuntarily as she kissed at a sensitive spot.

"I still remember all your spots…" she said smokily, making him gulp. Fuck, she was so hot. With a low growl, James maneuvered them to push her back slowly against the counter, pulling her lips up to meet his again before moving to her ear.

"I remember yours too," he breathed, and she shivered against him as he started sucking at a place he knew drove her crazy. He slipped his hand under her shirt, fingertips brushing at another sensitive patch of skin on her ribs, making her squirm against him.

"Wait, wait," Shelby pushed him back gently, breaking their kiss. James stilled, looking at her.

"What?"

"I just don't want to rush into this, and then have it turn awkward because we move too fast," Shelby explained breathlessly.

"I know, I don't want that to happen either," James said, sighing, as his body started to calm down. She was right. They needed to do this right this time, because it wasn't just the two of them involved this time. But at the same time, he really wanted to move forward. "So what now?"

"I don't know," Shelby admitted. She sat down on one of the bar stools, James joining her a second later. The two of them sat quietly for a moment. James supposed they were kind of stuck, both of them scared to move forward in fear that they'd end up moving backward. "Are we going too fast?" Shelby asked worriedly.

"I don't know." James hesitated. "Honestly, I don't know how to proceed here. Yes, technically we've been together for a short time, but what about all that time in high school? That was like two years, Shel. I think we know each other pretty well already."

"Yeah." Shelby nodded in agreement, and James took her hand on the countertop.

"Do you want to?" They locked gazes for a moment.

"Yes."

"Then let's just…let it happen," James said thoughtfully. "I think it will happen when it feels right."

Shelby nodded again. "I think you're right." She took a deep breath. "When did you get so smart?" she teased lightly.

"I've always been smart," he answered with a straight face. Shelby's eyebrow climbed up, and he let out a laugh. "Must be my age showing through."

"Yeah, you _are_ old."

"I'm just a year older than you…"

"Exactly, you're ancient," Shelby smirked at his pout. "But you're right," she continued more seriously. "It'll happen. How about this. We just won't stop it when the time comes that we both feel like doing it. As long as we're in the right place, of course, not somewhere our son can walk in on us," she added.

James laughed, swooping in for a kiss. "Okay. Deal."

..

"Are you okay?" Shelby asked her son at dinner that night. James had gone home, citing exhaustion from work, but she knew he was just trying to give Ryan some space. Ryan hadn't really talked to her all day, and she knew he was annoyed that she'd told James about the slushy situation.

"Yes, I'm fine, if slightly upset that you told Dad about what was happening at McKinley," Ryan answered with dignity. "I would have much preferred that you had kept it to yourself, since it's a nonissue."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "We've talked about this, Ryan, it is an issue. It shouldn't be happening to you, and it shouldn't be happening to anyone else."

"And I agree," Ryan answered. "Those morons at school are completely out of line, and throwing colored ice into people's faces is not only incredibly jarring and humiliating but also a health hazard that can cause uninvolved persons to slip on the mess. Unfortunately for us, they will keep on doing it. And I can handle it by myself, I don't need anyone else to get involved." He stood up, having finished eating. "Thank you for dinner." He picked his plate up, taking it to the sink before going up to his room.

Shelby sighed, shaking her head. He thought she didn't need to get involved? That's where he was wrong.

* * *

_Wednesday_

"You're what?"

"I'm trying out of the basketball team," Ryan repeated enthusiastically. "Coach Beiste said tryouts are on Friday, and I've decided to go."

Quinn blinked looked disbelievingly at Ryan. "You're trying out for the basketball team?"

"Yes," Ryan nodded, slightly offended by the skepticism in his girlfriend's voice. "Why, you don't think I can do it?"

"That's not what I said," the blonde said, touching his arm. "I just never imagined you going for a sport. Can you even play basketball?"

Ryan gave her a look. "Of course I can, and I'll have you know I'm actually quite proficient at the sport. True, I've only started playing recently with my grandfather, but I can hold my own very well."

"I just thought you were more of the artistic type, I mean, you're literally obsessed with glee."

"Just because I'm focused on music doesn't mean that I'm not interested in other things," Ryan answered, frowning. "You don't think I'm going to be good at it."

"I didn't say that."

"But you're thinking it." Ryan drew himself up to his full height. "Well, I'm highly disappointed by your lack of confidence in my ability, but I'll show you. I'll get on the team. You can watch the tryouts, and you'll be eating your words." He stormed off. Quinn sighed. Never mind, she'd talk to him later.

"Ooh, trouble in paradise."

Quinn sighed again before turning around to find Santana rooting through her locker, which was a few doors down from Quinn's. "It's nothing."

"Sure it's nothing."

Quinn shut her own locker before turning to Santana. "Can we talk?"

"Talking's not really my thing, Blondie."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "I'm serious." She looked around, and seeing that no one was close, stepped closer to the Latina, who turned to face her as well. They spent a moment of staring at each other. "I'm sorry." Santana just stared at her. "About…you know."

"Going all soft, huh, Q?" Santana snarked, before she shrugged, fiddling with the binder she was holding against her chest. "It's whatever, you know?"

"Maybe." Quinn wasn't so sure about that. Santana may have been all tough on the outside, but she knew the other girl was a great big marshmallow once you got past her prickly exterior. "I shouldn't have done that."

"I would've done the same." The two girls looked at each other again, both relaxing slightly. They had been friends and had enough fights to know that this one was over. Quinn gave a small smile, which was returned by Santana. No more words were needed to know they were okay. Until the next fight, of course. Their friendship was really strange. "So, you wanna tell me what's up with your boy?"

"You're awfully concerned," Quinn noted as they walked down the hall to class.

"Whatever. Just getting the downlow on the little people."

"Sure you are. He was just telling me he's trying out for the basketball team, and I was a little skeptical." She turned when the Latina stopped walking. "What?"

"The Hobbit's trying out for the basketball team?" Santana laughed. "There is no way in hell Mr. Barbara Streisand is going to make the cut. The team sucks balls for sure, but he is so not the athletic type."

"Hey." Quinn frowned. That was what she thought too, although in less colorful language, but that was her boyfriend. No one got to diss him in front of her, except Quinn herself. "Quit that."

Santana sniggered. "Sure. Can he even reach the net?"

"I guess so," Quinn said a bit dubiously. "And besides, he's actually a runner. Like, he gets up early every day just to go for a run."

"I'll believes it when I sees it," Santana smirked. "Later, Q."

..

"Hello, Quinn, what can I do for you?" Shelby asked when the blonde cheerleader came into her office after class. Quinn sat down on the chair in front of her desk, and Shelby took a look at her. "You look better," she noted.

"Yeah," Quinn said absently. "I sort of made up with Santana this morning."

"Did you?" Shelby nodded. "That's good." She waited for a minute. "Did you and your mom look into therapists for you?" Quinn was silent, and Shelby sighed. "You haven't told your mom yet." She took the further silence as confirmation. "Quinn, you should really tell her."

"I know."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't know."

Shelby sighed again. This was like pulling teeth. "What's wrong? I thought things between the two of you were okay."

"They are," Quinn said halfheartedly. She was quiet for a moment. "Did Ryan tell you about what happened? When I got pregnant?" Shelby nodded. "I guess we're sort of still walking on eggshells around each other. I don't know." She was quiet again. "I think I'm still mad at her." Shelby noticed her breathing starting to pick up, and she stood up to go closer to the teenager. "I mean, how could she let him do that? I'm their daughter!" Quinn was breathing hard by now. "And now I don't know why I'm the one who's scared when she's the one who was wrong!"

Shelby crouched down in front of the girl, taking her hand. "Okay, it's okay," she said soothingly, rubbing circles into her hand with her thumb. "Just take a deep breath." Quinn obeyed after a second, drawing in a big breath before letting it out. "Better?"

Quinn nodded, breaking her gaze away from Shelby. "Thanks." She didn't know what had happened, it was like she was just couldn't breathe there for a second.

"Does that happen a lot?" Shelby questioned.

"No." The blonde took another deep breath, and the room was quiet again for a few moments.

"Do you want me to come with you to talk to your mom?"

Quinn looked at Shelby. "You'd do that?"

"If you need me to."

The teenager bit her lip for a moment. "Okay."

Shelby nodded. "Is your mom home?"

Quinn blinked. "Now? Like _now_, now?"

"Yes, like _now_, now," Shelby said, smirking a bit. Teenagers.

"No, she gets home at five."

"Okay, you can stay here for now, and I'll follow you home later."

Quinn started to panic. "Today? But I'm not ready, I don't know what to say, I –"

"Calm down," Shelby urged her. "Maybe you're not ready, but can you honestly say you ever will be?" Quinn had to admit that no, maybe not. "And besides, I think the sooner you do it, the sooner the pressure can be taken off. This is obviously bothering you, Quinn. And you're meeting with the therapist tomorrow, maybe your mom can come, if you're both comfortable with it."

Quinn knew Shelby was right, she wasn't sure how long she could take the situation at home. It wasn't strained, she and her mom were…she didn't know. It didn't feel wrong, but it didn't feel right either. And she was already talking to a shrink, it wasn't like things could get much worse.

Of course, her mom could always kick her out again… "Okay, fine," she finally relented. If this was going to happen, she might as well get it over with.

"Good."

..

Meanwhile, Judy Fabray was just pulling up to the Fabray house with a load of groceries. She'd gotten off of work early today since her boss had a business trip, and she'd been able to buy a few things for the house. She carried the few bags into the kitchen and set about tidying up. She glanced at the clock. Quinn should be home soon. She thought they were doing pretty well so far, after the divorce. It was different now, though. She knew that. Quinn was distant, preferring to be with her friends or her boyfriend. Judy suspected her daughter was still angry with her, and she couldn't really blame the girl.

She sighed as she thought about her daughter. Her baby. And she'd failed her baby so badly, far worse than she ever had with her elder daughter Frannie. She'd been so unhappy in her marriage that she'd drank herself to the point of numbness, so much that she had ignored what had been going on with Quinn.

She'd seen her baby changing, from that sweet little girl with the glasses and the love for reading to the ice queen cheerleader trying to be the perfect daughter. She knew what was happening, Russell had been pressuring them into appearing as the perfect family, and her daughters were suffering. But she hadn't done anything. She'd been living under her husband for so long that it was just easier to let it slide and to hide inside a bottle.

Then she'd seen Quinn try on that dress for that Chastity Ball Russell was forcing her into, and she knew. She knew what was happening, she knew her baby was pregnant, but she still hadn't done anything. Instead she'd feigned obliviousness, and accepted her daughter's cover-up. But she knew, she knew that there would be hell to pay when Russell found out.

And she'd been right. Russell had kicked their baby out when the Hudson boy had insensitively announced the pregnancy in the form of a song. She could see Quinn hadn't wanted him to, she could see that Quinn knew what was going to happen. And Judy had done nothing. Again. She'd allowed her husband to evict their crying daughter from the house. She tried to get him to change his mind that night, but when he wouldn't budge she gave up, resorting to a bottle of pinot to soothe her regret.

Then she'd found out Russell had been cheating on her, and finally, finally she'd gotten up the nerve to do something about it. She'd screamed bloody murder at him for an hour, because how _dare_ he, how dare he sleep with that shameless hussy, how dare he kick their youngest daughter out, how dare he drive their first daughter away so that she wouldn't come home if they begged, how dare he put that much pressure on all of them and then betray them?

She'd kicked him out that same night, and a week later she'd gone to try and beg for forgiveness from her daughter, only to arrive just as she went into labor. She'd held her baby's hand through the whole process, watched as she signed the baby girl – _her granddaughter _– over to another young couple. Then she had taken Quinn home, hoping to forge a new, better relationship with her.

But it hadn't worked out that way. She was trying, she'd kicked her alcoholism, she'd been clean for four months. She liked to think Quinn was trying too. But it was hard. She needed to work now, and there were the usual jobs of running a household to take care off. Quinn had school, and she was really involved in her extracurriculars, and it was hard for them to get time together. But that wasn't the real issue. No, the real issue was that her daughter no longer trusted her.

So the two of them coexisted inside the house she'd won in the divorce, both afraid of making the first move, their relationship stuck on the shallow level of, 'how was your day?' and 'let's have pizza for dinner.' Her daughter was moody, and spent a lot of time in her room these days, and Judy didn't know how to get her to open up.

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the front door opening. "Quinnie? Is that you?" she called out, going into the living room. "Hi baby…who's this?" Judy glanced at the brunette woman who was standing in the living room with her daughter.

Quinn cleared her throat a tad nervously. "Uh, Mom, this is Shelby Corcoran, she's the English teacher at school."

Shelby held her hand out. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Fabray." Judy shook her hand, looking her over. She looked familiar somehow, though she couldn't quite place her.

"Good to meet you too," Judy answered, glancing at Quinn before looking back at Shelby. "And it's just Judy. To what do we owe the pleasure?" She motioned for everyone to take a seat, and the three women settled onto the various sofas.

"Quinn actually has something she needs to talk to you about," Shelby answered. "Don't worry, it's not a school problem, she's actually doing very well."

"That's good to hear." Judy had actually been worried that her maybe the teacher was here because her daughter was failing her subject. She turned toward her daughter. "So what's the problem, honey?"

Quinn fidgeted nervously, looking toward Shelby. Judy waited in growing concern. What was wrong with her baby? Finally Quinn spoke up. "I've been feeling off the past few weeks. You know, like mood swings and stuff. And Shelby took me to a therapist a couple of weeks ago."

"And?" Judy asked worriedly.

Her daughter took a deep breath, glancing at Shelby again, who gave her an encouraging nod. "I've got postpartum depression."

Judy's eyes filled with tears. "Quinnie, why didn't you tell me?"

She saw her daughter's gaze harden. "When? You're always out. And I don't know how to talk to you!"

"Quinn, I –"

"Do you know how hard it is, to not trust you? To be scared of doing something wrong because you might kick me out again?" The teenager's voice was rising in her agitation.

Judy looked at her desperately. "Quinnie, I knew you might still be mad at me, but –"

Quinn shot up off the sofa. "Of course I'm mad at you! You could have done something! You didn't have to let him do that to me, you could have stopped him! You knew I was pregnant before he found out, you could have helped me! I was homeless for six months, Mom!" Both mother and daughter were crying now. "I had to live with Finn, and then Puck, and then Mercedes finally felt sorry for me and offered to let me stay, but I needed you. I needed my mom!"

Judy sat frozen in her seat, unable to move as tears coursed down her cheeks. She couldn't even move as Shelby stood up and pulled her daughter back down onto the sofa, rubbing her back comfortingly. Quinn pulled away though, standing back up again. "I can't do this." She all but ran out of the living room, and Judy heard her slam the door to her room and lock it, leaving her and Shelby alone in the now silent living room.

"I've messed this up so bad."

"Yes, you have," Shelby said bluntly.

"You know what happened?" Judy asked a tad nervously, and Shelby nodded. "I don't know what to do," Judy said softly. "I don't think she's ever going to forgive me. I thought maybe if I gave her her space things would fix themselves, but it hasn't." She chuckled humorlessly. "You know, I knew about her being pregnant before the Hudson boy sang it to us? But I didn't do anything. Then I let my bastard of a husband kick her out."

Shelby sighed. "Look, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. But that girl upstairs needs you, and things are not going to fix themselves. I should know. God knows I've made my own mistakes. The important thing now is that you have to do something to fix this. You still have chance to make things better. I'm not going to lie to you, I don't think either of you are ever going to forget what happened. But I do think you can try to move past it."

"I don't know how." There _was_ something up with her child, and she hadn't figured it out. "I failed her again. She couldn't come to me, she had to go to one of her teachers for help. I don't know how to fix this, she's never going to trust me again."

"You're going to have to figure it out. Because she needs her mom."

"No she doesn't. Not anymore, she's a mom herself, she's had to grow up so fast and now she doesn't need me –"

"Yes she does," Shelby cut her off. "She's always going to need you, especially now, with everything she's going through. Your daughter is strong, but she's still a teenager who needs a parent. And you need to step up and be that for her. You owe her that."

Judy nodded silently. She had to do this. She had to be the adult here.

"I have the number for the therapist Quinn and I went to, I've called and she has a few openings for tomorrow. Just call her and set it up."

Judy accepted the card that Shelby held out. "Okay." She took a deep breath. She had work, but screw that. This was more important. She wasn't going to fail again. "Thank you."

* * *

_Two days later_

"Good morning," Ryan greeted Quinn as she came up him at his locker on Friday morning.

"Hi." Quinn kissed him on the cheek. "You ready for your tryouts?"

Ryan smiled. "Yes. I'm glad you're over your shock that I'm actually going to participate in something that doesn't involve my voice."

"Oh, I'm still surprised," Quinn said dryly. "But I'm sure you'll do great."

"How was your therapy session with your mom yesterday?" She'd told him that she was going to a therapy session for her PPD with her mom.

"It was…okay. We've got a long way to go." She was quiet. "Is it wrong that I can't stop being mad at her?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, you've got every right to feel that way. _I'm _a little mad at her." Quinn smiled briefly. "But I do think you should give her a chance."

Quinn nodded. "Okay."

..

A few hours later, Santana strolled into the gym where the basketball tryouts were being held. Spotting Quinn on the bleachers, she went up and plopped herself down beside the blonde. She was sort of happy she'd made up with Quinn, even if she'd never admit it. She missed the girl, especially with Brittany spending most of her time with Artie. "Q."

"S." Quinn nodded at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to see your Midget making an epic fool out himself on the court." She was actually kind of curious. If she had to judge, Ryan Corcoran was no slouch. He wasn't as big as Puck, but he certainly looked a lot fitter than Finn the Pillsbury Doughboy.

"Of course you do." The blonde glanced at her. "Where's B?"

Santana's face soured. "Nowhere." Quinn raised an eyebrow at her, and Santana blinked, caught a little off-guard. Hadn't seen that directed at her in a while. It was still effective, though. "Out with Wheels, okay?"

"Sorry."

Santana shrugged. "Whatever." The two girls returned their attention to the court, where Coach Beiste had just blown her whistle to get all the guys to line up. She spotted Ryan near the end of the row. "Wow, your boy's got nice arms."

Quinn flushed slightly, and Santana smirked. Her friend was such a prude, it was fun to get her riled up sometimes. "Shut up."

"Just sayin'." They watched in silence as the coach set everyone to demonstrate their free throws. Santana snorted to herself as the first few guys failed to make their shots. Each of them got three tries, and judging from this, they were all set to be the season's losers again. Honestly, it was insanely embarrassing to cheer for the McKinley teams. Who wanted to cheer for the perennial losers? She leaned towards Quinn. "Ten bucks says RuPaul doesn't make a single one."

Quinn frowned. "First, don't call him that, and second, I don't gamble."

"But if you did?" Santana prodded. The blonde hesitated.

"I guess."

"Don't sound too confident there, Quinnie. Maybe I should tell him that…"

"Shut up. Fine. I'll take it." Finally, Ryan stepped up, and both girls watched as he picked up a ball, bouncing it twice. He carefully lined up his shot, and the ball sailed in a perfect arc straight into the net. Santana's eyes widened a bit.

"Lucky shot."

Then her mouth fell open as when the second one went in again. Quinn wasn't faring much better, and both girls went a bit slack-jawed when the third ball sank cleanly into the net as well. "I take it back."

"Pay up."

Santana looked at her disbelievingly. "What happened to Miss I-Don't-Gamble?" she grumbled. They watched in silence as Ryan continued to kill all the drills Coach Beiste set. "Damn, Q, Midget looks mad hot all of a sudden…"

Quinn shot her a freezing glare. "Back off, S."

Santana raised her arms innocently. "Just saying." She looked back at the court. "You know I wouldn't do that, right? I may be a bitch, but we're cool."

The corner of Quinn's mouth quirked up. "I know."

Santana bumped her shoulder gently. "Besides, he's not my type." Her type was tall dancers with blonde hair and blue eyes. Their attention turned back to the court when the coach blew her whistle again. She divided up the guys into teams and started up a scrimmage round. "Hobbit's gonna be a shooting guard."

"Yeah." As cheerleaders, both of them had watched enough basketball games – as crappy as their team was – to know how the teams worked. And they also knew enough to know that Ryan was good.

"Okay, I'm out. I need to go pick up some stuff for Mami before the game tonight." Santana hesitated a moment. "You should come over sometime. She's been asking about you. You can bring Air Jordan over there." She nodded at Ryan down on the court.

"Okay."

..

Half an hour later, the tryouts were over, and Ryan was finishing up in the boys' locker room. He was feeling pretty good about the tryout, and he was confident about making it onto the team. Coach Beiste had all but guaranteed it right before he went into the locker room. He exited the locker room and found his girlfriend waiting for him outside. Quinn smiled at him. "Hey."

Ryan looked at her a bit neutrally. "So?" he asked briskly. He was still smarting a little over the fact that she didn't think he'd be able to make it onto the team. It had been a bit of a blow to his ego. So maybe he'd never shown an interest in sports before. That didn't mean he couldn't, right?

The blonde straightened up from her position against the wall. "Well…" She went over to him slowly. "I'm very impressed, Mr. Corcoran. Didn't think you had it in you."

He kept his face straight though. "And?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, smiling as she did. "And…I'm sorry I doubted your athletic prowess, okay? I should have known you'd be good at this." She pulled him down slightly, giving him a kiss. He didn't respond for a moment. "Come on, Ry, don't do that. I'm sorry, okay?"

She kissed him a little more deeply, and a corner of his mouth quirked up as he started surrendering to her. "Thank you." Ryan finally pulled her close, kissing her back. He'd never be able to resist her for long. "I glad you're big enough to admit you were wrong," he added teasingly.

"Don't push it."

"The great Quinn Fabray has just admitted she was wrong about something, it's a momentous occasion," Ryan said innocently, his tone contrasting with the smirk on his face.

"Shut up. If you don't quit it I won't let you take me to dinner to celebrate."

"I'm taking you to dinner?" Ryan asked, lips curving into a smile. "First I've heard of it."

Quinn smiled angelically at him. "Yes, you're taking me out on a date tomorrow, to celebrate you getting on the team."

"Well, technically I'm not on the team yet…"

"This false modesty thing isn't you, you should go back to being your usual overconfident self," Quinn informed him. "And the way everyone else was playing today, Beiste would be crazy not to take you. You were great. Seriously."

"I was, wasn't I?" He grinned at her happily as Quinn rolled her eyes with a smile. "Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint you by declining your delightful invitation. Why tomorrow though? We could go tonight," he suggested.

"I'd like that, but there's a game tonight," Quinn explained. Ryan nodded, remembering that there was indeed a football game that night that his girlfriend would be cheering at. "And obviously I have to show. Thank God we're finally winning, it was getting embarrassing. Last year was a disaster," Quinn grumbled.

Ryan chuckled. "How about after the game? I can come and watch, and we can go do something after."

"You're going to watch the game?" Quinn asked, confused. He didn't particularly make an effort to watch football games.

"I'm going to watch you," he corrected her.

A smile appeared on the blonde's face, and she nodded, giving him a quick kiss. "Okay. See you there."

..

"Hey Mom," Ryan said happily as he hopped into Shelby's Range Rover a little while after Quinn left for Cheerios practice.

"So?" Shelby asked expectantly, as they pulled out of McKinley. "How were the tryouts?"

"They were great," Ryan beamed. "Not to brag, but Coach Beiste said that I was sure to make the team since I outshot most of our current basketball players. Of course, I'm not taking it for granted yet, you should never be complacent about getting a role until you actually get the call, but it was a pretty sure thing after today."

Shelby smiled at him amusedly. "That's great, honey. Keep that ego reined in, though, wouldn't be able to make any jump shots if it gets too big," she teased.

Ryan immediately faltered. Right. He needed to work on his overconfidence. He was trying, he was relatively sure he wasn't as obnoxious as last year. He hadn't been getting as many complaints in glee, anyways. And he was starting to become better friends with some of them, like Sam and Mike, and even Santana somehow. "Okay, I'll keep it in."

"Good" Shelby nodded. "Anyways, I need to go but a few things at the mall, if you want to come with me. Or I can drop you off at home." She glanced at him as they pulled up to a red light.

"I think I'll come with you," Ryan answered, smiling. He liked spending time with his mom. And it would be nice to get out of the house and go somewhere besides school. "I need to be back by seven though, I wanted to watch McKinley's game."

More like to watch his girlfriend, Shelby thought wryly. "Okay. We can have an early dinner before I bring you back, if you like."

"Thanks, but I'm probably going to grab something with Quinn after the game." Shelby nodded, suppressing the slight jealousy that sometimes still flared up. She liked Quinn, but she wanted some time with Ryan too! No, no. She shook her head. She was happy for Ryan, Quinn obviously made him happy, and Shelby wasn't going to become the mom who micromanaged each aspect of her kid's life.

"That's fine." They drove quietly for a minute. "I'm curious," she said. "What made you try out for the basketball team? I didn't really think you were interested in playing, especially since you're so invested in the glee club."

"Well, I told you before, among other reasons, I think it will look good on college applications. Team player and all that. The more extracurriculars, the better, that's why in freshman year I was in almost every club in McKinley. I left most of them after I acquired the job at Mr. Hummel's garage, but it was…an experience." It wasn't exactly a good one since he'd clashed with a lot – most – of the other students, but it didn't matter.

Shelby nodded. "I don't suppose Quinn's being on the Cheerios is one of your other reasons?"

"Of course not." Ryan paused. "Maybe a little. I don't buy into the cliché that the head cheerleader only dates the popular athlete, even though it does seem to pervade the halls of McKinley. And I know Quinn doesn't expect me to join an athletic team or to suddenly gain a massive increase in popularity. But it can't hurt, right?"

"No," Shelby chuckled.

Ryan hummed thoughtfully. "I think it was Grandpa who actually made me decide to do it, though."

"What?" Shelby looked at him for a second. "Did he push you into joining? Because if he did –"

"No, no, no," Ryan said quickly. "He didn't say anything about it. He actually said I didn't have to, actually." Shelby relaxed slightly. "I think I just feel a connection with him when I play. It's family. And it's important to me," he shrugged. "And I do like playing. Not as much as I love singing, but it's fun. And the other guys are able to balance football and glee, and I'm confident I can as well."

"Good," his mom answered. "I don't want you to feel pressured into anything. That said, you're Grandpa's going to be delighted, I think he was slightly disappointed that Josh and I didn't turn out very athletic," she said smiling.

A couple of hours later, the two of them were in Lima's mall, having finished Shelby's errands. Ryan groaned as she dragged him into a clothing store. "You need some winter stuff, it's starting to get colder," she informed him.

Ryan couldn't really argue with that, most of the clothes Shelby had gotten him were more suited for warmer weather, and his old winter clothes, as he was now realizing, weren't exactly the epitome of stylishness. "Fine. But I don't want this to take forever."

"Yes, sir," Shelby said sarcastically. Ryan smiled innocently at her, drawing a chuckle. Shelby picked up a few things with Ryan's approval and shooed him off to the fitting rooms. Ryan quickly started trying them on. Anything to get it over with.

"Are you still upset with me?"

Ryan opened the door, modelling the heavy sweater for his mom. "Well, I would have preferred a little more warning before you dragged me into shopping, but –"

"Not about that. About telling your dad about the slushies." She looked him over critically before nodding.

"Oh." Ryan stepped back into the changing stall. "No, I guess I'm not. Maybe he did have a right to know. I'm not really sure what either of you plan to do about it though. I've been handling it fine." He came back out with the next piece of clothing. Shelby shook her head after looking him over.

"I told you, you're not supposed to be handling it by yourself. It's our job to make sure you're safe."

"Then knock yourselves out trying to help, because honestly that's pretty much all your efforts are going to get you," Ryan informed her. "Besides, someday when I've made it in New York, all that is just going to be approximately two chapters in my autobiography detailing my ability to overcome the ridicule of my peers in order to attain success."

Shelby had to let out a laugh at that one. But she'd actually thought of an incredibly simple fix to the slushy situation. She just needed a little bit of help to pull it off, and James could help with that. Ryan was wrong, she could put a stop to this.

..

A few hours later, Ryan was back in McKinley, standing near the center of one of the bleachers, positioned with a nice view of the field. It was a close game, down to twelve seconds on the clock, with McKinley barely leading by 24-21. The opposing team still had a chance, and if Ryan were a little more invested in the game, it would have been a nailbiter. The more important part of the equation was that his spot also provided him with an excellent view of the cheerleaders. And after watching his blonde girlfriend going through the – mildly provocative – Cheerios routine with the other cheerleaders, Ryan was getting antsy and was more than ready for the game to be over so he could go be with her. He was feeling a little hotter than usual, and he was pretty sure it wasn't from the crowd that was pressing in on him.

A roar came up in the stands as Finn got sacked by one of the huge opposing players, causing the other team to gain possession with six seconds left. Ryan focused on the game, knowing that even if the other team had possession it was highly unlikely that they'd still be able to score from so far downfield. The Cheerios started up again and Ryan's focus once again moved from the game to the blonde head cheerleader. His mouth fell open slightly as she danced with the other cheerleaders, imagining how it would feel to have those legs wrapped around him…

Suddenly a loud whistle blew him out of his reverie. Sure enough, the clock had run out, with McKinley pulling out another win. If they won the next game, they'd make it to State in January. Ryan didn't particularly care though as he fought through the throng of celebrating McKinley fans to the cheerleaders' section. He found Quinn a few minutes later, and grinned at the large smile that spread over her face as soon as she saw him. He could never quite lose the awe he felt that he could get her to smile like that. Not Finn, or Puck, or anyone else. _He _did that.

"You were amazing!" he bellowed at her, knowing that it was the only way she'd hear him over the noise of the cheering fans. Judging by the happy look on her face, she understood. She grabbed his hand, dragging him away from the worst of the crowd. They managed to get far enough away, and Quinn pulled him down to her level for a solid kiss, her tongue tracing across his lip lightly before she pulled away. Ryan grinned goofily at her.

"Thanks for coming," she told him, giving him a hug. Ryan happily wrapped his arms around her.

"Of course. Anything to support my wonderful girlfriend." He leaned down to steal another kiss. "Are you going ot the locker rooms?"

"I've got everything in my car, we can just go," Quinn said with a sly smile. "We're going to my place. If that's okay with you."

Ryan's smile widened. "That sounds perfect." Quinn pulled him in for another kiss, her tongue delving deeper into his mouth, leaving him breathless. He let out a discontented huff when she pulled away again, making her smile at him. "Tease."

"You know it." She grabbed his hand again, tugging him impatiently towards the parking lot. "Come on, let's go."

One car ride later, the couple was on the front porch of Quinn's house as Quinn dug her keys out of her duffel bag. On the way there she'd told him to call a Chinese place for a delivery. Ryan stepped up behind her as she was facing the door, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You sure your keys are in there?" He smirked as he felt her shudder a bit when he whispered the words into her ear.

"Yeah, they're…got them," she said triumphantly, moving to unlock the door, only to fumble the keys as Ryan pressed a kiss just under her ear. "Ry, wait till we get inside…"

He sighed theatrically before stepping back to let Quinn unlock the door. As soon as she managed to open it, she pulled Ryan inside, drawing him into another deep kiss. Ryan closed his eyes, leaning into her with a moan as she slowly teased his mouth open, swirling her tongue in his mouth before pulling back again for air. "Wow."

Quinn just smirked at him, and he swore his heart stopped for a minute. His girlfriend was so damn sexy, and that tiny cheerleading skirt was not helping him right now. She dragged him into the living room before pulling him down to sit beside her on the sofa before catching his lips in another searing kiss.

"Just let me go change, okay?" Quinn said, moving to stand up.

"No!" Ryan flushed a bit when the word came out a bit louder than he'd wanted, and Quinn raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, what you're wearing is fine," he said hastily. More than fine, actually, it was turning him on more than he was proud of.

Quinn nodded slowly, settling back down next to him. "So, did you enjoy the game?" she asked, moving to his place light kisses along his jawline. Ryan tilted his head slightly to give her better access, shuddering under the light, teasing touches. His hand landed on her waist, the other one tangling in her silky hair.

"Yes, yes, I did," he said breathlessly, as her hand started creeping up his shirt to touch his stomach. "I…uh…" he moaned softly as she dragged her nails lightly along his abdomen. "I was a little more invested in the cheerleaders though…"

He felt Quinn smirking against his neck. "Anyone of them in particular?" She brushed her lips lightly against his pulse point, drawing circles on his stomach. He whined softly as he felt himself getting hard.

Ryan shook his head slightly, smiling. "Well there was this one brunette who did this spinning trick…" He yelped as Quinn suddenly nipped at his neck. "But none of them could match the head cheerleader of course," he hurried, wanting nothing more than for Quinn to keep going.

"Really now?" She moved slowly up to the space behind his ear, trailing kisses along the way. "That's good. Did you enjoy the show?" Ryan nodded frantically. God, he was going to go crazy from the way Quinn was touching him.

"Very much so," he managed to get out. He heard Quinn let out a chuckle. He knew she was enjoying this.

"Good," she said, her voice low and raspy against his ear. "She put a little more effort in tonight, since she knew her boyfriend was watching." She kept up her maddening hand movement under his shirt, her tongue trailing lightly along his ear.

"Lucky guy," Ryan gasped. Quinn chuckled, and he let out a low whine as she blew a breath into his ear.

Suddenly, somehow, she was on his lap, straddling him. He couldn't even think anymore, all he knew was that he wanted her. She broke away from his lips with a gasp, and through his lust-filled brain Ryan could recognize the deviousness in her eyes. Oh god, he was in so much trouble. She smirked at him, before diving back for another kiss. Ryan was completely hard, and Quinn slid both her hands under his shirt. "Can you take this off?"

"W-what?"

Quinn pressed their lips together, drawing another moan from him. "Shirt. Off." She nipped at his lower lip, in time with another tug at his shirt. Ryan groaned, before nodding and allowing her to slip her hands under his shirt and pull it over his head. Suddenly he felt self-conscious as he watched Quinn's gaze roaming over him. He'd never done this with anyone else, and Quinn had. What if she didn't like what she saw, what if she decided he wasn't good enough?

But then suddenly he found Quinn's lips crushed against his again, her hands running all over his chest. He gasped hard as she ground down on his hard-on, and his hands automatically went to run up Quinn's thighs. Only to be batted away. "Quinn…"

She just smiled at him. "Not there." She took his hands, slowly guiding them up her cheerleading top. Ryan's eyes widened when she pushed his hands up until they were almost touching her breasts. A thrill rushed through him as he heard her moan when he squeezed experimentally. "Oh god, yes…" she hissed. Ryan felt himself grow impossibly harder. "More, Ry, please."

He wasted no time in obeying, carefully roving his hands under his girlfriend's top, trying out different touches to see what she liked. He slowly ran his thumbs over her peaked nipples, drawing a loud whimper from the blonde.

"God, yes, just like that." Then Ryan's hands completely stopped moving along with his brain as Quinn ground down onto him again. _Oh god, oh god_…He clenched his eyes shut, trying to think about anything besides this in an effort not to explode right there and then. Then…"Say my name."

Ryan almost passed out when Quinn pressed into his erection again, the delicious friction almost enough to make him come on the spot. Then she put her mouth on his neck, right on the spot that drove him crazy whenever she kissed him there. _Dear god, he was going to die. He was going to die with this gorgeous girl completely dominating him, and he was perfectly fine with it._ If she kept this up he wasn't going to last for long. She stroked across him once more. "Say my name."

"Quinn…oh god…"

The blonde smirked mischievously, before settling her hand on the bulge in his jeans, pressing down slightly. A strangled groan came out of her boyfriend, and his hands tightened on her breasts, making her eyes flutter shut. "Oh god – Quinn –"

She pressed down even harder, causing his hips to buck involuntarily into her hand. She loved feeling like this, she loved the thrill that came with her boyfriend completely under her control. His movement rubbed up against her own sex, causing another flood of wetness. She rocked into him slowly, a moan escaping her own throat at the sensation. She slowly ran her hand up his length, drawing another deep groan, until she reached the button of his pants. "Tell me to stop," she husked. Ryan just shut his eyes, letting his head fall back. Slowly, she undid the button, toying with the edge of the garment.

"Keep going…" Ryan choked out, his head falling back onto the sofa.

Quinn hesitated for the first time that night. This was the first time she was ever going to touch a guy's cock with her hand. When she and Puck had had that one night stand it had been a straightforward fuck. It hadn't been anything else. She was so curious though. And she wanted to do it with Ryan. Slowly, tentatively, she started to slide her hand into his pants.

Suddenly, a loud sound pierced the room, making both of them jerk rather spectacularly. Quinn looked around wildly, confused as to where the sound was coming from, before realizing that it was the doorbell. Shit. She locked gazes with Ryan, seeing the flash of frustration and disappointment in his dark eyes. She rolled off of Ryan unwillingly, collapsing next to him. "I should get that," she said breathlessly. Ryan didn't say anything, and she stood up a little unsteadily, her core throbbing hotly. Ryan wasn't faring much better, his head laid back on the sofa, panting heavily.

A few minutes later, their food was paid for and she had it set up on the coffee table. She smirked at her boyfriend. "You okay over there?"

He huffed softly as he watched her. "You're evil."

Quinn's smirk widened when she saw that her boyfriend's pants were still visibly tented. "I'm just going to go upstairs, okay? I want to change out of this uniform." And out of her wet underwear, but that was beside the point. "You just stay here, and I'll be right back."

"Okay."

She kissed his cheek quickly before going upstairs. Where she went to her dresser and glanced at herself in the mirror, smiling. Then her eyes fell on the small photograph she'd taken out a day or two ago. The one of the chubby little girl with large glasses and acne. She picked it up. She needed to tell him soon.

* * *

**Hello everyone, I think it's been a couple of weeks since my last update. Life has been absolutely busy, and I can't wait for the Semester from Hell to be over. It's just one exam and paper after another, in all honesty I haven't had a real weekend since September. Anyways, thanks for all your reviews last time, I really liked reading what you thought and I've gotten quite a few ideas from some of your suggestions. Now I just need the time to write them. Hopefully this chapter is good enough to tide you over for a while. **

**To respond to some of you, I don't really plan to feature Kurt too much in this fic, I mean, he's there, obviously, and yes, he's got quite a few connections to Ryan, but I agree with you guys, he's kind of whiny. The Sam/Quinn almost-kiss might come up in the future, I'm still not sure how I want to tackle that yet. And I was going to put Lucy in here, but the chapter ended up being kind of long so it's been moved to the next one. I haven't gotten around to including many other characters yet, I'm actually finding it hard to fit stuff in since there's a lot I want to get out, but I'll get around to it. Bear with me, as much as I'd like to spend most of my time writing I have rather demanding professors as well. Also, you might have noticed I've changed the rating, and I will try my best at the romancing areas ;)**

**So, leave your reviews, I'll read them, and I will see you all next time!**


	44. Chapter 43

The next afternoon, Quinn was sitting in her room, idly playing with an old school picture in her hand. Ryan had said he'd be coming over in a few minutes, and she was a little apprehensive. She had enjoyed last night, but…She looked down at the four-year-old photograph in her hand. She studied the image with distaste. The girl in the photograph gazed right back at her – glasses, mouth full of metal, pimples all over the place, and an ugly nose. She'd done everything she could to get away from that girl.

And she wanted, needed to tell Ryan about her. She cared about him so much, it was almost scaring her. She'd never felt like this about anyone before. She'd never considered telling Finn, and telling Santana or Brittany would just be stupid. But with Ryan she just felt a compelling need to tell him for some reason.

The doorbell rang, startling her out of her thoughts. She made her way downstairs and opened the front door, smiling when she found her boyfriend. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself," Ryan teased, leaning over to give her a fleeting kiss. She let him step past her into the house. "How was your morning?"

"Same old," Quinn said offhandedly. "Come on." She took his hand and pulled him up the stairs and into her room, watching as he looked around interestedly. He hadn't really had the chance to look around last night, what with their other activities. He ran his hand down the books on one of her three bookcases. Not a lot of people outside of Quinn's family knew she loved reading. Santana and Brittany. Finn, because he'd been in here when they were together. Her love of books was one part of Lucy that had never left Quinn.

"This is very cool," Ryan said, with an impressed tone. "You have quite the sophisticated taste in books, I can see you have all the classics here. Have you read all of these?"

Quinn relaxed, not realizing she had been a bit tense in the first place. She'd almost been waiting for Ryan to make fun of her being a bookworm, the way the kids in grade school and middle school had. _You idiot, of course he wouldn't do that,_ Quinn chastised herself. "Yeah," she said almost shyly. He picked up her dog-eared copy of _Pride and Prejudice_.

"I know Austen's sort of considered a girl's author, but I actually enjoyed reading this last year," Ryan admitted. "That is, until we had to write that analysis paper. I hate writing essays."

"Really? I love it. It's sort of cathartic to express your thoughts in writing." She sat down on the bed. "I like the classics best. There's something fascinating in the cadence of how the old authors wrote."

"That's what singing is for me." Ryan smiled as he put the book down, looking through some other titles. "And of course, Shakespeare is essential to the very foundation of the world of theater…"

Smiling a little, Quinn pulled him away from the bookshelf, pulling him down to sit beside her on the bed. He looked at her expectantly. "What did you want to tell me? It sounds important. You're not breaking up with me, are you?" he asked teasingly.

"If I were going to break up with you, doing it on my bed in my room wouldn't really be the top of my list," she answered dryly, trying to hide her anxiety.

"Then what's up?" Ryan asked curiously. He hesitated. "Is this about last night? Are you…are you sorry we went that far?"

Quinn shook her head quickly. "No, god no." If anything she'd wanted to go further. "I…I just wanted to talk to you about something else." This was the first time she was ever going to tell this story to anyone. She slowly reached out to pick out the picture she'd been looking at earlier, glancing down at it before looking at Ryan. This was it. She could do this. She trusted him. Maybe she wasn't hiding her trepidation quite so well, since Ryan picked up her hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

"I want to tell you about Lucy," Quinn started. "I knew her in grade school. She was this overweight little girl, and she had insane acne and these glasses and braces and a weird nose, and she was a painfully shy dork. No one wanted to be her friend, so she just stayed by herself. She was miserable. She always got teased, and everybody called her mean names. Eventually, got into ballet and she lost some weight. The braces came off, and she started wearing contacts." Quinn swallowed, unable to look at her boyfriend. "Then she asked her daddy for a nose job, and he said yes."

Ryan looked down at their hands as well. "What happened to Lucy?"

Quinn was quiet for a while. "Her dad got a job, at a lawyer's firm in Lima, Ohio. And Lucy decided that she was getting a new start. She'd start over, and she decided that she wasn't ever going to become a loser again. So when she started at her new school, she used her middle name." She took a deep breath. "And she turned into one of those people she hated, the ones who made everyone else miserable, because she decided that if she was one of them, then she wouldn't be teased anymore."

The room was suddenly quiet, only the sound of their breathing breaking the stillness. With every minute that ticked by, Quinn grew more and more hopeless. He wasn't going to want her anymore. He wouldn't want someone like her.

"You know, I wish I could meet Lucy," he said thoughtfully. Quinn flicked her eyes toward him uncertainly. Didn't he get it? "You know what I'd say to her?" The blonde shook her head silently. "I'd tell her that it's okay to want to be accepted, because that's what everyone wants, isn't it? Everyone just wants to feel accepted, and wanted, and liked. And it's okay to change. But you know what else I'd tell her?" he continued. "I'd tell her that those kids who made fun of her were absolute idiots not to see what an amazing person she was underneath. And they weren't worth her time to begin with. I'd tell her that she's beautiful."

"You wouldn't say that if you saw her."

"Can I see her?"

Quinn looked up at him, flicking her gaze down to the picture she was worrying in her hands. She bit her lip for a second before offering the picture to him. She watched as he took it, turning it over and studying it carefully. She looked away, not wanting to see the disgust on his face that had been so obvious on the faces of all her peers in grade school.

"I was right. She's beautiful."

Quinn glanced at him in disbelief. How could he think that? Was he blind? Yes, he'd worn those godawful sweaters for the past two years, but she didn't think he was actually that crazy. "No she's not."

"Yes she is," he countered matter-of-factly, smiling at the photograph. "I see an adorable little girl. She looks shy but there's hopeful quality to her eyes." He looked at her. "She looks like someone who loves to read, and draw," he said teasingly, drawing a giggle from the blonde. "She's got a beautiful, caring smile. She's a wonderful girl." He brushed her cheek lightly with his hand. "And she still is."

"How can you say that? She's not…I'm not her anymore. I lost her somewhere." Tried as hard as she could to lose her.

Ryan shook his head. "That's not true. I think Lucy's still there, but she's scared to come out because she's doesn't want to get hurt again. But you know what? I see her sometimes. I see her when your eyes soften and you smile at me. I see her when you're singing in glee, and when your guard is down and you're laughing." He shook his head at her, smiling. "I think… I think that's why I've always been so drawn to you. Even when you weren't particularly nice to me. It always felt like there was something else about you, something more than the Ice Queen you were projecting." He looked at her, his smile gentling. "And I was right." He brought her hand up to his lips, kissing it. "You're still Lucy, Quinn. And it doesn't matter to me what you look like. I'm not here for your looks, although you are the most beautiful person I've ever met. I'm here for Quinn, and Lucy. I'm here for _you_."

Quinn wiped away at her cheek as she felt a tear slipping down, her tension disappearing with every word that came out of her boyfriend's mouth. She realized that this was why she had needed to tell him. That was exactly what she needed to hear. "Wow, I'm crying on you a lot lately," she said self-deprecatingly. He must think she was completely bipolar or something.

"It's okay." Ryan pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "I'm glad that you are comfortable enough with me to cry in front of me," he said sincerely. "I know you don't do that with a lot of people, and I'm truly honored by the trust you place in me."

Quinn smiled weakly, glancing at the picture that was still in his hand. "She was a real loser though."

"No she wasn't," Ryan told her firmly. "And besides, everyone thinks I'm a loser, but you still like me, right?"

"There is that," Quinn allowed, smiling mischievously at the mock-outraged look on her boyfriend's face.

"Excuse me, you're supposed to say, 'No, Ryan, you're not a loser, you're the most amazing and talented guy at McKinley!'"

Quinn leaned over to give him a kiss on the lips. "Of course you are." She looked at him, head tilted slightly. She wasn't sure what she'd done to deserve him. "You're right, you are amazing, you know that?"

"Good." He became serious again, scooting closer to her on the bed. He reached out to trail his finger over her jawline, and she leaned into the touch. "You're absolutely beautiful, Quinn, but don't for a second think that that's all there is to you. You're not just a pretty face."

She sighed softly. "It's kind of hard when that's the only thing people notice." All her life everything had been centered on appearances, and it was a little jarring to hear someone say otherwise. And to be honest, she didn't know what else she had that would attract anybody.

"Of course it's not. For starters, I liked the fact that you're very academically talented. Don't think I haven't noticed that you're on the honor roll every semester," Ryan said.

Quinn smiled slightly. All her life she'd heard compliments on how beautiful she was, but almost nothing else. She shifted so they were facing each other, lacing her fingers with his. "I didn't think anybody paid attention to that."

"I do," Ryan assured her, kissing her on the neck. "I like your dry humor, and the way you can shut anyone up, even Santana, with just a glare. That's incredibly hot," he smiled mischievously, trailing his lips softly downwards, tracing her jawline. "I like the way your eyes soften when you smile at me. I love your voice." Quinn scoffed a bit breathlessly. "No, really," Ryan insisted. "It's unique."

He ran a hand lightly along her side, making her shiver slightly, then brought their lips together for a languid kiss, letting their lips glide against each other. Quinn felt his hand toying with the edge of her shirt again, and she almost growled as he took his time, letting his hand roam around slowly. "Ryan…"

"Shh." He slid his lips slowly up her jawline, placing tantalizingly soft kisses on his way. "Just let me show you how beautiful I think you are." She shuddered, barely holding back a whimper as he found her pulse point, sucking gently on it while his hand moved into her shirt to run over her stomach.

Suddenly he moved, pushing her gently onto the bed so she was on her back and he was hovering over her, supporting himself with one arm while his other hand kept up its lazy movement under her top. She blinked in surprise up at him.

"Is this okay?"

"I…uhhh…" Quinn trailed off as he brushed his lips against her pulse point, down to her collarbone. She arched slightly into his touch, tilting her head to give him better access. She bucked up into him suddenly when his hand brushed over her nipple sending electricity straight to her core.

"You are so gorgeous," he breathed into her neck, languidly massaging her breast with his hand while placing open mouthed kisses on her neck. She let out a whine as every touch caused more and more wetness to pool between her legs. _She needed more._ Blindly she fumbled with the edge of her own top, tugging it upwards. Ryan's hand stilled hers. "Are you sure?"

Quinn nodded quickly. "Yes, please." She needed his hands, his mouth, his everything on her right now. His teasing was driving her mad. Ryan smiled widely, moving to help her pull the sweater off. Out of reflex, Quinn's arms moved to cover herself, only to be stopped by Ryan's hands. She flicked her gaze up at him uncertainly to find him staring at her in awe, eyes darkening. That look sent another pulse of heat straight to her already pulsing core.

"Beautiful." Then Ryan's mouth was on hers again, and he was surrounding her, his weight settling gently on her own body. She gasped when his lips left hers, trailing down her neck to her collarbone, and her hands came up to run through his dark locks. She felt him smile into her sensitive skin. "Just tell me to stop."

Quinn shuddered as her words from last night were repeated to her. "Keep going."

Ryan looked up at her briefly, and he smiled at the sight of the blonde's face, eyes closed and mouth slightly agape. She was so beautiful, he couldn't even begin to describe her. He wished she hadn't had to go through the ridicule of her peers before she came to Lima. He wished he'd been there with her, to help her. He knew better than anyone what scars could be left by the hurtful words of other people. But he was here now, and he resolved that he was going to do anything and everything he could to make sure that Lucy Quinn Fabray knew exactly how amazing she was.

He moved his lips lower, moving down between her breasts to her smooth abdomen. He knew she'd worked hard over the summer to get her pre-baby body back, and it showed.

"Wait."

He felt her fingers in her hair grip a bit tighter, and he stilled. "What is it?" He looked up at her, to see her hazel eyes looking down at him with a tinge of embarrassment.

"It's just…the stretch marks," she mumbled.

Ryan immediately glanced down, to see the faint marks crossing her stomach. He looked back up. "What about them?" he asked gently.

She sighed. "They're ugly."

"No they're not." He resumed his slow exploration of her stomach with his mouth, lightly tracing along the marks with his tongue. He felt her shudder under him, her fingers tightening in his hair. "They're part of you now. They're a testament that you were strong enough to carry and love a child that you didn't expect, when a lot of people would have done otherwise. And that's another thing about you that's beautiful."

Quinn's eyes filled up at his words. She'd never thought about it that way. Suddenly his lips were back on hers again in a sweet, slow kiss, his fingers wiping the tears away. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's not…" Quinn shut her eyes before looking at him. "Thank you." His mouth quirked into an adorable half-smile that absolutely melted her, before he caught her lips again, this time more insistently. Quinn heard herself let out another moan as his hands came up to cup her breasts again over her bra, squeezing gently. "God, yes, keep doing that," she breathed.

Ryan smiled as he obeyed, moving his lips gently southward to kiss the tops of her breasts. She started to squirm under him, causing her to rub against him deliciously, and he bit his lip to keep back his own groan. He wanted insanely for her to touch him, but he had resolved that right now was going to be all about her. And he thought he was doing a pretty good job, if he did say so himself, judging by sounds Quinn was making and the way she was pressing against him. "Do you want to stop?"

"No," Quinn gasped out quietly, tightening her grip in his hair. "No, Ry, don't stop." She couldn't even begin to describe how she was feeling, how he was making her feel. Ryan resumed his trail down to her stomach again, teasingly slow, his kisses leaving burning fire all over her body. She arched up into him, letting out a hiss when the movement caused her heated sex to rub against his body, stars exploding behind her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked, his voice muffled against her skin, sending vibrations straight through her. She just moaned in response, rubbing against him again. She couldn't take much more of this before she spontaneously combusted. She dithered for a moment, trying to figure out what to do, before finally taking his hand, guiding it down to where she most wanted his touch.

Ryan pulled back, looking up at her. "Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.

She hesitated for a second, before she nodded breathlessly. She'd been burned once before. But this, with him, with Ryan, it just felt right. She trusted him. "Yes."

Ryan looked at her, licking his lips a bit nervously. He'd never done this before. Then Quinn's hand pulled him closer, bring his hand into contact with her core over her underwear. His eyes widened a little at how wet she was, and his ego went up as he realized that it was for him. He'd made her like this. He gave a tentative stroke, pulling a deep moan from Quinn. He gulped as the sound sent all his heart racing, pressing himself into the bed trying to relieve the throb in his erection. _Oh god, this was actually happening_…

He started gaining confidence, slowly moving his fingers around, and he stopped when Quinn suddenly gasped and arched up into him as he hit her clit. "Yes, right there," she moaned. Ryan nodded, focusing his attention on the spot, varying the pressure of his fingers against the bundle of nerves, trying to sound out what he should be doing from the sounds his girlfriend was making.

"Oh god, don't stop, please don't stop," Quinn whined, and Ryan sped up his movements as she quivered. He moved up her body, spellbound at the way she was trembling under him, pressing a kiss on her neck. Suddenly, he felt her tensing under him with a soft cry, and his eyes widened as he felt her shaking under him. He froze uncertainly.

A few seconds later, he finally felt her relaxing, her breathing evening out. He watched in awe as she calmed down, excited beyond belief. "Wow," she breathed out. Ryan could just nod in agreement as he pushed himself up, settling down beside her. She subconsciously snuggled toward him. "Wow."

Ryan chuckled nervously. "You're welcome?"

Quinn forced her eyes to open, meeting his dark gaze. "What about you?" she asked, her words slurring ever so slightly. He just shook his head.

"It's okay," he told her, smiling slightly. "Don't worry about it."

"But –"

"Don't worry about it," Ryan repeated firmly. "I'm just glad you liked it."

"Definitely." Then she shuddered when he trailed a finger on her neck, making her shut her eyes again. "Ry, you need to stop, I can't…"

"Sorry" he apologized. "It's just…"

She opened her eyes again. "What?"

"I think I gave you a hickey."

"Oh." She tried to get up to look in the mirror, but after a moment she gave up. Her body didn't seem to want to cooperate right now, and she couldn't manage to even be annoyed with him if he _had_ given her a hickey. Not after everything else. "It's okay." The two of them lay there side by side for a few moments, not talking, just silently being with each other. That was enough.

* * *

The next morning, James got up early. He wanted to go talk to Ryan. He hadn't seen him since last week, and he knew that his son had had his basketball tryout yesterday. He smiled slightly. It had only been a few months since he'd found out about Ryan, and he was surprisingly comfortable with the kid. He quickly got dressed and decided to walk to Shelby's house. Then he smiled when he spotted Ryan a few minutes into his walk.

"Hey, Ryan," he greeted.

Ryan turned around, smiling when he saw James. "Oh, hi!"

"Out for your run?"

"Yeah," Ryan smiled a little. "It's Sunday so there aren't a lot of people out. They usually like to sleep in on Sundays, I like the quiet." James' smile faded a little. "Oh, don't worry," Ryan said quickly. "I don't mind you being here, I like talking to you."

"Thanks," James chuckled. "How was your tryout? That was yesterday, right?"

Ryan grinned happily. "I think I performed very well, Coach Beiste all but told me I was in. The results won't be posted until tomorrow, but I'm confident I made the team."

"That's great, congratulations," James said happily. "I'm proud of you."

Ryan looked taken aback for a moment, before a faint smile appeared on his face. "Thanks." The two of them walked companionably back toward Shelby's house for a few minutes before Ryan spoke again. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I may have overreacted when I found out that Mom told you about those slushies. I shouldn't have walked out on you."

James nodded his acceptance. "It's okay. I guess I can get why you didn't want us to butt in." He smiled slightly. "I guess parents can be really uncool sometimes."

Ryan smiled back. "It's fine. I think I'll keep you two around anyways," he bantered.

"Thanks," James deadpanned as they approached Shelby's house.

"We should do this more often."

"Yeah, we should," James agreed, as Ryan opened the front door. The pair went inside, finding Shelby in the kitchen making coffee. She looked up when she heard them come in, smiling in surprise at James.

"Oh, hi," she said, coming over to give him a kiss, smirking when Ryan mimed gagging. James chuckled. "I didn't know you were coming over." She looked between the James and Ryan inquisitively, and James nodded slightly, telling her that he and Ryan had talked. Shelby gave him a small smile.

"Yes, I thought I'd mooch breakfast," he teased. Shelby rolled her eyes, going over to stick a few pieces of bread into the toaster. Then she went back to James, putting her arms around his shoulders.

"I'm glad you came over."

James looked around, belatedly noticing that Ryan had gone upstairs to get dressed. He smiled, wrapping his arms around Shelby's waist. "Me too." He dipped down for a kiss as her hand started roaming on his chest, skimming over the military tags he still wore out of habit. He heard her let out a sigh as he deepened their kiss. Oh yeah, this definitely had to happen more.

..

After breakfast, Ryan asked his parents, "Do you have any plans for today?"

James glanced questioningly at Shelby, who flicked her glance toward him meaningfully before looking back at Ryan. Huh. Looks like she had something lined up. "Actually, I've got a few things to take care of with your dad, are you going to be okay by yourself for a few hours?"

"Oh, okay," Ryan said slowly, looking suspiciously between his parents. "I'm sure I can find something to do." He paused. "Actually, I should probably do my homework. See you guys later." He retreated up to his room.

James also looked at Shelby suspiciously. "I know that look, you're planning something. Is it illegal?"

"No, of course not," Shelby answered in an offended tone. "Well, not really."

"That's encouraging."

"Just shut up and listen."

* * *

"Watch out for the pothole."

"Yes, mother." Ryan rolled his eyes at Shelby's backseat driving as he drove them to McKinley on Monday morning. She had let Ryan drive, since as he had told her, he was just a little more than a month away from his sixteenth birthday and he should get as much practice as he could before he took his driver's license exam. "Mom, relax," he said exasperatedly, steering the car so that the pothole passed safely between the wheels. "I know how to drive, this student permit period is a formality at best."

"Sure it is."

They made it to the school without further incident, and Ryan easily parked in Shelby's spot in the teacher's area. The two of them got out of the car, and Ryan opened the back to get his bag. He stopped in surprise when he found a sticky red stain on the backseat. He eyed it cautiously. "Hey mom, what's this?"

Shelby leaned over him to get a look, and Ryan saw her eyes widen for a fraction of a second, so fast he almost thought he imagined it. "Oh, it's nothing, probably just spilled something in there. Come on, I need to get inside."

Ryan shrugged, picking up his bag. He and his mom split up once they got into the school, Ryan going in the direction of his locker and Shelby towards her office. The first thing Ryan noticed was the great big smiles on the faces of some of the students, while the football players in their letterman jackets were going around looking upset. He found Tina and Mercedes talking animatedly near his locker.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked curiously.

"Apparently the slushy machine's been stolen," Mercedes told him. "It just up and vanished overnight. The jocks and the Cheerios have been going crazy since they haven't had anything to throw."

Tina smiled. "If you ask me, it's about time. They should've gotten rid of the thing years ago."

"Gotten rid of what?" Quinn asked, coming up to the group. Ryan smiled a bit goofily, leaning over to place a kiss on her cheek. Quinn returned the smile a little shyly, both of them thinking about their make-out session that Saturday. Ryan, for one, couldn't wait to do it again.

"The slushy machine's gone missing," Tina explained. "No one knows what happened."

"The football players have been throwing a fit, though," Mercedes smirked.

"I can imagine," Ryan said thoughtfully. Quinn looked at him curiously. "We should get to class." He took his girlfriend's hand and walked off in the direction of the English classroom.

"What was that about?" the blonde asked.

"It's probably nothing," Ryan said vaguely. One class later, Ryan hung back after their English class to talk to his mom. He told Quinn to go ahead before approaching the teacher's desk.

"Hi sweetie, what's up?" Shelby smiled up at him from her seat at the desk.

"The slushy machine in the cafeteria has gone missing, that's what's up," Ryan informed her. "Apparently it went missing over the weekend, and the school's in an uproar, I'm surprised you haven't heard about it."

"Well, I haven't been in the faculty lounge yet, so I haven't caught up on the gossip," Shelby said, shuffling some papers on her desk.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?" Ryan asked innocently.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Shelby said with a straight face. "Anyone could have pulled a prank like that."

"Not really, the school's locked up over the weekend, you have to get special permission from a teacher to get in. Now, the only one who would be crazy enough to give permission like that would be Coach Sylvester. Following that logic, the only ones with enough guts to ask her for permission would be the Cheerios, or possibly the jocks, who are coincidentally the ones who are most likely to pull a prank like this. But since they would never want the slushy machine to be magically 'misplaced', it probably wasn't them, leading to the conclusion that in all probability, a teacher was responsible."

"Nicely deduced, Mr. Holmes," Shelby teased. "But I still don't know what you're implying."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "I'm implying that you stole the slushy machine."

"So you've deduced that the machine was stolen by a teacher, but you haven't explained why you think it was me."

"The machine disappeared over the weekend, and I know you said you had some business to take care of on Sunday. Also, I spotted the red stuff on the backseat of your car. Since there are only two of us and nobody rides the backseat, I'm relatively sure that stain was from a slushy, which could possibly have dripped from a slushy machine loaded into the back," Ryan said triumphantly. "Also, you have motive." He smiled a little.

Shelby nodded slightly. "You're right, I do have motive. I'm not happy that those slushies were being tossed at my son's face. However, your evidence is circumstantial at best," she answered. "And I have an alibi, your dad will tell you I was with him on Sunday. Besides, have you seen that machine? I couldn't have lifted that thing."

Ryan thought quickly. "…Maybe he helped you…" He wouldn't really put it past his dad to help his mom with something like this.

"And even if we did do it, are you complaining?"

"Well, no, but –"

"Then you can't know for certain whether I did or didn't actually steal the slushy machine. Besides, I'm a teacher, and I don't support any sort of theft whatsoever."

"Yes, but you could say that this wasn't theft, it was simply a service to the students of the school. By removing that slushy machine you've made many students happy, since they will no longer be assaulted by flying ice every day," Ryan countered, trying to get her to admit it. He just knew in his gut that his mom had stolen that machine.

"I guess that is true," Shelby said, smiling. "You're very smart, you know, you could consider a career in law. But you still can't prove it."

The two of them looked at each other for a moment. Ryan tried hard to find any indication that his suspicions were right. But his mom was an actress. A damn good one, apparently. "I don't understand how you could not make it in Broadway with those acting skills," he grumbled.

Shelby just smiled at him nicely. "Well, thank you. You should probably be getting to your next class, shouldn't you?" Ryan sighed, before nodding in defeat. "Listen. Like I said, stealing is wrong. But – and this is the only time I will say this – I wholeheartedly support the theft of that thing." She ran her hand through his hair. "Should make things a bit easier, right?"

Brown eyes met green, and understanding passed between them. Ryan smiled slightly, knowing that that was probably the closest thing he'd get to an admission. "Right." He wasn't sure what to say. It was sort of overwhelming to know that she cared enough to do that for him. Shelby stood up and wrapped him in a hug, and he wrapped his arms around her in return. "Thank you."

Shelby smiled. "I don't know what you're thanking me for." She pulled away. "But you're welcome."

* * *

_One week later_

"Everyone, I have an announcement," Kurt said happily, just as Mr. Schue came in. "As I'm sure you're all aware, my father and Finn's mother Carole started dating after I introduced them to each other at a PTA meeting last year. And they've just made an announcement. My dad and Finn's mom are about to take one of the biggest steps a couple can make. They're getting married!"

The room burst into applause, Ryan included. He was happy for his boss, Burt was a nice guy and he deserved to be happy. And from what he could tell, Carole Hudson was a good woman too.

Kurt continued. "On that note, I've elected myself to be their wedding planner, and I've decided that we, the New Directions, are going to be their wedding band! I've got so many ideas, and we can all talk about song selections right now."

"That's wonderful, Kurt," Mr. Schue smiled encouragingly. "Now, why don't we all think about songs we can sing for the wedding?"

Ryan raised his hand. "Mr. Schue, while I think it's fabulous that Mr. Hummel and Mrs. Hudson are getting married – mazel tov, Kurt, by the way – shouldn't we be focusing a little more on our set list for Sectionals? It's less than three weeks away, in case you've forgotten."

"I haven't, but thank you for reminding me, Ryan," Mr. Schue answered. "But I do think we can find time for the wedding even while preparing for Sectionals, right? We're just going to have to work twice as hard."

Ryan sighed. He knew what was going to happen. At this rate they wouldn't have a set list until the day before the competition. Well, never mind. He always had something prepared. He just needed to brush up on his repertoire in case they needed him to save the day again like last year.

* * *

_Two days later_

"Hey girlfriend," Mercedes grinned at Tina as she came up to the Asian girl at her locker. "You see the songs for the wedding yet?"

"Yeah," Tina smiled. Actually, Tina thought they should be practicing a little more for Sectionals, but she knew this was important to Kurt too. She saw Ryan walk past them, opening his locker that was just a few doors down from Tina's. "Good afternoon, Tina, Mercedes," he said, sending a smile at the two girls.

"Hey, White Boy," Mercedes nodded, before saying a quick goodbye to Tina and heading up to her own locker.

"Hi Ryan," Tina greeted back. If she were honest with herself, Ryan had been a bit over-the-top last year, but he'd toned down a lot since school had started back up this year. He wasn't quite as arrogant anymore, even if he was still a diva. She didn't know if it was Quinn's influence or the thing with his mom, but it was good. Mike had even told her that Ryan had helped him out with his singing. And if Mike thought he was cool, maybe he wasn't so bad.

"How are you doing? I think I've noticed your voice is better than last year," the boy offered.

Tina was slightly surprised. "Yeah, I took a few vocal lessons over the summer," she answered. "I didn't think anyone had noticed the difference."

"It's noticeable if you pay attention," Ryan assured her. "And of course I have exceptional pitch and hearing, so it's a little easier for me to recognize. I try to listen to everyone's voices in glee, but no one seems to want any pointers," he said a bit ruefully.

Tina, who had started to roll her eyes at the start of his comments, suddenly felt a little bad for him. Just then they noticed Karofsky and Kurt nearby.

"I don't want you near me." Tina could hear a slight tremor in Kurt's voice. Then she saw Karofsky lean menacingly toward Kurt and grab the figurine that was in Kurt's hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ryan start moving towards them.

"Can I have this?" the larger boy asked. Kurt didn't say anything. "Thanks." Karofsky left Kurt, shoving Ryan violently into the lockers as he passed.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Tina asked concernedly, walking over as Ryan righted himself.

"Yes, I'm fine," Ryan said stiffly, brushing himself off. "At least I haven't got ice chunks in my hair," he added ruefully.

"Yeah, I guess so," Tina said. She looked at Mr. Schue, who was talking to Kurt, asking him if he was okay. She looked confusedly. "Didn't he see Karofsky shove you into the lockers?" she asked as Mr. Schue led Kurt away.

"He probably did, he doesn't usually do anything about it, though."

Tina nodded, a little unsettled. "I guess you guys have it a bit harder, the football players don't usually shove us girls. It's mostly slushies, and they can't even do that anymore since the machine's been stolen. I'm pretty sure everyone in glee's thanking whoever stole it."

"I'll be sure to let her know," Ryan said absently. "Listen, I need to go talk to someone."

"Wait, you know who –"

Tina watched in confusion as he walked quickly, trying to catch up to Finn. Okay, that was very weird.

..

"Finn!" Ryan turned away from Tina and hurried after the tall boy. He slowed down a little as what he had just said to Tina registered. He'd almost told her who had stolen the slushy machine. He shook his head though, there were more pressing matters right now.

"What do you want?" Finn asked as Ryan fell into stride with him.

"Okay, I know you don't like me, and I'm not particularly enamored with you either," Ryan started. "But you need to know what's going on with Kurt. Karofsky's really getting to him, and we need to do something about it."

"Look, I can't really do anything, I can't exactly confront Karofsky."

"Why not?"

Finn winced slightly. "Karofsky blocks for me on the football field, okay? Which means if I piss him off, I'm gonna get sacked more times than Jake Cutler, which means Coach Beiste will make Sam quarterback again."

Ryan stopped, looking at him is disbelief. "So you'd rather keep your position as quarterback than help the boy who's about to become your stepbrother? Family's important, Finn, and even if you don't count stepbrother as family, Kurt's a part of our glee family."

"We both know I'll be able to help him more if I stay on top," Finn argued. "He'll be fine. Look, I want to help, but I can't. Sorry." The tall football player walked off, leaving Ryan in the corridor looking at him in disbelief.

..

A few hours later, Mike walked into the choir room to find Artie and Sam waiting there. Ryan had come up to him after their shared History class and had asked him to come to the choir room after 6th period. He'd agreed, because he sort of owed the other boy for helping him with the duets competition, and besides, he was actually sort of cool to talk to. Mike nodded at Artie and Sam before going over to sit down next to them. Right on cue Ryan came in.

"Hello, fellow glee clubbers. I've asked the three of you here to discuss the rapidly escalating situation between Kurt and David Karofsky. It's come to my attention that the bullying is reaching a boiling point, and so I propose that we approach Karofsky and attempt to have him back off of Kurt. Now, since the three of you are part of the football team, I think we should go and confront Karofsky about it later in the locker rooms after football practice."

The Sam, Mike, and Artie were silent for a moment, staring at Ryan. Mike couldn't help but be impressed at his vocabulary. "Wait, how come Finn and Puck aren't in here? Shouldn't they be a part of this?" Artie asked.

"Noah is on probation, and we all know how hotheaded he is," Ryan explained. "If we included him, the confrontation may devolve into fisticuffs and if Noah is involved, he'll be sent back to juvie and we really can't afford to lose anyone else this close to Sectionals. Also, I've already spoken with Finn and he doesn't want to get involved."

"Why not?" Sam questioned. "I mean, their parents are getting married, aren't they? Won't they be like stepbrothers or whatever?"

Ryan looked slightly irritated. "You'll have to ask him that." Mike thought he knew what was going on. Finn didn't want to mess with Karofsky since Karofsky was blocking for him on the football field.

"Well then, I'm in," Sam announced. "Karofsky's just a giant asshole, he shouldn't get away with it. I'll totally back you up, man."

"Me too," Artie nodded. Mike did too.

"Perfect," Ryan smiled. "You all have football practice right before glee, correct? So I'll see you at the locker rooms after football practice. Meeting adjourned, we can all go back to whatever it was we were doing."

Sam and Artie left together, leaving Mike and Ryan in the room. "It's pretty cool of you to do this for Kurt," Mike said. Ryan looked a little surprised at the comment.

"It's no less than what I'd do for anyone else in the New Directions."

And thinking about it now, Mike did believe that. Ryan had helped him, after all, even if he hadn't had to. He was always trying to push the group to be better. Yeah, he was a bit of diva, but so were Kurt and Mercedes, and the others didn't seem to go off on them as much. "Still, it's cool."

Ryan gave him a small smile. "Thanks."

Mike smiled back, waving at the singer before leaving the room to find Tina.

Later, after football practice, Mike saw Ryan come into the locker room. Mike looked around and saw Artie and Sam looking at each other. He looked back at Ryan, who gave them a subtle nod. The four of them started gathering around Karofsky, and he looked at them, challengingly. Artie made the opening move. "Stop picking on Kurt."

"Yeah," Mike nodded, stepping closer to the large bully.

Karofsky scoffed at them, opening his locker. "Do you mind? I'm changing."

"Karofsky, we've decided that we need to tell you to back off of Kurt. Your harassment is going too far. We know the school can't officially take action against you, but if you don't stop, we're going to have to take matters into our own hands," Ryan said firmly. "So you need to back off."

"Or what?" Karofsky sneered at him.

Mike glanced over at Ryan, who seemed unfazed. "There isn't any 'or'. The fact is, we're not giving you any choice in the matter. You need to leave Kurt alone. You may not like him, but that doesn't give you the right to terrorize him."

Mike slammed the locker door closed. "This is a warning."

"We're serious about this," Artie added.

"Oh yeah?" Karofsky sneered. Mike could sense he was feeling uneasy though. And he should, there were four of them there, not counting Puck, who was lurking in the back. Fortunately his buddy Azimio Adams wasn't here. They needed to press him now.

Apparently Ryan thought so too. "Yes. You're going to leave him alone," Ryan told him confidently. "I don't know what you said to him to make him so affected by you, but you're going to stop. Stay away from him."

"Look, if he wants to be a homo, don't rub it in my face. It's up to him."

"We're not asking," Artie said.

Mike stepped up to Karofsky menacingly. They had to do this for Kurt. "We're done talking. Just back off, okay?"

Karofsky snarled at him. "You back off!"

The next thirty seconds passed by in a blur. Karofsky lunged at Mike, shoving him back and knocking him into Artie. His wheelchair fell over backwards, with Mike falling on top of Artie with a grunt. He spent a few seconds extricating himself from the wheelchair, and turned just in time to see Karofsky land a hit on Sam's face before slamming him into the locker. Mike quickly tried to get up to help, since honestly he didn't think Ryan was going to be able to help.

He was wrong though, and he watched in surprise as Ryan gripped Karofsky on the shoulder, pulling him off of Sam. Mike flinched as Karofsky threw a fist at the smaller boy, sure that Ryan was about to have his face rearranged. Then his mouth fell open as Ryan deflected Karofsky' haymaker, retaliating with his own right hook that slammed Karofsky right on the nose, eliciting a soft crunching sound.

Mike, Sam, Artie, and even Puck stared at Ryan in shock. Unfortunately, Ryan also seemed to be taken aback for a second, which was enough for the enraged Karofsky to charge him in a tackle, sending the both of them slamming back into the lockers. But then Ryan somehow managed to throw Karofsky off of him, landing them both on the ground. Finally, Coach Beiste came out of her office. "Hey! What's going on here?!" She grabbed Karofsky, pushing him away from Sam and Ryan. All the boys fell silent, looking at each other.

"It was nothing," Karofsky growled, blood dripping out of his nose from where Ryan had gotten him. Mike wouldn't be surprised if it was broken, it looked like Ryan packed one hell of a punch.

"Your nose doesn't think so," the coach said, glaring around at the others. "What happened?"

"Like he said, it was nothing," Sam jumped in. "Just a misunderstanding."

"Yeah," Karofsky nodded. "It's no big deal, alright?"

The coach gave everyone another glare. "Everybody out. You're coming with me to the nurse." She pulled Karofsky out of the locker rooms. The other football players started shuffling out, leaving Mike, Ryan, Sam, and Artie. Puck had disappeared at some point.

"That was unexpected," Artie said.

"Yeah, dude, I didn't know you could hit that hard," Sam said. Mike thought he sounded a bit nervous, but that was probably just the adrenaline wearing off. As far as he knew, Sam and Ryan were cool.

"Yeah, I think you broke his nose," Mike added. "That'll get him to leave Kurt alone for sure."

..

The boys and Puck were the first into the choir room, followed by Santana. "What is fucking wrong with you?" she grumbled at Ryan. "Lady Hummel's not your friend, hell, he's not even nice to you."

Ryan sighed, rolling his eyes. "I know that."

"Then why would you do that?"

"Because Kurt's part of the glee club, and we're supposed to be family. It's part of my pathological need to be accepted, I suppose. And I couldn't just let Karofsky think that he could get away with harassing him with impunity."

Now Santana rolled her eyes. "You're a moron, you know that?"

"Yes, it's been pointed out to me on several occasions, mostly by you," Ryan retorted. "Why do you care?"

"I don't."

"Sure you don't."

"Shut up."

A few minutes later, the rest of the glee club had convened in the choir room. Santana just sat in the back, watching the proceedings impassively. Sam was now sporting a very nice black eye, and the other boys had various aches. Santana was in a pretty bad mood, since Brittany was sitting next to Artie, looking at him like he'd just returned from a war. Like Wheels would've been able to do anything in the beatdown. Useless lump.

"He was like a wild animal," Mike was describing the encounter to the rest of the glee club as Tina rubbed his shoulder.

"Manimal," Artie nodded.

Brittany rubbed the back of his head where he'd hit it when his wheelchair had fallen over. "I'm so turned on by you right now." Santana rolled her eyes, clenching her jaw.

Puck scowled. "You had no idea how hard it was for me not to jump into that beatdown."

"Where were you, Finn?" Santana sassed, just to say something. Anything to get her eyes off of Britt kissing Four-Eyes.

"I was still out on the field," Finn answered unconvincingly. "I would have totally been in on the beatdown if I'd been there though."

"Fact is, it shouldn't have gone down without you, Finn," Mercedes said from her seat beside Sam, who was holding an icepack to his swollen left eye. "You should have been there."

"Lay off Finn, guys," Kurt said softly. "It isn't his problem. It's none of your problems actually. But thank you for what you did. Especially Sam." Santana rolled her eyes again. Of course he'd be thanking Fishlips, when it was really Hobbit who'd been defending him. She didn't know why she was getting really protective of Ryan lately, but there it was.

Just then Mr. Schue came in, and to Ryan's dismay, Shelby, who immediately looked at him. Santana smirked as Ryan almost shrank back before he straightened up. Complete mama's boy. Though to be fair, Shelby Corcoran was scary. And smoking hot, but that wasn't the point. Santana had seen her almost make some kid cry the other day when he'd mouthed off in English class. Even Snixx had been impressed.

"What happened?" Mr. Schue asked. "Coach Beiste said there was an incident in the locker room."

"They stood up to Karofsky," Quinn said.

"All the guys did," Tina chimed in. "Well, not Finn."

"Is everyone okay? Do we need to go to Principal Sylvester?" Mr. Schue asked concernedly.

"No," Sam said quickly, after exchanging a glance with Ryan. "We got in a few good licks to, so I think we can just call it even. I think Karofsky's nose might be broken, I heard something crunch." Santana looked back at Ryan, impressed. So the Midget packed a wallop. Good to know.

"And if it gets Dave Karofsky to back off of Kurt, I think it's worth it," Ryan added, looking at his mom almost defiantly.

Mr. Schue went over to Kurt, touching his shoulder. "You okay, Kurt?"

Santana almost snorted. A third of the club had bruises, and he was worried about Snow White? She could tell by the look on Shelby's face she wasn't quite impressed with Mr. Schue either.

"Okay guys, take your places. We've got a wedding to prepare for."

Everyone stood up, and the group was soon going through Bruno Mars' _I Think I Wanna Marry You_. Santana watched as Shelby managed to pull Ryan out of the choir room. Being the nosy bitch she was, and since she already had the choreography down – this lesson was more for the benefit of kinetically challenged people, aka Finn – she sidled over to the doorway close enough to listen in on the Hobbit getting told off.

"If you're going to lecture, can we just get it over with? We're in the middle of rehearsals."

"I'm not sure what you want me to say, you've made it pretty clear you don't exactly regret your actions."

"First of all, we didn't start it. We just went there to talk to him, to tell him to leave Kurt alone, because obviously Principal Sylvester can't do anything about it. He's the one who knocked Mike into Artie first. And he was going after Mike again when Sam pulled him off. Then I pulled him off Sam. I was helping a friend. Second, you're right, I don't regret it. Karofsky is an arrogant, bully who deserved what he got. He thinks he can get away with anything because the school isn't doing anything, and he should know he can't push Kurt around without consequences," Ryan ended passionately. Santana had to be impressed once again with that little speech.

"Any more?" Shelby said tartly.

"No," Ryan said in a much more subdued voice. "So, what's the lecture?"

"You know violence isn't the answer, and you should have gone to get a teacher when fists started getting thrown around. I do not approve of brawling in any form," Shelby informed him. "That said, your points are valid and I'm just glad you're not hurt."

Ryan – and Santana – waited for more. "Wait, that's it?"

"That's it. Go back to your rehearsal." She gently pushed him back into the choir room. "And Miss Lopez?"

Santana froze in her spot by the door. Fuck, how did that lady know she was there? She started to voice her question. "How –"

"According to my former students, I have bat ears," Shelby told her, smirking slightly. "It's rude to eavesdrop."

"I wasn't eavesdropping, I was just standing over here so Hudson didn't kick me in the face." She nodded at the tall quarterback, who was dancing like a jerky puppet. Shelby snorted softly.

"Let's pretend I believe that. Try not to get caught next time, yes?" Santana just nodded dumbly as Shelby walked off.

* * *

**Hello! Hope you liked this chapter, once again I tried to get it out earlier but things got in the way. Don't worry, I'm not losing interest in the story, quite the opposite, in fact. Time is the limiting reactant though. Sorry for any typos or grammatical mistakes, beta'd by me and I got tired of proofing halfway through. Maybe I'll come back to it and edit sometime. Anyways, I've tried using other POVs this time around, not sure if it's noticeable or helpful, leave reviews if you've got any thoughts either way. Thank you to everyone who's still reading, apparently we've reached 250,000 words, which I never expected. See you next time!**


	45. Chapter 44

"Morning," Quinn smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist, her face leaning against his shoulders.

"Good morning," Ryan grinned, looking at her over his shoulder. "You're looking happy today." He turned around to give her a kiss.

"Yeah, my mom and I talked a little. We have another appointment with the therapist later."

"How's that going?"

"Pretty well, actually." To Quinn's surprise, the therapy sessions were helping a bit. She'd been dubious at first, probably the result of Russell's rants about the ineffectiveness of shrinks and all that, but she thought she and her mom were getting a little better.

"That's good to hear." He shut his locker, Quinn latching onto his proffered arm. He smiled contentedly, leaning his head on hers for a moment. She smiled as well, relishing the closeness. He just seemed to make everything better, and she couldn't believe what an idiot she'd been to not notice him sooner than she had.

"You know the whole school's talking about how Karofsky got his nose broken," she commented. "He isn't telling anyone what happened, but apparently the story's already out."

"I guess he doesn't want it getting around that his nose got broken by a gleek," Ryan said musingly as they walked to class. "A lot of people were in the locker room, though."

Soon, Quinn got the feeling that people were watching them. She should know, she'd spent two years making sure that all eyes were on her whenever she passed. This was different though. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a couple of freshman girls who were giggling and whispering, taking fleeting glances at Ryan. Quinn frowned at them slightly, almost imperceptibly tightening her hold on her boyfriend's arm. The two girls quickly looked away, not wanting to risk the wrath of the head Cheerio.

"Something wrong?" Ryan asked.

"No, it's nothing." Quinn kept her gaze on the two girls for another moment before turning back to Ryan, who was looking at her with a perplexed expression on his face. "Really."

"Okay, then," he said, before grinning excitedly. "So, I've had a few new ideas for Sectionals, we should really start getting ready soon…"

..

Meanwhile, one Sue Sylvester was in the principal's office, feverishly writing in her journal.

_Dear Journal,_

_The day is ruined. Ruined. Oh, it started out fantastically, Journal. I'm marrying the one person perfect for Sue Sylvester – Sue Sylvester – on Saturday. The invitations to the White House have been sent out by Becky, and the dress fitting went swimmingly. Sure, I may have made the seamstress cry, but she should have been a little more careful with her pins._

_Everything was perfect, Journal. But then HORROR!_

_That woman, who ignored Jean and myself for all those years, had the audacity to come waltzing into my office to insult the wedding planner. She finally found the last Nazi. Well congratulations, MOTHER, I hope you're happy with yourself. I hand-picked that wedding planner myself, and my mother has no right to insult my decisions. Only I can make my workers cry!_

_And then she had the audacity to tell me that she was going to sing at my wedding! The travesty, Journal! If I wanted music at my wedding I would have invited Butt-Chin and the rest of those mouth-breathers he calls a glee club._

_Actually, Journal, I've just had a brilliant idea to deal with my murderous fury…it wouldn't do to have another rage-induced blackout…_

* * *

The next day found Shelby sitting in the teacher's lounge at lunchtime, chatting with Shannon Beiste and watching in mild disgust as the large woman devoured an entire roast chicken with great gusto. She'd figured out that it was best if she was done eating when Shannon started, since the sight was a bit off-putting. The woman was okay, but really, was it necessary to stuff oneself with an entire fowl at every meal?

"Getting' loaded for the basketball game later. You know," Shannon commented after swallowing a large bite. "Your kid's really good. I'm glad he decided to try out."

"That's good, I'll be sure to tell him that," Shelby answered, smiling. Ryan did enjoy playing with James, and he'd been really excited about making the team. The teenager had been beyond pumped this morning for the game later today.

They were interrupted by Will Schuester abruptly coming up to them, standing over the other two teachers. "What did you do?" he asked Shelby angrily.

Shelby's eyes widened fractionally in confusion. "I'm sorry, what exactly did I do?"

"The new coach of Vocal Adrenaline was here earlier this morning," Will answered bitingly. "And he's gotten Sunshine Corazon to transfer."

"Who?"

"The Philippine exchange student, the one who joined New Directions. Now she's jumped ship over to Carmel because a Dustin Goolsby gave her and her mom a condo and a green card." Will glared at her. "I thought you said you weren't working for VA anymore, but did you tell him about Sunshine?"

Shelby glared right back at him. "First of all, I'm not working for Carmel anymore. Second, I have no idea who told Goolsby about Sunshine Corazon, but it sure as hell wasn't me. And third, you need to back off and act like an adult, because you're acting like a teenaged student right now. I don't appreciate being yelled at."

"Neither do I," a new voice said from behind Will. "Hello, Butt-chin," Sue Sylvester said, coming over to stand beside Will. She nodded at Shelby and Shannon. "Yentl, She-Hulk." She looked at Will. "I take it you've found out about the transfer of one of your singing dwarves."

"How did you…" Will trailed off. "You told Goolsby. Why did you do that, you know we need all the members we can get!"

Sue shrugged. "Eh, I was bored. Should have thought twice before making me lose that local Emmy for Rocky Horror, William. And before you decided to turn on me and side with the walking-waste disposal." Sue patted him on the back before walking off.

Will closed his eyes. "Shelby…"

Shelby shook her head, standing up. "Let's not do this. I'm sure you're sorry, but that doesn't really fix anything, does it?"

..

Later, Mercedes and Kurt walked into the choir room, and Mercedes announced, "Hey everybody, this just in. Sunshine's jumped ship over to Vocal Adrenaline, their new coach was here this morning, and he said they offered her a condo and a green card to transfer over there."

"What?" Everybody was in disbelief.

"I'll bet this is Ryan's fault."

"How exactly is this my fault?"

"You must have done something," Kurt said. "Miss Corcoran obviously told them about Sunshine, she's obviously still working for Vocal Adrenaline."

"Back off, it's not his fault, and it's not Sh – Miss Corcoran's either," Quinn said hotly, quickly coming to the defense of her boyfriend and the woman she was coming to regard as a sort of mentor.

Ryan nodded, scowling at Kurt. "That's very offensive and completely untrue, I'm sure my mom didn't have anything to do with this." His mom wouldn't do that, she had promised.

"That's right," Quinn said. "Do you have any proof that Miss Corcoran's behind it?"

"What else could she be doing here, besides trying to sabotage us?" Kurt countered. Ryan was about to retort when Santana spoke up.

"I don't know, maybe teaching English?" she snarked. "Besides it was probably Coach Sylvester, not Miss Corcoran." Ryan looked at her in surprise. Was she actually siding with him? Was the world ending? "She's been a total bitch since we cancelled Rocky Horror, since she was supposed to get a local Emmy for the performance."

Brittany nodded. "Also, she hates us. Well, not the Cheerios. Everyone else."

Most of the club suddenly looked slightly guilty at the accusations they had thrown against Shelby Corcoran. "Besides, Kurt, you have a lot of nerve accusing Ryan of anything right now," Quinn threw out. "Who exactly was it who stood up to Karofsky for you again?"

Right on cue, Mr. Schue came in. "Okay, guys, I'm sure you've heard, Sunshine has joined Vocal Adrenaline, because Sue's mad at us again." The guilty looks increased.

"Mr. Schue, can't you go talk to her?" Ryan asked. "Or some of us could go and speak to her. Maybe we could get her to stay."

Mr. Schue shook his head. "I've tried that. Apparently she's been feeling neglected here, and truthfully she's right. We haven't been using her talent as much as we could have. But it's okay. It's not the end of the world, it just means we're going to have to work doubly hard at our Sectionals numbers. Fortunately, we still have twelve members, so that's not a problem. We'll worry about it after the wedding. Come on, we still need to prepare."

..

_A few hours later_

"So, you ready for your first game?" Quinn asked, as Ryan jogged over to the cheering section a few minutes before the game. The gym was filled up with students, teachers and parents there to watch the first basketball game of the season.

"More than ready, we're going to kill this," Ryan grinned. "This is really exciting. It's almost the same as what I feel just before a performance. And it sort of makes sense, if you think about it, it's kind of like a performance, isn't it? There's an audience, and everyone's watching me, and I'm not using my voice but it's a performance, right?"

"Right. Go get 'em, Tinkerbell," Quinn said teasingly, and Ryan smiled at his own rambling.

"My parents are here, did you see them?" Ryan asked excitedly. Hiram and Leroy hadn't come to any of his concerts or other performances in years, and it meant everything to him that Shelby and James had come to this one.

"I saw."

"I'm really rambling a lot, aren't I?"

Quinn shook her head at him with a smile, patting him on the cheek. "Yes you are. But it's okay. You're cute."

Ryan quirked his head slightly. "Thanks?" The whistle blew, signaling that the game was getting ready to start. "Kiss for luck?" he asked hopefully.

She leaned in with a smile, before moving to his ear. "Win the game, then we'll see." She almost laughed at his pout. "Go." She put a hand on his shoulder to spin him around, gently shoving him towards the rest of the team. Ryan shook his head, smiling at her before jogging over to join the rest of the team.

"Hey man," Bobby Fenton, their point guard nodded at him. Ryan nodded back briskly, glancing around at the rest of the starters. They'd been a bit skeptical of Ryan at first, due to his reputation as McKinley's biggest gleek, but he'd quickly gained their respect as it became obvious in their practices that he was their best scorer.

"Okay boys," Coach Beiste gathered them up in the huddle. "Just keep playing like you did in practice, and we should be good. The Tigers are tall, but they're slow. Just keep the ball moving, pass as much as you can. Corcoran, you better make those three pointers. Gotta keep on the offensive. Ready? Let's go!"

The whistle blew, and the team got into position. Ryan took a second to look around, his hearing assaulted with the sound of the crowd cheering and the marching band pounding out a steady beat. He grinned as he spotted both his parents in the stands, then glanced at his girlfriend in the cheering section. Then hi focus snapped back to the game as the referee went to the middle. Bobby braced himself for the toss-up. A second later, the ball was up, and Bobby managed to grab it before the Tigers' point guard, and the game was on.

True to Coach Beiste's words, the Tigers' players were a tall bunch, but they were slow, and telegraphed their movements obviously. Bobby quickly faked around the player blocking him, passing quickly to Alan, who passed the ball to Ryan, who was open. Ryan moved forward, quickly shooting a two-pointer that sank cleanly into the net, making the first score of the game. He grinned as the crowd cheered, adrenaline running high.

The game moved quickly, with Ryan scoring about half of McKinley's points. Soon the second quarter had run out, with McKinley leading 31 to 22. "Good job out there, boys," Coach Beiste complimented them. "Especially you, Corcoran. They're gettin' tired, just keep doing what you're doing."

The whistle blew again, and the ball was quickly back into play. Again, the opposing players were telegraphing their moves, allowing Ryan to quickly steal the ball away from their shooting guard. He was blocked by another player though, and he quickly passed the ball to a teammate, who broke past the defense to score. As the third quarter progressed Ryan noticed he was being blocked a lot more. At the next time out, Coach Beiste said to him, "Looks like they've noticed you, hotshot. Gonna need to change the plan a bit."

The fourth quarter was spent with Ryan running around as quickly as possible, using as much agility as he could to dodge the other players while making as many shots as he could. Finally the game ended with a win for McKinley. The McKinley crowd was on their feet, completely excited as their basketball team hadn't had a win in years. Ryan grinned happily as they went over to shake hands with the other team, before he found himself wrapped in a hug by his girlfriend. "You were amazing!" Quinn grinned at him.

"Do I get my kiss now?" Ryan returned. He was answered by Quinn tugging him down, crashing her lips against hers. He let out a low moan, pulling her closer to him before they broke apart for air.

"Ugh, get a room," Santana grumbled as she and Brittany came toward them. Quinn smirked, pushing her tongue into Ryan's mouth just to gross the Latina out. She pulled away from her now very dazed boyfriend and gave Santana a beatific smile. Santana rolled her eyes. "You're getting your cooties all over the gym."

"I agree," Shelby said teasingly as she and James came up to the teenagers. The crowd was starting to clear up, and she'd heard Santana's comment.

Ryan grinned. "Mom, Dad!"

"Hey Ryan, that was fantastic," James said, matching his grin as he clapped his son on the back. "You were great out there!"

"Yes, you were," Shelby agreed, pulling him into a hug. "Your grandpa's going to be so proud." She gestured at the video camera she was holding.

"You got me on tape?" Ryan gushed. "We have to see!"

..

Ryan and Quinn ended up at his house doing homework. Shelby had to stay at school for a staff meeting, and James had gone for his shift at the hospital. "You want to watch a movie or something?" Ryan asked, after they had finished their work.

"Sure," Quinn agreed, smiling at him easily. Ryan turned the TV on and started flipping through the channels for something to watch. He stopped at an old movie.

"This okay with you?"

"Yeah." The two of them watched comfortably before Ryan got up to get a bag of chips. He opened it and offered it to Quinn, who declined, opting to settle next to Ryan, resting her head on his shoulder. A minute later, Ryan felt Quinn's hand stroking lightly up and down his arm. He smiled, leaning slightly into the touch.

Another minute later his breath hitched as she turned her head, kissing lightly at his neck, her tongue swirling against his skin. His eyes fluttered shut for a moment as her lips moved to his earlobe, starting to suck gently. "Quinn…"

"Hmmm?"

"W-what about the movie?" Ryan breathed out, feeling the room getting hotter by the second.

"This is way more fun," Quinn smirked, catching his lips in hers, nipping lightly on the lower one. Ryan had to agree with her on that one as her hand made its way up to his collar to tug him closer. He turned slightly to get a better angle, and Quinn pushed her tongue into his mouth, drawing a moan from Ryan. Her hand was suddenly under his shirt, setting his skin on fire everywhere she touched.

His breathing got faster and shallower as her had went down, settling lightly on the growing bulge in his pants. He involuntarily bucked his hips up into the touch, feeling Quinn smirk into their kiss. She slowly moved her lips to his ear, licking lightly across the sensitive patch of skin. She pressed down harder on his lap, making him squirm. "Problem?" she whispered in his ear.

"N-no…" He twitched inside his boxers at the heat of her breath tickling his ear, the sensation sending what felt like half his blood supply racing south.

"Good," Quinn husked. "So you won't have a problem if I do this…" Suddenly she had his pants unbuttoned and was slipping her hand inside.

Ryan let out a yelp as her fist closed around him for the first time, his mind blanking for a second in pleasure. "Oh god, that feels so good…" He let his head drop back against the sofa, his dick twitching as Quinn squeezed gently. Then he let out a low whine as she stroked up experimentally.

Then she stopped moving and Ryan forced his eyes open and turned his head to meet her gaze. She was biting her lip, a look of uncertainty suddenly on her face. "What's wrong?" he managed to get out. He shut his eyes for a moment. "You – we don't have to do this, if you don't want." He practically forced the words out, he thought he might end up crying if they stopped, but he said it. He didn't want to push her into anything he wasn't ready for.

"It's not that," Quinn whispered. "I – I'm not exactly sure what to do," she admitted shyly. "I don't want it to suck for you."

Ryan let his head fall back again with a laugh. "Quinn, anything you do at this point is going to be fantastic for me." _Actually, sucking didn't sound bad at all_. He moved to kiss her, twitching when the motion made him rub up against her hand. He bit his lip, concentrating on not coming. "Just – just move? Please?"

Quinn glanced at him, blushing slightly at the fact that they had just had that short conversation with her hand wrapped around his dick. Ryan felt her grip him a little more firmly, quickly pumping the entire length of him, and he inhaled sharply as his eyes immediately snapped shut in pleasure. She kissed him lightly on the neck, the touch sending heat shooting straight down, and he thrust forward into her hand in reflex. _Oh god, oh god, it was so much better than he had imagined._ Her fingers danced down teasingly to touch his balls, before stroking up his shaft again, and Ryan let out a whine at the maddening touch. Her hand wrapped around him again, sending his eyes rolling back. "Fuck, yes, just like that…"

Quinn's eyes widened slightly at the profanity, she'd never actually heard him swear before. Her confidence bolstered, she stroked again, before running her fingers lightly over the head, making him moan. She huffed lightly at the difficult angle she was in, before she had an idea. She took her hand out of his pants, and he whined in protest at the loss of contact. "Wait a second." She saw his eyes open slightly as she started to tug at the edge of his pants. He quickly got the idea, helping her to pull them down.

Then her hand was back in his boxers, squeezing his girth and pulling a soft cry from him. She surged forward, capturing his mouth in a kiss before resuming her stroking motions. She started varying the speed and pressure a little, trying to learn what he liked. She trailed her mouth back to his ear, and a breathless jumble of 'yespleasegodmore' started spilling from his mouth as she sped up her movement, his hips moving up to meet her strokes.

"Say my name, Ry," she whispered into his ear. "Say my name."

"Quinn… yes… getting close… that's so good, Quinn…"

A thrill rushed through her as he mumbled out the words incoherently, his breathing growing more and more ragged, and her hand sped up almost on its own. She rubbed her thighs together, trying to relieve some of the throbbing that had been building up in her own core over the past ten minutes. Having him like this gave her such an incredible rush, and she wanted to see him finish, knowing that it was for her. She felt him tensing in her hand.

"Quinn – I –"

Ryan's entire body seemed to clench suddenly, and Quinn felt her boyfriend's dick twitch, a spurt of fluid coming out of the tip. She stroked gently and more fluid spurted out, flowing onto her hand as an unintelligible garble left his throat. She pumped him a few more times as he rode out his climax. She felt him starting to relax, his member growing limp in her hand. His brown eyes cracked open, searching for hers. "That was… that was incredible," he mumbled, as his breathing began to even out.

"Good," Quinn said with a smug smile. She looked down in fascination at her right hand, which was covered with his come.

"Sorry about that," Ryan said in embarrassment.

"It's fine," she answered, repressing the urge to lick it off. Maybe another time. She leaned in to kiss him on the lips, and he let out a sigh of contentment. He ran his tongue across her lips, deepening the kiss. Quinn's eyes fluttered shut. Then they flew open as she felt his hand skimming lightly along her thigh. "W-what are you doing?"

"Returning the favor," he said lightly, tracing patterns along her leg. His hand stilled suddenly. "Unless you don't want me to," he said uncertainly, pulling back to look at her. Quinn's sex gave a sudden throb, reminding her of her own desire.

"Yeah…" she breathed, pulling him back into a kiss. "Yes, keep going…" She moaned as his hand stroked lightly up her inner thigh and under her skirt. She tilted her neck instinctively as he started to trail his lips down to her throat, pushing her back ever so slowly onto the couch. Then she gasped as he suddenly swiped across her center.

"Too soon?" Ryan asked softly. Quinn shook her head frantically.

"No, keep going."

Ryan nodded, lips brushing lightly against her neck, one hand moving up to tangle itself in her hair, and the other resuming its stroking against Quinn's underwear. Quinn moaned, tilting her head to allow Ryan more access, stars dancing behind her eyes as he continued his slow strokes.

"You're so wet…"

"For you," she managed to gasp out. Ryan pulled back, and Quinn could see the heat in his eyes, sending another gush of wetness between her thighs. _He was so hot._ Ryan's hand moved slowly up to the edge of her panties.

"May I…?"

Quinn nodded so fast she was afraid her head might fall off. "_Yes."_ Ryan smiled, covering her mouth with his again as he pushed his hand into her underwear, coming into contact with her dripping sex. Quinn let out a loud moan into his mouth as his fingers brushed lightly over her clit. "Yes, god, do that again!"

She felt him smiling into their kiss as he complied. Then she felt his stroke along her folds, his finger circling slowly around her entrance. She gave a whimper at the teasing touch, bucking upwards into his hand. "Ryan…"

"Do you want me to –"

"_Yes!"_ Right now she didn't want anything more than to have him inside her. He moved his lips back to her neck, sucking gently at the pulse point and making her squirm. Then she felt his finger at her entrance again. "Inside, Ry, _please."_ She was so close, she knew it wouldn't take much. Finally she felt him pushing one finger slowly into her. She gasped at the intrusion, and felt him stop. "Keep going."

Ryan nodded, resuming his movement until his finger was in as far as he could go. He stopped for a moment, both of them letting out a moan of pleasure. He could feel her walls tightening around his finger, and couldn't help but fantasize about how it would feel to have his dick inside of her. He thrust into her experimentally, making her inhale sharply. "Sorry, I don't know what I'm doing either –"

"Do that again."

Ryan's eyes widened before he followed her instructions, pulling his finger out slightly before pushing it back in. He felt her writhe under him.

Quinn whined. "Keep going, I'm so close…" He nodded, thrusting a few more times quickly, then pressed his thumb against her clit again. "_Yes_!" Suddenly Ryan felt her walls clenching around his finger, and he slowed down, pulsing his finger again as she rode out her high. He felt her starting to relax, and he pulled out of her, drawing a soft whimper from her lips.

"You okay?"

"Yes…" she breathed, eyes still closed.

"Was I okay? I'm not experienced at this and I don't know exactly how –"

"Just shut up for a second okay?" Quinn breathed out again, and Ryan quieted. "More than okay, Ry. You were…"

Ryan smiled, ego swelling a bit at the fact that she seemed to be speechless. "So it was good?"

"Yes, okay? You were fantastic."

"Thank you."

* * *

"Did you hear the news?" Mercedes asked as the girls were getting their makeup on. It was late on Saturday afternoon, the Hummel-Hudson wedding was starting in an hour, and the entire glee club was present and ready to serenade the happy couple.

"No, what news?" Quinn asked. She was really behind on the McKinley gossip.

"Karofsky's been expelled."

"What?" Quinn asked in astonishment. "What happened?"

"Well, no one's sure, but he and his dad were in the principal's office with Kurt and Mr. Hummel yesterday afternoon," Tina shared. "I know Kurt said he was going to try and teach his dad and Finn how to dance for the wedding yesterday" – all the girls scoffed at the idea of Finn learning how to dance – "but I don't know what happened after that."

"Well, if you ask me, serves the moron right," Santana shrugged, carefully putting on her eyeliner. "He's a typical self-righteous chauvinistic white male with the social skills of a pig." Everyone agreed, having been slushied by the large football player at least once.

Soon everyone's makeup was finished, and the group dispersed.

"Hey."

Quinn looked up to see Sam coming up to her. "Hi Sam." She was still a little wary of him after he'd tried to kiss her during Duets week, but they hadn't been alone together since, and he hadn't tried anything. "What's up?"

"Do you know how to fix this thing?" Sam sheepishly held up the tie he was supposed to be wearing. "I can't figure it out, and I must have gotten it tangled at least three times already. Quinn looked at him for a moment, before relenting.

"Come here." She took the tie, carefully tucking it around under his collar before working on the knot. Her mom had shown her how to do it a few years ago, saying she should know how to do it for her future husband. She scoffed internally, knowing that at the time she had been expected to marry a rich WASP socialite just like her father.

"You look really nice in that dress," Sam complimented her, and her hands stilled on the tie for a moment.

"Sam…"

"Sorry," he apologized. "I'm not trying to make a move."

"Good." She finished with the tie just as Ryan came into the room. She smiled at her boyfriend. "Hi."

"Hello, Quinn. Hey Sam." He nodded amicably at the blonde boy. "What are you two up to?"

"Just needed some help with tying the tie," Sam explained. "I should go," he said, making his exit as Quinn watched him a little uncomfortably.

"You okay?" Ryan asked her, noticing.

Quinn shook herself a little. "Yeah, it's nothing." She looked him up and down before going to press herself against him. "I don't suppose you need help with your tie too?" she said rhetorically, her hands coming up to straighten the perfectly assembled black tie.

"No, as you can see I'm perfectly capable of tying a tie," Ryan assured her with a smile. "It's easy enough, and the internet is very informative." He smiled as she smoothed her hands over his chest, his hands wrapping around her waist to pull her flush against him. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," Quinn smiled, the compliment having a totally different effect on her when it came from Ryan, sending a blush to her cheeks rather than the discomfort that had arisen from Sam's compliment. She knew he didn't mean any harm, but it somehow felt like she was being disloyal to Ryan. "You look pretty handsome yourself."

"Yes, we do make quite a striking couple, don't we?"

..

The wedding went off without a hitch, with the New Directions singing _I Think I Wanna Marry You_ in lieu of a wedding march. At the reception Mr. Schue sang _Sway_ for the new couple's first dance, and Finn sang _Just the Way You Are to Kurt_, as his way of apologizing for how he'd handled the situation with Karofsky over the last week. It was a nice gesture, but in Ryan's opinion one grand gesture like that didn't exactly make up for everything that had happened between the two now-stepbrothers. But then that wasn't his business.

As the wedding was wrapping up, he went up to Burt and Carole. He smiled at his boss and his new bride. "Congratulations to both of you," he said sincerely. "You make a beautiful couple, and I'm sure you'll be very happy together."

"Thank you," Carole said, equally as sincerely.

"Thanks, Ryan," Burt smiled happily. "And we're already completely happy," he continued, wrapping an arm around Carole's shoulders. Ryan gave them another smile. He could see how incredibly happy the two of them were, just from the way they looked at each other. "And thank you. You know, for all the singing. You were great."

Carole laughed at her husband. "He's right. Thank you, all of you. It was wonderful."

"Happy to be of service," Ryan answered. "I hope you enjoy Waikiki."

"We will," Burt said, his attention back on his wife. Ryan just smiled and went off to look for Quinn. He found her a few minutes later in the small sitting area of the building's lobby.

"Hi." He sat down beside her on the lounge seat, exhaling. "I'm tired. How come you're alone?"

"Everyone's left already, Santana and Britt are going to S's house," Quinn answered absently. Ryan glanced at her inquisitively, sensing some melancholy coming off the blonde.

"Something wrong?"

Quinn just snuggled closer to him, and Ryan happily wrapped his arm around her. The two of them sat there quietly for a moment. "You know what tomorrow is?"

Ryan thought for a moment. "No?" He racked his brain trying to remember if he'd missed someone's birthday or anniversary. "Is there an occasion I've missed or something? I know it's not your birthday yet, and you weren't even talking to me this time last year, civilly at least, and –"

"Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day my parents kicked me out."

Ryan inhaled softly, and he closed his eyes. "Oh." He tightened his hold around her, not knowing what to say. "Oh."

"Yeah." Quinn nodded. "And I guess it hit me all of a sudden."

"Do you – is there anything I can do? I'm not really sure –" Ryan's uncertain rambling was cut off by Quinn lightly pressing her fingers on his lips.

"This is good." She pressed closer to him. "Just… this is fine."

Ryan leaned his head on hers gently, relishing the smoothness of her hair on his cheek. "Okay." He inhaled slightly, taking in her scent. He was quickly associating the light fragrance of vanilla with her, and it always relaxed him. They sat there quietly for a few minutes in their little corner. "Did you talk to your mom?"

Quinn nodded. "It came up in the therapy session yesterday."

"What did she say?" Ryan asked, before stopping. "Sorry, you don't need to tell me that. It might be overstepping a little."

"It's fine," Quinn said softly. "She said she was sorry… and that if she could go back and do it over… But obviously she can't." She sighed, glancing at the clock on the wall of the lobby. "We should probably go." She moved off of Ryan, who nodded. He stood up, offering the blonde a hand to pull her up.

"Okay. Let's go."

* * *

Three knocks on the door. Quinn stood outside the Corcoran's house early the next morning, wearing a heavy jacket against the rapidly cooling November weather. She waited on the porch for Ryan to answer, knowing that he was likely already awake. So when Shelby opened the door in a bathrobe, hair still messed up and sleep in her eyes, Quinn didn't quite know what to say. "Hi."

"Quinn," Shelby noted. "You're here early. It's just after seven."

"Um, yeah." She fidgeted a little. "I thought Ryan would be awake by now."

"Oh, he is," Shelby answered, stepping aside and gesturing at Quinn to come in. "But he and his dad went to pick up something on the other side of town. I'm not sure what, since I was half asleep when they asked permission."

"Oh," Quinn said quietly. "I'm sorry for waking you up," she said contritely.

"It's fine." Shelby looked at her for a moment in that way she had that made Quinn feel like the older woman could see right through her. "Why don't you put up your jacket? I'll make us some coffee."

"Okay." Quinn started shrugging out of her coat, hanging it up before she followed Shelby into the kitchen. She sat down at the counter, watching Shelby set up the coffee machine. The pot started up, and Shelby sat down with her.

"So," the brunette said lightly. "What brings you out here at this ungodly hour?"

"Nothing." Quinn took a sip of her coffee. "I just didn't want to be at the house today."

"Ah." Shelby sipped her own drink. "Did something happen between you and your mom?"

Quinn shook her head. She wasn't sure what she was doing here, actually. Besides the fact that she wanted to be anywhere but at her own house.

"Did you have a good time at the wedding yesterday?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Quinn picked up a plastic stirrer, twirling it between her fingers. "Do you know Mr. Hummel and Mrs. Hudson?"

"I've met Burt Hummel a few times at the garage," Shelby nodded. "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Hudson, though."

"She's really sweet," Quinn said absently, finding it easier to focus on the plastic stirrer than on Shelby. "Exactly one year ago was when my parents kicked me out of the house." She was quiet for a moment. "Mrs. Hudson was so nice about the whole thing. She was so sweet and understanding, and the whole time I was lying to her because she thought I was carrying her grandchild. And I couldn't even look her in the eye yesterday because I _still_ feel like a heartless bitch."

"Well, I can't say for certain that I know what was going on in your head at the time," Shelby said slowly. Quinn ducked her head unhappily, knowing the truth in her words. It had been a decision borne of sheer desperation that had piled into one lie after another. "If I were in Mrs. Hudson's position I'm not sure how I'd react either," Shelby mused. "Did you talk to her? After she found out?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah. I apologized before I moved to Puck's house. But I could just see that betrayed look in her eyes and…" She trailed off.

"That's just the way it goes," Shelby said gently. "Your decisions have consequences, and what you did hurt a lot of the people around you."

"It sucks."

"Yes it does." The two of them sat there, drinking their coffee in silence. It had helped, though, Quinn thought, feeling a lot lighter than she had when she'd first come in here. She appreciated the fact that Shelby, while giving good advice, could also keep quiet and just let her talk. Her mother was trying to fix things, trying a little too hard sometimes. It seemed like all she wanted to do right now was talk, but sometimes Quinn just needed some quiet.

A quiet that was broken when the front door opened, and Ryan walked into the kitchen. "Hi Mom," he greeted Shelby. "Oh, you're here," he smiled happily at Quinn. "I was going to come over after breakfast." He looked over her a bit anxiously. "How are you?"

"I'm… okay," Quinn decided. She could feel Shelby looking at her. "Really."

"Okay… good," Ryan said uncertainly, before he grinned at her, sitting down next to her at the counter. "I was thinking maybe we could go out later, have lunch, see a movie or something. Or we could just stay in, we could think of something to do."

Quinn smiled at him. "Yeah." She knew what he was doing, he was trying to distract her from the day. And she loved him for that.

Ryan tilted his head adorably. "To which part?"

Quinn grabbed his hand that was on the counter, giving it a squeeze. "Either's fine." She looked into his eyes, trying to convey her thanks.

They remained in that position for a moment before Shelby cleared her throat. "Okay, enough with the gooey eyes. Do you two want breakfast?"

Ryan chuckled. "That would be great, Mom."

..

That afternoon found Ryan and Quinn walking slowly in the park, having spent the day together. Ryan had enjoyed every second of it, completely enamored with his girlfriend. He loved how witty she was, how beautiful. How well they fit together when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she wrapped hers around his waist. At times like this he could definitely imagine their future together. Chasing their dreams together. Growing old with her.

"Ry?"

Ryan tilted his head, drawn out of his thoughts. "Hmm?"

"Thanks for this."

"For what?"

"You know what," Quinn smiled at him.

Ryan smiled, pulling her closer. She'd told him about what today was, and he'd been trying as hard as he could to keep her from being sad, because he couldn't bear to see her unhappy. "Anything to keep that smile on your face."

Quinn reached up to kiss him on the cheek, and Ryan felt the heat radiating from the spot. Soon they found an empty bench and they sat down. Ryan reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a digital camera that he'd borrowed from Shelby. He turned it on, moving closer to Quinn, who raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking a picture," Ryan answered matter-of-factly, holding his arm out to try to capture them both in the frame.

"Tilt it up a little higher," Quinn advised. Ryan complied, and snapped the picture. He turned the screen toward them, smiling at the image. Quinn took the camera, adjust a few of the settings, and aimed it back at them. Ryan grinned at the camera just as Quinn snapped the picture. She turned the screen back to see the picture. Ryan's eyes widened.

"How did you do that? It looks about ten times better than mine." Somehow the colors on the screen had sharpened, the light more balanced.

Quinn shrugged. "You just need to fix the light settings so that the contrast increases, it makes the picture look better. And the sun's over there," she gestured, "so my angle was better."

Ryan smiled. "Wow, you're a photography nerd. That's so cool." He loved finding out all these things about Quinn. He was quickly discovering that she was very artistic – she could sing, she could draw insanely well, she loved reading and writing, and she was a photographer. "Do you have one of those giant cameras?"

"A DSLR? No, I don't," Quinn answered. "But those are great, my… dad… had one, and I could take great pictures with those," she smiled. "When he let me use it, anyways."

"Maybe you should get one of your own."

Quinn hummed in response. "I've been thinking about it. They're a bit expensive though."

Ryan nodded, smiling when Quinn snapped off another photo. "Take another one of the both of us." Quinn nodded, stretching out her arm again. Just as she snapped the picture, Ryan gave her a kiss on the cheek. He quickly took the camera, laughing at the surprised look on Quinn's face.

"Real mature," Quinn said dryly, even as she smiled. Ryan quickly turned the camera on her, snapping a shot. She laughed, and Ryan couldn't resist taking another picture. He lowered the camera, smiling at her softly. She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Ryan leaned over to giver a kiss, cupping one hand around the back of her neck to pull her close. He pulled back after a second, leaning his forehead on hers. "I love you."

He froze suddenly. He hadn't meant to say it just like that, it had just slipped out. She just looked at him, eyes wide, and he started freaking out, moving back from her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, don't feel like you have to say it back," he said nervously. "Oh god, I've totally scared you off, haven't I? I'm really –"

He was cut off by Quinn pressing a finger to his lips. "Ryan." He quickly stopped talking. "It's okay." He relaxed a little, still a bit tense. "Did you mean it?"

"Yeah, of course," Ryan answered sincerely. "But, well, like I said, you're not obligated to say it back, I should have picked a better time –"

This time he was cut off when Quinn pressed her lips against his, making his eyes flutter shut in surprise and pleasure. He melted into the kiss as Quinn's hand started to run through his hair, before she ended it. He looked at her a bit dazedly, smiling.

"I love you too."

Ryan's smile grew, growing dizzy with delight. _She said it back._ He let out a nervous laugh, running his hand through his hair. "I wasn't sure if you returned the sentiment."

Quinn laughed at him. "Come here." She pulled him back toward her for another kiss, and Ryan closed his eyes, relaxing into her.

Everything was perfect.

* * *

"Come on, guys," Mr. Schue said as he entered the choir room on Monday. "The wedding was great, but we have got to get ready for Sectionals next week." Ryan rolled his eyes. They should have been preparing last month, like Vocal Adrenaline and probably every other show choir had been, but try telling that to Mr. Schue. Kurt came into the choir room. "Kurt, good. I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had, for a solo for you at Sectionals."

"Can I make an announcement first?" Kurt said softly, turning to face the rest of the club when Mr. Schue gestured. "First, I'd like to thank everyone for what you did at my dad's wedding. Especially Finn. It's nice to know that I have such great friends here, as well as a true brother." He seemed to steel himself. "Which is why it's so hard for me to leave."

The room went still in astonishment. Had they just heard right? "What do you mean leave?" Quinn asked.

"I'm transferring. To Dalton Academy. Immediately." Kurt looked at them. "My parents are using the money they saved, for the honeymoon, to pay for the tuition."

"Kurt," Tina said in disbelief. "You can't leave."

Finn stood up slowly. "What the hell, dude? How about you come talk to me about this first?"

Kurt shook his head. "Sorry, Finn, but there's nothing to talk about," he said flatly. "Karofsky's coming back tomorrow, which means I won't be." What? Ryan had thought he'd been expelled, what had happened?

Sam spoke up. "We can protect you."

Puck nodded. "Seriously, we can form a perimeter around you, like the Secret Service."

"Yeah," Finn agreed. Kurt just shook his head again tremulously.

"The only thing that can protect me is what they have at Dalton. The zero-tolerance bullying policy. It's enforced." He glanced at Mr. Schue, who closed his eyes and gave a small nod.

A new thought occurred to Ryan. "Um, does this mean that you're going to be competing against us at Sectionals?"

Everyone was silenced again as the impact of the transfer started to hit them. Mercedes stood up, going slowly to her best friend. "Kurt…"

But Kurt stepped back, away from Mercedes. "Sorry." He slowly backed away, his face starting to crumple. "I have to go." The glee club watched as he left the room, none of them able to say anything.

* * *

Dave Karofsky swaggered through the hallway the next afternoon, his expulsion having been revoked as of noon. His father had appealed to the school board, and since Paul Karofsky had a couple of friends there, he'd been able to persuade them to let him Dave off with a warning.

"Hey, man," Azimio walked up to him, holding his fist out. Dave quickly bumped it with his own. "Good to have ya back."

"Yeah, we knew that bogus expulsion wouldn't stick," Dave smirked. He'd been a bit worried there, but obviously even the school board wasn't going to do anything. They pretty much had free reign. And he could do whatever he needed to make sure that his secret never came out.

"So it's true?" Azimio gestured at the bandage covering the bridge of Dave's nose. "Fairy Boy broke your schnoz?"

Dave scowled. "Yeah. They jumped me, three on one."

"Gotta make him pay, then."

"You know where he is?"

"Just saw him in the locker room, basketball team just got outta practice." Azimio looked at him slyly. "You up for a bit of chat with the gleek?"

"Hell yeah." The two jocks fist-bumped again before going over to the locker rooms. They found Ryan just shutting his locker. A quick look around confirmed that no one else was around, and Dave nodded in satisfaction. That kid was going to regret ever crossing him. The two large boys immediately positioned themselves around Ryan, causing the smaller boy to look up in alarm.

"Hey, Berry Boy, we're gonna have a little talk," Dave sneered ominously as he and Azimio pulled him out of the door leading to the football field.

"As much fun as that sounds, I don't think –"

Azimio slammed his fist hard into Ryan's stomach, all his air rushing out in one whoosh. He immediately doubled up in agony, before the football player slammed him against the chain-link fence with an arm across his chest. Dave watched as Ryan struggled slightly, trying to catch his breath.

"This is what happens when you mess with us, Freak!" Azimio snarled in his face. "You broke Karofsky's nose, Imma break you. He was just showing that queer his place."

"Yeah, that fag got what was coming to him," Dave sneered. "And it worked out fine, now we don't have to see his gay ass around here anymore."

Finally, Ryan somehow managed to get loose, shoving Azimio away from him strongly before leaning back against the fence clutching his stomach, still trying to catch his breath. "Stay away from me."

"You think you can tell us what to do?" Azimio jeered at him. "Gonna sic your gay dads at us? They must be real proud of you, huh, protecting Lady Hummel."

"Nah, they're prob'ly real embarrassed to have a loser like that as a kid," Dave said. "Even his mom couldn't stand him, if she left him with those freaks."

Ryan glared at them furiously. "Shut up!"

"Oh, hear that?" Azimio laughed. "He's right, Gayberry, I've heard the story. Your mom was just some slut who had you so she could make some quick bucks. She probably couldn't get outta there fast enough after seeing your ugly –"

His words were cut off by Ryan slamming his fist into his mouth. Azimio fell to the ground in shock, Ryan on top of him, an outraged look on his face. "Don't you dare talk about her that way!" He drew his fist back again, but Dave snapped out of his shock and pulled the enraged singer off of his friend. Ryan spun around to face him only to be met by Dave's fist hitting his jaw, making him stumble back at the impact.

"That's for the broken nose," Dave sneered at him, before shoving him back up against the fence.

"Okay, break it up!"

Sue Sylvester suddenly came out of the door to the locker room, immediately pulling the two boys apart. _Shit_. Dave wasn't scared of a lot of people, but Sue Sylvester was terrifying. And she'd been right in the middle of what had gone down with Hummel. "You're all coming with me," she barked authoritatively. "Figgins' office, now!"

Figgins' secretary got quite the scare of her life when Sue burst into the room with the three boys. "Greta! Call the parents of these three stooges, I'm going to tell Figgins what happened." Sue stalked into the next room, ignoring the secretary's feeble protests that her name wasn't Greta.

Great, Dave thought. His dad was coming in again. And he wouldn't be happy. Especially after he'd almost gotten expelled. Now that he thought about it, what had just happened had been a pretty stupid move.

A few minutes later, Dave saw the English teacher, Miss Corcoran, come into the office. Now there was another scary teacher. Not scary like Sylvester, scary in the cold and dangerous way. She probably had some business with Figgins. But to his surprise, she came to a stop in front of Ryan.

"What happened?" she asked, looking down at him.

"Nothing happened."

"We are not doing this dance every time you get into a fight, Ryan," she said sternly, tipping his face up to look at her, frowning when she took in the forming bruise. "Which is becoming disturbingly often." Dave watched them weirdly. What did the English teacher care if Gayboy got into a fight?

Just then Sue came out of the office. "Barbra," she said, nodding at Shelby.

"Ellen," Shelby returned.

"You're the first parent to get here for these delinquents, which is expected since you were right down the hall," Sue continued. "The rest are their way, as long as Greta over there isn't slacking off." She looked expectantly at the secretary, who assured her that all sets of parents had been informed and were on their way. "I'm assuming you want to talk to your kid. Tweedledum and Tweedledee, inside. We're talking to Figgins."

Dave's mouth fell open. Miss Corcoran was Ryan Berry's mother? _Holy shit._ He'd thought the freak didn't have a mother. He looked between the two again. They _did_ kind of look alike…

"Let's go, Rocky!" Sue barked. She directed the Dave and Azimio into the inner room, leaving Ryan alone with Miss Corcoran and the secretary, who quickly got back to work.

* * *

**Hello everyone, sorry for the wait. Good news is that the semester is over, and I've got a lot more time to write now. So that means more updates (hopefully)! I've got most of the next chapter in place, so it should just take a few days.**

**Anyways, thanks for all the feedback last time, I'm glad you liked it. I hope you'll have the same reaction to this one. Responding to a few of the reviewers:**

**\- I hope this update gave you what you're looking for, I had the basketball game in there and quite a bit of Ryan/Quinn time :)**

**\- Last time, I did consider not having Ryan mobilize the glee club against Karofsky, but that seemed a bit out of character. One integral part I think of Ryan, and Rachel in the show, is that they will go very far to protect the glee club and all its members. **

**\- Regarding a chapter on Shelby/James, there's going to be a bit in the next chapter, I think, but I also have a oneshot in the works, I might post it at the same time as the next chapter.**

**Also, I was considering ending this story after the Sectionals competition. I would be continuing the story, as I promised, but it would be in a separate sequel fic. I'm worried it's getting a little too long, and there's so much I still want to cover. Of course, I could just keep going with this fic. Tell me what you think.**

**So, that's it for now, and I'll see you soon!**


	46. Chapter 45

"What exactly happened?" Shelby asked, once the two football players were ensconced in Figgins' office.

Ryan scowled. "I didn't do anything, okay? I was minding my own business when those two came up and sucker punched me!"

"Did he say why?"

"Adams said it was because I broke Karofsky's nose," Ryan said sourly. "Which you know I didn't mean to do, and it only happened because Karofsky went crazy when we went to talk to him about Kurt," he added when Shelby opened her mouth to say something.

She gave him a look. "I remember. Did you fight them back?"

"It was self-defense," Ryan argued. "Mostly…" he added under his breath.

"What?" Shelby prodded.

"Nothing, it was nothing, okay?" The outer door opened, and to the surprise of both Corcorans, James came in. "Dad. What are you doing here?"

"I'm supposed to pick you two up, remember?" he asked, looking at Shelby, who belatedly remembered that he was in fact supposed to pick them up that day since her car had died. Ryan had said it needed a new battery or something. "You weren't in your office, so I asked around and one of the students told me you were heading to the principal's office." He looked back down at Ryan. "What happened to you?"

"He got in another fight with a couple of the footballers," Shelby answered for their child.

"What? You really need to stop doing that, buddy," James sighed.

"It wasn't my fault," Ryan insisted. "Azimio Adams just punched me out of nowhere, okay? They're mad because I broke Karofsky's nose last week." He moved to sit up straighter, wincing as he did. Of course, both his parents caught the grimace.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Shelby asked worriedly, concern overruling her irritation over the fight.

"I'm fine, just a little sore."

James looked him over critically and he crouched down in front of Ryan, a hand reaching out to gently probe the teenager's ribs. He stopped when he felt Ryan flinch. "Shirt up, kid." When Ryan didn't move, James pulled the shirt up himself. Shelby's stomach dropped at the bruise that was quickly forming on his stomach, and a sudden wave of protective rage came over her.

"I am going to kill those punks," James hissed, standing up quickly.

Shelby shook herself and caught his arm. "You can't do that," she told him. As much as she wanted to smash those kids' faces in herself, they needed to do this properly.

"The hell I can't, they hurt my kid," he growled back.

"This is a school, and those 'punks' are two kids. Yes, two stupid kids, but you can't hurt them," Shelby said sharply. Someone needed to think properly here. "So we are going to go inside and talk about this like civilized people. So calm down."

"Fine," James ground out. Some time later, two more adults entered the office, looking slightly uncomfortable. James eyed the middle-aged man in a business suit and the rotund African-American woman before everyone's attention was caught by Sue rapping on the glass door to the inner office. He nodded, tapping Shelby's arm. "We're up."

..

Sue Sylvester stood off to the side, watching as the small parade of parents came into Figgins' office. This was exactly why she'd resigned from the stupid post in the first place. She had been supremely vexed that Karofsky had managed to talk his way back into the school. Those people on the school board were spineless. Bullies like those two idiots weren't going to stop overnight, although she _had_ been a bit surprised to see that Karofsky had started another incident immediately after getting back into the school. Moron.

She suspected the two culprits were in for a firestorm though. She recognized from the instant they met that Shelby Corcoran was a hard-ass just like she was. And looking at the brunette right now, she was reminded of a young Sue Sylvester, just about ready to spit fire at the bullies attacking her sister.

And she didn't disappoint. "I want these two students expelled."

Damn, she needed some popcorn.

"Now, Miss Corcoran, please be reasonable," Figgins tried to placate her. "You've only heard your child's side of the story, and we should listen to both."

"You're right, I've already heard his version," Shelby said coldly, shooting a glare at the two football players. "And since I know he's telling the truth, I know that there was an unprovoked attack on my son, and I expect you to do something about it."

Sue smirked as Figgins quailed back. "Let us at least hear out both sides of the story," he said feebly.

"Fine," Shelby nodded curtly.

"Okay, so let's get started," Sue said easily. "For those who don't know, this is Paul Karofsky, Dana Adams, and our resident English teacher and mother of the third delinquent, Shelby Corcoran." She nodded at each in turn. "The million-dollar question right now though is, who are you?" she nodded at James. She studied the man, deciding from his stance that he was probably in the military.

"I'm James Walker," he introduced himself, before glaring at the two football players. "And I'm Ryan's father."

Two pairs of eyes widened at the statement. Sue just barely stopped her own reaction. She'd seen the two Berry fathers before. She supposed James Walker and Corcoran Jr. looked alike around the eyes though. Apparently Dave Karofsky didn't quite see the resemblance. "That can't be right," he blurted out. "I've seen both his dads, and you're not his dad."

"I can assure you, they're both my parents," Ryan said icily, sounding for a moment like his mom. "So back off, okay?"

"Ryan," Shelby said warningly, making the boy fall silent. Sue nodded in approval. Shelby Corcoran was not a wishy-washy person, those people were always the types who couldn't control their students. Much like a certain teacher with a bird's nest on their head who would remain nameless.

"What exactly is going on here?" Paul asked, looking at his son, who shifted uncomfortably. Sue had a bit of respect for the elder Karofsky, he'd been very reasonable during the affair with Porcelain. Even if he had managed to talk his son back into the school.

Mr. Figgins was the one to answer. "Mr. Karofsky, Mrs. Adams, your children were caught by Coach Sylvester assaulting Ryan Corcoran outside the school locker rooms earlier today."

"It wasn't like that," Azimio insisted. His mother glared at him, and he quailed back.

"We have asked these two what happened," the principal continued, "and according to them, they were antagonized by Mr. Corcoran, which resulted in the altercation."

"I did not _antagonize_ them, they're the ones who started it!" Ryan fumed, throwing a glare at the other two boys so venomous that Sue almost felt the heat.

"You don't call breaking Karofsky's nose antagnizating, or whatever?" Azimio shot back.

"The word is _antagonistic_, which you would know if you weren't a –"

"Enough," Shelby cut in sharply. Sue smirked when Ryan immediately shut up, knowing that his mother wasn't kidding around with that tone. Shelby turned back to Mr. Figgins and Sue. "I asked Ryan what happened, and his version of events lines up neatly with Coach Sylvester's summary," she nodded at Sue.

"I'm also inclined to believe his version, after the events of last week," Sue looked pointedly at Paul Karofsky before looking at Mr. Figgins.

"Mr. Corcoran, what happened?" Mr. Figgins inquired.

"Karofsky and Adams just walked up and pulled me outside, then Adams hit me out of nowhere, saying it was my fault Karofsky's nose is broken, and that he was almost expelled. Okay, yes, I did break his nose last week, and I apologize for that. But it was most certainly not my fault that he was almost expelled, I had nothing to do with that, and furthermore, it didn't warrant their saying –" Ryan cut himself off abruptly.

"Saying what?" Sue inquired.

"Nothing, it was just a few juvenile insults, it doesn't matter," Ryan answered testily. "That's when it got out of hand. The point of the matter is, I did not instigate this, they did!"

"Dave," Paul's eyes bore into his son's. "Is that what happened?" The teenager instantly deflated, and the older man shook his head disappointedly.

"Yeah, but then you started going crazy on us!" Azimio exclaimed.

"_I _started going crazy on you?" Ryan said disbelievingly. "What exactly did you expect after you assaulted me and said all those things to me? I have put up with a lot from the two of you and then you have the gall to say that to my face?" He shook his head. "That was the last straw. You've been picking on me since middle school and I am _sick_ of it!"

"David." Paul Karofsky's voice cut through the air. "What did you and Azimio say to him?"

"I…" Karofsky Jr. couldn't quite meet his father's eyes.

"Tell us now. Obviously you said something that upset him."

Sue saw Karofsky glance shamefacedly at Shelby Corcoran for a second before looking back at his dad. "We… called him a loser and that even his parents probably couldn't stand him," he mumbled, looking down. "And then Azimio said… that his mom was a slut who just sold him out to make some cash."

Ah. The littlest Gleek finally fighting back made much more sense now. Sue saw Shelby's eyes widen at the admission, before flicking down to her offspring. Who, for his part, was studiously avoiding her gaze. Sue glanced over at James Walker, who had a murderous look in his eye.

"I think we've heard enough," he said clearly. "Obviously these two boys were at fault, and we expect you to hand out some form of disciplinary action."

Figgins nodded. "Mr. Karofsky, Mr. Azimio, I'm going to ask the both of you to issue an apology to Mr. Corcoran."

Karofsky glanced at his father before looking down and muttering a soft apology, but Azimio glared mulishly at Ryan before nodding unrepentantly. "Sorry."

"Now, the three of you shake hands, and we can all go about our business."

"Excuse me?" Shelby asked incredulously. "That's it? These two students assaulted my son, and you're letting them off with a slap on the wrist? May I remind you that just yesterday a student transferred out of this school because of a death threat made by Dave Karofsky?"

"We're going to need a little more than that, Principal," James added, glaring at the man. "It's your job to provide a safe place for students to learn, including our kid, and you had better do something about this."

Mr. Figgins gulped nervously, and Sue hid a smirk, her estimation of the two parents increasing. The two were downright intimidating. Not to her level, of course, but pretty damn close. "How about a suspension? Give 'em time to cool their raging hormones of aggression for a bit," she suggested easily. Expulsion wasn't sticking, and this was probably the next best thing.

"Two weeks suspension," Figgins nodded quickly. "Effective immediately."

"Actually," Shelby said, glancing so icily at the two culprits that Sue half expected them to freeze to their seats. "I was thinking suspension from the athletic program, along with that two-week suspension. Being on the football team has apparently inflated their sense of entitlement a little too much. Perhaps some time off will rectify that."

"Miss Corcoran, the football team is still in the running for the state title," Figgins said nervously. "Removing them would deny them the chance to participate in this opportunity."

"Maybe they should have thought of that before assaulting someone two on one," Shelby bit out unrepentantly. Sue looked at the brunette. Wasn't pulling any punches, this one. It was fascinating. If it were Brillo-Pad here, Sue would have had no shortage of snarky comments to insert. Here though, she couldn't help but just watch events unfold. She smirked again as she saw Figgins blink, obviously realizing that he wasn't going to be able to dissuade the angry mother in front of him.

"All right. The two will be suspended from the football team for the rest of the year, and will only be able to resume in January," he decided.

"That would be acceptable," Shelby agreed grudgingly, as James nodded just as grudgingly.

"Of course," Figgins said hastily. "Taking into account all sides of the story, I am suspending Dave Karofsky and Azimio Adams for two weeks. In addition, you are banned from any further sports activities for the duration of the year. You may resume in January."

"What?" Azimio exclaimed, only to be quelled by a glare from his mother.

She barked at him, "Azimio Alfred Adams, you say anything else and you will be in even more trouble." Azimio immediately quieted, still looking rebellious.

Karofsky's jaw fell. "But I –"

"David." Paul immediately quelled his son's protests. "We completely understand the terms, and I agree perfectly. Thank you for your time, Principal. Mr. Walker, Miss Corcoran, you have my sincerest apologies for what happened," he added, facing the two of them, before guiding his son out of the room. Mrs. Adams and Azimio soon followed, leaving Ryan and his parents with Figgins and Sue in the office.

"Ryan, can you go outside for a second?" Shelby requested.

"But –" Ryan closed his mouth at the look Shelby sent him. "Okay."

"I'm out too," Sue announced. "Gotta go jet up the girls for the game on Friday. Let's go, Liberace." Shelby gave her a nod, and she returned it. She walked Ryan out, leaving him in the outer office. He stopped her though.

"Thanks."

"Don't get used to it Billy Joel, this is just the one time."

..

_Back in the office_

"Miss Corcoran, Mr. Walker," Mr. Figgins started. "I'm sorry, but I'm also going to have to suspend your son for one week."

"What?" James asked in disbelief. "Our kid was attacked, in your school, and he's being suspended for defending himself?"

"That is completely unreasonable," Shelby said, leaning down on the back of the chair in front of Figgins' desk, eyes sparking. "You are not going to suspend my son," she said authoritatively. "Not after the way you've failed him and countless other students for years. He told me about the bullying that's been going on. It wasn't just the slushies, which you refused to do anything about, if you'll remember. Students have been tossed into dumpsters and shoved into lockers. There was a death threat just last week from one of the very students you just sent out of here, and frankly it makes me sick to think that the school hasn't been doing anything about it."

"Miss Corcoran, we have a zero-tolerance policy –"

"Which has been clearly, blatantly ignored," James scoffed. "Bullying like this doesn't just happen overnight, this has been going on for a long time. If we wanted to we could take this to the school board, and you would lose your job. We could sue you and this school for negligence and inept administration."

"You are going to fix this," Shelby said icily, maliciously happy that their words were sinking in with the principal, if his terrified face was anything to go by. "You had better start making some changes around here, do you understand?" Figgins nodded frantically. "Good. It's about time someone did something about the crap that goes on in this school."

..

Ryan looked up as his parents came out of Figgins' office. "Come on, let's go," Shelby told him, running a finger gently on his bruised jaw.

"What happened?" Ryan asked, letting his dad pull him off the chair. "Am I in trouble?"

James shook his head. "No, you're fine. Just a warning."

"Just try not to get into any more fights, okay?" Shelby asked him.

Ryan nodded. "Okay. But I think I should state for the record that I never want to get into any of the fights I've been in. Stuff just always… happens to me." The three of them made their way out of the school, detouring to pick up Ryan's things from his locker, and they got into James' car. "Are we going home?" Ryan asked.

"We're going to the clinic, you're getting looked over," James informed him. "I don't think you have any broken ribs, but I want to be sure."

"I'm fine, I don't need –"

"Don't argue, this is happening," Shelby said sternly.

"Fine," Ryan huffed.

A little while later the three of them were sitting in the small walk-in clinic, waiting for Ryan's name to be called. Fortunately it was a slow day and the receptionist had assured them they'd be taken care of quickly. James was reading a newspaper, and Ryan had taken out some homework and was working on it with Shelby making inputs once in a while.

"Mom, Dad?" The two parents glanced at their son simultaneously. "Uh… I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For all the trouble. I shouldn't have gotten into that fight."

Shelby sighed. "Don't worry about it, sweetie," she said, rubbing his arm. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah," James agreed. "It's okay to be mad. I probably would have done the same thing. Not to say that it was right, of course," he added hastily at Shelby's look. "Don't use violence."

"Yeah. Got that." Ryan fiddled with a corner of his notebook. "And… thank you."

"For what, buddy?"

"For… for defending me in the principal's office. You didn't have to do that, Hiram and Leroy hated it when they had to go in whenever I got in trouble, and they didn't usually take the time to find out exactly what happened. Even if it wasn't completely my fault. Granted, most of the time I ended up in the office I had done something or other, but still."

"Honey, of course we'd defend you," Shelby said, turning a little to face him. "That's our job as parents." James nodded. Ryan smiled at them gratefully. "And besides," Shelby continued. "This wasn't your fault. All we did was make sure that the situation was dealt with fairly. If you were at fault, you can bet that we'd be plenty mad."

Ryan gave a weak chuckle, just as his name was called. He got up and followed the nurse into the exam room, leaving his parents in the waiting area. Shelby let out a deep breath.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," James told her. "Like I said, I don't think anything's broken, this is just a precaution."

"It's not that," Shelby answered, noting his frown. She looked straight ahead. "You're mad, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"I'm a little upset, yes."

"Is it about the whole situation with the principal's office? Like I said it wasn't his fault."

"You know it's not about that." James folded his arms across his chest, keeping his gaze straight like Shelby's. "Those men you left him with, they weren't fit parents."

"No they weren't."

"I don't understand how you could leave him with them. I don't understand how you could agree to have a child for them if they were like that. I don't –"

"Stop right there," Shelby said fiercely, lowering her voice when she remembered that they were in a public place. "This isn't the time for this. But I can assure you, if I had known that this was how they were going to treat my child, I sure as hell wouldn't have done it in the first place." She glared at him, stung by the implication that she hadn't cared about the welfare of her baby. James softened slightly.

"I know that, it's just –" He cut himself off as two patients and a nurse passed by them. "It just sucks, okay? Parents… they're supposed to care about their kids."

Shelby grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze. Just then, a nurse came to them and told them to get Ryan in the exam room. They entered the room, still not quite looking at each other. Ryan glanced over as they came in, a slight frown coming to his face as he looked at them. The doctor nodded at the two parents as they came in.

"Are you Ryan's parents?" he asked. They both nodded. "Good. The x-ray doesn't show any problems, nothing's broken. It's just an impact bruise, and it'll go away in a week or so."

"I told you," Ryan said under his breath, drawing a reluctant smile from both James and Shelby.

"It's going to be sore by tomorrow though," the doctor cautioned. "You can take some acetaminophen for it, if it does. Try not to strain it too much for a couple of days. Other than that, you're in good condition."

"Thank you, doctor," Ryan said, hopping off of the exam table. "Can we go now?"

James chuckled softly. "Sure, buddy. Let's go."

Soon, Shelby was filling out some details with the receptionist, while James and Ryan stood off to the side. "You're really sure you're not mad, right?" Ryan checked again.

"No, I'm not mad," James reassured him, before glancing to make sure Shelby was out of earshot. "Actually, I'm proud of you. I'm glad you defended your mom against those morons."

"I couldn't let them just say… that… about her."

"I know. And if you're ever going to fight someone, defense of another person is always a reasonable motive. Just make sure you're doing it for the right reason. Understand?"

Ryan studied him closely. "I understand."

"Good." James glanced back to see Shelby walking toward them. "Good?"

She nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

..

James ended up having dinner with Shelby and Ryan, and after helping with the cleanup Ryan retreated upstairs to do his homework. James excused himself to the restroom, and afterwards ended up in Shelby's music room. He smiled at the rows upon rows of sheet music, and at the baby grand piano. Shelby had always told him she'd wanted one of those. The Corcoran's hadn't been able to afford it back then, and he was happy to know that Shelby had gotten it. He sat down at the instrument, admiring its gleam.

"Do you want to talk?" James turned his head, spotting Shelby standing at the doorway, arms folded across her chest.

James sighed. "I… don't know." He felt Shelby sit down next to him on the piano bench. "I told myself if I ever had kids, I wouldn't leave them. Not like my parents."

"James…"

He huffed unhappily, pushing thoughts of his own childhood aside. "I wanted my kids to have what you had, what your parents gave you and Josh. And it just hurts that Ryan wasn't able to get that. That I couldn't give that to him."

Shelby hesitated. "Are you angry with me?"

James thought about it. "Not always. But sometimes. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if you'd told me. Maybe we could have done something if you had told me, maybe we could have gotten him back together or something, I don't know. I know I told you I was okay with it, and I do understand why you did what you did, but… how can I really be completely okay with something like this?"

Silence hung in the air for a moment before Shelby answered. "You're right. I screwed up. I should have found some way to tell you."

"So why didn't you?"

"I… wasn't at my best back then," she admitted softly. "I was really messed up after, and I know that doesn't excuse my not telling you about your kid, but there it is. And… I was scared."

"Of what?"

"I told you before, I was worried that you'd be angry about it, about Ryan, and that you'd never want to talk to me again."

"I wouldn't have been mad about the pregnancy," James said quietly. "It takes two. I was just as much a part of it as you were."

Shelby shook her head slowly. "I think what I was most scared of… was that you wouldn't care. That you'd tell me it was okay, because you didn't want a kid anyway. And I think that would have been worse, because I loved Ryan so much, even then, ever since that first sonogram where we heard his first heartbeat, and I think… I think it would have killed me to hear that… you didn't want him. Didn't want a child with me."

"Oh." James ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up.

"I promise you, I thought they would be good parents. That's why – that's how I coped with not having him." She shut her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

James nodded, leaning a little towards her. "Me too."

"I don't regret it though," Shelby said. "I mean, I regret the choices I made, I regret not telling you. I regret not being able to stop them from taking him. But I don't regret having my son. Our son. He's special, and if I had to choose between this mess we're in, or not to have him at all, I'd choose him every time. Even if the alternative would probably so much simpler. He's the best thing I've ever done, and the best that I'm probably ever going to do."

James nodded, understanding the sentiment perfectly. "Same here." He'd done a lot in his life, he'd seen a lot. But that all paled in comparison whenever he looked at his child, and it never failed to fill him with amazement that Ryan was his. That he'd helped create such as special person.

"Now what?" Shelby asked tentatively.

"Let's just… move past it," James said slowly. "If there's one thing I learned it's that we can't go back and do things over. As much as we'd want to."

"All we can do is move forward as best we can," Shelby added.

"And try to make things better from here on out."

The two of them were quiet again. "Look at us, all grown up and mature," Shelby said lightly, making James chuckle.

"Seems like yesterday when we were playing hooky to spend the day at the park," he bantered.

"Or when we were filling the shower pipes with blue Kool-Aid to get back at the football players," Shelby teased back. "No, wait, that was just you. Jerry Langer looked like a Smurf for the rest of the week after that."

"Good times."

..

_10:12 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Hey slugger. I heard about what happened. You okay?_

_10:13 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – I'm fine. I'm sure the McKinley gossip mill has all the details perfectly correct._

_10:13 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – That was supposed to be sarcastic in case you didn't get it._

_10:14 PM From: Quinn Fabray – I got it._

_10:14 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Are you sure you're okay?_

_10:15 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Yes, I'm great. Parents took me to the hospital and they said I'm fine._

_10:16 PM From Quinn Fabray – If you had to go to the hospital I don't think you're fine._

_10:16 PM From: Quinn Fabray – You're telling me the whole story tomorrow. _

_10:16 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Yes ma'am ;)_

_10:17 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Night. Love you_

_10:18 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Love you too xox_

Ryan put his phone down, just in time for Shelby to knock at his bedroom door. "Can I come in?" she asked, pausing at the doorway.

He nodded. "Yeah."

Shelby came in and sat down at the foot of the bed. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, I guess."

"Are you sure?" Shelby gave him a look.

Ryan winced slightly, caught out. "My stomach hurts a bit when I move."

Shelby nodded, pulling out a couple of tablets of Tylenol from her pocket. "Here. One for tonight, one for tomorrow morning if you still need it." She watched him swallow one of the pills, chasing it down with a glass of water that was on the bedside.

"Are you really not mad at me?"

Shelby shook her head. "No, I'm not. I'm not exactly thrilled that you got into yet another fight, but I understand it wasn't your fault." She studied him for a second, and Ryan fidgeted a little under her gaze. His mom had a way of looking at people as if she could see everything about them. It was unnerving at times. "You know that wasn't true, right? What those two boys said about my not wanting you?"

He finally looked at her, and she continued. "I may have gone into the whole situation not really wanting you, but that changed. I wasn't particularly attached to the abstract concept of a baby. But when I found out I was having you… I wanted you when I found out you existed, and I wanted you when you were born, and every moment since."

Ryan nodded, swallowing back the emotion that rose up at the words. "I know." He reached out and tentatively touched his mom's arm. "You know it wasn't true too, don't you? You're not… what they said."

Shelby smiled faintly. "It sometimes seems that way though, doesn't it?" she asked rhetorically. "Especially to those who don't know the whole story."

"But we know, and that's what matters," Ryan insisted. "You know I don't blame you, right? For giving me to the Berrys?" He looked at his mother. "I understand the concept of a surrogacy, and I admire you for stepping up to try and give a gay couple a child when others would have said that 'abominations' like them didn't deserve one. It's not your fault that… it didn't work out." He sighed. "I don't blame you. That's why I got angry with them. They had no right to say that."

"Thank you," Shelby said softly, smiling when he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into a hug. "I love you. So much."

"I love you too, Mom."

* * *

"Hey there."

Ryan looked up from rummaging in his locker the next morning, looking for his math book. He blinked in confusion when he saw a brunette girl in a Cheerio uniform leaning next to his locker. That was weird. Was she talking to him? He looked around, and seeing no one in the vicinity, decided that she was. "Uh, hi?"

The girl smirked. "Ryan, right?"

"Yes…" Ryan looked at her, taking in her appearance. She had light skin, dark eyes, and was maybe an inch or two shorter than Quinn. Pretty, he supposed, but nowhere near Quinn. He gave her a suspicious look. "Did you manage to get the slushy machine back? Are you trying to steal something from me?"

The cheerleader laughed. "No. Just wanted to say nice job at the basketball game last week."

Ryan blinked again, this time in surprise. "Oh. Thanks." He gave her a smile.

"My name's Kenzie. Kenzie Larkin."

"Not that it's not nice to meet you, Kenzie, but what exactly are you doing talking to me?" Ryan tilted his head. "The school hierarchy dictates that the cheerleaders and the jocks don't interact with the gleeks such as myself, unless it's to deliver a dose of humiliation."

Kenzie chuckled. "Oh, I don't know about that. You're… interesting… and it's totally weird that we haven't noticed you before. You're pretty talented."

Ryan smiled. "Thanks."

Just at that moment, Quinn appeared right beside Ryan. "Hello, Kenzie," she said coolly. "What's up?"

The brunette Cheerio smiled back sweetly. "Oh, nothing, just talking to McKinley's newest athlete. Did you see that basketball game? He was amazing."

"Yeah, I know, I was there," Quinn returned. Ryan looked between the two confusedly, feeling like there was something going on here that he wasn't quite grasping. Quinn turned to him. "Morning babe." To his surprise, she pulled him down for a long kiss. Of course he eagerly returned it.

"I guess I'll see you around Ryan," Kenzie said as Quinn and Ryan broke apart, Ryan slightly flushed. Kenzie smiled at him, lightly resting a hand on his arm for a fleeting moment as she walked past.

"Yeah, okay." Ryan watched her go with a slightly perplexed expression on his face before turning back to his girlfriend with a smile. "'Babe'?" he questioned.

Quinn shrugged offhandedly. "Just trying it out." She pulled him down for another kiss. "So, let's see." She inspected the bruise on his jaw, her fingers dancing lightly up his stomach, making him shudder a bit. "I've heard a version or two of what happened."

"And?"

Quinn scowled. "I can't believe those morons did that to you." Then she smirked. "I heard they got suspended for it though. I'm glad Figgins did something. I'm just surprised you're not suspended either."

"My parents talked to Figgins, and I got off with just a warning."

"Good. What really happened?" Quinn asked. Ryan quickly ran her through the events, knowing that things could get distorted in the rumor mill. "Ah." Quinn nodded. "In some versions of the story you were the one who sucker punched Karofsky, and in some the police were involved and all of you were getting expelled."

"That's just ridiculous." Ryan followed Quinn back to her locker. He glanced at the mirror Quinn kept on the inside of her locker door, tilting his face left and right to inspect the damage. "So, on a scale of one to ten, how disfigured is my face? Should I give up on my acting career?" he asked, semi-seriously.

Quinn leaned her chin on his shoulder from behind him. "I think it looks hot." She pressed a kiss on the side of his neck, making him shudder involuntarily with pleasure. Ryan quickly spun around so that he was facing Quinn.

"What happened to minimal PDA?" Ryan asked, as Quinn's arms came to rest on his shoulders.

"No one here," she said smiling, before leaning up to kiss him on the lips, gently coaxing his mouth open. Ryan's hands went around her waist, lightly running up and down her sides. Quinn's lips started moving away from his mouth.

"Ow."

Quinn froze. "Sorry."

Ryan smiled lightly. "It's okay. Just a little tender, I guess."

"Yeah." She moved him aside and dug around in her locker for a minute before pulling out a tube and handing it to him.

"What's that?"

"Arnica. Put it on twice a day, it helps with the bruising."

Ryan took the tube, inspecting it for a moment. "Thanks."

"No problem." Quinn gave him a light kiss on the cheek. Her smile faded a little as she remembered that little encounter with Kenzie. Quinn had been absolutely furious when she'd spotted her talking to Ryan. _That hussy had been flirting with her boyfriend!_ Ryan belonged to _her_, not that – that – ugh! Kenzie had been trying to get into a higher position on the Cheerios all last year, she'd been promoted as assistant captain when Quinn had been off the team, and had lost the spot when Quinn had made her return at the start of the year. The girl had had it out for her ever since.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked her, brow furrowed.

Quinn quickly put a smile on her face. "Yeah." She suddenly felt a wave of insecurity wash over her. What if Ryan figured out he could do better than her? He was talented, sweet, handsome, _perfect,_ and now that he was on the basketball team he could probably have his pick of the girls in McKinley.

"Okay, then." Ryan pulled her close into a hug, wrapping his strong arms around her, and she melted into him, fighting down the mild panic. He'd told her he loved her just a few days ago. They'd be fine. She trusted him.

She just didn't trust the rest of the female population at this school.

* * *

That Saturday, Shelby, James and Ryan set out for a visit to Akron to visit Shelby's parents, and they decided to eat at an IHOP for breakfast on the way. Shelby watched, torn between amusement and mild disgust, as her son and her…whatever James was, they still hadn't quite put a label on it…had a contest to see who could eat the most pancakes. "You know, if someone needs to puke while we're on the road, I'm not stopping the car."

James swallowed enormously. "Not to worry, we can always do it in the car." He laughed at the look on Shelby's face. "Relax, we'll be fine. Right, Ryan?"

Ryan nodded, his mouth full. He swallowed before he answered. "Yeah, Mom, don't worry so much." He took a slurp of his milkshake, smirking at her, and she was again struck by how much he and James looked like each other when they smiled.

"Okay, okay, I'm out," James said, putting his fork down. Ryan grinned victoriously as he finished his last pancake.

"I win!" He leaned back with a sigh. "If it's any consolation I can't take anymore either."

"Well, if you're done stuffing your faces, we should get the bill," Shelby said amusedly.

"Right," James nodded, waving a waitress over. Soon they were outside and ready to get back on the road.

"Can I drive?" Ryan asked.

"Uh, no."

"Why not?" Ryan put on his best pathetic face. Shelby groaned internally. He was so damn cute when he did that, and it made her want to give him whatever he wanted. She wasn't too thrilled over giving him control of her car for an hour on the freeway though. Yes, she was a control freak.

"Yeah, Shelby, why not?" James asked, matching their son's expression. Shelby looked from one to the other before sighing in defeat.

"Fine," she said grudgingly. "Fine." Ryan grinned broadly as she handed him the keys. "When I tell you to brake, you do what I say, got it?"

"Got it," Ryan said happily, scrambling into the driver's seat and adjusting the mirrors Shelby and James got into the Range Rover.

"It's not fair when you two gang up on me like that," Shelby complained. James just smiled, leaning over to give her a kiss.

Fortunately, the trip went by without incident, and Shelby began to relax about fifteen minutes into the trip. She knew Ryan was actually a good driver, probably better than she was if she had to admit it. They were pulling up to her parent's driveway very soon, and Ryan grinned at her as he shut down the engine. "See? Nothing happened."

Shelby just rolled her eyes, before relenting and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Okay. Thank you for driving."

"No problem." The three of them got out of the car just as Tom and Sarah came out of the house. "Hi Grams, Grandpa!"

"Hello sweetie," Sarah beamed as she gave Ryan a hug. "What happened?" she asked in surprise as she caught sight of the bruise on his jaw. "Shelby, what happened?"

"He had a little argument with a couple of the football players at his school," Shelby answered. "Nice to see you too."

"I'm fine," Ryan assured her. "It wasn't that big of a big deal."

"That doesn't really look small, though," Tom noted. "What happened?"

"The other guy was harassing one of my…teammates on the glee club," Ryan said vaguely. Santana had pointed out that Kurt wasn't really his friend, and he could sort of see her point. "And we got into it a little. Anyways, I broke his nose, and a few days later he and his friend decided they couldn't let it go. Hence the bruise."

Sarah sighed, before pulling James into a hug. "Hello James, I'm so glad you're here."

"I'm happy to be here too," James assured her, smiling when she gave him a hug as well. Shelby rolled her eyes as her mom gave her a significant look. Perfect, she was probably going to be grilled about her lovelife later. Oh well, at least she actually _had_ one now. She shifted her attention to her son, who was animatedly chatting with Tom about his basketball tryout. She smiled faintly.

"Are Josh and Paige here yet?" she asked her mom.

"Yes, they're inside, actually," Sarah nodded, giving her a sharp look. Uh-oh. "Did you know?"

"Know what?" Shelby hedged as the group filed into the house. She was pretty sure she knew what her mom was talking about, but she'd learned from experience that she should keep quite under her interrogation, otherwise she'd just end up incriminating herself.

"Oh wow, you're having a baby!" Ryan exclaimed as he laid eyes on his aunt.

"That," Sarah said flatly.

Shelby gave her a sheepish smile. "Congratulations, you're going to be a grandma!" she tried. "For the second time, but still!"

Sarah gave her daughter a deadpan look. "Very funny. The only reason I'm not more upset that you didn't tell me is because I'm really excited."

Josh came over and gave his sister a hug. "Hey Shelby."

"Hey yourself," she teased, before going over to Paige. "Hi Paige, you're looking radiant."

"Thanks," the other woman deadpanned, smiling. "Must be all the puking."

Shelby chuckled as Ryan and James pulled the same disgusted face. "Oh, I remember that part."

"Nice face, Ryan," Josh commented. "Who did that?"

"I'm starting to think I should just write down what happened on a placard and wear it around," Ryan grumbled. It was nice to have people who cared, but he was getting tired of the questions. "It's nothing, I and some of my friends confronted a schoolmate who was harassing one of the glee club members, and it got slightly out of hand."

"What does the other guy look like?"

"He broke his nose," Shelby said dryly.

"Wow, nice!"

"Don't encourage him!"

"I'm standing right here," Ryan huffed.

..

Later that afternoon, James stepped into the kitchen for a drink of water. He'd gotten into a two-on-two basketball game, him and Ryan against Tom and Josh. Actually, it had been mostly Ryan against Tom, with the two others helping out where they could. He grinned as Shelby came into the kitchen just as he was pouring some water into a glass.

"How's the game going?" she asked, smiling at him as she came over to stand next to him, leaning on the back of a kitchen chair.

"Great, actually," he answered, chugging down a full glass. "It's fun. We used to do pickup games in the Army. Basketball, soccer, baseball if we could get enough guys." He glanced out the window at Ryan chatting with his grandfather and his uncle. "I'm glad Ryan's got your family."

"You're pretty much a part of the family too," Shelby told him affectionately. They stood there for a moment. "Come with me," she whispered in his ear.

He smiled. "Okay." She led them off outside and to her car. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

James looked at her curiously, but decided to go along with it. As she drove, he looked around, finding the route familiar. _Oh…_

"Remember this place?" Shelby asked him, as she came to a stop in a park. The sun was starting to set, beautifully lighting up a nearby treeline. They had parked in a spot with a nice view of a lake. The place was deserted except for the two of them, and it was completely quiet.

"Of course I do," James smiled. At her request, he opened the back of her Range Rover, and the two of them sat down on the trunk. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and she snuggled into him. "October 18, 1987. This was where we had our first date."

"Very good," Shelby said with a smile, surprised that he remembered the exact date. "You bought takeout from that place down the street, and we stayed here talking for hours."

"That was the best night I'd ever had in my life at that point," James commented. "Remember I spent a month trying to get you to go out with me?"

"Well, in my defense, you were the quiet kid who I had to tutor in English, I wasn't completely into you at first," Shelby teased him, drawing a pout. She kissed him, wiping it away. "Of course, I finally decided maybe you weren't all that bad."

"Wow, thanks for the ringing endorsement."

"Anytime."

"Of course, that wasn't the only date we had here, I distinctly remember quite a few others, like that one when we came out here after that insane bonfire party the next year…"

Shelby smiled embarrassedly at the memory. "Oh yes, I remember that. We even snuck all those wine coolers we out of the party so we could have our own little celebration here," she recalled.

"Our party of two was so much more fun than the bonfire, wasn't it?" James whispered in her ear. "It's a good thing no one lives around here, you were pretty loud as I recall."

"That was hardly my fault," Shelby retorted, thankful that the setting sun hid her blush. James just laughed at her.

"I know, I was amazing, wasn't I?"

Shelby pushed him away playfully. "Shut up."

"Okay, okay," James laughed, pulling her back toward him. "I missed you so much when I left."

"I missed you too," Shelby sighed. "It was hard, going back to school without you. It was like everywhere I went I had a memory of the two of us. The library, where you finally figured out what _Fahrenheit 451_ was all about. The gym, where you made a complete fool out of yourself trying those gymnastic stunts. It was really hard."

James nodded. He supposed in that respect, Shelby had had a harder time than him. True, boot camp and those first few months had been horrible, and Desert Storm in Iraq had literally been hell. But he'd been so busy he hadn't had much time to worry about his emotions.

"You know the worst part? The worst part was not knowing if you were okay. Especially while Desert Storm was going on. We saw the news all the time. I was scared to death for you, even if we weren't even together anymore," she admitted. James tightened his arm around her, dropping a kiss in her hair.

"It's fine. I'm fine."

"I'm not stupid, you know," Shelby told him, giving him a look. "I've noticed you never take your jacket off, and I haven't seen you in short sleeves since 1994. And I noticed you favoring your right arm when we were unpacking your apartment." James looked at her, surprised.

"I guess I forgot how perceptive you were."

"What happened? If that's okay with you."

James sighed. It was a long time ago, and he didn't mind telling the story, but it wasn't fun. "It was on my tour in Afghanistan, in 2005. We were in a convoy on a supply run, and we got ambushed. There was an RPG, it blew up the Hummer in front of ours. I was checking on one of the guys who got hit, and these terrorists opened fire. I got one round in my right arm, and two in the chest. Thank god for Kevlar." He felt Shelby's arm tighten around his waist. "Next thing I knew I was waking up in the medical tent back at the base. Me and a few of the other guys were airlifted out of there, and I ended up in a hospital in Bethesda."

He left out the terror everyone in the unit had felt at the onset of the ambush; no amount of training or experience ever prepared you for that. He left out the fact that before he'd gotten shot he'd checked over four other guys, all of them dead by the time he got to them. He didn't tell her about the chaos, the blood, the sand that obscured everything so much that you didn't know what was going on. She didn't need to know that. And he'd made his peace with all of it.

The couple was quiet for a few minutes, simply basking in each other's company. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too."

"Can I see it?"

James glanced at her for a moment, before he nodded. "Yeah." He took his jacket off, draping it behind him over the backseat of the car. He started rolling up his right sleeve with some difficulty, before Shelby put her hand on his, helping him. "Don't worry too much, okay?" he asked her.

Shelby nodded, carefully rolling up the sleeve of his shirt. She held back a gasp at the slightly raised red line on James' forearm. She finished rolling the sleeve up to his elbow, and she could see the scar ended just before the crook of his arm, about five inches long. She gently traced her fingers over it.

"I know it looks kind of ugly, that's sort of why I keep it covered up," James admitted.

"You don't have to do that." She met his eyes. "Not for me."

Their gazes stayed locked for a moment before James nodded. "Okay."

Shelby leaned up, pulling him down to her level to give him a searing kiss. She closed her eyes, relaxing into the feeling. James slowly deepened the kiss, sighing as their tongues met. She never failed to make him feel… alive. The kiss grew more and more heated, and he felt Shelby's hand slip up his shirt. His own hands had come down around her waist some time ago, moving lower and lower.

Then the couple heard a few voices moving toward them, and they broke apart, gazing at each other. "We should probably stop," James breathed.

Shelby nodded breathlessly. "Wouldn't want to give out a free show." She slowly stood up a little unsteadily, before placing a hand on the side of the car. James just watched her, heart racing, trying to will his body back into control. Shelby tilted her head a little, a motion that reminded James of Ryan. He did the same thing sometimes. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," James said, smiling softly. "You're beautiful."

The simple statement drew a blush from the brunette. "Where did that come from?"

"Nowhere. It's true though."

Shelby chuckled. "Thank you." She leaned down to give him another lingering kiss, leaning her arms on his shoulders. "Did you ever imagine we'd end up here? After all this time?"

James shook his head. "I don't know. But I do know that I thought about you a lot while I was away. And I'm incredibly happy that we're back here now. Even if we didn't take the most traditional route," he said amusedly.

"So am I. I thought about you too," Shelby answered, lips curving into a smile. "I'd like to think we would have found our way back together eventually." She kissed him again. "We should get going though, if we want to get back to Lima at a decent time."

"Okay."

..

They got back to the Corcoran house at half past seven to find Sarah and Tom chatting in the kitchen. "Well, it's better than two in the morning," Tom joked.

"Never going to live that down, are we?" Shelby grumbled.

"No, dear," Sarah agreed, as the younger couple sat down at the table.

"Where's Ryan?"

"Off with Josh in the back, your brother roped him into helping him out with some car troubles again. I don't think Ryan minded all that much, though," Tom added, amused.

"Think I'll go join them," James said, standing and walking off towards the back door, dropping a kiss on Shelby's cheek on the way.

"I noticed you let Ryan drive here," Tom noted, smiling at her. "I didn't think you'd actually do that voluntarily."

"I didn't," Shelby grumbled. "He does this thing with his eyes, and I could have resisted it but then he and James ganged up on me, and I was surrounded by all these big brown eyes and I was defenseless."

Sarah laughed at her dramatics. "Oh sweetie."

"It's kind of unfair."

"I'm sure it is."

* * *

**Wow, I got flooded with reviews last time, looks like you guys missed me. I'm touched. ;) Maybe I should make you wait longer next time… kidding. Thank you for all the continued support, every time I get a notification in my email I get so happy and nervous, but in a good way. I'm glad you guys liked the chapter. Again, apologies for typos, I'm not a very good beta. Here are some random responses and notes.**

**\- In regards to the Sam/Quinn thing, I will be tackling it soon, probably. Don't worry, I won't just leave it like that.**

**\- Thinking about it, I think I will just keep this fic going instead of splitting it. I'm still considering if I'm going to go into the college years, but that will definitely be in a sequel fic if ever. If I decide not to do that I'll make an epilogue thing, or maybe a series of oneshots about their life, I don't know… so many possibilities…**

**\- I'm amused that you all like jealous Quinn, so much that I added her in again here. You can most likely expect more in the future.**

**\- I'm guessing Ryan's around 5'10" to 5'11" right now, same as James, and I think he might have started out the same height as Quinn. Maybe slightly shorter. In my headcanon he was small in middle school, hence Santana's nicknames, but he's grown a little since then. **

**\- Regarding Ryan's size, we'll get around to that ;)**

**\- Good that you guys like the Santana/Ryan friendship thing going on right now. You guys are right, I can totally see him helping her out of the closet, but it might take a while.**

**\- I'm also glad you liked the fluff scene in the park, I'm not really imaginative at little scenes like that, so if you've got fluff pieces and scenarios that you'd like to see, feel free to suggest.**

**\- Not sure if I'm too lenient with Karofsky and Azimio's punishment, but I thought about it, and can you really get expelled for fighting? It seems like there would be a lot of expulsions if that were true. Finn and Puck would have been expelled back in season 1 if it were. So I decided on that. Also, about Karofsky, I'm not quite done with him yet.**

**\- In other news, based on popular demand, I've also published a prequel oneshot featuring Shelby and James, it's titled **_**One Week, Two Months**_**. If it's your thing, go check it out and tell me if you liked it or if I should just stick to this multichap.**

**Anyways, I love breaks, I've got so much time to write now, as you can probably tell by the fast release of this chapter. Might be a few days before the next one, I'm off on vacation with my family, but it probably won't be as long as the last few waits before this one. Leave reviews, I'm addicted. See you soon!**


	47. Chapter 46

_Monday_

"Mr. Schuester, I have an announcement," Ryan said, standing up and walking confidently over to the teacher. "I've selected the perfect moving ballad for our opening at Sectionals."

"Me first," Mr. Schuester replied, motioning at him to sit back down. "Two things. First, our competition at Sectionals are your classic stool choirs – great voices but they don't move. Now if we're going to beat them we need to do what they can't: dance. Which is why I've decided to feature Brittany and Mike Chang's sweet moves in our performance." Everyone in the room clapped, excited grins breaking out on Mike's and Brittany's faces.

"Wait, they're going to dance in front of me while I sing my solo?" Ryan asked, confused.

"You're not getting a solo for this competition."

"Cool. So I'm leading?" Finn asked brightly.

"I was thinking that the winners of our duets competition would take the leads," Mr. Schue said. Quinn's eyebrows went up at the statement, before she glanced over at Ryan, whose mouth was open.

"Wait, what?" he said incredulously, once he was able to get his voice into gear.

"Okay, listen," the teacher said placatingly. "I have talked the talk about everyone in here feeling special for over a year now. But frankly, I haven't walked the walk. We have got a lot of talent here, and I'm going to highlight it."

"But Mr. Schue," Finn jumped in. "That's fine making everyone feel special, for pumping up the team, but that's for practice. You don't take the star quarterback out before the big game."

"Easy to say when you're the star quarterback," Tina said, almost snidely.

"This isn't just about me, this is about the team."

Ryan rolled his eyes. Finn wasn't the star quarterback of this team, no matter what anyone thought. He raised his hand. "Mr. Schue, with all respect, I don't think you've really thought this through. Now, I have the utmost respect for Sam's vocal abilities, but don't you think that perhaps we should feature a more seasoned member of the New Directions? It's only his first year here, he's only been here for a couple of months."

"Well, all of you were newcomers here last year, and you still got solos, right? I think Sam will be a wonderful choice for the solo."

"But don't you think you're not giving everyone a fair chance here?" Ryan tried again. "Last year you had Kurt and I do that diva off."

"We don't really have time for that anymore, Ryan, the competition is this week. Sam and Quinn will be doing the ballad, end of discussion," Mr. Schue said in a final tone.

Ryan grit his teeth. If he'd actually gotten them to start preparing earlier like he'd been nagging at them to do, they would have had time. He considered if this would be a good time for a storm out. He sat back, deciding against it. He'd been working hard to rein in his ego this year, and he'd noticed some of the glee kids didn't seem quite as annoyed by him lately. He didn't want to ruin that. "Now," the teacher continued. "We'll be opening with Sam and Quinn singing _Time of My Life_. Then our second song is going to be _Valerie_, by Amy Winehouse." The selections were met with enthusiasm, especially the second song. "Santana, I thought that your voice would be most suited for _Valerie_."

"Oh, don't worry," Santana said confidently. "Imma kill it."

"Great." Mr. Schue started handing out sheet music. "Let's get to work. Brittany, Mike, let's start choreographing."

..

An hour later, Mike and Brittany had managed to hammer out a basic group routine and had gotten halfway through teaching it to everybody else. "Okay, guys, that's it for the day," Mr. Schue called out. "Make sure you practice at home."

Once again, Ryan rolled his eyes, collecting his things. There was no way they were going to be anywhere near ready for Sectionals on Saturday. Not ready enough for his admittedly high standards, anyway.

He went over to Quinn, who was talking to Sam. "Hi," he said as he walked up, putting a smile on his face. He was an actor, he could act happy if called for, even if he was still upset at losing his solo to Sam. "Congratulations on getting the solos for Sectionals."

Sam smiled at him nervously. "Thanks, man. Hey, I gotta go, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure," Ryan nodded. He turned to Quinn. "Hey."

"Hey," she said, giving him a small smile. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Quinn looked at him knowingly. "Ry. Come on. I know you're annoyed about not getting a solo."

Ryan sighed, letting his smile drop from his face. "I swear, Mr. Schuester has it in for me," he grumbled as they walked out of the choir room. "We could have had a proper selection of soloists if he'd just started preparations even a week earlier, but no." He sighed. "But hey, congratulations on the solo though," he said sincerely to his girlfriend.

She smiled a bit weakly. "Thanks. Not sure how it's going to sound, but yeah."

"Are you kidding? You're going to be amazing," Ryan told her, lacing their fingers together. "I just wish I were the one singing with you."

"Me too," Quinn admitted.

"Are you rehearsing with Sam today?"

"No, we're starting tomorrow. I have Cheerios, and the football team has a practice."

"Figures," Ryan grumbled. Then he brightened. "How about you come over to my house sometime this week, I can help you rehearse? Maybe Mom would help too, she's a great coach, we have lessons two or three times a week." He grinned at her. "So?"

Quinn had to smile at his enthusiasm. "Yeah, okay, sure." She gave him a kiss. "Love you."

Ryan smiled broadly. "Love you too." He watched as she walked off to the Cheerios' locker room, the indignity of having lost out on the Sectionals solo momentarily forgotten. Who needed that when he had his awesome girlfriend?

..

That evening, Shelby found Ryan in the music room, practicing what sounded like backup vocals. "Hey." She walked in when he turned around. "You finally have your set list?" She had to wonder what Will Schuester was doing, it was almost suicide to only make your set list the week before the actual competition.

"At long last, yes," Ryan said, smiling a bit sarcastically. "I don't know how anyone expects us to win, but here we go."

"I heard you're up against the Hipsters and the Warblers," Shelby noted.

"Yeah," Ryan nodded, still smiling fakely. "I think we're banking on the fact that the Hipsters won't be a real threat and that our amazing dance moves are going to win the day against the Warblers, and therefore we're not focusing on the vocals."

"Not the best strategy," Shelby said wryly, picking up Ryan's sheet music. "You shouldn't be underestimating your opponents."

"I know," Ryan said. "But Mr. Schuester's a firm believer in the idea that the plucky underdog team will win, even without proper preparation. I swear he's going to make us come up with our Nationals set list right then and there in New York."

"The Warblers have a great lead this year, I saw their Invitationals on YouTube," Shelby said, flicking through the sheets. "Their new lead is pretty good."

"Blaine Anderson," Ryan nodded. "He and I had the same vocal teacher in middle school. He's a nice guy, and you're right, he's got a very good voice. I saw the Invitationals on YouTube too. Mr. Schue didn't take us to any this year, we didn't have a very good experience at VA's Invitationals last year," he said wryly, drawing an amused smirk from Shelby. "Not to mention Kurt Hummel joined the Warblers too. I've told Mr. Schue all this, but he still decided to spring our set list on us last minute."

"Which of these are you leading on?"

Ryan fidgeted a little. "Ah, none of them."

Shelby looked at him in surprise. "Sorry?"

"I didn't get a solo for Sectionals. Mr. Schue thought it would be good to highlight some of the less-featured members of the New Directions. So Quinn and Sam are going to be doing _Time of My Life_, and Santana's doing _Valerie_ with a complex dance routine by Mike and Brittany."

Shelby looked down at the sheet music speculatively. "Bold move," she said thoughtfully, shifting into her coach mode. Most choir directors would never sideline their best voices – she'd shamelessly given Jesse every solo at pretty much every competition for three years – and she knew Ryan was the New Directions' male powerhouse. She would have used him as male lead. She had nothing against Sam Evans' vocals, but he was new to the group, and she preferred her soloists to have a bit of experience before shoving them into the spotlight. But she agreed with Will, Quinn was a pretty good fit for _Time of My Life_, and Santana for _Valerie_. If they could polish up their performances in a week.

"You're still going to watch, right?"

Ryan's voice pulled her out of her analysis, and she looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"The competition," he said anxiously. "You're still going, right? Even if I don't have a solo?"

"Of course I'm watching," she said with a slight frown, unsure of where this was coming from. "It's your first competition where I'm not competing against you," she said teasingly. "Wouldn't miss it. Doesn't matter if you have a solo or if you're in the very back."

Ryan gave her a smile. "Thanks. I didn't have anyone watching at any of the competitions last year."

Shelby shook her head, deciding she wouldn't let this get them down. "Well, you do this time," she said firmly. "Your dad's going to be there too."

"Yeah," Ryan brightened at the thought.

"And it's not true that you didn't have anyone in the audience last year, remember?" Shelby bumped his shoulder. "I was at your first Sectionals. And after I got over my shock at finding you, I was so proud of my baby." She grabbed him, pulling him into a playful hug.

"Mooooom." He wriggled, trying to get away from her. He was smiling though.

"Now, go over there," she directed, opening the piano. "We're going to turn you into the best backup vocalist in the competition."

* * *

_Tuesday_

The next afternoon Ryan walked into the choir room, where some of the glee kids had already congregated. "Hey, guys. What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing, just talking about how we're kind of screwed 'cuz Kurt's joined the Warblers," Mercedes said.

"That, and we don't have time to fix up our performance," Tina grumbled.

Ryan shrugged. "Well, I hate to say I told you so, but I did tell Mr. Schue that we should have started preparing for Sectionals months ago. However, he obviously believes in us so much that he thinks we'll win with just a week of practice. But I'm sure we can do this, especially if our leads work hard to ensure that they're at their best when we perform."

"I'm kinda surprised you're okay with Quinn and Sam, actually," Mercedes said.

"Well, at first I was upset at not getting the solo, but I have considered it and I can be supportive of our team members, even if I'm not going to be featured."

"Good to know," Tina said.

"But actually, I was thinking more along the lines of Sam having the hots for Quinn," Mercedes interjected. "I mean, he did almost kiss her back before the duets competition."

Ryan did a double take. "What?" He gave a confused chuckle. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, didn't you know? Sam told Finn about it in the locker room," Artie chimed in.

"No, I didn't know," Ryan said, upset. "Did everybody know about this but me?"

"Well, yeah, but we kind of figured Quinn told you," Tina admitted. "Apparently it was when they were rehearsing for that song they did at the duets competition. Sam said Quinn shut him down though."

Right on cue, the subjects of their discussion came over. "Hey guys," Sam said. Ryan just stared at him incredulously, before storming off.

Quinn looked at him, confused. "What just happened?"

Mercedes and Tina looked at each other a bit guiltily. "Uh, we might have told him about Sam trying to kiss you before the duets competition," Tina said uncomfortably.

"What?" Quinn's mouth fell open. "Wait, wait. How did you know about that?"

"Sam told Finn in the locker rooms yesterday," Artie said. "And we heard it too. And I guess it might have spread from there…"

Quinn turned sharply to face Sam. "You told Finn? What the hell?"

"I didn't think he was going to tell everybody else," Sam defended. Quinn glared at him in frustration. Great. Just great. Her boyfriend was already miffed with Sam for getting the Sectionals solo, and now this. Sam scooted back a little at her glare, and she turned around to chase after Ryan.

"Ryan." Quinn strode after him. "Ryan, wait!" He stopped walking but didn't turn to face her. She caught up to him, pulling him around.

"Yes Quinn? Something you'd like to tell me?" Ryan asked her nicely. "Like how Sam Evans almost kissed you when you were rehearsing for the duets competition?"

"Okay, I don't know what those gossip queens told you, but he did not almost kiss me. He tried but I pushed him back."

Ryan scowled. "And I'm just finding out now because…?"

Quinn gaped at him. "Seriously? You can't be made that he tried to kiss me! And I pushed him away, nothing happened!" She stopped cold. "Or you don't believe me, is that it?"

"No! I mean, yes, of course I believe you! I'm not mad about that, okay?" Ryan said in frustration. "Am I really angry with Sam for trying to make a move on my girlfriend? Yeah. But I'm not mad at you for that, it's not your fault. No, what I'm upset about is that you didn't tell me. You should have told me."

"It wasn't that big of a deal," Quinn argued. "He tried to kiss me. I shut him down. That's it."

"No, that's _not_ it," Ryan returned. "Think about it. If some girl had tried to kiss me, wouldn't you want to know about it? Even if nothing happened?"

Quinn faltered at that. She had a hard time dealing with other girls even looking at Ryan, of course she'd want to know.

"See? And now, now you're singing with him at Sectionals, where he's singing a solo that I should have gotten? It's just –" He exhaled angrily. "I – I need to go, okay? I've got basketball practice."

"Okay." Quinn hesitated. "Can we talk tomorrow?"

Ryan nodded, before leaving. "Yeah."

..

An hour later Ryan stood at his locker, gathering his things to go home. He'd gotten some of his frustration with his girlfriend and Sam out on the court, and now he just wanted to go home.

"Ryan."

His jaw clenched slightly as he recognized the voice. He shut the locker door and turned to face the person, setting his shoulders. "Sam."

"Hey man," the other boy tried.

"Don't try to act all friendly with me," Ryan said coldly. "I know what you tried to do with Quinn at the duets competition, and that was not cool. You knew she was with me, but you tried a move on her anyways."

"I know, and I'm sorry, okay?"

"No, not okay. You know, I understand, she's beautiful, and smart, and amazing. But I'm her boyfriend, you do not get to try anything with her as long as she chooses to be with me. What you did was unthinkably disrespectful to both of us."

"Look, she shut me down completely."

"That's not the point, the point is that you did it while knowing that she was with another person." He shook his head. "I feel so stupid right now, you know? I really thought we had a friendship starting, I thought you were a good guy." He shrugged, turning to walk away. "Turns out I was wrong."

"Ryan –"

He stopped walking. "Sam, stop. I'm very upset with you right now, and I don't want to get into trouble again so soon after last week's altercation with Dave Karofsky and Azimio Adams, so please leave me alone."

..

"I just really want to punch him in the face right now," Ryan admitted to his dad a few hours later, when James came over with takeout for dinner. Shelby was still on her way home, having been held up at a faculty meeting.

"I feel you, but that's probably not the best idea," James told him sympathetically. "You just got into a fight last week, and I have a feeling your mom's not going to be too understanding this time around if you start another one."

"I know." Ryan frowned. "But he was completely out of line. It's not like I don't know how he felt, I know how he feels. I liked Quinn when she was with Finn Hudson, but I never made a move on her because I respected that she wanted to be with that goofball."

"What did Quinn say about all this?" James asked pulling a few cartons out of a plastic bag. "Did she say why she didn't tell you?"

"She said it wasn't a big deal," Ryan said a bit derisively. "Of course it was, wouldn't you want to know if someone tried to kiss Mom?" He made a face at the idea.

"Yes," James admitted. "But here's the question. Do you trust Quinn?"

Ryan stopped. "Yeah, of course."

"Well, maybe just calm down about this, then. If she said it's not a big deal to her, then maybe it isn't."

"I guess." Ryan sighed. "I… didn't have a lot of friends until recently," he admitted. "And Sam's new to school, so he didn't know me yet. And he seemed like a nice guy, after I got over the part where I didn't want him to join glee because I thought he would be yet another competitor for the highly limited male solos in glee club. And obviously that line of reasoning has been vindicated, since Mr. Schue gave him the solo without even considering anybody else, but that's beside the point. The point is, I kind of thought we were becoming friends, and it hurts a little to find out that he did… that."

James nodded. "Miniature rant aside, I get it. It's not fun to have someone betray you like that."

"What do I do?"

"Well, that's up to you," James said slowly. "I'm not going to tell you what to do. You can either forgive him and try to be friends with him again, or you could keep your distance." Ryan made a noncommittal sound. "Try not to take it out on Quinn, though."

"I'm not," Ryan protested.

"From what you said, you are a little," James countered. "Try to look at it from her side. It's a little awkward telling your partner that someone tried to kiss you without permission, particularly if that person is a friend."

"Maybe." The teenager frowned stubbornly. "I'm not angry with her, I would just like her to acknowledge that she shouldn't have kept it a secret from me. I thought we told each other everything."

"Just talk to her." They heard the front door open, and Shelby came into the kitchen a few minutes later.

"Hi guys." She dropped a kiss on Ryan's hair and one on James' cheek before seeing the food. "Ooh, Chinese."

* * *

_Wednesday_

The next morning Ryan was walking to the choir room when Quinn walked up next to him and put a hand on his arm. He stopped walking and looked at her. "Can we talk?"

Ryan nodded. "Okay." The two of them resumed their trek to the choir room side by side.

"Are you still mad at me?" she asked.

"I told you, I wasn't mad at you."

"You're just upset."

"Yes. It's very different."

Quinn sighed. "I told you, I'm sorry, okay? You're right, I should have told you about Sam."

Ryan was quiet for a moment, before sighing too. "I was looking for you earlier. And yes, you should have told me about Sam, but I overreacted too." He stopped, looking her straight in the eye. "Is there anything going on between you and Sam?"

Quinn met his gaze squarely. "No."

A second later, Ryan nodded. "Okay. You said nothing happened, and I believe you. And if you say it's not a big deal, then it's not."

"Good." Quinn visibly relaxed.

"Now, I'm not exactly thrilled that you're singing a love song with him, especially since now that I think about it, the two of you look enough alike to be siblings and it's mildly disturbing." Ryan shuddered slightly at the thought, and now Quinn looked grossed out as well. "But since I know that there's nothing going on between the two of you, I will swallow my disapproval for the sake of the team and to support you in your first solo at one of the New Directions' competitions."

Quinn pulled him down into a long kiss, before wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you." She pulled back after a second, and they continued walking. "Don't worry, I am really not looking forward to singing with him either. It got a little awkward at the wedding last week."

Ryan looked at her, stopping just outside the door to the choir room as he frowned. "Is he making you uncomfortable? Do you want me to talk to him? I –"

Quinn shook her head. "No, don't. It's fine. He said he'd back off, and he hasn't really made a move since that time when we were rehearsing for the duet."

"He better not," Ryan said possessively.

Quinn smiled at him, giving him another light kiss. "You're cute. But I promise, you don't have anything to worry about, okay? Now come on, we'll be late for glee."

"Okay." Ryan opened the classroom door, letting Quinn exit first before following her to the choir room. Only to stop short as they saw who was in front. "What's Lauren Zizes doing here?"

Quinn was equally as taken aback, eyes wide. "… I have no idea."

Mr. Schue came into the room just behind them. "Uh, hello."

"Mr. Schue, I found us a new member," Puck said, standing up next to Lauren. He looked a little spaced out.

"Oh. Oh!" Mr. Schue looked at the large girl.

"What did you pay her to join, Puckerman?" Santana asked.

Puck looked at Lauren before answering. "A box of Cadbury eggs… and seven minutes in heaven." He looked at her again. "I have to say, she rocked my world."

The rest of the club looked mildly grossed out for a second, before Mr. Schue cleared his throat. "Okay then, looks like we're back in business. Everyone, please welcome our new member, Miss Lauren Zizes." Everyone clapped slowly, unsure of what to do. "Okay, let's get to work."

..

One rehearsal session later, Ryan glanced agitatedly at Quinn and Sam, who were still working on their duet together. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, he'd been fine when the rehearsal started. Sure, he'd been annoyed that Quinn had to work with Sam, but he understood that it was all part of the performance, and he trusted his girlfriend. Still, he'd grown increasingly irritated as the rehearsal had gone on, his annoyance at Sam's proximity to Quinn compounded by the fact that not getting the solo still chafed at his ego. He knew he was probably being shallow but he couldn't help it. Like he'd told Quinn once, he needed applause to live.

"Okay, guys, I think that's all we have time for today," Mr. Schue finally called the rehearsal to a halt. "Work on your parts at home and I'll see you all tomorrow."

Ryan picked up his things, and started to walk towards Quinn. She was still standing next to Sam, and Ryan saw Sam smile at Quinn, putting a hand on her shoulder. Another wave of irritation washed over him, and he practically stalked over to the pair. "Sam," he greeted tightly. "See you tomorrow." He took Quinn's hand and pulled her out of the choir room. After giving him a strange look, she didn't protest.

He led her into a nearby classroom, and shut the door behind them. Quinn turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "What? What's the prob –"

Ryan cut her off, pressing his lips on her almost forcefully, just needing to feel connected with her right at that second. He heard her gasp softly in surprise, before responding with a moan, her hand coming up to rest on his chest. He stepped forward, pressing her back against the door.

He drew back from the kiss for a second, meeting her slightly unfocused gaze, before surging forward again to catch her lips in a searing kiss. He let his tongue delve into her mouth, sweeping everywhere as he took in her by now familiar taste. His hands ran up and down her sides as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer even as he pressed himself into her, needing to feel her against him.

Finally, he broke away for much-needed oxygen, and they stood there, almost nose to nose, gasping for breath. "What was that for?" Quinn asked breathlessly. Ryan closed his eyes, leaning his forehead on hers lightly.

"I… don't be mad, okay? I know you said I didn't have anything to worry about with Sam, and I trust you, but seeing him with you, even though I know there wasn't anything going on and the two of you were just rehearsing, it just upset me for some reason, and I just… I don't know." He anxiously opened his eyes after his ramble. "I'm sorry about pulling you in here without saying anything first. Are you mad?"

Quinn shook her head. "No," she breathed. "It's okay. It's hot, actually."

Ryan's lips curved into a slight smile. "Yeah?"

She nodded. "I mean, you don't really do things like this very often." Ryan knew it was true, it was usually Quinn setting the pace of their make-out sessions. He was completely fine with that, but this was an interesting change.

"Does that mean you want me to do it more, then?"

"Maybe. Doesn't mean you can just drag me into empty classrooms all the time though."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ryan tilted his head forward to kiss her again, this time more slowly. Quinn swiped her tongue gently against his lips before pulling back.

"And don't worry about Sam," Quinn breathed into his ear, making him shudder. "I'm all yours."

Ryan's smile turned almost salacious. "Really now? All mine?" He felt her hand moving up, tangling itself into his hair.

"Yours." She pulled him towards her, crushing their lips together as she exhaled. Ryan let his eyes flutter shut at the sensation, and he tilted his head, deepening their kiss. Her hand continued to run through his hair, the other sliding under his shirt and up his abs. Following her lead, Ryan slowly fiddled with the hem of her cheerleader top, giving her time to stop him. When she didn't he let his hand roam up her side, drawing a moan from the blonde as his fingers stroked lightly at the warm skin.

Ryan soon pulled away from the kiss, his lips slowly kissing down the side of her neck. While his lips were busy on her neck he let his hand drift across her stomach, higher and higher until his hand was resting on her breast, squeezing gently. "Ryan…"

Smiling a bit deviously, he stopped at a spot he knew drove Quinn crazy. She whimpered when he nipped and sucked lightly at the skin, her body squirming against his as he kept her pressed against the door, his hand gently massaging her breast. He heard her moan his name above him, her fingers scratching against his stomach, and he finished up, soothing the spot with his tongue before kissing his way back up to her lips.

Quinn pulled back, trying to catch her breath. "Did you just –"

"Uh-huh." Ryan leaned back slightly to inspect his handiwork, a primal side of him quite satisfied with the mark he'd left on his girlfriend. He lightly stroked a finger across the hickey on her neck, and she shivered, catching his hand with hers.

She let out a shuddering breath. "You are so lucky I love you right now."

Ryan just smiled, giving her another light kiss.

* * *

_Thursday_

"Come on, one more run," Ryan coaxed the next day. He'd managed to get Quinn to come over after school for some one-on-one rehearsals. Quinn had agreed, because she knew he could probably teach her more than Mr. Schue could, and also to get him to stop nagging. She was almost regretting it though, as they'd done the song… she'd lost track of how many times. "You've almost got that one part right."

Quinn sighed. "Okay, no. That's enough. You want my voice to give out before the competition?"

"Fine, let's call a break," Ryan said.

"Thank you." Quinn flopped down on the couch in the Corcorans' music room. She'd been impressed when Ryan had led here in here, although it probably shouldn't have come as a surprise. Shelby was a musician after all, Ryan had obviously gotten his talent from her. Quinn had only heard Shelby sing once, but she had been fantastic. Ryan sat down next to her.

"You're improving, though. Since I have perfect pitch, I've noticed you have a tendency to go sharp, likely because you lack my years of vocal training, but it's getting better."

"Uh, thanks?" Quinn shook her head in amusement, taking the comment at face value. "We can't all have voices like yours."

"Yeah, it would really be weird if a male voice came out of your mouth," Ryan answered, face perfectly straight. Quinn backhanded him on the arm, and he grinned. "I know what you meant. And you're right, my voice is indeed one in a million." He grinned at Quinn's unimpressed look. "Hey, you started it."

"Oh, shut up." She leaned in, pressing her lips to his. Ryan responded with a small laugh, moving his hand to tangle in her hair. He pulled away after a second, smiling at Quinn's look of confusion. He tilted his head toward the door. Right on cue, Shelby came in. Quinn shook her head. Her boyfriend apparently had superhearing in addition to his other talents.

"Hello Ryan, Quinn," Shelby said, walking up to her shelf of music and picking out a few CDs. "What are you two doing?" She sent a smirk in their direction, making Quinn blush slightly.

"We were rehearsing for Quinn's solo at Sectionals," Ryan said brightly, apparently choosing to avoid the fact that Shelby obviously knew what had been going on seconds before. "In fact, I actually thought maybe you could help her with her technique. You are after all an internationally ranked show choir director, and since you won't help the glee club maybe you'll give us a few pointers."

"You should know by now that trying to guilt me into teaching your glee club won't work," Shelby said, amused. She looked at Quinn. "Let's hear it."

"What, now?" Quinn asked, eyes widening.

"Yep. Now. Up you get."

Quinn stood up a little uncertainly, Ryan nodding at her encouragingly. He started up the minus one track on the speaker system, and Quinn ran through the song. Three minutes later, she looked at Shelby, unsure of what kind of critique to expect.

"You tend to go sharp on some of the notes, but that's easily fixed with practice," Shelby started. Quinn glanced at Ryan to find a slightly smug smile on his face. She gave him a quick glare and he straightened his face. "The song seems to be well within your range, so you don't have a problem reaching anything. You have a good smoky tone, it suits the song," Shelby continued. "I think your biggest problem might be with the breathing. You want to let the notes come more from your diaphragm than from your throat," she said, gesturing at her own. "Listen."

She sang the chorus of _Time of My Life_, her voice changing halfway through. "Do you hear the difference?" Quinn nodded. "You can actually feel the difference if you put your hand right there," Shelby took Quinn's hand, placing it in the middle of her torso. "Try it out."

..

Ryan watched as Quinn adjusted her voice, noting the slightly surprised look on her face when she felt the difference. Shelby smiled in satisfaction.

"I can give you a few exercises if you want."

"Yeah, thanks," Quinn nodded, and Shelby went to the shelf and pulled out a few sheets of paper.

"I have some things to do, but I'm sure Ryan won't mind helping you out, right Ryan?" She handed them the papers.

"Of course, Mom. Thanks," Ryan answered, smiling. Music was his life, after all, he'd never turn down any opportunity to immerse himself in it.

"Yes, thank you, Shelby," Quinn added. "She's a pretty good teacher," she said once Shelby had left the room. "I can see why VA was so good."

"I know," Ryan agreed. "Like I said, she's been giving me lessons, and I've improved significantly. And given how high my level was before, that's saying something." Quinn rolled her eyes at him as he scanned the sheet. "It's a vocalization pattern, so I can play it on the piano while you sing it," he said.

A few runs later, the two of them could definitely hear the improvement. "You're doing great," Ryan said happily. "I just hope Sam rises to the occasion," he said, still ever so slightly bitter. He could sing circles around Sam, and the fact that he was still sore at the blonde boy wasn't helping matters.

Quinn just hummed in response. "Sing with me?"

Ryan smiled, pulled out of his thoughts. "Sure." He started up the music, and hit his entrance cue effortlessly.

_Now I've had the time of my life_

_No, I've never felt like this before_

_Yes I swear it's the truth_

_And I owe it all to you_

He smiled at Quinn as he held his hand out, gesturing for her to take over.

_'Cause I've had the time of my life_

_And I owe it all to you_

Ryan grinned happily, grabbing Quinn's hand to interlace their fingers as the short instrumental played.

_I've been waiting for so long_

_Now I've finally found someone_

_To stand by me_

_We saw the writing on the wall_

_As we felt this magical fantasy_

_Now with passion in our eyes_

_There's no way we could disguise it secretly_

_So we take each other's hand_

_'Cause we seem to understand the urgency_

Quinn looked up at Ryan, smiling sultrily, and once more Ryan was lost in her eyes. _So beautiful._ His breath caught with the sudden heat rushing through his body, and only his years of training were the reason he managed to not miss his cue.

_Just remember_

_You're the one thing_

_I can't get enough of_

_So I'll tell you something_

_This could be love, because_

_I've had the time of my life_

_No I've never felt this way before_

_Yes I swear it's the truth,_

_And I owe it all to you_

The song soon ended, and the two singers stood there breathlessly, gazing deeply at one another. At some point Quinn's hand had made its way up his chest, and Ryan flicked his gaze toward it.

"Sorry, I just wanted to see how it felt when you were singing," Quinn said, starting to pull her hand away. He caught it though, keeping it pressed against his chest.

"Don't be sorry, it's fine." Ryan could see her eyes darkening, and his pulse started to speed up. Music was amazing, he knew that, and singing, if it was with the right person, could act as the perfect aphrodisiac. He could see it affecting her too, her breath quickening as her tongue darted out to wet her lips.

Ryan leaned his head forward, and their lips met. Ryan's head was instantly spinning, and he shut his eyes with a soft moan as Quinn gently ran her hand along his chest. He pulled her closer to him, pulse quickening as their bodies rubbed against each other with every movement –

"Ahem."

The two teenagers jumped apart hastily as Shelby cleared her throat in the doorway, her expression torn between amused and mildly disgusted. "Hi Mom, we were just practicing," Ryan tried, giving her what was probably a slightly dazed smile.

"I can see that," Shelby answered dryly. "Since you're so dedicated, maybe I should sit right here and give the two of you a more thorough critique."

"That won't be necessary," Ryan said hastily. Shelby nodded, giving Ryan a stern look before going back to her office. He gulped. Message received, no more fooling around.

"I should probably get going, Mom's making dinner," Quinn decided, still a bit flushed.

"One more time then, before you leave," Ryan proposed. Quinn raised an eyebrow at him. "The song, I mean!" he said hastily.

Quinn rolled her eyes at him before smiling. "Fine."

* * *

_Saturday_

"Well, if you don't have them, go down to 7-11 and find me some, I need Raisinettes!" Ryan shut his eyes in frustration as the man behind the hotel store counter turned away from him. Great. The competition was going to start in twenty minutes and he was looking for chocolate-covered fruit.

"Didn't know you were into sugar before competitions."

Ryan opened his eyes and looked up to see Blaine Anderson standing a few feet away. "Puck got Lauren Zizes to take Kurt's place on the team, and she refuses to go on unless she gets her damn candy," he tried to explain himself. Blaine just gave him an amused look. Ryan sighed. "It's a long story."

"And I'm sure it's fascinating," Blaine said teasingly, sitting down. Ryan sat down next to him. It wasn't like the rest of the team would miss him, he'd been sent out on this fool's errand, after all. "So, word is you don't have a solo this time around."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Don't even get me started. And who told you? Have you been spying on us?"

"No, Kurt told me. Apparently his stepbrother let it slip the other day," Blaine replied.

"Of course he did," Ryan huffed. Finn Hudson was a buffoon. "Did he happen to leak our set list too?"

"Don't worry, your set list's safe," Blaine assured him. "Though it probably wouldn't really stop you guys if it _had_ been leaked."

"Probably not," Ryan conceded. They'd managed it last year after all. But to be honest he didn't think they'd be able to pull it off a second time. Plus the Warblers were a more formidable competitor than the Jane Addams and Haverbrooke choirs.

"Well, call me crazy, but part of me is sorry you're not the lead," Blaine admitted. "You always did win those competitions back in middle school, and I wanted to see who'd win between us now," he said playfully.

"Oh please, Anderson, you know I'd totally kick your ass," Ryan bantered back.

Blaine laughed. "Don't be so sure." He checked his watch before standing up. "They're probably getting set up, we should get back."

"Right." Ryan stood up as well, feeling better after that little chat. He'd always liked Blaine back when they were taking vocal lessons together, and the other boy had been friendly too, which had been a refreshing change of pace. Ryan had been sorry when the Blaine had moved away. He held out his hand. "May the better team win."

Blaine shook it with at easy smile. "Very well then." He quirked his head. "What about your candy?"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Screw it."

..

"Hey, there you are," Shelby said in relief as James walked through the doors of the lobby a few minutes before the start of the program. "You know we promised Ryan we'd be here."

"I know, I know," James answered apologetically. "Sorry, I got caught in traffic. Where is he?"

"Dressing rooms, I got us seats behind his team though," Shelby replied, leading him into the auditorium. "Hopefully we can catch him."

James nodded, and he stopped, letting Shelby into their seat row first. She went in towards two empty seats and James saw her pause as she noticed the curly-haired man in a vest sitting in the seat next to hers. She shook her head before sitting down. James followed her, listening to Shelby's conversation with the man sitting on her other side.

"Where are your kids?" Shelby asked, eyeing the block of empty seats in front of them.

"Dressing rooms. They should be here in a bit."

Shelby's eyebrow went up. "You left them unsupervised?"

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon," the man assured her, if a bit uncertainly. James brushed his hand against Shelby's, catching her attention. The other man caught the motion, and looked over at him. "Who's your friend, Shelby?"

Shelby glanced at James. "Oh. Will, this is James Walker, James this is Will Schuester. He's the McKinley glee club director."

"Ah." James recognized the name, mostly from Ryan's rants on how a Mr. Schue was out to ruin his career before it even started. He looked over the teacher, making an evaluation. He held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Schuester shook his hand. "You too."

Just then the New Directions made it into their designated seats, just as the elderly Hipsters were taking the stage. James grinned as Ryan spotted him and Shelby. Ryan waved back with a smile as he took his seat just in front of his parents, settling between Quinn and an Asian boy.

Soon enough, the first two competitors had performed, and there was a short intermission for the New Directions to get ready. They started to file out of the auditorium. James offered him a fist bump as he passed. "Go get 'em, buddy."

"Break a leg, Ryan," Shelby said encouragingly.

"Thanks," Ryan said happily. "We're going to be great."

..

Back in the green room, Quinn was trying to fix her breathing, growing increasingly nervous as their performance time drew nearer. This was not good, where was Ryan when you needed him?

Sam sat down beside her. "Hey, you okay?"

"No, I'm totally freaking out," Quinn said rapidly. "Last time we performed in front of an audience, I went into labor. I think I'm having post-traumatic stress disorder."

"FYI, I'm totally available to fill in," Mercedes said, nonchalantly flipping through a magazine. Meanwhile, in another corner, Artie and Brittany were having their own crisis. Quinn focused on them to keep her burgeoning stage fright away. To hell with eavesdropping being rude.

"Nowhere to run," Artie was saying. "From me, or your lies. I hope they judge us on dancing and adultery, because you're aces at both of them."

Brittany looked at him mournfully. "I don't understand how you found out. I am so stupid, I can't believe I did it, I've never felt more awful about anything in my life."

"What's Artie all worked up about?" Mike wondered, leaning towards Tina, who looked at him incredulously.

"You're such a jerk." She stood up, moving away from Mike. Quinn rolled her eyes at the drama, feeling marginally better. It was strangely soothing to hear the others' life problems for some reason. Just then Ryan came in, probably from the restrooms, and Quinn relaxed even more.

"Hi Quinn, you doing okay?" he asked, sitting down on her other side. He gave Sam a scathing look, and the blonde boy guiltily moved away from Quinn. "What are you doing?"

"I wasn't doing anything."

"Ryan, it's fine," Quinn said. He looked at her, before nodding reluctantly. "Where have you been?"

"Attempting to get _somebody's_ Raisinettes," Ryan informed her. He turned to look at Lauren. "Unfortunately, the hotel convenience store doesn't carry your particular brand of confectionery so you'll have to do with those pretzels you're stuffing your face with."

"Screw you."

"Anyways," Ryan turned back to Quinn. "Are you nervous? You shouldn't be, you're going to be great up there, I promise."

"Okay. Okay. I can do this." Quinn tried to psych herself up, her nerves dissipating ever so slightly. She smiled at her boyfriend, who gave her hand a squeeze. Just then Mr. Schue came in.

"Mr. Schue, you're going to have to find a replacement for me, because I'm not going onstage with Brittany," Artie informed him right off the bat.

"Make that two subs, since I'm not going up either," Tina said hotly.

"Enough!" Mr. Schue finally decided to act like a teacher, and the room fell silent. "Listen to yourselves! I am ashamed of you. Think back to where you were last year. In this room, no set list, no choreography, no chance in hell of winning. But you did win, and you know why? Because you did it together." Guilty looks appeared on the faces of most of the students. "Now," Mr. Schue continued. "I want you to go out there, and for just six minutes, remind yourselves that you aren't alone."

The lights flickered on and off suddenly, catching everyone's attention. Mr. Schue nodded. "It's showtime."

..

"So, you worried?" Shelby asked Will casually as she fiddled with a video camera. She wanted to get this performance down, even if Ryan wouldn't be featured. "The Warblers were actually quite good, and to be honest the Hipsters weren't that bad. The cute old people attraction might even work in their favor."

Will, who had just sat down a minute ago after checking on the New Directions, shook his head. "No, I'm not worried. I believe in my kids." Shelby could tell he was a bit shaken, though. The first two contestants, especially the Warblers, were good. The lights dimmed, signaling the start of the performance. No one was on stage as the music started up though. Suddenly the spotlights swung towards the audience to focus on Sam Evans coming out of a back entrance. Shelby smiled in amusement, knowing that they were using the same trick Ryan had last year.

The whole performance went smoothly, and Shelby had to admit she was quite impressed with the two lead dancers in _Valerie_. They were probably even slightly better than her own performers on Vocal Adrenaline. Just the two of them though, the rest of the team were only doing basic backup choreography. The vocals were good, she could hear the improvement in Quinn's singing where she applied the pointers Shelby had given her. Sam was good as well, though she suspected Ryan's voice would have been better. No complaints with Santana's voice, she did a good rendition of the Amy Winehouse song. And apparently the crowd agreed, since the New Directions received a standing ovation after their set.

"So, you're the expert, what do you think? Are we winning?" James asked her as they waited for the judges' announcement.

Shelby hummed thoughtfully. "The Hipsters were good, but I don't really think they're in the running. Nothing special. I'd put them at third. Between the Warblers and the New Directions… I think it'll be pretty close," she admitted. "The New Directions had a more impressive dance routine. The Warblers had clean execution, their lead was good and they were very synchronized. The New Directions had a more diverse set of soloists, but nothing really vocally spectacular, which would have given them an edge."

"And now, this year's head judge, Associate Director of the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles, Mr. Pete Zabnowski!"

A portly man in glasses stepped out onto the stage in front of the three glee clubs. "Thank you. And thank you to all the groups who have performed here today. We all had a serious good time. You know what else is a serious good time? Taking two minutes to save a life, by filling out an organ donor card. Because it's never too late to donate." There was a smattering of awkward applause.

"Drumroll please. In third place… the Hipsters!" Applause rang out as the third-place trophy was given. "Thank you. Drive carefully," he told the elderly lady who stepped up to take the award. "And now, the winner of this year's West Central Sectionals is… it's a tie. Congratulations, you're all going to the Regionals!"

"Huh," Shelby said. "That's a surprise."

..

"Ryan! Hey, Ryan!" Blaine Anderson caught sight of the McKinley students in the lobby and went off in a bit of a jog to catch up to his friend. Ryan stopped, turning around to meet him with a smile.

"Hello Blaine," he greeted. "Nice job up there today."

"Yeah, thanks," Blaine said, acknowledging the compliment with a smile and a nod. "Congratulations to both of us, huh?"

"Yes, it was a bit of an unexpected decision, especially since these competitions aren't known for tied results." Ryan smiled mischievously. "Of course, if I had been the one in the lead, you wouldn't have stood a chance."

Blaine grinned. "Is that so?"

"Of course." Something caught Ryan's attention. "Mom! Over here!"

Blaine turned slightly to find Shelby Corcoran coming towards them, with a guy Blaine didn't know trailing after her. The guy was kind of good looking, in Blaine's opinion.

"Congratulations, sweetie," Shelby Corcoran said to Ryan, wrapping him in a hug. Her companion nodded, also smiling at Ryan. "Who's this?" she asked, looking at Blaine.

"Mom, Dad, this is Blaine Anderson," Ryan said. "Blaine, this is my mom, Shelby Corcoran, and my dad, James Walker."

Blaine's eyes widened for a second. His dad? He'd thought either Hiram or Leroy Berry was Ryan's dad. His private school manners kicked in a second later and he shook both of their hands. "Nice to meet you both."

"You too," James said amicably.

"Congratulations, very good job today," Shelby told him. "Your vocals were quite good."

"Thank you." Blaine smiled widely. "That's a real compliment coming from the top show choir director in the country."

Shelby smiled at him magnanimously. "Yes it is."

Blaine almost laughed at the similarity between Ryan and his mother. That was answer he would have completely expected from his friend. The blunt confidence hadn't made Ryan a lot of friends back in middle school, but it hadn't bothered Blaine.

"Ryan, I have to go, I've got work in an hour," James said apologetically. "But really great job today, buddy, I'm proud of you."

Ryan beamed happily. "Thanks."

"I'll just go walk him out, and I'll come back in, okay?" Shelby told him. "I'll see you later."

"Okay," Ryan agreed, and his parents walked off.

"You dad, huh? I remember you told me about your mom, but you didn't mention you had a new dad, too," Blaine said curiously.

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. "As it turns out, neither Hiram nor Leroy was my biological father. It's a long and involved story, but the short version is that James is my biological dad."

"Is that a good thing?"

Ryan smiled briefly. "Yes, it's a very good thing."

"Ah." Blaine gave a nod. "Then congratulations. He seems like a nice guy."

"Oh, he is," Ryan assured him. "Listen, I have to go, I still need to go find Quinn before I meet my parents."

"Yeah, no problem," Blaine nodded. "See you at Regionals. You are going down," he added with a grin.

"Not a chance," Ryan threw back with his own grin, before walking off.

..

A few minutes later, Shelby found herself back in the auditorium. She'd left the others in the front entrance and had gone back inside to find Ryan, who just then stepped out of the dressing room entrance. He spotted her quickly and walked over. "Hey, I thought we were meeting outside."

"We were," Shelby assured him. "I just wanted to come back in for a second."

"Oh."

"You know, this auditorium is the place where I saw you for the first time in fifteen years," Shelby said thoughtfully. "I was sitting right… there," she pointed at the appropriate seat. "And I remember sitting through those first two performances."

Ryan smirked. "They were pretty awful if I remember correctly. They might have stood a chance if they hadn't stolen our set list, they were actually decent with their own songs."

"And I remember this kid standing up in the middle of deaf _Don't Stop Believing,_" Shelby continued. "'Meeting in the green room –'"

"– in five minutes." Ryan nodded. "That was me. The rest of the club was losing it,heck _I _was losing it, and I knew we had to do something fast otherwise it was going to be our first and last competition ever. Mr. Schue wasn't around, and I'm sorry but Miss Pillsbury was not quite an appropriate substitute."

"I wouldn't say that too quickly," Shelby said. "I heard her berating the other two show choir directors quite soundly for cheating during the intermission. Did a pretty good job of it too."

"Oh." Ryan tilted his head, perching himself on the end armrest of one of the seat rows. "I did wonder why the Jane Addams director showed up at the judge's room to confess their infraction. My apologies to Miss Pillsbury then."

Shelby chuckled at him. "You, know, I almost walked out on the competition, just because those first two choirs were so bad. But then I decided to stay to hear the new glee club that had just started up. Just to see if they were up to scratch. Imagine my surprise when I saw the lead singer coming out of the back entrance. And imagine my further surprise when I realized exactly who that performer was to me." She looked at her son, remembering the jumble of emotions seeing him had brought. "And I remember all I could think was _oh my god. I have to meet him._ Because you'd been missing from my life for the past fifteen years and I'd finally found you." She smiled wryly. "But then I remembered that contract, and I remembered why you weren't in my life in the first place."

"But it worked out, eventually," Ryan said, smiling faintly as he went to stand next to her. "I'm glad you didn't walk out."

"So am I." Shelby shook her head, imagining for a second how different things could have been if she had. "You know, sometimes this still feels like a dream, and I can't believe that you're here with me." She reached out, stroking him on the cheek.

"But it wasn't, and we're right here, and I am so thankful that we found each other." He smiled. "That night was special. There was something there, and that song I sang was so appropriate because it just felt like something was changing, and soon. Just out of reach. And I was right. And you're right, sometimes it's hard to believe how much things have changed. I mean, we haven't even been living together for a full year." He took her hand. "But I am so happy. I am _so_ happy with you."

Shelby smiled thickly, tears pricking at her eyes. "I'm happy with you too. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mom." He pulled her into a hug, before pulling away with a grin. "Now, how about we go over the performance? I thought the execution could have been a little less sloppy with more practice, and we could have polished up the vocal arrangement a bit more…"

Shelby laughed smoothening out some nonexistent wrinkles in Ryan's shirt. "Come on, sweetie, let's go home."

* * *

**Hi everyone, here's another chapter! I would have gotten it out sooner but I've been sick this past week. I got tired of editing again, so sorry for any typos.**

**Thanks for all your comments on the previous chapter, I'm glad you liked it. And thanks for the reviews on my oneshot, too. We have reached 400 reviews on this story, I couldn't really believe it, I never planned to get this far, and I'm so happy you're still with me here. Here's a few responses to some of your reviews.**

**\- Closure with the Berrys is something I'm going to deal with sometime, but I'm not sure when or how yet. But it will be there somewhere along the line.**

**\- On Ryan's defensiveness with his parents sometimes, yes, it is a bit annoying, but I think that's how teenagers are, especially when they're in trouble. And when it's a pride thing. I know I hated answering interrogations whenever I got into trouble anyway. Heh.**

**\- As to Quinn's insecurity, I think it's natural with her background as Lucy. Ryan's helping her through it though. And watch out for more of Quinn's family members to pop out of the woodwork soon. Maybe as soon as next chapter, since that's when I'll be tackling the Christmas episode.**

**\- Someone asked if James would be able to give Ryan his last name, and I've thought about this before. Technically yes, he could, but I don't think he will. This will likely be explained more later (Can't spill all my story points all at once).**

**\- I hope I handled the Sam/Quinn thing okay.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. I did think about splitting the story into a sequel fic, but I have ultimately decided not to do that. For one, I've got a lot of followers and reviews on this one, don't want to lose those. For another, it's been pointed out to me that splitting the story might result in a timeskip of some sort, and you guys are right, I don't really want to do that. So we will likely be going for an epically long fic spanning the first three seasons.**

**Also, for those who are interested in One Week, Two Months, I'm still in the air on whether to continue that. If ever, it won't be as a prequel to this fic anymore, since there won't be much to tell. I've already established that Shelby and James didn't have contact after Ryan was born, except for one instance that I showed in a flashback. If I do continue it, it'll be an AU where Shelby gets to keep Ryan. So tell me what you think.**

**That's it for this update, leave your comments in the review box, and I'll see you guys soon!**


	48. Chapter 47

"And it's fourteen seconds left in the fourth quarter, McKinley Titans' Corcoran in possession."

"Go, Ryan!" Quinn yelled from the sidelines. It had been a week since the New Directions' Sectionals competition, and the Titans' basketball team was playing the Roosevelt Knights that afternoon

The McKinley crowd cheered its approval as Ryan managed another two-pointer, putting the Titans at a ten-point lead. The game went back into play, with the Knights moving up the court only to have the ball intercepted by the Titans' defense. The ball was quickly passed to Ryan, who streaked it up the court, only to have the finishing whistle blow just before he took the shot.

It didn't matter though, they had still won, and the Titans' supporters were ecstatic. McKinley had won all of its three basketball games this season, almost half of their points having been scored by Ryan. A minute later he appeared next to Quinn, wearing a huge smile. "Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey yourself." She pulled him down for a kiss.

"So, how did I do?"

"You did great," she praised him, smiling, before pushing him away. "Now how about you go get a shower and we can get back home, hmm?"

"Are you implying that I stink?"

"That," Quinn said, "is exactly what I'm implying. Now go on."

Ryan grinned at her, swooping in to steal another kiss. "Yes dear."

..

A few minutes later, Ryan stepped out of the locker rooms. He looked around for a second, orienting himself in the unfamiliar hallways. Thankfully, he spotted a couple of girls. He jogged over to them. "Hi." The girls turned around. "Sorry to bother you, but do you two know the shortest way out to the parking lot?"

The taller one of the girls, looked at him. "Hey, you're one of the McKinley players, aren't you?"

Ryan nodded, smiling "Yeah. My name's Ryan."

"Yeah, I remember," the other girl said. "You were really good. Our team kind of sucked tonight."

"Thanks," Ryan grinned.

"Hey, there's a party going on just down the street, we were just on our way. Maybe you'd like to join us," the first girl suggested, running a hand through her long red hair. Ryan tilted his head with a confused smile.

"As tempting as that is, I really have to go, I can't miss my ride back to McKinley. Maybe another time." He spotted Quinn down the hall. "And I just saw my girlfriend, so I better go. I'm glad you enjoyed the game." He gave the two girls a polite smile and started walking towards his girlfriend, quickly catching up to her. "Hey."

"Who was that?" Quinn asked innocently.

"Oh, just a couple of girls. They go here," Ryan said offhandedly.

"What did they want with you?"

"I asked them for directions. And there's a party someone's house later, they were asking if I wanted to go. I told them I had to go because our bus is leaving soon."

"Did you want to go?"

Ryan looked a little confused. "Not really, I'm a little tired. And besides, I thought we were having dinner?"

Quinn smiled, a little forcedly. "Yeah." Ryan smiled at her, lacing their fingers together. He rarely got invited to parties, in fact the first and only one he'd been to was Finn and Kurt's party that summer with Quinn. But he didn't really want to go, he'd much rather spend the evening with Quinn.

..

Later that night after dinner at a pizza place, Quinn drove them towards his house. "I cannot wait until I have my proper driver's license," Ryan commented. "Just a little more time and I'll be able to drive myself."

"Oh yeah, when are you taking your test anyways?" Quinn asked, making a turn.

"My mom promised to take me the day after my birthday on Friday," Ryan grinned. "That means just one more week. It'll probably be a while before I can get my own car, I'm hoping Mom can help me out with that, maybe give me a loan or something. I've got some finances in the bank, but I'd prefer not to dip into that since I'm saving it for college and New York, but I think a first car would be an acceptable splurge, right?"

"Right." She knew his birthday was on December 18th. She wasn't quite sure how she knew, but the information was there, not that she'd ever done anything with it in previous years. She resolved to get him a very nice present this year. "What kind of car were you thinking of getting?" she asked.

"Well, I'm trying not to spend too much, so I'll probably be trawling used car lots," Ryan admitted. "Mr. Hummel has a few contacts I might try. Something good but not too flashy. I'd probably settle for something decent, and I could fix it up. How about you, did you pick this car out?"

"No, actually, my dad got it for my sister's sixteenth birthday, it's not mine," Quinn replied. "He's the one who picked it out. I didn't mind though, I was too busy cheering over the fact that my sister could drive me around that it didn't really car what it was. Then it sort of became mine. I like the car, though."

"It's a nice car," Ryan smiled.

"How about if you were getting a brand new one, what would you get?"

"I think I'd like something a little bigger than this one. But not as large as my Mom's Range Rover. And something that doesn't scream gas guzzler. If I were going to buy new, I think the Ford Edge or Nissan Murano are good."

"You do know I have no clue about anything regarding cars, right?" Quinn inquired. "As long as it runs, and has proper air conditioning, then it's a good car."

Ryan laughed. "It's okay." Quinn pulled up outside of the Corcoran house, and Ryan leaned over to give her a kiss. "Thank you." She just nodded as he stepped out into the shallow layer of snow that covered the streets. It had been snowing lightly the past week, but not enough to be serious. Maybe a couple of inches at a time. "Text me when you get home?"

"Okay." Quinn quirked a smile at his concern, watching as he went into the house.

* * *

_Monday_

"Morning Mom." Ryan poured some cereal into a bowl as his mom came into the kitchen.

"Morning sweetie." Shelby ran a hand through his hair as she passed him on the way to the coffee machine.

"Did you see the snow?" It had really started coming down early that morning, and when Ryan had stepped out to check he'd estimated it to be around knee-deep.

"Yes I did," Shelby sighed, thinking of the hassle driving would be. "Did you see if the streets have been cleared?"

Ryan nodded. "The plow came about fifteen minutes ago. I thought we'd be having a relatively green Christmas this year, since the snow's so late," Ryan said, adding milk to his breakfast and pushing a spoonful into his mouth. "Or rather a brown slush Christmas, there's nothing really green about snowless Christmases."

Shelby hummed in response, sticking two slices of bread into the toaster and taking out the butter. "You have enough sweaters? And I don't mean the ones with animals on the front either, I mean real ones."

"Yes, Mom, I think I have quite enough after our impromptu trip to the shopping center," Ryan drawled. Shelby smirked at him. She'd managed to drag him into shopping with her that Saturday, and he'd only complied with ill grace.

"Hey, I bought you lunch for your trouble," she told him reprovingly. "And I'm unrepentant, you needed those clothes."

"It's debatable as to whether I needed quite that amount of clothes" – they had come home with the trunk of the Rover filled with bags – "but yeah, thanks."

"Would you mind clearing the driveway? The shovel's in the –"

"In the garage," Ryan finished. "Already done. Obviously my morning run was out of the questions, so I decided to dig us out of the house instead."

Shelby smiled happily, taking a sip of her coffee. "Thank you, Ryan. You know, I could get used to this. I usually have to dig myself out, or I pay someone to do it. I think I'll keep you around."

"Ha ha," Ryan deadpanned. "Very funny."

..

Several minutes before classes started, Quinn carefully parked her car in the McKinley parking lot. She'd left early that day just so she could drive extra slow. She saw Ryan getting out of Shelby's Range Rover in the faculty area of the parking lot just as she shut off her engine. She shrugged on her coat and picked up her scarf, wrapping it around her neck. Then she jumped in surprise as someone tapped on her window, relaxing when she saw her boyfriend's face outside.

"Good morning," Ryan grinned as she opened the door, kissing her on the cheek.

"You almost gave me a heart attack," Quinn grumbled, reaching back in for her backpack. Ryan quickly took it from her, slinging it over his back. "Thanks."

"Have a good weekend?" he asked.

"It was okay," Quinn shrugged as they walked to the school building. "Nothing special."

"Mom dragged me into shopping this weekend," Ryan informed her. "Apparently my wardrobe was insufficient for the cold weather and she proceeded to buy out the Lima mall. It took forever."

"Poor you," Quinn snickered. They went into the school, which had recently been festooned with garlands and wreaths in honor of the Christmas season. They went to Quinn's locker first to drop off her things, and then to Ryan's. "What's that?" she asked, noticing something stuck on the locker door.

"Huh," Ryan said, reaching out to pick up a candy cane that had been taped to his door. "That's new. I've never had anyone leave something on my locker before. Besides rude messages, that is." He tugged it off of the locker door and opened the note tied to it to read it aloud. "'Hey Ryan, congratulations on last week's basketball win. You were totally hot on the court. From your secret admirer.' And there's two hearts after it."

"What? Let me see that." Quinn plucked the note from his hands, scanning over it suspiciously. And there it was, word for word, in incredibly girly handwriting. _What the hell?_

"That's sweet," Ryan said.

"Yeah," Quinn said tightly. "Sweet."

Ryan inspected the candy cane as they walked to English class. "I try to limit my sugar intake most of the time, as it's not beneficial to the vocal cords, but I tend to relax a little during the holidays as there seems to be more candy than usual floating around."

Quinn was only half listening, and she spent most of English class fuming quietly over her boyfriend's _secret admirer_. Ha. They were probably only secret because they knew Quinn would crush them if she found out who it was. The bell soon rang, but not soon enough for Quinn.

"Quinn, can I talk to you for a sec?" Shelby called as she stood up. She went over to the teacher's desk, nodding at Ryan to go ahead. Shelby waited for the rest of the class to filter out, before looking at her strangely. "Are you okay?"

"Yup. I'm fine. Totally fine."

"Uh-huh," Shelby said. "I'll accept that for now. Did you get what I asked for?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah."

..

That afternoon, Santana swaggered along the halls of McKinley, looking for someone to bug. She smirked when she saw her Cheerios captain rummaging through her locker, and she went to stand next to her. "So, what are you getting your singing troll for Christmas?"

Quinn looked up and saw Santana leaning next to her locker, languidly checking her nails. "He's not a troll," Quinn said, rolling her eyes. "And nothing yet, I was more focused on his birthday on Thursday."

"That's easy, give him a blowjob," Santana replied matter-of-factly.

"Santana!" Quinn squeaked, her jaw dropping open.

"What? No matter how freakish he is, he's still a guy, and all guys like blowjobs. Unless of course you already do that regularly, in which case that would be a stupid present." The Latina smirked evilly. "But somehow I don't think Miss Chastity and Mr. Granny Sweaters have gotten there yet."

"We're not," Quinn answered tersely, obviously trying to get her blush under control. Santana just kept her smirk, it was always so obvious when her friend was embarrassed. "Why are we talking about this again? Don't you have something better to do?"

Santana shrugged. "I'm bored. And I need gift ideas. But back to you and Frodo, have you even gotten past kissing yet?"

"You seem awfully interested in my life right now," Quinn noted, turning toward her friend with an arched eyebrow. "What's the matter, not getting any?"

"Bitch, please. I could have any guy in this building in ten seconds if I wanted to." She just didn't want to. Although really, if she wanted a power boost right now, the Big Friendly Giant, aka Finn, was available. But she didn't want a guy, she wanted... never mind. "Whatever, get your guy a scarf or something else. But I stand by the blowjob idea, he's got it bad."

"How would you know?"

Santana rolled her eyes "Well, there's the way he's always staring at your legs when you're wearing the skirt, which is pretty much every day.

Quinn smirked. "Well, it's all about the teasing, remember?"

Santana laughed at the reminder of the old Chastity Club as they walked toward the choir room. "Good memories."

..

Half an hour later, the glee club was busy decorating the choir room for the holidays, complete with garlands, lights, and a surprisingly lush Christmas tree. Quinn was helping out with the presents under the tree, while simultaneously sneaking glances at her boyfriend. After Santana had mentioned that Ryan was always staring at her, she wanted to see for herself. Sure enough, it seemed like Ryan's eyes were glued on her every time she made a turn. It was flattering.

A few minutes later, Mr. Schue came in, carrying a miniature Christmas tree. He slowed as he took in the scene before him. "Hey guys, what's this?"

"Oh, we're trying to get into the Christmas spirit, Mr. Schue," Finn said with his dopey smile. "Christmas is totally my favorite holiday. And check out this awesome tree, I found it on the side of the road. It must have fell off some guy's car."

Mr. Schue continued to look at the tree. "And the ornaments?"

This time Santana spoke up. "The guy who lives next door finally killed off his elderly mother, when they carted him off they left the house like wide open, so. I think she was a holiday hoarder."

"Uh, um, and the presents?"

"Oh, I lifted them from a display at the mall, but don't worry, they're empty," Puck assured him.

Mr. Schue shook his head. "Guys, I appreciate the effort, but this isn't what Christmas is supposed to be like."

"For us it is," Mercedes answered. "This tree is like a mascot for glee club. We've won Sectionals two years in a row, and according to everyone at this school, we still suck."

"Yeah, the slushies are back, we just got rained on by the football jocks this morning," Tina said.

Mike nodded. "I think they just added food coloring to real slush from the parking lot."

"You can eat that, you know," Lauren said flatly.

"No. I'm not going to let you guys throw yourselves a pity party. Now, I'm going to be the first one to say that things haven't turned out the way I'd like them to this year. But Christmas is all about being grateful for the things that did."

"I thought that was Thanksgiving," Puck said.

"And this year, the glee club is lending a hand to the homeless children and youth program here in Lima."

That caught Ryan's interest. "How are we going to do that?"

Mr. Schue smiled. "We are going to go classroom to classroom, caroling to raise money."

"Wait, classrooms in this school with, like, students in them?" Tina asked disbelievingly.

"Well if there are no students, in them, there'll be nobody to put money in the collection box while we sing," Mr. Schue said, as though it were obvious. Which it was, but…

Quinn nodded. "We're gonna be killed."

Now Finn spoke up. "No, guys, it's Christmas. The time for miracles. We gotta try this."

"Finn's right," Mr. Schue said. "So, let's start rehearsing. This year, glee club's going full Santa."

* * *

_Tuesday_

"I still can't believe Ms. Rainer let those students speak to us like that. Or that she actually threw a shoe at us," Ryan grumbled to Quinn during their lunch break. Their caroling attempts had quickly been aborted after one class had hurled insults and then ultimately a piece of footwear at them. "We should report her."

"To who, Figgins?" Quinn asked sarcastically. "Like he'd ever do anything." She closed her locker door, and the couple started walking to the parking lot. Thankfully both Cheerios and basketball practices were suspended until January. "Maybe we should just do the Spanish and English classrooms," she mused. "I mean, Mr. Schue wouldn't throw shoes at us, and Shelby definitely won't let the students heckle us."

"That's actually a pretty good idea," Ryan admitted. "Why didn't we think of that before?" Quinn shrugged. "Oh well, maybe we can bring it up next time. So, are you and your mom going anywhere for Christmas?" he asked curiously. Quinn shook her head.

"No. We went up to Indiana last year to visit my uncle and his family, so this year it's our turn to host. Lucky us," she added dryly. "And lucky you, you get to meet even more blonde people."

"Lucky me indeed," Ryan returned. "That will be nice, though, you've met my grandparents, and my aunt and uncle. I haven't met any of your extended family yet."

"Well, fortunately you're meeting mom's side and not dad's. Mom's parents are… also WASPs, but not as much as my father's parents. And I guess my aunt's not that bad."

"Is he your mom's sister?"

"Yeah. And I have two cousins."

"What about your sister?"

"Frannie?" Quinn looked a bit startled. "What about her?"

"You don't really talk about her," Ryan noted. "Are you not close?"

"Frannie and I… it's a little complicated," Quinn admitted. "She's five years older than me, and growing up, she was like the perfect kid. Straight A's, captain of the cheerleading squad, perfect boyfriend." She smiled wryly. "Lucy wanted to be just like her." She looked pensive for a second. "She was really protective when I was little."

Ryan smiled at that. "That's nice. I've always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling."

"She was our dad's favorite. But she didn't like how he pressured us into the image of the perfect family. So as soon as she could, she got out of here. And like I said, she's smart. She got a full ride into UC Davis. She's only been back three times in four years."

"Do you two talk or anything?"

Quinn shook her head. "She called me at first, but then it stopped after a while. We both became… busy."

Ryan nodded slowly. If he was right, that would have been around the time Lucy made her transition to Quinn. "Does she know about Beth?" Another shake of the head. "So is she coming anytime soon?" Ryan asked.

"Actually, she just called the other day, and she says she's coming over this weekend for a visit until New Year. So you get to meet her too."

"How exciting."

* * *

_Wednesday_

"I still don't get why we all have to be here…" Finn said. The whole glee club was standing in Lima's mall for the annual Santa Claus display in an attempt to keep Brittany believing in Santa. Santana sighed, looking disinterestedly at the Santa setting a six year old down.

"Can I be honest? I don't really understand the difference between an elf and a slave," Brittany confided to the disgruntled looking midget dressed as a Christmas elf.

Santana had already known that Brittany believed in Santa Claus. They'd been BFFs forever, of course she knew. She'd spent almost every Christmas since she was seven lining up at these things. Even Q had never done it. Sure Santana thought Santa lines were for little kids, but it was for Britts. And while she may have hated Four-Eyes' guts for going out with B, she had to grudgingly admire that he was willing to drag the whole glee club to Santa's Workshop to keep Britt believing in Santa.

"I'm not sitting in that guy's lap," Quinn said adamantly. "Santa's laps are always really warm, and it's creepy."

"We all have to sit in Santa's lap," Artie argued. "If Brittany sees that we all still believe, it'll make her strong enough to withstand all of the Santa naysayers in the world."

"Which is pretty much everyone over the age of six," Sam observed. Santana rolled her eyes, tuning out the rest of the stupid conversation. This was dumb, she didn't believe in Santa. Oh who was she kidding, she was here for Britts. As a friend of course, because she didn't want Brittany's innocence crushed like a fucking tin can.

She watched as Wheezy went up first, cheered on by Brittany. She didn't notice that Ryan had ended up next to her until he spoke up. "Are you okay?"

"Just peachy," Santana growled out, trying to tune him out.

"So, how are you doing?" he continued. "I know it can't be easy seeing Brittany with Artie."

Santana glared at him. "What makes you think I give a fart about seeing Brittany with Artie?"

"Maybe the fact that you seem to be trying to glare holes in the back of Artie's head."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Santana said irritably, with a surreptitious glance around to check that nobody was listening in. "And even if I did, that's none of your business."

"Of course it is, you're my friend."

"Since when?"

"Don't you consider us friends yet?"

Santana scowled, looking at those brown eyes. How the hell did Q ever get anything done with those things? He looked like a fricking puppy. "Fine, sure, whatevs._ If_ I were bothered by Brittany dating Professor X, then I'd be pissed. Which isn't really a new thing for me. I have rage."

"Oh, believe me I know," Ryan said dryly. "Haven't you tried talking to her? You should, talking to Quinn makes me feel a lot better. And we've avoided a lot of miscommunication issues by talking to each other."

"Well, thank the big purple panda up in the sky that I'm not you," Santana drawled. "Besides, B and I, we're just friends."

"Who occasionally like to engage in 'getting your mack on,'" Ryan retorted. Santana glared at him. "Brittany says things sometimes, and I'm becoming familiar with your unusual and frankly unique vocabulary."

Santana held up a hand to stop him. "First of all, don't ever say that phrase again, I'm the only who gets to say that. And second, I don't gets my mack on with Britts. Not anymore, anyways," she ended under her breath. B had refused to do anything with her ever since she and Roller-Boy had gotten together. It sucked. She missed her lady kisses.

"If you say so," Ryan said.

"I do say so."

"But you should just accept that you like Britt as more than a friend." Santana looked around in panic. "Don't worry, nobody's listening," Ryan hurriedly assured her. Sure enough, everyone was focused on the monstrosity that was Lauren Zizes seated on Santa's lap in the middle of a Christmas mall display. "You know that rage you said you had? Maybe some of it would go away if you dealt with this. Or maybe not, you seem to like being angry," Ryan mused. "But I think a lot of your frustration is coming from the fact that you're repressing."

Santana looked at him, unimpressed. "Thanks, Dr. Phil. But you are so off the mark it's not even funny."

Ryan sighed, shrugging in defeat. "Okay then. But if you ever need to talk…"

"Whatever, Corcoran." She folded her arms sullenly. He was so wrong, she just wanted Britt's sweet lady kisses. No feelings involved here, nope. She scowled as the blonde dancer finally took her turn with Santa, for a second feeling jealous of the obese black guy. At least he had B in his lap.

"You've gotten really tan," Brittany said to the guy in the Santa suit.

"That's because at the North Pole there's a hole in the ozone." Santana had to hold back a snort. He was good, she'd give him that. Even if he was still super creepy.

Brittany laughed in delight. "You're amazing! Now, I know you're really busy, so I only want one thing for Christmas." She turned to towards the glee club. "See my boyfriend over there?" She pointed at Artie, who waved back, and Santana had to hold Snixx back from bursting out. "For Christmas, I want him to be able to walk. You can do that, right, Santa?"

Santana could literally feel the horror of every single person in their group at the request, and Artie waved his hand in a cut-off motion, signaling the Santa to say no. But then… "Sure," Black Santa said. "I'm on it."

Brittany smiled sweetly. "Thank you so much Santa."

"Now we're screwed," Artie said hopelessly, and Santana smirked. Let's see Wheels get himself out of this one.

* * *

_Thursday_

Ryan woke up just before his alarm went off, and for a moment he just stayed in bed, relishing the warmth of the covers. He smiled to himself as he remembered what today was. It was his birthday, his first one since he and his parents had found each other. He got out of bed, looking forward to the day. He was sure it was going to be better than last year's birthday, which had consisted of Hiram leaving for a business trip before breakfast, the glee club all but ignoring him even after their win at Sectionals just days previously, and Leroy getting takeout pizza for dinner.

He looked out the window at the snow. He'd always enjoyed the snow, he liked cold weather a lot better than he did the heat, and the fresh snow made everything look so clean. He grinned as he saw someone walking up the driveway. His dad was here! He quickly scrambled to get dressed for the day.

He bounced happily down the stairs, entering the kitchen where he found his parents. Shelby looked up as he came in, giving him a wide smile. "Happy birthday, sweetie!" She gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. James grinned, clapping him on the back.

"What she said," he added, also smiling.

Ryan beamed back. "Thanks!" He hopped up onto a seat at the counter, watching as his mom made breakfast. "Are those pancakes? With chocolate?"

"Yeah."

"Perfect." Ryan grinned mischievously. "So, you have my presents?"

James laughed. "Real subtle there, kid."

"Yes, I'm the master of subtlety, don't you know?" Ryan deadpanned, earning a derisive snort from Shelby. "So?"

"I'm making you breakfast at six thirty in the morning, what more could you ask for?" Shelby said sarcastically.

"And I'm very grateful," Ryan bantered back. "All kidding aside though, you don't have to get me anything," he said sincerely. He was happy enough with his family here. It was already turning out to be a much better birthday than he'd had in the last few years.

"Oh," James said in mock disappointment. "Shouldn't have got you this, then." He pulled a small wrapped box out of his jacket pocket.

"Of course, if you've already gone to the trouble, I won't turn anything down," Ryan said quickly. James just laughed at him, handing him the box. Ryan smiled. "Thank you. Can I open it now?" At James' nod he quickly ripped off the wrapping and opened the box. A gleaming Swiss pocketknife fell into his hand.

"I thought it might come in handy with your line of work," James said, as Ryan started inspecting the different attachments. "I've got one like it, and it's useful."

"Yeah," Ryan smiled at his thoughtfulness. James was right, the multiple tools in the pocketknife could come in handy at the garage. "Thanks, Dad."

"No problem."

"Just don't start stabbing people with it," Shelby said wryly as she flipped a pancake onto a plate.

"Duly noted."

"Seriously though, your other present's not here yet," Shelby informed him. "I'm getting it this afternoon, it'll probably be here when you get home from school."

"Well, your curiously late gift shopping aside, that's quite intriguing," Ryan said, smiling. "What is it?"

"What do you think it is?" Shelby countered.

"A passing grade on my English paper?" Ryan asked, with a sly smile. Shelby made a face at him.

"Hilarious. No. And you better get a passing grade on that regardless. But anyways, it's actually from both of us, and you'll have to wait until this afternoon to find out. Also, your grandparents are coming over for dinner, and I think Josh and Paige are going to catch up too."

"Can't wait." The doorbell rang, and James stood up to get it. A minute later he came back.

"Look what I found outside," he said, smiling in amusement. Ryan grinned happily when he spotted Quinn trailing in after James.

"Happy birthday," Quinn said, greeting him with a hug. She pulled away after a moment. "Hey, are those pancakes?"

"Hello to you too, Quinn," Shelby said dryly, though with a smile. Quinn gave her a sheepish smile in return. "And yes. You can have some, I made extra. I had a hunch you might be coming over."

"Awesome." Quinn settled herself next to Ryan at the counter. "So what did they get you?"

"Mom won't say yet, she says I have to wait until this afternoon," Ryan grumbled good-naturedly. "But Dad got me this cool pocketknife." He pulled it out of his pocket to show her. "He says he went in with Mom on something else, but again, I have to wait until later."

Quinn smiled, amused. "Fun."

One breakfast later, and one cleanup in which everybody pitched in, James left for work, and Shelby left for McKinley a little earlier, leaving Ryan and Quinn in the house with thirty minutes to spare before they had to leave for class. The two of them quickly found themselves in Ryan's room.

"I got you something," Quinn announced, reaching into her backpack and handing Ryan a plastic tube about the length of his forearm.

"Oh, you shouldn't have," Ryan grinned, taking the object, spinning it around in his hands as he inspected it curiously. It was a short carrying tube, and he twisted it open and pulled out a roll of paper. Setting the two halves of the tube aside, he unfurled the roll and fell silent as he observed it.

Quinn cleared her throat. "I thought you might like it. Shelby sent me a copy of the picture."

"It's beautiful," Ryan breathed, clearing a space on his desk so he could place the work of art for a closer look. It was a perfectly rendered pencil-sketch version of the picture they had taken together in the park a few weeks ago, both of them smiling happily at the camera. Ryan's eyes roved over the drawing, marveling at the details, and the way that he could almost sense the carefree happiness in the eyes of the subjects. His gaze wandered over to the lower right corner to the artist's signature. _L. Q. Fabray. _ "You drew this?"

"Yeah," Quinn nodded almost shyly. "Do you like it?"

Ryan looked at her, smiling softly. "I love it." He leaned down to catch her lips in a slow, sweet kiss. "It means so much that you made this just for me. Thank you so much." He reached out to touch it, before pausing. "It's not going to smudge or anything if I touch it, is it?"

"No, I used a fixative." Quinn smiled, still a bit shy. "It's not much."

"No, it is," Ryan disagreed. "It's a lot. I may not be a sketch artist, but even I can see how much time and effort you put into this. It's almost professional grade, Quinn. It's amazing, and it's definitely going on the wall as soon as I can get it framed properly."

"I was actually going to do that, but I ran out of time," Quinn admitted. "I just finished it yesterday."

"It's perfect, Quinn," Ryan said sincerely. "Thank you."

..

Brittany looked up as Ryan entered the choir room alone that afternoon. She and Mike had come here a bit earlier than usual, but Mike had gone to get Tina. The Asian dancer was pretty nice, he was always really patient whenever they were doing choreography, and he was a solid dance partner. He was a good friend, which was why she'd been upset when Artie had accused her of cheating on him with Mike.

"Hi Ryan," she said happily. She liked Ryan too. So did Santana, but she didn't want anyone to know. Ryan was kind of annoying sometimes, and he talked a lot, but he never called her stupid like most of the other kids did.

"Hey, Britt," Ryan said easily.

"It's your birthday right? Happy birthday," Brittany said. Ryan looked surprised for a second before he smiled widely at her.

"Thank you, Brittany. You're actually the first person to wish me a happy birthday today, besides my parents and Quinn."

Brittany looked at him curiously. "Where's Quinn?"

"She just had to go get something from her locker, she'll probably be here in a few minutes," Ryan told her.

"Oh, okay. I'm glad she has you now," Brittany said. "She's a lot happier now. I know she's been really sad about Drizzle, and about what happened with her mom and her dad, but you make her a lot happier."

Ryan looked at her in surprise. "I'm glad about that too. If anything, I'm lucky to have her."

"You're gonna take care of her, right?" Brittany asked. "She's kinda like Sanny, she acts really tough on the outside. Well, not really, San pretends she's mean, and Quinn acts like she's better than anyone else. But she doesn't think so. But they're both hedgehogs."

"Hedgehogs?"

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, you know how they have all those spikes, but they're really soft and squishy underneath? That's how San and Quinn are."

Ryan stared at her. "You're really smart, you know that?"

Brittany gave him a smile. "I know. Not a lot of people say that, most of them say I'm stupid. Actually, besides Sanny and Q, you and Artie are the only ones who haven't said I'm stupid at least once."

Ryan hummed in response. "How are you and Artie, anyways?"

"We're great," Brittany answered. "He's really cool. And his glasses have X-ray vision."

"Oh?" Ryan looked at her strangely. "That's…cool."

Just then Quinn, Mike, and Tina entered the choir room. Quinn went over to sit next to Ryan, giving him a kiss. Then she looked at Brittany. "Hey, B."

"Hi Quinn," Brittany smiled at her as Tina and Mike sat down. "We were just talking about Artie's X-ray vision."

"Oh," Quinn nodded a little confusedly.

"Did you give Ryan your birthday present yet?" Brittany continued. "I thought it was really cool." She had gone over to Quinn's house the other day and had seen the present she was working on for Ryan.

"She did," Ryan said, grinning at his girlfriend. "And I loved it."

"It's your birthday?" Tina asked. When Ryan nodded, she said, "Happy birthday."

"Yeah," Mike said. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks, guys," Ryan answered with a smile, as Santana came in. Brittany smiled wistfully at the Latina cheerleader. She really liked San, and she thought San liked her back, but she didn't want anyone to know she was a dolphin, which was sad. But she had Artie now, and he was nice too. Santana came into the room, depositing an envelope in Ryan's lap.

"That goes with Q's present," she informed him. "Because she didn't go with my first suggestion. Quinn glared at her, and Ryan looked between the two.

"What was your first suggestion?" he asked curiously. Santana opened her mouth to answer but Quinn beat her to it.

"Not important," she said loudly.

"O-kay," Ryan said, glancing between the two cheerleaders again. Quinn was blushing a little and still glaring at Santana, while Santana had a smirk on her face. Brittany giggled. Santana always loved to rile Quinn up with talk about their lady kisses. She had probably suggested Quinn give Ryan something similar.

..

Later that afternoon, Quinn and Ryan drove to his house, ending up in his bedroom. "Does the glee club know when your birthday is?" Quinn asked. She knew nobody had greeted him until Brittany in glee. And she also knew that last year she'd ignored the day - she still felt guilty over that, but she'd been dealing with a lot - but she'd known about it.

"I'm not really sure," Ryan admitted. "But when we were in grade school, we had this thing on the wall where everybody's birthdays were written down. That's how I know the birthdays of pretty much everyone in glee. And I know yours because I overheard Brittany greeting you a couple of years ago."

"Oh. I was going to ask how you found out," Quinn said with a smile, liking the fact that he'd paid attention to her even then. "Why don't you remind them, then?"

Ryan thought for a moment. "I think," he said slowly, "it's because I'd like to be greeted because somebody remembered it was my birthday, and not because I myself reminded them, thus obligating them to do the polite thing and greet me." He tilted his head. "Does that make sense?"

Quinn nodded after she processed it. "I guess so." She frowned guiltily as she remembered that she hadn't greeted him last year it deepened as she also remembered that he'd wished her a happy birthday when her own had rolled around.

"Besides, I survived all those years without anyone remembering. As long as the most important people remember, then it's fine. I can live with it." He leaned down and gave Quinn a swift kiss.

"Okay." She smiled at him, tugging him down to sit beside her on the bed before leaning in to kiss him slowly. "What did Santana get you?"

"I don't know," Ryan said, pulling the envelope out of his bag. He opened it, unfolding a piece of paper. "Huh. It's a card for a free framing job at the picture shop at the mall. Oh, so that's why she said it goes with your gift," he said comprehendingly, nodding at the tube storing Quinn's birthday present to him, which was sitting on the desk. "How did she know about it? Did you tell her?"

"No," Quinn admitted. "But it's Santana. I don't even want to know how she found out."

"True."

Speaking of Santana… Quinn turned to Ryan, deciding if she wanted to take Santana's advice or not. She started to kiss him again, and Ryan quickly got the idea, shifting to meet her at a better angle. Quinn gave him a sly smile as she pulled them down onto the bed so that they were lying down on their sides facing one another.

Ryan grinned lopsidedly at her as they broke apart for air. "This is turning out to be the best birthday ever."

"Good." She kissed him again, slowly running her tongue along his bottom lip before coaxing his mouth open. She sighed happily as he moaned into her mouth, immediately aroused, and she pushed her hands under his sweater, breaking the kiss as she tugged it off over his head. She took a second to admire his physique, her eyes roving hungrily over his defined muscles before she kissed him again.

In turn, he started fussing with the edge of her button-down blouse. He huffed in mild exasperation as he fumbled with the buttons, and Quinn just smirked, letting him work as she moved her lips to his neck. "You know, this is really testing my considerable amounts of self-control," he breathed, his breath hitching as Quinn found a particularly sensitive spot on his collarbone. "Finally," he mumbled as he finished undoing the last of the buttons.

"Good job," Quinn said sultrily, shrugging out of the shirt, her confidence boosted by the look of awe and lust in her boyfriend's eyes. She was pretty sure she'd never get tired of it. She crushed their lips together again, moving so that she was on top of him. Ryan opened his eyes.

"This is new."

"Are you complaining?" Quinn countered, smirking at him when he shook his head quickly. She kissed him, swirling her tongue gently in his mouth as her hands roamed over his chest. She smiled, feeling his breathing growing faster and shallower as her hands wandered lower. She rocked against him once, biting her lip at the feeling of his dick pressing against her own wetness.

Then she pulled back, sitting up slightly as he let his head fall back on the pillows with a groan. She licked her lips, before unbuckling his belt and tugging off his pants. Ryan eagerly assisted her, pulling her back down on top of him for a kiss. Quinn chuckled, slowly moving her lips back down his neck, leaving a trail of light kisses. She sat back up, drawing a groan from him as she ran her hand lightly over his covered erection before slipping into his boxers. Ryan moaned as she stroked up, his hips following her movement.

Quinn hummed softly, stroking at his dick, still undecided. She'd given him a few handjobs since the first one, but she'd never actually seen it, much less… _what the hell._ She moved to pull him out, but Ryan's hand shot out to stop her.

"W-what are you doing?" Ryan asked between pants, watching her with dark eyes. Quinn blinked at him, surprised at the shyness springing up in his expression.

"Relax," she said soothingly. "Trust me."

"O-okay." Ryan relaxed against the bed, his eyes squeezing shut when Quinn stroked him again. Quinn smiled, confidence increasing even more with the amount of trust he placed in her. Finally she pulled his dick out of his boxers, and Quinn gazed at it curiously. It was thick, about seven inches long, and she could see clear fluid leaking out of the head. She wrapped her hand around it again, making Ryan thrust against her involuntarily.

Suddenly she became aware of the throbbing wetness between her own legs, and she shuddered in desire as she let herself imagine what it would be like to let him inside her. But she didn't think… she wasn't ready for that. Not yet. Not even with him. But sometime soon.

For now, though… She leaned down slowly, aware of Ryan's gaze following her every move, and before she knew it, she had the head of his dick in her mouth.

"Oh god," she heard Ryan's mumble above her. She could feel Ryan's hand suddenly tangling in her hair, not pushing, but seemingly needing to touch her. She drew back.

"Want me to stop?" she asked.

Ryan shook his head frantically. "Nononono. Keep going." Quinn smiled, drawing his erection back into her mouth. She wouldn't be able to describe the taste, but it felt… good. She moved her head forward, taking more of his length in, deeper and deeper until she felt him hit the back of her throat. She pulled back before her gag reflex kicked in, sucking lightly.

Quinn could hear Ryan mumbling incoherently above her, his fingers tangling in her hair as he thrust shallowly against her. She appreciated that he didn't try to push her onto him, and she started slowly moving up and down his shaft. Her fingers came up to cup around his balls, and she heard him groan. She hummed lightly and he tensed, trying to push her off of him.

"Quinn – I'm going to –" He struggled to form words as he desperately tried to keep himself from exploding in her mouth. Quinn stayed in her position though, and a second later Ryan came hard, spilling himself into her mouth. She swallowed quickly, continuing to suck him as he started softening. Finally when he had come down a bit, she pulled him from her mouth, crawling up to settle beside him.

"So, how was it?" she asked, suddenly shy, not knowing if she'd done it properly.

Ryan turned his unfocused gaze on her, his breathing heavy, and Quinn smiled contentedly, reveling in the fact that she'd done that to him. "That was… that was incredible." He sucked in a deep breath before letting it out. "Amazing, fantastic, all those words."

Quinn smiled, pressing a slightly relieved kiss to the side of his neck. "Good."

Ryan turned onto his side, tipping Quinn's chin up to catch her lips in a slow kiss. Quinn's attention was drawn back to her own arousal, and she pressed closer to Ryan, moaning as she rocked against him slowly.

But then they heard the front door opening, and Ryan pulled back regretfully. "I think Mom's home." Quinn huffed in mild frustration. She knew they should stop though. Ryan chuckled.

"Don't worry, we'll finish this some other time. Soon."

"I'll hold you to that."

..

Shelby quietly opened the front door, letting herself and James into the house. "Ryan! We're home!" she called, as they entered the kitchen. She turned to James. "Where is it?"

James produced a small box from his pocket as Shelby opened a drawer and found a length of ribbon. "Here you go," he said, handing it over. "He's going to love it."

"Of course he is," Shelby said, deftly tying the ribbon around the box. "Ryan! Where is that kid?"

James looked at her condescendingly. "You left him alone in the house with his girlfriend on his birthday. _I_ know what we would have been doing at that age. What do _you _think he's doing?"

"Let's not think about that," Shelby suggested, grimacing as she pocketed Ryan's birthday present. "You'd think he'd be more excited about the birthday present we got him."

"Girlfriend trumps birthday present," James countered. He pecked her on the lips. "I should know."

Shelby smiled despite herself. "Cute." Just then Ryan and Quinn came downstairs. "There you are." Thank god she didn't have to go up there and pry them apart, she did not need to see that. "Took you long enough."

"Hello to you too," Ryan answered, as Shelby pulled the small box with a neatly tied bow out of her pocket. His eyes lit up. "Is that for me?"

"Only if you don't know anyone else with a birthday today," Shelby retorted playfully.

Ryan grinned. "Nope, none that I know of."

"Oh," Shelby said, feigning disappointment. "I guess you can have it, then." She handed him the box. "That's from both of us," she added, gesturing at James. "And Quinn helped too."

"Hmm, I love it already," Ryan beamed, tugging the ribbon off and tearing into the box. The two parents grinned as his eyes widened. He pulled out a key with a gold star keychain on it, looking at Shelby and James. "Did you –"

Shelby smirked. "Yes."

"Is this –"

"Yeahp."

"Where –"

"Outside," James supplied. Ryan was off like a shot as soon as he heard it, leaving Shelby, James, and Quinn in the kitchen. They hurried after him.

"So, what do you think?" Shelby called, as they saw Ryan circling around the brand new Ford Edge sitting in the driveway, the car's dusky red color contrasting with the surrounding snow. Ryan bounded back towards them, engulfing Shelby and James in a large hug.

"You guys are the best! Thankyouthankyouthankyou," he gushed. "I know I said something a long time ago about you getting me a car for my sixteenth, but I didn't think you'd actually do it. And it's the one I wanted, too! How did you know? I don't think you guys ever asked me?"

"You can thank your girlfriend for that," Shelby answered, smiling as his almost palpable enthusiasm leaked over. Ryan turned to the blonde.

"You were in on this?"

Quinn nodded. "Remember that chat we had after the basketball game last week?"

"Oh," Ryan nodded comprehendingly. "Right." He bounced back over to the car, looking over it in awe. "It's perfect. Thank you!"

"Now you just have to pass your driving test," James commented.

"I'll take you tomorrow," Shelby assured the excited teenager as he opened his mouth to say something. He grinned happily, flitting back over to his parents. Shelby shook her head indulgently at his hyperactivity.

"Can we take it out?" he asked pleadingly.

"Someone should probably stay here and wait for your grandparents…" Shelby started, smirking at the disappointed look on the teenager's face. "But you and your dad could go," she ended, putting him out of his misery. His face lit up with a brilliant smile, and she had to smile as he turned and grabbed James' arm to drag him out to the car.

"Come on, Dad, let's go!" he said impatiently. "Quinn, want to come?"

"I think I'll stay here this time, if that's okay with Shelby," Quinn answered, with a questioning look. Shelby nodded, having no problem with having some company. "You can take me out some other time. You and your Dad go ahead."

"Okay." Ryan practically shoved James into the passenger's seat before scrambling into the driver's side. Shelby walked over to the side of the car, watching as he adjusted the seat and the mirrors. He buckled the seat belt before starting the engine, a wide grin on his face. Shelby felt herself warming all over despite the cold weather. She loved seeing him so happy.

"Drive safe, okay?" she instructed.

"Okay."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," James assured her from the passenger seat. Shelby met his eyes, and he gave her a small nod. She relaxed slightly, knowing he wouldn't let anything happen to their kid if he could help it.

"Get going, then," Shelby said, stepping back from the car. She watched as Ryan rolled the window up before easing his new car out of the driveway. She turned to Quinn. "Thanks for the help," she said, as they entered the house again. She'd asked Quinn to find out what kind of car Ryan wanted, and then earlier that afternoon she'd asked her to keep Ryan distracted while she and James went to pick it up at the dealership.

"It wasn't a problem," Quinn assured her.

"I'll bet," Shelby said wryly, remembering her short conversation with James about the teenaged couple's probable activities. She hesitated. "You're being safe, right?"

"Excuse me?"

"You and Ryan. You're using protection, aren't you?" Shelby was definitely out of her comfort zone with this topic. Sex was one topic that she'd never handled with her VA students, preferring to leave the topic up to their parents. None had ever approached her about it. And even if they had, none of them had been dating her kid.

"Oh. _Oh._" Quinn started blushing. "No, we're not. No, wait, that came out wrong – I mean yes, we're safe – but we're not…" She took a deep breath to stop her words from tripping over themselves. "We haven't… done it yet, if you catch my drift."

"I see," Shelby said slowly. She could feel some modicum of relief, because to be perfectly honest she still sometimes thought of Ryan as that baby she'd glimpsed all those years ago and it was incredibly weird to think of him doing… that. But she also felt some surprise. "I'm sorry, I just thought, since the two of you have been together for a while…"

Quinn shook her head. "No, we've been taking it slow." She hesitated. "We haven't really talked about it exactly, but I don't think I'm ready. Not after… you know."

Shelby nodded. "Completely understandable." She shook herself slightly. "Okay, enough of that." She smirked as Quinn smiled weakly, looking perfectly happy to move on to a different topic. "Any plans for the holidays?"

..

Meanwhile, James and Ryan were having their own chat in the car. "So, how is it?" James prompted as Ryan drove them smoothly into Lima's town center.

"It's absolutely amazing," Ryan said happily, shifting gears. "It handles perfectly. Thanks so much, Dad. And thanks for coming to drive with me."

"Not a problem, buddy. You're a pretty good driver," he replied. "Who taught you?"

Ryan shrugged. "I think I just picked it up here and there. I used to watch Hiram and Leroy when they drove. And Mr. Hummel taught me how everything worked. Last year he let me test drive some of the cars we worked on. Just around the block, but it was fun."

"Speaking of fun," James began wickedly. "What did you and Quinn get up to this afternoon?" Ryan saw his dad give him a sly glance. "Eyes on the road."

"We weren't doing anything," Ryan answered as they pulled to a stop at a red light, inwardly cringing at the unconvincing tone. _Yeah, what we got up to this afternoon was completely innocent…_

Apparently James agreed. "Yeah, I totally believe you," he returned sarcastically. "Don't worry, I don't have a problem with it. Your mom though…"

Ryan winced, pressing lightly on the gas as the light turned green. "Mom knows? That's… mortifying. But really, we haven't actually, you know, gotten to home run yet."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. But I don't know if I'm ready yet." He paused, thinking. "I want it to be special, you know? For both of us. Especially since Quinn's first time was relatively traumatic, what with the unexpected pregnancy and all. I don't want either of us to regret it because we did it too soon."

James hummed thoughtfully. "Very mature and commendable of you. I was just a little surprised because from what I hear, today's youth has a very cavalier attitude about sex."

Ryan's lips quirked up as he made a right turn. "I think what happened with BabyGate last year cured us of that. Quinn especially."

James nodded. "Fair enough."

They spent a few more minutes driving around, before deciding to return home. They were soon back at Shelby's house, and Ryan smiled as he spotted his grandparents' car parked on the curb. He slid his own car – _he still couldn't believe he had his own car _– into the driveway, shutting down the engine before he got out. He went into the house, his dad following him.

"There's the birthday boy," Sarah exclaimed happily as he went into the living room. He quickly found himself pulled into a hug. He grinned as his grandfather came up as well, pulling both Sarah and Ryan into a bigger hug. Shelby and Quinn stayed in their seats on the couch, and James settled himself next to Shelby.

"Happy birthday, Ryan," Tom said with a large smile. He gestured towards a wrapped box sitting next to the coffee table. "That's for you."

"Thanks," Ryan beamed, looking at both of them. "And thanks for coming, both of you."

"Our eldest grandchild's birthday? You couldn't keep us away," Sarah said reprovingly. "Your aunt and uncle are on their way too."

Ryan nodded, his smile softening as he took in the sight of his family around him. There was nowhere else, not even a stage in New York, that he'd rather be right now.

* * *

**Heh. Hi everyone, I wanted to get this out a couple of days ago, but it's been a very busy week. 'Tis the season to go out and shop for stuff, as well as the season to get involved in the church's Christmas musical thing. And I had to go fix my passport this morning. But anyways, here you go, another filler but not filler. I hope you liked it. **

**\- I've got two votes for a serenade scene now, and it will be included in upcoming chapters, not sure when yet. If you've got more song suggestions, I'm open.**

**\- Trying to work in some scenes with other characters, so stay tuned. Sometimes they won't cooperate, though haha**

**\- Not sure if Klaine is happening, I like Blaine as a character, not sure yet who he'll be paired with if ever.**

**\- My spinoff AU story is in development, I've got ideas for it but I'm more focused on this one. If you'll be patient, I'll get a chapter out in a while.**

**We will be getting to the second half of the Christmas episode in the next chapter, which will hopefully be up soon. If you've got any suggestions, let me know. See you next time!**


	49. Chapter 48

On Saturday morning, Judy Fabray woke up earlier than usual. She was excited over the fact that tomorrow was the day her elder daughter was coming home for the first time in two years. Frannie was a senior at UC Davis, just finishing up her last year of pre-law. She had refused to come home when Russell was still here, and she hadn't been able to come home that summer, since she'd gotten an internship.

Leaving her room, she opened Quinn's door carefully to check on her youngest. Quinn was still sound asleep, buried in her blankets. Judy smiled fondly at the teenager. She had always been one to prefer sleeping in. Judy closed the door again and went downstairs for a cup of coffee.

It had been hard, since Russell had left. She'd had to get a job, and it kept herself and Quinn comfortable enough, but she was thinking of selling the house for something smaller. They didn't need a house like this for two people, and Quinn would be leaving for college soon. And she was tired of this house, with all its reminders of her life with Russell. She sighed.

Then she shook herself, reminding herself that she was about to have both her girls with her again. She smiled at the thought, as she got the coffee going before bundling up and going outside to clear the snow from the walk and the driveway. As she worked on the snow she thought of the things she would have to do this week. Frannie wasn't the only one visiting this week, Judy's sister and her family would be coming over from Indiana for a few days as well, and she made a mental note to fix up the guest rooms soon.

"Mrs. Fabray?"

Judy was startled out of her thoughts when a voice called her name. Looking up, she saw a familiar boy glancing at her from their fence line. It took her a second to recognize Quinn's current boyfriend. "You almost gave me a heart attack," she called out.

The boy, Ryan, she remembered, gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Mrs. Fabray. I just thought I'd come over and see Quinn."

Judy smiled at him. "It's okay," she assured him. "Quinn's not up yet, but why don't you come in? I can make you some coffee or chocolate or something."

"Oh, you don't have to do that –"

"It's fine."

"Okay," Ryan nodded. "Then how about I finish up your walk? I insist," he added, when Judy opened her mouth to protest.

Judy smiled gratefully after a second's hesitation. "All right, thank you." She wasn't used to this particular chore, Russell had always done it when he was here, but she had to do it herself now, one of the many adjustments she'd had to make.

A few minutes later Ryan had finished digging a path the Fabrays' front door, and he and Judy were seated at the dining room table with mugs of coffee. Judy watched the teenager sitting across from her curiously. He seemed to remind her of someone else, she just couldn't quite catch it. This boy had come up in a quite a few of her therapy sessions with Quinn, and from what she'd heard Ryan seemed like a very nice boy. Of course, it might have just been the infatuation talking. Judy herself had thought Russell could do nothing wrong back when they were dating.

"Quinn mentioned her sister was coming this weekend," Ryan said conversationally, sipping his coffee. "She said she's about to graduate pre-law from UC Davis, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right," Judy said, a bit relieved that he had started the conversation. With Frannie's boyfriends Russell had always been the one to take the lead. "Her flight arrives tomorrow afternoon, so Quinn and I will be picking her up in Columbus."

"Okay." After a second he spoke up again. "Mrs. Fabray, I just wanted to tell you that I'm very happy that you're making the effort to get to know Quinn again. She's mentioned a few times that you and she have been going to see a therapist together, and I have to say that I've definitely noticed she's not as unhappy as she was before. So thank you, on her behalf."

Judy blinked, a little surprised at the young man's little speech, but not overly so. Quinn had mentioned he was verbose at times. "We shouldn't have needed a therapist though," she said quietly. _Not if she'd done her job as a mom right in the first place._

"Nevertheless, you're trying and it's commendable. Speaking from experience, everyone needs a mom. I didn't have a relationship with mine for the longest time, but we've been working on it. And it's made everything so much better, for both of us."

Finally, it clicked who he reminded her of. "Is Shelby Corcoran your mom?"

Ryan nodded. "Yes. Why, do you know her?"

Judy shook her head slightly, the family resemblance becoming more obvious. "Just… just in passing. And she gave me some much needed advice."

"I see," Ryan nodded, finishing up his coffee.

"You're in love with my daughter, aren't you?"

She watched as Ryan tilted his head slightly. "Yes, I am. Is that a problem?"

Judy shook her head again. "No. I'm… glad. She talks about you sometimes. And I can tell she really cares about you. She really needs someone to love her." She sighed, knowing that she hadn't shown her daughter that she loved her. "You said she's not unhappy anymore but it's not all my doing. I know you've played a bigger part in that than I have."

"I just want her to be happy."

Judy gave him a smile, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. "Thank you."

He smiled gently. "I should probably stop bothering you, I'm sure you have better things to do than talk to me. Could I just go see Quinn?"

"Sure," Judy nodded. "Her room is upstairs, second door to the left. But you probably knew that," she said with a slight smile. She knew Quinn had had her boyfriend over a few times. "I didn't want to wake her up, that girl loves her sleep," she continued fondly. "But I guess she won't mind you waking her up."

Ryan smiled at the thought. "I guess we'll find out. Thank you for the coffee, Mrs. Fabray."

"No problem, dear. And it's Judy. Tell her I'm making bacon."

"Okay, Judy."

She watched as the teenager made his way up the stairs towards Quinn's room. He was very well-mannered, definitely more so than Finn Hudson, who had seemed incredibly ill at ease when he had come over. And Ryan was good for her little Lucy. He'd take care of her.

..

Ryan slowly opened the door to Quinn's bedroom, smiling as he quietly walked up to her bed. He gazed at her for a moment, still in awe at the beautiful person in front of him. He could never get enough of looking at her, and sometimes it was still surreal that she was actually with him, that she'd told her she loved him. Slowly, he sat down at the edge of the bed, causing the blonde to stir slightly at the dip in the mattress.

"Five minutes mom," she slurred. Ryan smiled in amusement, never having seen how adorable Sleepy Quinn was yet.

"I'll just go downstairs and tell her that, shall I?" he asked with a small chuckle.

Finally Quinn opened her eyes, revealing the beautiful hazel that never failed to entrance Ryan. She blinked sleepily up at him. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

"I just thought I'd come over and see you before breakfast. Apparently your mom's making bacon."

"How did you know that?" Quinn sat up and stretched, Ryan's attention immediately caught by the movement as he watched her body appreciatively for a moment, before shaking himself. _Not the time._

"I talked to your mom downstairs, she let me in." Ryan smiled at the case of bed-head she was sporting.

"Shut up," Quinn told him playfully, reaching over for the pair of black-framed glasses on the bedside table. A grin spread over Ryan's face as she put them on her face. "Again, shut up," she told him.

"I didn't say anything," Ryan said, smiling widely as he kissed her on her nose. "But you are adorable."

"Ugh," Quinn groaned. "Stay here, I'm going to put my contacts in." She made to stand up, but Ryan stopped her.

"No, no. I'm sorry." He kissed her on the lips this time, "Those glasses actually suit you. I like it. It's like Sexy Librarian Quinn." He grinned at her cheekily as she hit him lightly on the arm. He studied her face. She looked very different with her glasses, and it just made him fall in love with her more. He leaned in to kiss her again, this time pressing her back against the bed as he closed his eyes. "You're beautiful."

He smiled at the blush that tinged her cheeks at the compliment, kissing her again until they were both panting. He pulled back with a soft exhale a moment later though. "Your mom's probably expecting us downstairs," he said regretfully.

"Fine," Quinn huffed as he stood up, holding a hand out to pull her out of bed. Ryan pulled her up flush against him in a hug.

"Also… you have morning breath."

Quinn let out an exasperated sound, smacking him hard on the arm as he laughed, before leaving for the bathroom. Ryan looked around the room, familiar by now after all the times he'd been here. Quinn returned to the room a few minutes later with fixed hair, sans glasses. "Let's go."

..

"Any plans today?" Quinn asked, as they ate breakfast some time later. Her mom had invited Ryan to eat with them. Ryan had accepted and was now sitting across from her eating a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs. She smiled slightly as he swallowed before answering. Finn sometimes had no manners at all.

"Well, I'm heading over to the garage after a few hours, but actually, my parents and I are going to go find a tree this afternoon," her boyfriend answered, his face lighting up excitedly. "I've never been, Hiram and Leroy had an artificial tree, and while also aesthetically pleasing, I always thought that a real tree would be more authentic and enjoyable to decorate."

"I like the pine smell," Quinn agreed, taking a bite of her own breakfast. She glanced at her mom. "Are we getting one this year?"

"I don't know, sweetheart," Judy admitted.

"Why not, if you don't mind my asking?" Ryan questioned.

"Because getting the tree was always my father's thing," Quinn answered softly. "Every year he'd surprise us with a Douglas, and then all of us would decorate it together."

Ryan nodded quietly, before brightening. "Maybe you could come with us later, pick out your own tree," he suggested.

"That's a good idea," Judy nodded, smiling.

"I guess," Quinn said slowly. "If it's okay with your parents."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Ryan waved her off. "I'll text my mom right now." He had his reply a minute later. "She says it's fine. And I actually have to go, I'm supposed to be at the garage by eight."

"Okay," Quinn nodded. "See you later.

..

"Hey Ryan," Burt Hummel greeted as his assistant came into the garage. He'd worked out an arrangement with the kid for the school term last year. He'd be here on Saturday mornings regularly and afternoons whenever he had time, and twice a week after school. He liked the kid, he was interesting. As a bonus, he actually wanted to work here, unlike Kurt, and he actually knew his stuff, unlike Finn who had recently started helping out after school to make some cash.

"Hello Mr. Hummel," Ryan said, smiling. "Do we have anything interesting today?"

"Yeah, some guy slid on the ice yesterday, hit a pole. Need your help straightening out the bumper."

"Got it." The two of them set to work dismantling the dented metal piece.

"How is Kurt doing at Dalton?" Ryan asked. "I saw him onstage at the Sectionals competition, but I didn't get the chance to speak with him. I hope he's doing well."

"Actually, he's doing pretty good there," Burt answered. "He stayed over for the weekend, but he'll be back here for Christmas. Says the food over there's not as good as Carole's."

"I'm glad he's finding Dalton a better school environment. We actually have a mutual friend there, Blaine Anderson."

Burt nodded. "Yeah, I've heard of him. Kurt mentioned him a few times. I think they're friends." He removed a screw from the car. "You know, I never got to thank you. For standing up for Kurt against that Karofsky kid."

Ryan shrugged. "Anyone would have done the same."

"No they wouldn't. I asked Finn, and he said the football guys had been harassing Kurt for a while now. He didn't do anything about it. So thank you."

"Okay. You're welcome then."

"Now hand me that wrench."

A few hours later the job was done, and Ryan had worked on several other cars with simpler problems. Car damage always went up in the winter due to the ice, bringing more work. Just before lunch, a guy walked into the garage, and Burt went up to meet him. "What can I do you for?"

"Oh, I'm just looking for Ryan," the man explained. Right on cue Burt's assistant came out of the back. "There he is. Hey buddy."

Ryan smiled in recognition. "Hi Dad."

Burt looked back at the other man in surprise. He knew a little about the mess with the Berrys, and Ryan had mentioned his biological father coming to town a few times, but this was the first time he'd met the man.

"Your mom's in the car outside, we're picking up Quinn on the way. You ready to go?"

"Okay, no problem," Ryan agreed. "Dad, this is my boss, Burt Hummel. Mr. Hummel, this is my father, James Walker."

Burt nodded, holding out his hand. "Good to meet you." James nodded and shook his hand, Burt noting the man's strong handshake. Hopefully this guy wasn't as useless as Ryan's other dads. Ryan had never said anything directly but Burt had had the feeling that they didn't take care of Ryan as much as they should have. That was why he'd let the kid hang around in the garage, and why he'd given him the job last year. That, and he was pretty smart about cars.

He turned to his assistant. "We're just about done here for the morning, you can go if you want." He pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "Paycheck and Christmas bonus. Now get out of here, don't want to see you working until next year," he said gruffly.

Ryan smiled at him. "Thanks Mr. Hummel. Merry Christmas. To Mrs. Hummel too."

"You too, Ryan. Mr. Walker." He nodded at both of them before turning back to enter his office. He had just enough time to go home and have lunch with Carole.

..

"What do you think of this one?" Ryan asked Quinn, gesturing at a tree as they wandered around the tree lot. Snow had started falling lightly again, dusting the firs with a layer of white.

"Too bushy," Quinn said critically, eyeing the particularly fat tree that was about her height. She stuck her hand into the tree experimentally. "We wouldn't be able to get any of the decorations in."

"This one?"

"Too skinny."

"Okay, Goldilocks," Ryan teased. "We've been in here for a while now, and you still haven't found one you liked. Is there some sort of Holy Grail of Christmas trees that we're looking for? Because I am at a loss as to what we're looking for."

"I… I don't know." She closed her eyes for a second. She really didn't know what was wrong with her. Ryan was right, they'd been looking for an hour now, and Ryan's family had already found a tree that Shelby had pronounced adequate. But Quinn always seemed to find some fault with every tree she inspected. She wasn't even really sure what she was looking for. She turned away from her boyfriend, needing a little space suddenly. "How about you go look over there, I'll look over here," she said, walking off before he could give her an answer.

She stopped a few rows away, suddenly feeling immensely lost. Not in that she didn't know where she was, because there were overhead exit signs all over the place. Just… lost.

"Hey, are you okay there?"

Quinn turned around to see Ryan's father coming toward her. She sighed. "Yes, I'm fine. Just… can't find the right one, I guess." She gestured lamely at a random tree. "This one's too…" She couldn't really think of anything, but she didn't like this one.

James nodded thoughtfully, standing next to her, inspecting the tree. "Ryan mentioned that your dad was usually the one to pick the tree."

"Oh." Quinn didn't particularly know what to say to that.

"I don't know if Ryan's told you a lot about me," James continued, as he looked around the tree. "But I might understand a little of what you're feeling. Christmas was really special to my foster family when I was a kid. And when I was moved, I didn't know what to do that next Christmas." Quinn kept staring at the fir tree. "Now, I don't know exactly how you feel. But I do know how it feels to have your world change suddenly. And I figured out eventually that while it's good to remember the past, it's best to move forward, and make new memories. Maybe it's time for you to make new memories associated with the holidays," he suggested gently. "Like choosing a tree for yourself for the first time."

"Yeah," Quinn said, lost in thought as she mulled over James' words. "Maybe." She glanced at the tree again. "I guess… this one's okay."

James smiled at her. "I'll go get a saw."

Quinn glanced at him quickly. "Thanks, Mr. Walker."

"James."

"Okay. Thank you, James."

* * *

_Sunday_

"Be careful up there," Ryan heard Shelby call from the ground, as he balanced himself on the ladder that was leaning against the house.

"We're being careful!" he and his dad called out for the fourth time in ten minutes. James had brought several boxes of Christmas lights when he had picked Ryan up at the garage, saying that they were going to be decorating the house. Ryan had eagerly agreed, Hiram and Leroy not having bothered to put up lights in the past few years, and they had begun their project after lunch.

Which was why James was now on the roof, attaching the lights, with Ryan acting as backup and Shelby holding the ladder and watching fretfully as the two pranced around on her roof, as she put it. James stood on the edge of the roof, wobbling playfully.

"James, if you fall of my roof I'm not calling 911 for you! You can glue your own stupid self back together!"

"Relax, Shelby," he called down. "I've done a lot worse than this before. You should try jogging a long a foot-wide beam over a fifteen-foot drop while carrying twenty pounds of gear. It's fun."

"I'll pass, thanks."

Ryan just chuckled at his parents' antics, carefully unwinding and untangling the lights that James was laying along the roof, his job made slightly difficult by the gloves he was wearing against the frigid weather. "Besides, Mom, even if we fall off, the snow's probably deep enough that no lasting harm would be done," he called teasingly.

Shelby huffed. "All the same, I'd rather not test that theory."

An hour of roof-walking and one near fall – not that they'd tell Shelby that – later, the three of them stood outside the house observing their handiwork. "So, what do you think?" James asked.

"It's less than impressive, considering that it's daytime," Shelby said dryly.

"It's going to be awesome when it's all lit up later this evening," Ryan said enthusiastically, having had a lot of fun at the activity.

"It probably is," Shelby conceded. She turned to her two boys. "I was thinking of going to the mall for some shopping today, if you want to come."

Ryan and James quickly agreed, and the small family ended up in the mall an hour or so later, to do a bit of Christmas shopping. The three of them entered the mall, stopping near the entrance.

"So, did you have anything in mind?" James asked.

"There are a few things I wanted to pick up," Shelby answered.

"Is it okay if we split up? I'm kind of looking for something," Ryan said.

"Hear that, our kid doesn't want to be spotted with us anymore," James teased. "Typical teenager."

"No, it's not that," Ryan said in consternation.

Shelby laughed at him. "Relax, he's teasing. It's fine. Just call us when you're done, we can meet back up."

Ryan smiled. "Okay."

..

"Mercedes and Kurt said they're up in the food court. Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Tina asked, as Mike rode up an escalator with her in the mall.

"No, I'm good. I think I'll just get some shopping done," Mike answered. It was the last weekend before Christmas and he still needed to find something for his girlfriend. Not something easily done since he and Tina spent a lot of time together. Not that he was complaining. They reached the second floor and walked off the escalator.

"Mike, Tina!" The couple turned around to see Ryan walking toward them with a smile.

"Hey Ryan," Mike smiled amiably.

"Hi," Tina said, smiling as well. "Christmas shopping?"

"Well, I'm not here to line up for Santa again, that's for sure," Ryan answered with a lopsided smile, causing the other two to smile as well, remembering that awkward session at Santa's grotto last week. "How about you? Couple shopping?"

"Actually, I'm going to meet Mercedes and Kurt up in the food court," Tina answered.

"I'm here for shopping," Mike added. "Hey, we could go together, if you wanted."

"Yeah, sure," Ryan beamed.

"Great," Tina said. "I'll just be going now, okay?" She squeezed Mike's hand and went up an escalator towards the food court. Mike glanced at Ryan.

"Any ideas?"

"It's actually my first time shopping for legitimate presents this year," Ryan admitted. "I've obviously never had a girlfriend before, and I just met my parents this year. It was different with my… adoptive parents, before. But I'm confident that I'll find something given enough time around the shops. How about you? Do you know what you want to get Tina?"

"Nothing Asian, that's for sure," Mike answered wryly, slightly curious about Ryan's family. Ryan had never gone into detail about how he'd ended up with Miss Corcoran. He'd been taught not to pry into other people's business though. "She's been on my case about how everything's Asian with the two of us."

"It might be wise to adhere to her wishes," Ryan agreed. "Now, Quinn already helped me find presents for my family, since as I've said I don't have too much experience in this department. I just need a really good present for her."

Mike nodded. "So we're both shopping for girlfriends."

"Right."

The two boys set off, picking a random direction and looking around. "Are you here by yourself?" Mike asked.

"No, I'm here with my mom and my dad," Ryan answered, browsing through the window of a clothing store.

"Which one?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Which dad are you with?" Mike clarified. He knew Ryan had two, and he didn't have a problem with that.

Ryan looked at him for a moment. "Neither. My adoptive parents, the Berrys, weren't my dads. The one I'm with is my biological father. He came to Lima a few months ago when I went to live with my mom."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay."

Mike hesitated. "Do you mind if I ask what happened with your… adoptive parents?" He'd picked up that Ryan didn't want to call the Berrys his parents. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me." He knew they weren't particularly close, although he liked Ryan. He didn't so much last year, but he'd toned down a lot from his obsessiveness. Mike wasn't really one to talk to people though, he was a pretty quiet guy.

"No, it's okay," Ryan repeated. "It's not really a secret, but you know, you're the first one who's paid enough attention to ask me about it."

"Oh." Mike wasn't all that surprised, most of the glee club didn't seem to care for Ryan too much.

"Anyways, it's actually a long and involved story. The gist of it is that the Berrys paid my mom to act as their surrogate to have me. They thought that I was their kid biologically, but when it turned out that I wasn't, they… felt a sense of disconnect with me, I suppose, and we drifted apart. And when I found my mom earlier this year, they decided to give her full custody."

"Wow," Mike commented. "That… must suck." He couldn't imagine his own parents giving him up just like that. Yeah, his father had really high expectations of him, but that was normal. He knew his parents loved him.

"It did," Ryan admitted. "But it's okay now, I've got my real parents back, so it wasn't all bad."

Half an hour of wandering later, the two boys were still coming up empty. "Wow, we really suck at this, don't we?" Mike asked rhetorically. His mom always made shopping look so easy. She could spend one afternoon in the mall and have presents for him, his dad, and all their Asian neighbors, and still have time and energy to cook dinner afterwards.

"No, we just haven't found the right store yet," Ryan said unconvincingly. "Although I am starting to think this is a futile endeavor. Just then a man tapped Ryan on the shoulder. Mike vaguely remembered seeing the same guy at McKinley a few weeks ago, asking for directions to the principal's office.

"You okay there?" he asked Ryan. Ryan turned around, smiling slightly.

"No, not particularly," he answered. "Didn't know shopping for presents by myself would be this hard."

The man laughed at him. "Yeah, it can be kind of overwhelming." His eyes flicked over to Mike. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Mike Chang," Ryan introduced. "He's in glee with me, and he's on the football team. Mike, this is my dad, James Walker."

_Ohh_. That made sense now. Mike gave him a small wave, and Ryan turned back to his dad. "We ran into each other downstairs, and since we're both shopping for our girlfriends we decided we'd try our luck together. It hasn't panned out yet though."

Mr. Walker nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I was headed to find something for your mom, you guys can come with me if you like, maybe get some ideas."

The two boys quickly agreed, following Mr. Walker to a small jewelry store. Mike felt like smacking himself in the head. Apparently Ryan felt the same. "Why didn't we think of this before?" he asked wonderingly.

Mike shrugged. "I don't know, but your dad's right. Girls love this stuff." Alright. Time to get looking.

..

Once inside the two teenagers split of to look at different things. Ryan wandered around the shop absently for a few minutes, admiring all the sparkling pieces. Nothing had really caught his attention yet though, a lot of things being either not suited for his girlfriend or out of his price range. Finally he eyed a display of bracelets with varying designs.

"Can I help you with something, young man?" an older woman asked pleasantly, coming over to him. Ryan glanced at her with a smile.

"I'm looking for something for my girlfriend," he explained.

"Ah," the woman smiled fondly. "Young love. Did you have anything specific in mind?"

"No, actually, I hadn't even thought about getting her jewelry until my dad suggested it," Ryan admitted, gesturing at James, who was speaking with another salesperson.

The woman nodded slowly. "Tell me about her."

Ryan smiled. "Well, she's gorgeous, of course," he started, causing the saleslady to smile. "She's an artist, she likes to draw, and she's really good. She's a fantastic singer, our glee club just won our Sectionals competition with her as the soloist," he bragged, proud of his girlfriend. "She's kind, and gentle, and amazing, once you get through her defenses."

"You care about her a lot."

"Yes." He thought for a moment. "I think I'd like something not too flashy, so she could wear it whenever she liked, but still something pretty. I can't get her a necklace because she already has one that she doesn't take off, so I was thinking a bracelet. Rings are off limit for now," he said jokingly.

The saleslady chuckled. "Noted. Well, here are some of our bracelets. Mostly silver, so they're not too expensive."

Ryan studied the different pieces on display. Some designs were too complicated, they made him think of formal occasions. An intricate silver chain with a star hanging from it caught his eye. "Can I see that one? Stars are kind of my thing," he said with a smile.

The woman opened the case and pulled out the indicated bracelet, laying it on the counter. "This one is pure silver, quite sturdy by design. The star is removable." She demonstrated. "This is actually a charm bracelet, it's quite popular for young people nowadays. Often, the idea is to add charms symbolizing your time together. For you, I'm guessing a star for yourself, and perhaps something art related for your girlfriend. Maybe a Christmas tree or such to represent the season."

"I see." Ryan studied the piece, turning it over in his hand. He liked the idea of adding to the bracelet as time went by, he was confident that he and Quinn would be together for a long time. And something like this would be very meaningful as they deepened their relationship. "I'll take it."

The transaction was quickly completed, and Ryan went over to Mike. "Did you find anything?"

"Yeah," Mike grinned, showing him a silver pendant. The design was not completely polished, giving the piece a textured look that would match perfectly with Tina's goth style.

"Nice," Ryan said appreciatively.

"Hey, I'm meeting up with Tina and some of the other glee people," Mike said. "You should come."

"Okay," Ryan said, smiling. It wasn't often that he got invited to anything, even with the other glee kids. He went up to his dad.

"Hey, buddy. What do you think?" James showed him a beautiful necklace with a teardrop-shaped crystal. Upon closer inspection, Ryan found that the crystal was itself composed of multiple miniature crystals. "It's beautiful," he said honestly. "It will really suit Mom."

"That's the idea." James winked at him.

"You mind if I go with Mike to meet with some of the glee kids?"

"Sure, no problem," James nodded. "I'm sure your mother is still shopping. I have no idea how she does it, one hour in the mall and I'm ready to die. And that's from someone who once spent four hours hiding in a bush in the desert."

Ryan laughed. "Yeah, I don't know how she does it either. Thanks for bringing us in here, we both found something."

"Yeah, thanks Mr. Walker," Mike chimed in.

"Anytime, kids. Now go on."

..

Ten minutes later James walked into a restaurant in the mall. He scanned the place, quickly spotting Shelby sitting at a table. He made his way over and sat down.

"Ryan texted me, he says he's going to catch a movie with some of his glee friends," Shelby told him. "Hence our impromptu dinner."

"Yeah, he asked me too. I found him wandering around on the first floor with his friend. Mike Chang, I think. Poor things looked absolutely clueless about how to shop for Christmas."

Shelby snickered. "That's about what I expected."

"So, how's did the driving test go the other day?" James asked.

"Oh, it went great, apparently," Shelby assured him. "Ryan couldn't sit still on the way over there, and he wouldn't stop staring at the new license on the way home. Apparently the practical test was quite easy and could be passed by anyone with a basic knowledge of driving, but was adequate to ensure proper knowledge of how to operate a motor vehicle." Shelby smirked. "His words, not mine. He was talking a mile a minute on the way home."

"You didn't let him drive?"

"Oh please, he would have crashed us into a pole with how excited he was," Shelby scoffed, before glancing at him worriedly. "Do you think we're spoiling him? With the car? I mean, I know we can both handle it financially, but is it too big a thing to give him?"

"Shelby, we talked about this, we decided that he's mature enough to handle it."

"Yes, I know, but I can't help but think that maybe we're overcompensating a little. You know, for not being there for him before."

James sighed. "Yeah, maybe. Can't help but want to give him everything after we screwed up so bad. But it will be fine, he's a lot more mature than a lot of other kids his age, and I think he can handle the responsibility. If he can't, well, we'll think of something."

Shelby nodded. "You're right."

James widened his eyes comically. "You're admitting I'm actually right? Call the papers!"

"Jerk."

..

That evening found Shelby and James alone in the living room of Shelby's house. Ryan had gone upstairs to catch some sleep, while the two adults stayed downstairs listening to some music. Shelby smiled wistfully at the song that came up on the radio. "This is one of my favorites," she commented softly. She started to sing along.

_It's coming on Christmas,_

_They're cutting down trees._

_They're putting up reindeer_

_And singing songs of joy and peace,_

_Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on._

_But it don't snow here,_

_Stays pretty green._

_I'm gonna make a lot of money_

_And then I'm gonna quit this crazy scene._

_Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on._

"Your voice is still as lovely as ever," James commented, smiling his smile that reminded Shelby so much of their son.

"Why thank you," she answered glibly, warming at the praise. It wasn't often that she sang for anybody nowadays. She smiled amusedly at James as she sang the next part, a smile that was returned easily as he listened to her voice.

_He tried hard to help me,_

_He put me at ease._

_Lord, he loved me so naughty,_

_Made me weak in the knees._

_Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on._

_I'm so hard to handle,_

_I'm selfish and I'm sad._

_Now I've gone and lost the best baby_

_That I've ever had._

_Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on._

_I wish I had a river so long,_

_I would teach my feet to fly._

_Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on._

_I made my baby say goodbye._

Shelby went over to the Christmas tree as she let the rest of the melancholy song wash over her. She'd always identified so well with this song. She'd had two important things in her life, and she'd messed both up, almost beyond repair. At some point she'd wished she could just leave her problems behind. She'd never gotten over them though. She shook her head, pushing those thoughts away. "I used to be really sad at Christmas."

"Because of Ryan?"

"Yeah. And everything else. His birthday's so close to Christmas… and every time December came around I was reminded of how I gave my baby away," she said distantly. "I missed him, I missed you… every year I'd wonder how he was doing, what was he like, who did he look like."

James went over to stand next to her, putting a hand on her back. "I can't really imagine how that felt."

Shelby turned to face him. "But now I have both of you back, and I'm so happy. And sometimes I'm scared it's all been a dream and I'm going to wake up, and both of you will be gone."

"We're not going anywhere. We love you. _I _love you, and I'm going to be right here." James gave her a lopsided smile. "You won't be able to get rid of us."

She looked into his eyes before she leaned in for a long, slow kiss, her hand cupping his face. She closed her eyes, relaxing into him their bodies slowly melted together. They broke apart for breath, but kept close, arms wrapped around each other, not wanting to let go.

This time James initiated the kiss, leaning down to press their lips together unhurriedly, taking his time. Shelby let out a low moan at the feeling, pulling him ever closer to her as their kiss grew more and more passionate.

They broke apart once more, eyes meeting again, and Shelby felt herself flush at the spark of desire she saw in James' dark eyes. She hesitated for a moment before deciding. "Come upstairs with me?" she asked breathlessly.

"Shelby…"

She shook her head, looking at him straight. "I'm ready now. How about you?"

They stared at each other for a long moment before he nodded. "I'm ready too."

"Then let's go," she nodded, as she took his hand, pulling him up the stairs and into her bedroom, locking the door behind them.

* * *

_Monday_

Quinn arrived at McKinley a little earlier than usual on Monday morning, opening her locker and pulling out her books almost fifteen minutes before the first bell. She turned from her locker and walked to Ryan's, figuring she'd wait for her boyfriend there. Fortunately, he was already there, and he turned to smile that charming smile of his at her as she came over.

"Hello, gorgeous," he grinned flirtatiously, leaning in for a kiss. Quinn smiled, recognizing the line from the Streisand movie they had watched at his house some time ago. He'd sworn it was the best Streisand movie ever, and Quinn had agreed that the movie was pretty good. The movie night had quickly devolved to making out though, and they'd had to rewind the movie to see the ending. They had missed it the first time around since Quinn had her hand down Ryan's pants and Ryan had been fumbling with her bra. "How was your weekend? Did everything with your sister go okay?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"That doesn't sound too convincing," Ryan commented. "You know I'm here if you want to talk."

Quinn gave him a small smile for his supportiveness. "I know." She sighed. "It's just… It's been a long time since she's been here, and it's… weird."

"Weird?"

"Yeah," Quinn nodded. "Because so much has changed, everything's different now and I don't know how she fits in anymore. It's… confusing. But let's talk about something else, hmm?"

"Okay," Ryan agreed, and Quinn smiled in relief, thankful that he didn't push. "Hmm, what can we talk about… oh, I think something happened with my parents last night. I went up to my room early, and when I woke up my dad was downstairs having breakfast already. At six-thirty."

"Well, maybe he just came early for breakfast."

"In the same clothes as yesterday."

"Oh."

..

_Meanwhile_

Sue Sylvester sat at her desk in her office, studying her planner for the day. It was a beautiful day, several people had come to drop off Secret Santa presents already, and she was looking forward to the moment Will Schuester figured out her little prank. She smiled to herself as Schuester, Bambi, and the Human Waste Disposal entered her office in a mood. Here we go.

"Sue, would you mind explaining why all three of us have you as a Secret Santa?" Will questioned angrily.

Sue barely looked up from her work. "I'm everybody's Secret Santa. You can just leave those by the door."

Emma looked at her furiously. "You rigged Secret Santa?"

"How? It was my idea," Beiste asked confusedly.

Sue put down her pen and finally faced the trio. "You're not the only one in this school who consumes protein powder by the tubful," she informed Beiste. "Remember when I told you I was taking all those science textbooks to an exorcist? Well, that's what we call a diversion."

Emma rolled her eyes. "You filled the tub with your name only."

"You're a regular Agatha Christie," Sue commented. "Only even more sexless."

Finally she managed to get them out of her office, smiling victoriously at her success. She'd not only managed to rile up the three stooges, she'd also managed to score quite a few high end appliances. Who knew the inept school faculty could afford such nice things?

She'd resumed planning out her routine for her next National championship when someone entered the office. "Hello, Sue."

"Barbra. You here to drop off your Secret Santa present?" Sue removed her reading glasses and regarded Shelby Corcoran. She held a sort of grudging respect for the brunette, she was a fellow champion director after all, even if it was in a field as inane as show choir. Even Sue had been impressed by the 2007 routine performed by Vocal Adrenaline entirely on their hands. Her opinion had only been heightened by Shelby's defense of her kid in Figgins' office. That was how a parent was supposed to act. Shelby held up the scrap of paper with Sue's name on it.

"You do know that the whole point of Secret Santa is to keep it a secret, right?" she drawled. "It's actually in the name."

"Cut the crap Sue, I saw Becky Jackson swap the protein tubs," Shelby replied.

"Ah." Sue settled back in her chair. "Then I'm surprised you didn't go running off to tattle on me."

"Maybe I just wanted to see what would happen."

"Yeah right." No one would do that without a little something in exchanged. Well, Sue probably would. "The staff do something to light your bonnet on fire?"

"I'm not the staff babysitter. Maybe this will teach them to pay more attention to what's going on."

"Ah." Sue nodded in understanding. "So in a twisted way you're trying to get your revenge at the negligence of the rest of the school's mediocre staff." She leaned back, studying the brunette. "You're a little bit ruthless. But I can't expect anything else from the director of the team who came over here just to intimidate the crap out of Will Schuester's glee kids and TP the choir room."

"You going to keep all this?"

"Well, as nice as it is to have all these rotisserie ovens and high-powered blenders, can't really use 'em. You want a few?"

Shelby shook her head as she left the room. "No. Go donate them somewhere."

Sue rolled her eyes. "Well, that's lame."

"And you're not getting a blender from me."

"Wouldn't expect to."

..

That afternoon found Ryan and the rest of the glee club still brainstorming over how to make money for the homeless kids. Caroling was out, after last week's debacle, and finally, somebody had brilliantly brought up Gift of the Magi, leading to their current predicament.

"This was my dad's," Finn said wistfully, looking at his watch. Ryan sort of felt bad for him, but he'd already voiced his disagreement with the plan and had been shot down.

Mike nodded sympathetically, but held out the Hat of Fate anyways. "He'd want you to do it. For those kids."

"This was my uncle's," Puck said, smiling nostalgically. "It's the first thing I ever stole, actually."

Sam dropped his watch in the hat with a glare, while Ryan put his in without complaint. "For the record, I don't think this is going to work very well. As I've said, we're probably not going to get much for these watches, I know mine is next to worthless and we don't even really know where to sell these."

Meanwhile, the girls had their own problems. "I'm gonna look terrible," Quinn complained.

"Shut up," Tina said a bit scathingly, grasping her scissors. "With your bone structure you could rock the Rosemary's Baby look and still look good. I'm gonna look like Jackie Chan."

Santana took hold of her high pony. "Enough yapping. Let's do this."

Then Mr. Schue made his slightly late – as always – entrance. "Whoa! What are you guys doing?" he asked, looking at the girls with shears and the Hat of Fate filled with watches.

"We're going all Gift of the Magi to raise money to buy homeless kids some school supplies," Mercedes said helpfully.

Sam nodded. "The guys are gonna sell their watches, and the girls are gonna sell off their hair."

Will gaped at them. "You can't do that."

"Oh no, it's cool," Santana assured him. "Most of this isn't even mine anyways."

"No, I mean that's not the answer," Mr. Schue said patronizingly. "There are other ways to raise money at Christmas."

"But we tried caroling and it didn't work," Ryan said. Hadn't he been paying attention? How were they supposed to raise money at this school when their main talent was seen as a joke?

"Have any of you actually read Gift of the Magi?" Mr. Schue looked around when nobody answered. "None of you?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "You don't have to read Gift of the Magi, everybody knows what it's about." Ryan agreed with her on that one. Shelby had assigned it as reading material last week, and he was pretty sure Quinn had read it several times over by now, but everybody knew the story anyways.

Mr. Schue sighed. "Well if you'd actually read it, you'd know what it's about."

Santana scoffed. "I know what it's about. Life freaking sucks."

"Actually, you're right," Mr. Schue admitted going over to sit down in the middle of the group of students. "The first Christmas you remember having is the greatest day of your life. Family's all together, loads of lights, cookies, the magic is alive and well." Several of the kids nodded at this, and Ryan agreed, thinking back the hazy memories of his early Christmases, back when Hiram and Leroy had still made an effort.

"But before you know it, you grow up," Mr. Schue continued. "Work and school and girlfriends take over and Christmas becomes more of an obligation. A reminder of what's lost instead of what's possible. And all the trees and presents and even the mistletoe can't change that. Then, when you're my age, you're so desperate to get that magic back, you'd do anything to be able to feel the way you did that first Christmas."

"So what should we do?" Finn asked. Ryan was still thinking that this speech reinforced his belief that their teacher was attempting to relive his youth vicariously through the glee club. He kept his rather uncharitable thoughts to himself though.

Mr. Schue was quiet for a minute before he spoke. "Put your scissors down, put your watches back on. We're going to find some people who really need some Christmas spirit. And we are going to sing for them."

* * *

_Tuesday_

Shelby went into the faculty room at lunchtime, having received a memo to be there. She found the glee club already set up in front with a nice backdrop and a collection pot. Ryan waved at her, and she smiled back as she found a seat. A few minutes later, Finn Hudson stepped forward.

"Hey," he said, with a slightly uncomfortable smile. "Uh, so we're your students. All year long you suffer through dealing with us. I imagine having some of us in your classes slowly chip away at your hopes and dreams, until the whole world just felt like a never-ending nightmare of pain…"

Shelby stared at him in unimpressed fascination. Will cleared his throat. "Why don't you just get to the point, Finn?" he asked in a whisper.

The tall boy shook himself slightly. "Right. Uh, anyways, we're here today to help raise money for children that have a lot less than we do. And I know some of us have had a hard Christmas. But what we've learned is that no matter how tough things get, there isn't anything that more Santa or a couple more Jingle Bells can't cure."

He went back to his place. Music started and the glee club began singing _Welcome Christmas_. One by one, the staff stood up to give their donations. Shelby went up, smiling at Ryan and Quinn, touching them lightly on the arms as she passed them. On the way back to her seat, she spotted Sue standing in the doorway. Diverting her route, she went to stand next to the tall coach.

"It's beautiful isn't it, Coach?" Becky Jackson, who was dressed as a reindeer/puppy hybrid, asked.

"It is," Sue nodded softly. She turned to Shelby. "Looks like we know where the twelve rotisserie ovens are going."

Shelby smiled in amusement. "Good."

"I'm keeping one though."

"Wouldn't expect any less."

* * *

_Wednesday, December 24__th_

Ryan stepped out of his car just outside the Fabray residence just after breakfast, smiling when he spotted a blonde sitting on the swing on the porch. "Kind of cold to be outside, isn't it?" he called out.

The girl looked up, and Ryan did a double take. That wasn't his girlfriend. "I'm sorry, I thought you were –"

"You thought I was Lucy," the young woman finished for him, with a small smirk. "Quinn, I mean."

Ryan reached the bottom of the porch steps, looking up at the blonde. "Lucy works too. I know she prefers to be Quinn in public but sometimes she lets her Lucy side out when nobody's around." He studied the girl who looked remarkably similar to his girlfriend, if a bit older. "You're Frannie, aren't you?"

"Francine Fiona Fabray, at your service." She looked at him for a moment. "You must be Ryan."

"That's me," he nodded. "I was just looking for Quinn."

"She's inside. Like you said, it's kinda cold to be out here. But," she patted the seat next to her. "How about we talk for a bit."

The look she gave Ryan indicated that it wasn't really a request, and Ryan found himself comparing the two Fabray sisters in his mind. Aside from looking uncannily alike they apparently had the same ability to glare people into submission, and he found himself sitting down. "Okay."

"So, how long have you been dating my sister?" Frannie asked casually.

"Since early this summer," Ryan answered automatically, having half expected an interview when he met the older girl. "But we've been friends since maybe April or so. We knew each other before then but only as acquaintances in class and as fellow glee club members."

"Wow, she was right, you do talk quite a bit," Frannie noted. "Were you here when… last year?"

"You mean with the BabyGate incident?"

Frannie let out an amused huff. "BabyGate?"

"That's what everyone in glee started to call it," Ryan nodded. "And yes, I was there. She… how do I put this… didn't particularly care for me when it all started, but we began talking around December last year. I just thought she needed somebody."

"She really likes you, you know."

Ryan smiled slightly. "She told you that?"

Frannie shook her head lightly. "Not in so many words, she was always a quiet kid when she was little. But I can tell."

"Well, I really like her too."

"No you don't. You're in love with her."

"Guilty."

"That's… that's good. God knows that girl needs it. I mean, her family sucks, she should have somebody good in her life."

"Well that's not true," Ryan tried, feeling a little out of his depth. "I'm sure you and Judy don't suck. True, you haven't been there for her as much as she needed, but she told me she always looked up to you when she was younger…"

"Please." Frannie shook her head again. "She doesn't trust me anymore. She shouldn't. I left her here with _them_ because I was selfish and couldn't wait to get out. Then I couldn't even bother myself to keep in contact with her."

Ryan ran a gloved hand through his hair, not sure of what to say to that. It was true, Quinn hadn't exactly won the lottery in the supportive family department. He was angry with Russell for kicking Quinn out just like that. He was upset with Judy for allowing it to happen, but it was lessened since she was trying to make amends. For the most part, Ryan's feelings towards Quinn's family reflected Quinn's own feelings. But with Frannie… Quinn was just confused.

Frannie sighed. "Just don't hurt her, okay? Russell and our mom and I have done enough of that. She doesn't deserve anymore."

"Frannie, I promise you that I'm never going to intentionally hurt Quinn, and I promise that I will do my utmost to keep her from being hurt ever again," Ryan replied sincerely.

"Good. Because if you do hurt her you'll have to answer to me."

Ryan found himself trapped suddenly by an icy blue gaze, reminding him of the ones Quinn would sometimes throw at him in the past, before everything had happened. "Understood."

"And I don't care how nice you seem to be, you're still a teenage boy, so I'm watching you."

"Okay then," Ryan answered. Thankfully Quinn stepped out a moment later.

"Hey Frannie, mom says –" She stopped when she saw Ryan, who gave her a small wave. "I didn't know you were here. Uh, Frannie, this is…"

"Oh, we've met," Frannie assured her, smirking. "He's cute, you should keep him." She laughed as the couple blushed, standing up from the swing.

Quinn cleared her throat. "Yes, I'm definitely doing that." Ryan grinned happily at her, scooting over to let her sit down. She did, and he quickly wrapped an arm around her as Frannie went into the house. "Don't you have plans with your parents today?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, we're having the family gathering tomorrow morning. Mom's at the grocery getting some last minute items, so I thought I'd come over and see how you were doing."

"I'm good," she was quick to assure him. She was quiet for a moment. "We decorated the tree last night."

"That's good," Ryan said. He suspected Quinn might be having a hard time with her family, after spending last Christmas alone living in Puck's basement. He could tell she wasn't ready to talk about it though, and he wanted her to be comfortable enough to talk to him about it.

So he just stayed there with her, placing a kiss in her hair as she snuggled in closer to him. "I love you."

Quinn smiled, closing her eyes. "I love you too."

..

"Aren't you afraid Santa's going to burn his ass when he tries to come down the chimney?" James joked later that evening as he finally got a fire going.

Ryan rolled his eyes, sitting on the sofa. "Please. I'm not six, give me a little more credit. Are you leaving?" he asked sadly as James stood up.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," his dad said apologetically. He'd gotten the night shift at the hospital tonight. "Don't worry, I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning." He ruffled the teenager's hair.

Shelby stood up. "I'll walk you out." The two adults exited, but Ryan stayed in his seat on the sofa in front of the fire, watching as the flames licked at the logs, smoke curling up and disappearing into the chimney.

"What are you thinking about?" Shelby asked, drawing him from his observation as she sat down beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"I've been thinking about the last few days, I suppose," he answered thoughtfully, as he leaned into his mom. "The other day we almost Gift of the Magi'd the boys' watches and the girls' hair to raise money." Shelby snorted in amusement. "I know. We didn't do it, obviously. But Mr. Schue made this speech about how the first Christmas is always the most magical, and as we get older, it loses its magic until we're his age and we try everything we can to get it back. What do you think?"

Shelby hummed. "I don't know. Christmas as a child is magical, of course, and I treasure those memories. And yes, as the years pass you get more and more jaded. But… the child's magic is replaced by something else, I think. By the feeling you get when you're with your family, or when you do something selfless, I suppose."

"I didn't agree with what he said," Ryan said flatly. "I don't really remember my first Christmases, but the last few haven't been all that stellar. Either Leroy or Hiram was always out on business, and their relatives lived pretty far away. And I think I'd be very unhappy with the way my life turned out if I reached Mr. Schue's age and the only thing I wanted was to get back how I felt in previous Christmases."

Shelby laughed slightly. "I have to agree."

"And what Finn said this afternoon, about Santa and Jingle Bells curing anything… " He smiled wryly. "Neither Leroy nor Hiram ever perpetuated the myth of Santa Claus. And no amount of Jingle Bells ever fixed the fact that they weren't very interested in me, or that I didn't have any friends." He felt Shelby squeeze his shoulders sympathetically. He had no intention of trying to recapture the feelings of previous Christmases. He looked at his mom. "This Christmas has been more magical than any of the ones I had when I was younger."

Shelby gave him a half smile. "I don't know whether to be flattered or devastated," she quipped.

"Let's go with the first one," Ryan bantered back, leaning their heads together for a moment. "Merry Christmas, Mom."

"Merry Christmas, sweetie."

* * *

**Aaaand another filler for you guys. Again, not completely filler, I think I was trying to establish and move forward some of the character relationships. I'm not completely sure. I hope it worked. Another final installment of the holidays next chapter, and then I might do a small time skip to bring us up to the next episode.**

**Just a quick note this time, I just spent all day helping wrap Christmas presents for a lot of random people. And I have a Christmas party where I hardly know anybody to attend. So, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Happy Holidays, everybody, and see you soon!**


	50. Chapter 49

_December 25__th_

On Christmas Day, Shelby opened her eyes groggily, squinting at the clock on the bedside table. It was a little before nine, and she was a little surprised that Ryan had let her sleep in. Apparently he wasn't one of those kids who woke up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning… oh wait… he did that every day.

She yawned, stretching as she got out of bed and dressed. Going downstairs, she heard a muffled conversation, and she smiled as she recognized the two very familiar voices. She went into the living room and saw James and Ryan set up on the couch, clearly deep in conversation about a topic she wasn't sure about.

Shelby stood there for a moment, just out of their line of sight, watching with a smile as the two interacted. Ryan had been right last night, this was one of the best Christmases in her memory.

Her smile turned a little wistful as she continued to watch the two guys. She was so happy that the father and son had connected so well, but she couldn't help but imagine what their lives would have been like if only she had made some different choices. Maybe they'd all be happier. Maybe this wouldn't have been their first Christmas together. Maybe they would actually be a real family instead of this slightly confusing thing they had going on.

Finally James looked up, a smile lighting up his face when he saw her. "Good morning, sleepy," he teased her, nudging Ryan, who looked up as well.

"Hi Mom!" He gave her a bright smile.

Shelby walked over, sinking down onto the sofa in between the two. She sighed in satisfaction, content just sitting with two of the most important people in her life. She gave Ryan a kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, sweetie." She turned to James, giving him a kiss. "You too."

"Merry Christmas, Shelby," James smiled, leaning in to kiss her again.

"Okay," Ryan interrupted. "You two are sweet and all, but if you're going to keep doing that how about you go find a room. Or alternatively, you could stop doing that and we could open presents."

"Yeah, let's go upstairs, Shelby," James said, nodding. Shelby laughed at the look of horror on their son's face. "Kidding. Let's get cracking."

"Hysterical," Ryan grumbled, going over to the tree to get some of the boxes. "Absolutely hysterical." He started sorting the boxes under the tree, handing several to his parents and keeping some to himself.

"Go on," Shelby said expectantly.

Ryan grinned. "Don't mind if I do." He started unwrapping a box from James. His brow furrowed when he found an unlabeled white cardboard box. Then his eyes widened as he opened it to find a handsome digital watch inside. "Wow, cool!" He smiled at James. "Thanks. My watch is actually falling apart, so this is great."

"I noticed," James said in amusement. "I actually asked Sim to mail that to me, it's the kind that the Special Ops guys use. Swim with it, fall off a cliff with it, whatever. It's pretty much indestructible."

"Did you just tell him to fall off a cliff with it?" Shelby asked disbelievingly.

James smiled at her charmingly. "No."

Shelby just rolled her eyes as she started unwrapping her own present from Ryan. A deep red scarf fell into her hands, and she smiled at Ryan happily. "Thank you, sweetie, it's beautiful." She pulled it open, to uncover a small box of items from Bath &amp; Body Works. "This is great, I love it," she said sincerely. Her lips curved into a sly smile. "Who helped you pick it out?"

Ryan gave her a look. "Quinn, if you must know," he said with dignity. He perked up as he heard a car pull up outside. "I think Grams and Grandpa are here," he said excitedly, flitting over to the closet and scrambling into a jacket.

"Ryan, put on a hat or something, it's snowing," Shelby called as the boy rushed out of the house. "Honestly, does he want to freeze to death?" she asked herself, standing up and hurrying over to the closet. James laughed at her.

"Don't worry so much."

"I like worrying, it's great fun, you should try it," Shelby snarked, shrugging into some warm clothes and grabbing a few things for Ryan. "Shut up," she added as James opened his mouth to say something.

"Shutting up, ma'am," he said obediently, his eyes sparkling.

..

Outside, Sarah opened the car door, immediately smiling as she saw Ryan grinning happily as his grandparents got out of their car. "Hi!"

"Hello, dear," Sarah smiled, quickly wrapping her grandson in a hug. "Happy Christmas."

"Hey, kiddo," Tom grinned at him as he opened the trunk. "Good to see you again."

"What are you wearing, it's freezing out here," Sarah demanded, just as Shelby walked up and jammed a knitted cap on Ryan's head. "Shelby, you should make him dress warmer."

"Hi mom, nice to see you too," Shelby grumbled, handing Ryan a pair of gloves. "Put those on."

Sarah gave her daughter a hug. "Hi sweetie." Then she turned and gave James, who had followed Shelby outside, a hug too. "James."

"Hi Sarah," he answered, returning her hug with a smile. "Glad you could make it."

"Wouldn't miss it," Sarah assured him, as James went over to help Tom carry things into the house from the car.

"Bring enough food for the city again?" Shelby asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hush." She shooed Shelby into the house, where the three guys were depositing food in the kitchen and presents in the living room.

"Have you gotten around to the presents yet?" Tom asked his grandson, who shook his head.

"We were just getting there when we heard you coming," Ryan explained, before brightening. "We can do it now, come on."

"How about breakfast first, I'm starving," Shelby proposed.

"I second that," James said.

"Well, fine," Ryan conceded. "I'm a little hungry as well. But we need to do the presents as soon as we finish, okay?"

Breakfast was summarily consumed, and the family proceeded to the living room, gathering around the tree. She and Tom stood back as Shelby, James, and Ryan sat down together.

"Wait," she told her husband. Sarah smiled as she quietly pulled out a digital camera from her purse. She turned it on, and directed it towards the trio before pressing the shutter button. She looked down at the image, her smile widening. The photo was perfect, Ryan crouched down inspecting something on the decorated tree as Shelby and James watched him, hands intertwined.

She didn't think she'd ever seen them look so happy, and that was enough of a Christmas present for her.

..

Later that afternoon, Ryan went to visit Quinn at her house, his Christmas present for her burning a hole in his pocket. He hoped she liked it. Also, Quinn had asked him over to introduce him to more of her relatives, making him a little nervous. The door was opened by Frannie Fabray. "Oh, hi Ryan, Quinn didn't tell me you were coming over today."

Quinn was there a couple of seconds later. "Yes I did, you weren't listening."

"Well, excuse me for paying more attention to the crying two-year-old," Frannie retorted teasingly. "Well, anyways, come in."

"Okay." Ryan quickly stepped into the house after shaking off the excess snow from his boots as Frannie went to the kitchen. "Hi Quinn." He leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "So who am I meeting first?"

Quinn sighed, leading him into the living room. "Aunt Jen and Uncle Brian stepped out for a bit with Mom. So you have the dubious pleasure of meeting my two cousins first." Another blonde girl, slightly younger than Quinn, came out of the living room. She was shorter than his girlfriend, and her hair was pulled up in a high pony that looked like the one Quinn wore at school. "Speaking of which…"

"Ooh, are you Quinn's boyfriend?" the girl asked, with a sly smile.

"Ryan, this is my cousin, Katherine Wilde."

"It's Kitty," the younger blonde informed him, folding her arms across her chest as she regarded him with a sly smile. "And you're cute. You didn't tell me he was this cute," she added to her elder cousin. "Ryan, right? So, what sport do you play?" she asked, turning back to Ryan.

"Uh, basketball," Ryan said, surprised.

"He's the starting shooting guard," Quinn supplied. Kitty nodded.

"Good, I approve. Of course, a football quarterback would be better, but basketball's a close second. Quinn's head cheerleader after all. Do you go out on dates a lot?"

Ryan glanced at Quinn, taken off guard by this surprising interrogation. "Well, we try to spend at least one night a week together…"

"How far have you gotten? Have you gone all the way? Did you –"

"Okay, Kitty, that's enough," Quinn cut in, raising an eyebrow at the younger girl. Kitty smiled her sly smile again before going upstairs. "Sorry about her," she told Ryan.

"She's… intense," Ryan agreed. "If I'd known there was going to be a pop quiz I'd have studied up." He leaned in to give Quinn another kiss, her arms moving up to his waist.

"Kids, keep it PG, there are children in the house," Frannie said as she walked past them from the kitchen into the living room. She gave Ryan a look that said, _I'm keeping an eye on you._ Ryan chuckled as Quinn groaned. Just then Kitty came back downstairs with an also blonde toddler in tow.

"That's Eleanor," Quinn informed him, after a beat. "We call her Ellie. Ellie, say hi."

"Hi," the little blue-eyed girl said obediently. Ryan crouched down to her level with a smile. She was so cute!

"Hello, Ellie, I'm Ryan." He stuck his hand out, and the small girl took it in a handshake. "So, how old are you?"

She looked at her hand, folding her fingers into the right number. "Two."

"Wow, that's cool." Ryan grinned as Ellie reached out her hand to pat his hair. He wasn't around kids much, but he did like them.

"She's probably wondering why your hair's a weird color," Kitty noted sardonically. "Everyone around here has blonde hair, dark brown must be such a novelty."

"That's okay." Ryan indulged the little girl for a minute and Ellie giggled at him happily as he stood up. He looked at Quinn, who was watching him silently as he interacted with Ellie. "Are there any more of your clan that I should look forward to meeting?"

"Just our parents," Kitty told him, as Frannie came over and picked Ellie up, cooing at the toddler. They heard a car door slam outside. "And look, they're here."

The front door opened, and Judy Fabray entered first, carrying some grocery bags. "Hi kids. Oh, hello Ryan, I didn't know you were here."

"Hi Judy. Here, let me get those for you." Ryan quickly took the paper bags from the woman, nodding in acknowledgement as she thanked him before he went into the kitchen to put the bags down. When he came back, two more – unsurprisingly – blonde adults were in the room.

"Uncle Brian, Aunt Jen, this is my boyfriend, Ryan," Quinn introduced quickly. Ryan nodded, proffering a hand to the two newcomers.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Wilde, nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Mr. Wilde answered. Ryan studied the two adults as they shuffled more groceries into the kitchen. Jen Wilde was obviously Judy's sister, they looked too much alike to be anyone else. Brian Wilde had blonde hair like the rest of the clan. He was about Ryan's height, and Ryan could see the resemblance between him and Kitty. He supposed they looked like okay people. He knew perfectly well not to judge from the outside though.

"Quinn, could you go get the rest of the things from the car?" Judy asked, and Quinn nodded. Ryan quickly offered to help and followed her outside.

"Wow, you did not exaggerate," Ryan commented, as they hefted several more grocery bags from the trunk of the Wildes' blue Lexus. "There are a lot of blondes here today. It's impressive."

"I know, right? And it's not just for today, they're going to be here until the 29th. Happy holidays," Quinn said a bit sarcastically.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked, glancing at his girlfriend. He was picking up… something from her, though he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"It's fine, really. Just a lot of people. And I have to share my room with Frannie."

Ryan nodded. He knew Quinn preferred space sometimes, having a lot of people in her home probably chafed a bit. "Your cousins are cute though. Well, Ellie is. Kitty's nice too, if a little stalkerish, but it must be nice to have someone idolize you like that."

Quinn chuckled. "Yeah, when she was three I got her to swallow a ladybug by telling her I swallowed one when I was her age."

"You're evil," Ryan laughed.

"It was after she'd broken one of my aunt's antique vases and gotten me mixed up in the mess." They dumped the rest of the groceries in the kitchen before Quinn pulled him into her room.

"How old is she now?"

Quinn thought for a moment. "Thirteen. Or was it fourteen? I know she's going to be a freshman this fall."

"Ah." Putting the subject aside, Ryan smiled at Quinn, producing the small wrapped box from his pocket. "This is for you."

Quinn smirked at him. "And here I thought you'd forgotten. Or that you were too clueless to get me anything," she teased.

"I take offense to that," Ryan gasped in mock outrage. Never mind that he and Mike had wandered through the mall for the better part of an hour before finding anything.

"Well, I helped you shop for everyone else's presents, who helped you shop for mine?"

"Maybe I should take that back."

"Sorry, no returns," Quinn teased, holding the package out of his reach. She gave him a kiss. "Thank you. Can I open it?"

"Yeah, of course," Ryan nodded, watching as she unwrapped his present and hoping that she'd like it. When she opened the box, he cleared his throat. "I found it at the jewelry store at the mall last weekend, I thought it was pretty. Well, I thought it would look pretty on you, not on me, obviously. The lady at the store said we can add to it as we go, and I think it would be fun to build on it," he rambled, coming to a stop when he saw his girlfriend's raised eyebrow, and small smirk.

"Are you done?" she asked teasingly. He nodded. "It's beautiful, Ryan. Thank you," she said sincerely, and Ryan relaxed, happy that she liked it. "Here, help me put it on."

Ryan smiled, complying. "I'm glad you like it." He held onto Quinn's hand, fingering the silver chain lightly. "I asked them to put a Christmas tree in, for the season. An artist's palette, in reference to your more artistic side. And that one…" He smiled charmingly. "Gold stars are kind of my thing."

"It's perfect," Quinn assured him, smiling widely as she looked at the bracelet, squeezing his hand. Ryan smiled, holding on to her hand for another moment, bringing it up to his lips before letting go. "I've got something for you too." Ryan watched as she reached into a bag near the foot of the dresser, pulling out a large flat package that she held out to him.

"Thanks," Ryan answered, taking the wrapped present with a smile. He quickly took off the wrapping, grinning when he uncovered a large illustrated coffee-table book on car engines. "Wow."

Quinn smiled as well. "Good, you like it."

"Of course I like it, it's from you." He started flipping through the pages, running a finger over the detailed drawings. "It's a very thoughtful present, Quinn. I love it." He gave her a kiss. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She pulled him into another kiss, moaning as Ryan wrapped his arms around her waist, hands starting to move lower and lower. Ryan bit lightly on her lower lip, eagerly pressing their bodies together as his heart rate increased.

They were interrupted by a quick knock on the door. The two jumped apart as they realized that the door was in fact open, and Frannie was standing there, one eyebrow raised. Ryan's eyes widened, while Quinn just huffed in annoyance. "Go away, Frannie."

"Okay, but you two better come down, Mom needs some help with something."

Quinn rolled her eyes, turning away, and Frannie shot Ryan a glare that just screamed at him to keep his hands to himself. Ryan nodded nervously, and Frannie smirked before turning to go back downstairs. Ryan turned back to Quinn, who was looking at him with her own eyebrow raised. "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing important," Ryan answered quickly, while reeling slightly at how much the two sisters looked alike with their perfectly sculpted eyebrows raised in that freezing expression. "Come on, let's go, I should actually be getting back home soon."

"Are your grandparents at your house?" Quinn asked Ryan later as she walked him out, watching as Frannie and Kitty played with Ellie in the snow. The parental units had gone off to buy something or other again, suggesting that the kids take Ellie outside.

"Yes they are," Ryan replied. "Uncle Josh and Aunt Paige are spending the holidays with her family in Columbus. Normally my mom stays over in Akron, but we decided we'd stay here this Christmas since Dad got the night shift last night."

"Right." They reached his car, and Quinn pulled him down for a kiss, her hands curling in his jacket as his snaked around her waist.

"Wanky."

Quinn spun around to find Santana on the other side. "Santana."

Ryan gave her a small wave. "Hello, Santana."

Santana nodded. "Treasure Trail." Quinn just rolled her eyes.

"Any reason you're bothering me instead of bugging Mari at your own house?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Not that she minded her best friend being here, it was just she usually spent the holidays with her family.

Santana shrugged casually. "We're picking up my Abuela and leaving for my Tia's place in Dayton in a few, Mami just had to go pick up some stuff at the store. So I thought I'd check in with you. Problem?" she snarked, pulling two flat packages from her pocket. She handed one to Quinn. "For your cheat days," she informed her. She handed the other one to Ryan. "Obviously you were going to be here, since you have no game anywhere else, so you get one too."

Quinn snorted, before nodding at her friend. "Thanks." She had given Santana her present the other day already.

"Yeah, thanks," Ryan said, smiling at Santana. "You see, I knew we were friends."

"Don't make me take it back," Santana grumbled, turning to leave. "See ya in January."

"That was nice of her," Ryan commented as she drove off. "But, I should go, I don't know what activities are entailed in Christmas family time but I'm sure it will be enjoyable. You probably want to spend time with your own too."

"Yeah," Quinn said a little unenthusiastically. "Bye."

"Call if you want to talk."

"Got it."

* * *

_December 27__th_

"Oh my god, can't you just stop crying?" Kitty begged her little sister as Frannie rocked the two-year-old, desperately trying to get her to calm down. Quinn looked on helplessly, unsure of what to do.

"Don't you know any tricks that your mom uses to keep her quiet?" Frannie asked Kitty. All the parents had gone out again, and not fifteen minutes had passed before the littlest cousin was wailing for her mommy.

"No, how should I know how to get the little monster to shut up?" the younger girl asked, disgruntled.

"Uh, maybe because you live with her?" Frannie rolled her eyes, before noticing Quinn slinking up to their shared room. Quinn had been acting weird ever since Frannie had arrived, and she knew her little sister was uncomfortable with her. They really needed to talk. She turned to Kitty. "Here, you take her."

"What?" Kitty yelped.

"Just – okay?" Frannie handed the little girl over to her cousin irritably. Once they were settled, she went upstairs, before knocking softly on Quinn's door. "Lucy? You okay in there?" She entered the room, and found Quinn sitting on the bed. "What's the matter?"

"The crying baby was getting to me and I like my eardrums intact."

Frannie gave her an unimpressed look. "What's the real problem?"

"Nothing's the matter. You can leave me alone."

Frannie flinched at the coldness in her sister's voice. That had hurt, and she almost changed her mind and did as Quinn asked before remembering that she actually wanted to fix her relationship with her sister. So she moved closer, sitting down tentatively on the edge of the bed, the younger girl not reacting. She glanced at her sister, unsure of what to say, when she spotted a photograph clutched in Quinn's hand. "What's that?"

Quinn pulled the photo closer to herself. "It's… "

The older sister almost thought she was going to say 'nothing' again, but the word almost seemed to choke against Quinn's throat. Then Frannie noticed a couple more photos on the bed. There was a picture of a small blonde baby in a onesie in it, and for a second she thought it was a picture of either Quinn or herself when they were babies. Then it dawned on her. "Is that…"

"If you're asking if it's the baby I had while you were away, then yes it is," Quinn answered curtly.

Frannie fell silent, mind whirling. In some ways, it was still surreal that her sister, little Lucy, had had a baby just last year. Her mother had told her the story, but it was so hard to believe. She still saw her sister as that little girl who kept tagging around with her to the park, playing quietly by herself in the grass. But now, just that half-second glimpse of the baby in the picture… "Why didn't you call?" she asked. "You could have told me."

Quinn scoffed. "Oh? And what would you have done? You already skipped out, why would you care about what was happening?"

Shuffling closer, Frannie tried again. "I get that you're mad at me –"

"Good. Because I am. I needed you. I needed you, and Mom, and Dad, and you all left me."

The older girl's heart broke at the ice in Quinn's voice, at the starkness in her words. This wasn't the little sister she had comforted when they were younger and the other kids had been mean again. Back then she knew that a trip to the park and an ice cream cone would fix everything, but now she had no idea what to do because she didn't know her sister anymore. She sat there, frozen, not knowing what to do. If there was anything she _could_ do. "I'm sorry."

"Me too."

The two sisters sat there in silence for a while. "Do you think I can ever make it up to you?" Frannie asked.

"Maybe. Eventually. I don't know."

Frannie nodded. "I want to try. So… so if you ever think you can give me a chance… I'll be here." She reached out tentatively to touch her sister's arm, relaxing when she wasn't rebuffed. Quinn nodded slightly. "Is there anything you need now?"

"I think I need to get out of the house for a while," Quinn said quietly.

"Okay."

..

"Coming, hang on!" Shelby walked toward the front door, opening it to find Quinn standing on the porch. "Hello."

Quinn gave her a tired smile. "Hi Shelby."

"Come in," Shelby said, standing aside to let the teenager in. Quinn stepped inside and went to the living room, having been in the Corcoran house enough to feel moderately comfortable in it. "Were you looking for Ryan? He's not around right now."

"I… not really," Quinn shrugged, settling on the sofa.

Shelby nodded, sitting down next to her as she tried to figure out why the girl was here if not for Ryan. "So what's going on?"

"I just… needed to get out for a while," Quinn said. "We have my sister and my aunt and uncle and two cousins over at the house. And the house is too big for two people, but it's way overcrowded now."

"I hear you there," Shelby chuckled. "We had an overnight family thing at our house once when I was a teenager, and at night you couldn't take a step without treading on someone's face. Plus the mess some of those kids made…" She shuddered.

That drew a smile from the blonde. "Thank god I only have two cousins then." She played absently with a throw pillow on the sofa. "One of them is two years old."

"Oh." Shelby nodded, seeing where this was going. "Does she look like you?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"So like Beth then?"

Quinn's jaw clenched for a second. "Yeah. How –"

"I told you, I've been pretty much where you are now," Shelby reminded her. "The first time for me was maybe three months after Ryan. I saw this little kid at the mall, maybe three years old, brown hair and brown eyes, eating an ice cream cone and getting most of it on his shirt while his mom tried to clean him up." She chuckled wistfully at the memory. "And I couldn't help but imagine how Ryan would look like when he was that age."

Quinn's hands clenched in the throw pillow she was clutching. "This isn't the first time. Sam brought his brother and sister to school, and this happened too. It's not as bad this time, I guess. It's just… I got a few more pictures of her from the Watersons in the mail again, and… then my aunt left for the mall with my uncle, and Ellie was crying for her mom, and… yeah." She sighed. "Sorry for dumping on you."

"It's okay."

"I thought I was getting better," Quinn said dejectedly.

Shelby rubbed her arm soothingly. "It's a process." She smiled sadly, remembering the first year after she'd had Ryan. "Just… give it time." She watched as Quinn took another deep breath. Then she turned her head as she heard the front door open.

"Mom, I have the –" Ryan stepped into the living room before getting distracted by his girlfriend sitting on the sofa with his mom. He quickly switched tracks, smiling happily. "Quinn, this is a pleasant surprise, I thought you would be spending time with your family today."

"There's such a thing as a little too much togetherness, and it's happening over at home," Quinn told him with a wry smile. "I thought I'd come over for a while."

Shelby smiled at the young couple. She could practically see Quinn relax as soon as Ryan came into the room, and she knew her son was never quite as happy as when Quinn was around. They were good for each other. She stood up, clearing her throat before the looks between the two kids could get too gooey. "Ryan, did you get the stuff I asked you to buy?"

Ryan nodded. "Yes, they're in the kitchen." He settled down into place beside Quinn.

"Okay. I'm going to go into my office now." Shelby gave them a look. "Behave."

"Yes, Mom," Ryan said, rolling his eyes. Quinn just laughed quietly and nodded, giving her a small smile as Shelby left the room.

..

"So, what are you really up to?" Ryan asked lightly, as he snuggled beside his girlfriend.

"Go away, you're cold," Quinn complained.

"And you're very warm," Ryan said happily as he moved closer.

"You're stealing my warmth," Quinn rolled her eyes. She wasn't serious though. She liked having him close too much to push him away. She flicked her hand absently through his hair, getting rid of some stray white flakes. That wasn't dandruff, was it? No, wait. "You have snow in there, didn't you have a hat or something?"

"I neglected to put the hat on, don't dodge the question."

"Who says I'm up to something?" Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Ryan just smiled softly. He ran his thumb across her cheek, and she leaned into the touch. "Maybe I just wanted to see you." She didn't feel like discussing her baby issues again. She just wanted to put it behind her.

"I'm flattered," Ryan chuckled, dipping down for a kiss. Quinn smiled as she warmed all over. "Really though," he said as he drew back. "Are you sure there's nothing bothering you? You've seemed a little out of sorts since your sister came home, and more so since your aunt's family came over."

"Can't slip anything by you, can I?" Quinn asked rhetorically. She had a small smile though. It was nice that he knew her enough to tell when she was feeling off. God knows Finn had never figured anything out, clueless giant that he was. She sighed. "I don't know."

"Are you still doing the therapy with your mom?"

"Yeah," Quinn nodded. "It's okay with her, I guess. It's still kind of weird with my sister though."

Ryan tilted his head. "Why?"

"Because…" Quinn sighed. "I don't know. Because when she left, I was still Lucy, and now everything's changed and I don't know how she fits."

"I think she wants to fit though."

"That's just the problem, I don't know if I want her to fit. I looked up to her so much when we were younger. She was pretty much perfect. But then she left, and it's like she forgot about me. And now she's back and I don't know what to do with her." Quinn finally let her thoughts about Frannie come spilling out, once again surprising herself a little by how much she trusted Ryan. "And I don't want her back if she's just going to leave again."

"Did you talk to her about it?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, and she says she wants to fix things, but…" Quinn shrugged, looking away. "I don't know."

"Maybe you should give her a chance. You gave your mom one, maybe Frannie deserves one too."

"Maybe."

"You should talk to her, tell her how you're feeling." He smiled lopsidedly. "It's worked so far, hasn't it?"

Quinn laughed quietly. He was right, talking usually helped. It was hard though. "I'll try."

"Good." Ryan kissed her on the cheek. "Now, how did you get over here, I didn't see your car outside?"

"Frannie dropped me off, actually," Quinn admitted.

"Okay, then. How about I drive you back, and you can have that talk with her. She's leaving next week, right? I think you should start trying to repair your relationship as soon as possible. You don't want to lose more time."

Quinn nodded slowly. "Okay."

A few minutes later Ryan pulled up outside the Fabray house, and the two of the sat in the car for a moment. "Looks like you're enjoying the car," Quinn commented, smiling slightly.

Ryan grinned. "Definitely. It's amazing, and I love having my own transportation, I save so much time now that I can drive instead of walking or commuting everywhere. It frees up a lot of time for me to work on my studies, or more often than not my music."

Quinn laughed at the answer that was so typical of her boyfriend. "Thanks for the ride," she told him, leaning across the console to kiss him.

"Anytime." Ryan reached out a hand and tucked a lock of hair behind her cheek before getting out of the car, hurrying around to open Quinn's door for her.

"I could have gotten that," Quinn told him, even though she was squeeing at his old-fashioned manners. Not that she'd ever show it, of course. It still surprised her every time he did something like this, and it made her fall in love with him even more every time.

"I know," Ryan grinned, kissing her quickly on the cheek. "Love you."

"Love you too." Quinn entered the house. Thankfully the house was quiet. Frannie came out of the kitchen, stopping in her tracks when she saw Quinn. "Hi."

"How did you get back home?" Frannie asked.

"Ryan drove me." The two sisters looked at each other for a moment before Quinn took a deep breath. She'd decided that she did want to fix their relationship. "So… I thought maybe we could go out sometime… just the two of us," she said awkwardly. She was rewarded by a tentative smile from her elder sister.

"I'd like that," Frannie answered, recognizing the offer for what it was. "Maybe breakfast tomorrow, we can escape the Morning Mayhem."

Quinn giggled slightly. "Okay."

They could still fix this.

* * *

_December 31__st_

"So, how long until we ring in the New Year?" Quinn asked lightly as she and Ryan sat side by side on the couch in in his living room, the TV turned to the local news channel which was flashing the various highlights of the year before the countdown. James and Shelby were in the kitchen, sharing a bottle of wine.

Ryan checked his watch. "Ten minutes left." He grinned at his girlfriend happily. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too, I don't think I could stand schmoozing with all Mom's club friends, and tagging around with Frannie at her friends' party would have been weird," Quinn agreed.

"Their loss." Ryan knew she was okay with it though, he'd asked her a while ago and she said she'd rather spend the evening with him, which had of course boosted his ego.

"Right," Quinn said, amused, kissing him on the cheek. "How did you like 2010, anyways?" she asked curiously.

Ryan considered the question before smiling. "Well, it has no doubt been one of the most eventful of my life. New parents, new house, new girlfriend," he nudged her with his shoulder playfully. "All in all, one of the best years of my life so far." He looked at her sideways. "This time last year you were barely civil to me, and look at us now."

"Hard to believe," Quinn joked. "What on earth was I thinking?"

"That's not very nice," Ryan pouted. Quinn just laughed at him, leaning in to kiss him on the lips, drawing it out until Ryan saw stars. He was left in a slight daze as she pulled away, and she smirked at him. "What were we talking about again?" he asked confusedly.

"Dork."

Ryan breathed out a laugh. "That's not fair, you can't expect me to be fully coherent after a kiss like that." He hummed happily as Quinn snuggled closer to him. "How about you, what did you think of the year 2010?"

Quinn was quiet for a moment. "It's been full of ups and downs, that's for sure," she said thoughtfully. "What with Beth, and my parents, and you…"

"It's been a big year for both of us," Ryan mused.

"I know. If anyone had told me last year that the two of us would be dating, I probably would have laughed myself silly," Quinn nodded. "No offense."

"None taken," Ryan quipped. "I'd be right there laughing with you. But look at us now."

"Yes, look at you now," Shelby interjected teasingly as she came into the living room. "So cloyingly sweet that it's a wonder an army of ants haven't started swarming the two of you yet."

"You're one to talk," Ryan said as both he and Quinn flushed.

Shelby scoffed at him just as James followed her into the room. "Whatever, kid. Now enough of that, it's almost midnight."

Sure enough, the announcer on TV was calling out the countdown, "Ten… nine… eight… seven…"

Ryan smiled, wrapping his arm around Quinn's shoulders. He was exactly where he wanted to be to welcome the new year.

"Three… two… one… Happy New Year, everybody!"

Ryan's smile grew even wider as he pulled Quinn into a deep kiss, sighing happily as he felt her moving against him. They fit together perfectly, and it didn't matter where they were. As long as they were together.

This was going to be a wonderful year.

* * *

**Hey everyone, here's the last of the holiday filler sequence. Hope you guys liked it, I'm kind of on the fence with this one. And it's shorter than usual. Anyhoo, back to normal programming next time, I'll be covering the Sue Sylvester Shuffle. Again, busy busy time, just dashed this off real quick so sorry for any errors. Thanks for all your comments last time, please leave more, and I'll see you soon.**


	51. Chapter 50

_February, 2011_

"Hey kid."

Ryan turned around when Coach Beiste called him back after basketball practice. It was the beginning of February, and 2011 was turning out quite well for Ryan so far. He and Quinn were together, it was smooth sailing with his parents, no issues in glee as of yet, and the basketball team was well on its way to a decent place with 5-3 season. "Yes Coach?"

"Nice job out there last Friday," she nodded. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in contacting some college scouts, maybe see if you can get someone interested, get a scholarship next year."

Ryan blinked, taken aback by the offer. "Oh. Well, I can't say I've actually thought about it, basketball is actually just a hobby for me," he admitted. "While I'm pleased that you think I might be able to generate scholarship interest, I'm not really planning on continuing after high school. I'm much more focused on getting into a performing arts school for my singing and acting abilities."

The coach nodded again. "Yeah, I figured." She handed him a soft package. "You still get that, though."

"What is it?" Ryan asked, as he took off the wrapping, to uncover a red and yellow McKinley letter jacket. He pulled it out and held it up in front of him.

"You've earned it," Coach Beiste said. "Congratulations, kid."

"Thanks," Ryan said absently, at he studied the jacket, his last name stitched on the back with his jersey number.

"You tell me if you change your mind about the scouts," Coach Beiste said as she walked off.

Ryan stared at the jacket for another moment before walking out of the locker rooms. It was kind of strange. He'd never imagined that he'd ever join an athletic team, let alone receive a letter jacket for being on one. He looked up as he noticed Quinn coming towards him, fresh from the Cheerio locker showers. "Hey. How was Cheerios?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Coach Sylvester's being herself, as always. She says she's 'bored'. Seriously, we've got flamethrowers and motocross stunts. What's next, a cannon?" she grumbled. "Whacha got there?" she asked, coming up next to him. Her eyebrows rose when she saw what it was. "Wow. Congratulations."

"Thanks," Ryan said, lips quirking into a smile.

"Have you tried it on yet?"

Ryan shook his head. "This is going to sound a little strange and maybe silly, but it feels kind of… wrong."

Quinn frowned in confusion. "Wrong? Wrong how?"

"It's like a Shark being offered a Jets patch or something," he mused. "West Side Story," he elaborated with a smile, as he noticed Quinn's confused look. "The athletes have been virtually sworn enemies of the New Directions since our inception, what with the slushy showers and everything else. It seems a bit disloyal to put on the colors of the enemy, so to speak. What do you think?"

"I get your point," Quinn said thoughtfully. "But Finn and the rest of the football guys wear them anyways."

Ryan chuckled. "True. I told you it was a little silly." He shrugged the jacket on. "What do you think?"

Quinn adjusted the jacket around his shoulders. "Pretty hot," she commented, with a sly smile as she leaned up to kiss him. Ryan's eyes fluttered shut as she tilted her head and slid a hand in his hair, crushing their lips together. Then they opened in dazed surprise as she pulled back suddenly with a smirk, moving to whisper in his ear. "How about we go to my house?"

He nodded quickly, and she kissed him again before sauntering off in the direction of the parking lot. Ryan stood there for a moment, watching her legs as that sinfully short Cheerios skirt swayed teasingly, before he shook his head with a deep breath and followed her.

Minutes later the two of them were in Quinn's bedroom, Ryan pressing Quinn up against the door as their tongues battled for dominance. This bedroom had become their go-to place over the past month, since Quinn's mother had work until six in the evening, whereas Shelby was often home when school let out. Ryan slid his lips over to Quinn's jaw, inhaling her intoxicating scent as he peppered kisses along her neck.

Quinn took in a deep, shuddering breath, before pushing him off of her. He glanced at her questioningly, wondering if she wanted to cool down, before she pushed him down to sit on the bed. Suddenly he found himself with a lapful of his smirking girlfriend, and the world tilted as she ground down onto his hard-on while shoving her tongue into his mouth.

"Oh my god," he breathed, bucking upwards involuntarily as she slid her hands under his shirt, the friction absolutely maddening as he thrust against her heat.

"Just Quinn," the blonde teased, lightly nipping a path up to his ear. "That jacket is really turning me on," she purred, peeling off her cheerleading top. Ryan's mouth dried up as he was faced with his girlfriend's incredibly hot body, literally _right in his face_.

He surged forward, kissing her on the lips momentarily before trailing down her neck, lower and lower, sucking and kissing all along the way. "Then I'm never taking it off," he mumbled into her as he reached her collarbone.

Quinn smirked again. "Oh, I wouldn't say that," she blew into his ear, as she slid her hands even further into his shirt. Ryan almost whined as she pushed him away from her again. But then his breath almost stopped as she yanked the shirt off of him, along with the jacket.

Suddenly she was kissing him again, pressing her torso against his, and Ryan's mind short-circuited at the amazing feel of her skin on his. Then she started rocking her hips against his, and he moaned as he rocked back into her, the pressure and friction absolutely mind-blowing. He probably wouldn't have remembered his own name if anyone had thought to ask him at that point.

Quinn somehow wriggled her hand in between them – Ryan didn't understand how since they were pressed up as close as possible – and snaked it down to undo the button on his pants. Then she slid her hand into his boxers to wrap it around him, and Ryan gave a yelp as she gave him a sharp stroke, his hips moving to follow the movement. "Ohhh… god…"

"My name, Ry," Quinn husked, pressing her lips against his neck as she continued to stroke. "Say my name."

"Quinn… yes… keep doing that…" Ryan's head fell forward onto her shoulder, a jumble of incoherency escaping his lips as he thrust up into her hand. He wasn't going to last long, he could feel himself tensing up already… "Almost – Quinn –"

His girlfriend sped up, and a second later Ryan came with a choked gasp, spilling herself into her hand as his world spun. He sat there with his face buried in the crook of Quinn's neck pressing a lazy kiss against her neck as he came back to his senses. "That was amazing," he breathed, looking at her.

"I know," Quinn said smugly. They had had enough practice over the last month after all. Ryan roved his eyes over her cocky features. Suddenly he was overcome with the urge to wipe it off her face, and he hooked his hands around her thighs, picking her up and putting her on the bed.

"Ryan!" Quinn managed to yelp in surprise before Ryan devoured her lips with his, settling his body comfortably beside hers as his hand stroked lightly up her stomach.

"Shh, your turn now," Ryan whispered as he angled himself partially on top of her, dipping down to kiss the tops of her breasts. He was gratified to hear a low moan coming from his girlfriend as he kissed and licked at the skin. His hand soon came up to cup one of her breasts, thumb stroking at the nipple over her bra, and she arched up into his touch.

"Ohh… Ryan…" Quinn pressed herself up into him, and Ryan moved up to her neck, nipping lightly at the spot that drove her crazy. She gasped, squirming against him, before fumbling one hand behind her back.

"What are you doing?" Ryan mumbled into her neck, drawing back a bit before it clicked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Quinn nodded frantically. Ryan quickly reached behind her, unsnapping the bra clasp with trembling fingers. This was the first time she was doing this with him. She tugged the bra off, and Ryan stared at her, unable to think anything past _ohmygodlookboobs._

Quinn's voice drew him out of his stupor. "Like what you see?" she asked. Ryan's eyes snapped up to her face, melting when he saw a bit of insecurity there. "I know they're kinda small –"

"They're perfect," Ryan interrupted, his gaze pulled magnetically back south. "Can I –" He gestured helplessly.

Quinn's smirk came back as she nodded, and Ryan's hands came up to cup her breasts, making her breath hitch. "Yes, just like that," she hissed, as he massaged lightly. Ryan leaned in to kiss her neck, trailing down lower and lower until he tentatively pressed a kiss to a nipple, earning a gasp that prompted him to wrap his mouth around it. Quinn's hand tightened in his hair as she arched into him with a moan.

Ryan started to move his hand down, slipping under Quinn's skirt, stroking lightly at the inside of her thighs as she continued to swirl his tongue on her nipple. He drew back a little. "Is this –"

Quinn pushed him back down with a growl. "Don't stop, okay?"

"Okay then," Ryan said. That was completely fine by him, he was having the time of his life. He moved his lips to her other breast, and started to slide his hand into her panties, rubbing his fingers against the wetness. He smirked happily, ego boosted as always by how wet she got for him every time. Her hips bucked against his hand as he circled her clit slowly, before pushing a finger into her heat.

"Oh god, Ryan…" The wanton sounds Quinn was making was making him go hard again. He thrust his finger into her sex, before adding a second. He curled his fingers inside her right as he grazed his teeth against her nipple, and she squirmed hard under him, whimpering. "Ryan, harder… so close…"

He redoubled his efforts, and soon enough she fell over the edge, moaning his name as she shook uncontrollably under him. Her walls tightened around his fingers, and he shuddered, getting aroused at the thought of that pressure around his dick. He slowed his thrusts, entranced as always be the sight. He moved up her body, gently pressing a kiss to the side of her neck as she floated down from her high. He smiled as she opened her eyes.

They lay there side by side in each other's arms for several minutes, taking the time to calm their racing hearts. Ryan thought he could happily stay there forever.

"Ry?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you ever… you know… done it? With anyone else?"

Ryan turned his head to look at his girlfriend. "No. Never." He paused, looking away. "I thought it would have been obvious. Did you forget who you're talking to? No girl would have given me the time of day before." He smiled slightly. "Before you."

Quinn nodded. "It's just…I'm going to be your first. I mean… you know…"

Ryan was now a getting self-conscious as well. "Uh, if you're worried about it not being any good," he started awkwardly. "I –"

"No!" Quinn jumped in hastily. "It's not that. I'm sure it'll be amazing." She sighed, flushing. "I just wish I had waited too."

"Oh. _Oh_," Ryan's eyes widened as he realized what was wrong.

"I kind of feel like I cheated you out of something," she continued softly.

"Hey, no, don't think like that," Ryan said gently. "It's okay." Quinn shot him a dubious look. "Okay, fine. I'm not exactly jumping for joy that you've… been with another guy. Do I wish I were your first too? Yeah, yeah I do. But it's okay. Because I love you, and I know you love me, and when we're both ready, it's going to be great. More than great."

"Do you think we're ready?"

Ryan paused, thinking. Was he ready now? His body was screaming at him, _yes, yes you moron, of course we're ready, what the fuck are you waiting for?!_ But his calmer, more rational side – yes, he did have one, despite what others thought – was telling him that they couldn't do this without proper thought and deliberation. "I want to, obviously," he said, glancing at her meaningfully. "But it's a big step. Are we ready for that?"

"Maybe we are," Quinn said slowly.

"I just don't want this to turn into some kind of cliché afternoon special where we have sex and then everything blows up in our faces. No offense," Ryan added hastily, as he remembered what had happened last year when Quinn had slept with Puck.

"No, I get it, I don't want that either," Quinn sighed.

"But maybe soon," Ryan said hopefully. "When we're both ready." He flipped onto his side with a smile. "For now though…" He moved forward slowly, his smile widening as he met Quinn's lips with his, relishing the sensations as he slowly delved his tongue into her mouth.

"Soon."

* * *

"Nice jacket," Santana smirked as she fell into step with Ryan the next morning. "Muy macho."

"Thanks, Santana," Ryan replied. "That is a compliment, isn't it? One can never tell with you."

"Yep. If I were insulting you, you'd know."

"That's comforting," Ryan quipped, as they walked toward their next class. "I'm not planning on wearing this jacket all the time, but I received it yesterday and I thought I would wear it today. I have noticed that less people have been antagonizing me lately, a few of the football players even nodded at me. I guess this jacket has a lot more power than I anticipated."

"It's not just the jacket, it's you," Santana informed him, rolling her eyes at his longwinded answer. Seriously, that could have been said in ten words or less. "Ever since you creamed Karofsky's nose a couple months ago people are figuring out you're not just a doormat anymore. Not to mention you took on both him and that lard tub Azimio a day after. If you weren't in glee you'd be top of the pole already. And I don't mean the flagpole by your undies either."

Ryan tilted his head. "So you're saying if I had stood up for myself earlier I wouldn't have been the school loser?"

"No, you'd still be the loser."

"That makes no sense at all."

Santana shrugged. "It is what it is." She smirked as she spotted a couple of baby Cheerios looking in their direction. Or in his direction, more specifically. "And it looks like the ladies are flocking." They had no chance, even Santana could see how disgustingly smitten Ryan was with Q. Oh well, she was happy for her friend. _Friends_, she supposed, if she counted Ryan, which she did. Not that she'd say it out loud. She'd just be happier if her own love life was going anywhere, but what the hell. Fucking Wheels.

"Why Santana Lopez, are you calling me hot?" Ryan asked slyly.

Santana snorted. "In your dreams, Corcoran. All I'm saying is that the jacket covers up some of the glare of your freakishness. Besides, people here have zero taste."

"Right," Ryan nodded. "And for the record, there are no flocking ladies."

"Uh-huh." Boys were idiots. Oblivious, clueless idiots. "Just remember, you mess up with Q, I mess you up."

"I got it."

..

"So you step around with your left foot, then slide with your right," Mike said. Ryan watched as Mike demonstrated a dance move for him later that afternoon. They were in the choir room, with most of the glee club fooling around as they waited for Mr. Schue. Since that Christmas shopping trip at the mall, Ryan and Mike had become a friendlier, with Ryan taking up Mike's offer of a few dance lessons.

Ryan tried out the move, and was almost successful when the football team came into the choir room. "So this is what the ladies' lounge looks like," one of them sneered as they swaggered into the room. Finn and the rest of the glee football guys stood up to meet them, scowling.

"This is the choir room," Sam growled.

"Coach Beiste told us to come, where is she?" Karofsky asked, standing at the front of the group. Right on cue the Coach came up behind the football players with Mr. Schue.

"Why don't you guys all have a seat," the coach directed, backed up by Mr. Schue. All the students settled down, a clear divide forming with the New Directions on one side of the room and the football team on the other.

"All right, New Directions," Mr. Schue said. "Let's give a warm welcome to the newest members of glee club." Pandemonium instantly erupted.

"What?!"

"Oh, hell to the no, Mr. Schue!"

"Are you serious?"

"Hey!" Coach Beiste barked, and the violent reactions ceased ever so slightly.

"Mr. Schue, are you serious? These are the guys who made Kurt transfer!" Finn yelled.

"These guys have absolutely no respect for the arts, or for anybody in here," Ryan jumped in furiously. "This is going backfire spectacularly and you know it!"

"Guys, Coach Beiste and I agree that the type of bullying the football guys have been doing is borne out of ignorance. Having them in here, no matter how difficult it is for us, is an opportunity to show him and the rest of the guys that glee club is kind of cool."

More grumbling filled the room as none of the kids bought into his pitch. Ryan could already tell, this was not going to work. At all.

..

"Mr. Schue has absolutely no idea what he's doing," Ryan fumed as he paced around Shelby's office after the glee club meeting. Mr. Schue had requested Puck and Santana, as two of the more popular members of the New Directions, to sing a duet. A riot had broken out as Azimio Adams jeeringly complimented 'the girl withthe Mohawk.' Needless to say, the meeting had summarily been adjourned.

"Well, I don't think he's going to budge on this, so you should probably just suck it up and go with it," Shelby reasoned, as she continued grading some student papers. She sighed as she marked out a B-. "Maybe it will work out."

Ryan gave her a look that clearly said, _you have got to be kidding me._ "We're in a bit of a crisis here. I can't believe Mr. Schue honestly thinks having the football team participate in glee club is going to do anything but exacerbate the antagonistic relationship between the two groups."

"While I may agree, I don't exactly have a say in this," Shelby pointed out. "Mr. Schue's your director, not me."

"That's because you won't get involved like I want you too," Ryan groused, sinking down onto the small sofa. "Can't you talk to him?"

"We're not exactly the best of friends, he's not the most open to suggestions," Shelby said wryly, thinking back to the times she'd tried to give Will advice. A knock sounded on the door. "It's open."

Quinn came into the room. "Shelby, I need to talk to you," she started, before stopping as she saw her boyfriend. "Oh, hi Ryan." Ryan gave her a wave.

"What is it?" Shelby asked.

"Coach Sylvester wants to fire Brittany out of a cannon," Quinn announced. "And I would like you to talk her out of it."

"Wait, wait, wait," Ryan said, holding up a hand. "A cannon? I thought you were kidding about that."

"Apparently I'm psychic," Quinn said, turning back to Shelby. "I was going to talk to Mr. Schue, but then I realized after glee today that he's not entirely in his right mind. He'd probably just make it worse. And Coach doesn't hate you."

"How flattering," Shelby quipped, putting down her pen. "Is this cannon dangerous?"

"It blasted a crash test dummy halfway across the field. In pieces."

"My, it seems like we're having a lot of crises today," Shelby said sardonically.

"Are you helping?" Ryan asked.

Shelby looked between the two. "No promises. But about the glee club, I think this might be a good opportunity to try to work together. Think of it as character building. Eventually, you're going to have to work with people you don't like. Build people skills. Now go away, you two have class, and I need to finish these papers."

Ryan scowled, standing up. "Fine."

..

That afternoon found Sue Sylvester blissfully mapping out a routine that was sure to catapult her into the fame, quite literally. Well, even more fame than she had now. And they were all centered on the brand-new cannon taking up residency in the football field. Thank god for Becky and her penchant for ridiculous cartoon cats. She stopped her sketching as her door opened.

"Well, if it isn't Barbra Streisand herself," Sue said, looking up from her papers as she saw Shelby Corcoran standing in the doorway. "What can I do for you, Fanny?"

"For a person so against the arts, you seem to be awfully familiar with musical theater," Shelby noted as she walked into the office, glancing casually out the window.

"What can I say, I'm omniscient. What do you want?"

"I saw your cannon. A-850 model?"

"950," Sue corrected, cocking her head, watching Shelby. Classic intimidation tactics – careless tone, lazy walk around the other person. Sue knew.

She did it all the time.

"You do know those are advertised with a 70% chance –"

"– of catastrophic failure," Sue finished. "Of course I know. Question is, how do you?"

Shelby sat down in the chair in front of the desk, crossing her legs. "I may have looked into the possibility of a human cannonball stunt during the 2008 National Show Choir Competition," she said lightly. "That is, until I decided it would draw attention away from my team's impeccable vocals. Not to mention random body parts strewn across the concert hall probably wouldn't fly too well with the judges."

"So this is your attempt to somehow sway me into rescinding my brilliant plan to win my seventh consecutive National title?"

"No, this is my attempt to stop you from blowing one of your cheerleaders to high heavens," Shelby retorted, fixing Sue with a hard gaze.

"Ah." Sue sat back, surveying the brunette. "Maybe you should have just gone to Figgins."

"We both know that wouldn't have done anything."

"Touche. But I'm not cancelling the cannon, it's exactly the refreshing change in routine that makes me feel alive again."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "While I admire your ambition to top yourself at the expense of others' wellbeing, you need to reconsider. When this doesn't turn out well – and we both know it won't, the manual's in German for goodness' sake – you are going to end up right at the bottom of the list under Dinah Lohan and her dog."

"Like I told the carny guy, 70% chance of catastrophic failure equals 30% chance of catastrophic success. That's perfectly acceptable to me."

"I'm sure Brittany Pierce's parents would object, as would the Ohio Cheerleading Board," Shelby said evenly. "The very same board that can remove any cheerleading coach from position and rescind any previously won titles if that coach knowingly orders her students to perform a suicidal stunt in a competition."

"Suicidal is a relative term."

"I think 70-30 odds of bodily dismemberment will qualify."

"I'm sure it'll fly."

"Please, VA's stunt wasn't let through with a 55% chance of failure, what makes you think 70% is going to pass?" Shelby retorted. "You're not using that cannon."

Sue stared at her calculatingly, respect for the brunette rising at the fact she'd attempted a similar stunt. She knew about that board ruling of course, added after the story of Bertha Finkwell, 1967 coach of the Westerville Torpedoes' cheerleaders, whose cautionary tale involved a Komodo dragon, butane lighters, and a horrible disfigurement. Maybe Barbra had a point. "Alright," Sue nodded at her. "Props to you for attempting a cannon stunt with your own group of mouth-breathers. Say I take your well-meaning but completely unsolicited advice. What do you suggest I put in my routine?"

Shelby smirked. "I'm sure you don't need my help, you're the great Sue Sylvester. You'll think of something"

"Good point." Sue pointed her pen in Shelby's direction. "This does not mean you win, Corcoran," she said grudgingly.

"Of course not. Wouldn't want to rub it in."

..

_Meanwhile_

Dave Karofsky shut the door to his locker, still completely pissed at the crap Coach Beiste and Mr. Schuester were pulling. Seriously, how the hell was this supposed to help them win the state title? He looked up, face twisting in contempt when he saw who was coming up to talk to him.

"'Sup, Loser?" the football player sneered, as Ryan Corcoran walked up to him. "What do you want?" Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Look, neither of us are happy with the state of affairs Mr. Schuester and Coach Beiste have cooked up," he started.

"Got that right."

"But," he pressed on, "seeing as Finn isn't stepping up, I propose as one of the glee club captains that we cease hostilities so we can all get through the week as painlessly as possible."

Dave scoffed. "And why would we do that?"

"Well, for one, as I said we all want to get through this as quickly as possible, and we wouldn't want to risk the teachers extending our merger because we're not getting along as well as they would like," Ryan pointed out. "Also, Sam and the other guys, myself included, will fight back if it comes right down to it. You don't want to risk being suspended just before the championships, do you?"

"We're not scared of you."

"Regardless, a fight would not mean well for any of us. Especially for you, after that whole mess last November."

Dave glared at him. "You're the one who broke my nose!"

Ryan scowled, folding his arms in front of him. "I told you that was an accident, I was just trying to make sure that you were going to back off of Kurt."

"What is your obsession with the freaking fag?" Dave asked angrily.

"Don't call him that," Ryan snapped. "Especially since you're virtually insulting yourself when you say things like that."

Dave froze at the smaller boy's words. _No. No, no, no._ He quickly covered up. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said brusquely, trying to pass it off. He couldn't know. No one could know. "Did Hummel say something?" He was going to _kill_ that punk if he'd said anything. He'd already told his pretty-boy prep school boyfriend, who else was he going to tell?

Ryan's face softened slightly, but not by much. "No, he didn't say anything to me. But he didn't have to say anything. It's not obvious, but you can see if you know what to look for. And as you've reminded me on countless occasions, I had two 'Fairy Dads' so I'm a little more in tune than others at this school."

_Oh god._ Dave swallowed before moving to stand up with a scowl. "If you tell anyone –"

"You're going to hit me?" Ryan retorted. "I think we've established that won't be too effective," he said. "Going to make my life miserable at school? You're already doing that anyway, and surprisingly the school is starting to warm to me since I've been on the basketball team." Dave struggled uncertainly, not knowing what to say. "Don't worry, I won't say anything to anyone."

"Why not?" Dave asked suspiciously, sitting back down.

"You have the right to come out at your own pace. However I do ask that you be more considerate of other people. Just because you're struggling with yourself doesn't give you the right to make others miserable in an attempt to make yourself feel better about yourself."

"You have no idea what I'm feeling."

"Maybe not," Ryan nodded. "But you're not the only one struggling. We all are. Even if it doesn't look like it. Just think about it, okay?"

Dave stared at him for a moment. "Whatever." He mustered up what was left of his bravado. "Whatever, alright? I'll get the other guys to lighten up." He couldn't risk Ryan telling anyone.

"Thank you. I will also attempt to tell the glee club to cooperate."

"This doesn't mean we're cool," Dave said, in a halfhearted attempt to sound menacing. He was just tired all of a sudden. He just wanted to go home.

"Of course not," Ryan said dryly. Dave left the room without another word.

* * *

Shelby came out of her second class the next day to be met by a piercing shriek and a crash. Going towards the source of the noise, which was near Figgins' office, she found a trail of havoc – scattered papers, a student on the floor, and Figgin's outer office in shambles with the secretary huddled in fright under her desk. She spotted Will walking out of Figgins' office. "What happened?"

Will sighed, running a hand down his face. "Sue happened."

"What?"

"She wanted to fire Brittany Pierce out of a cannon. Naturally, I went to Figgins about it, and obviously she wasn't too happy."

Shelby almost facepalmed. "Oh my god, Will, haven't you figured it out yet? The last thing you want to do with Sue is undermine what she perceives as her authority. I already persuaded her to nix the cannon yesterday. Taking her to Figgins is pretty much a guarantee that she'll do it anyways, just to spite you. Also, she hates you."

"I noticed," Will mumbled.

Two periods later, Ryan came into her office just before lunch. "Mom, I thought you were going to talk to Coach Sylvester."

"And I did," Shelby answered irritably. "And she agreed to take out the cannon. Unfortunately, she took offense at Will Schuester taking her to Figgins office. I spoke to her again, and she said she was back to the cannon, only a smaller, marginally safer form. And she's not budging."

"She's taking it out on the glee club again," Ryan said. "She's moved the Cheerios competition to the night of the football game, so there's no halftime show. Quinn and Santana and Brittany aren't sure how it's going to work out yet."

"Can't do anything about that, she's lost in a haze of insanity," Shelby said. "She absolutely hates Will and the glee club." And so far, she wasn't quite impressed with Will's behavior either.

"Mr. Schue is out to ruin all our lives," Ryan grumbled. "I can pretty much guarantee that this isn't going to go over at all with the glee club and the football team."

..

"Wait, you want us to play the first half, change into some sequined ball gown, and then go out and do the halftime show at our own championship game?" Azimio Adams exclaimed at the glee meeting that afternoon. As Ryan had expected, nobody was thrilled with the new development.

Coach Beiste nodded. "Yes."

"It's the championship game! This is crazy!"

"What about the Cheerios in glee club?"

"They have a choice," Mr. Schue said. "They can either perform at the halftime show with us, or go to the Cheerios competition. Now, I think the Cheerios competition will be a lot of fun, but if you go, you'll miss out on doing the most iconic song of all time, the Super Bowl of pop anthems." He paused for effect. "_Thriller_. And we're going to mash it up Yeah Yeah Yeah's equally spooky single, _Heads Will Roll._"

"So huddle up everyone," Coach Beiste ordered. "We're goin' to Zombie Camp."

One rehearsal later, the group had their zombie moves down, with only minimal fighting from the football players. Ryan had noticed that they seemed to be more cooperative, and chalked it up to Karofsky telling them to cool it. Later, after their first zombie rehearsal, Ryan sat backstage with the rest of the glee club and football players, experimenting with their zombie makeup. He was just drawing up a pattern on his cheek when he heard a gruff throat-clearing behind him. He glanced at the mirror and saw Karofsky. "Did you need something?"

Dave shook his head. "Actually… I was thinking maybe we should do a kind of warm-up performance. You know, before the actual _Thriller_ thing. Get us loose."

Ryan turned around in surprise. "That's actually a good idea," he mused. "Are you sure the rest of the guys would be up for it though?"

"Yeah, they'll be cool with it," Dave shrugged.

"Then sure, I'm sure we can come up with something," Ryan agreed. "We can come up with some choreography with Mike later after the makeup session."

"Cool." Dave turned around, before Ryan called him back. "Yeah?"

"Thank you. For getting the rest of the guys to cooperate on this," Ryan told him. "I know you're the one who influenced them. You're a pretty good leader." More than Finn anyways. "And you're actually a good dancer when you get right down to it."

Ryan saw a flicker of a smile cross the larger boy's face at the compliment, before he shrugged casually. "Thanks." Dave walked away, and Ryan smiled, happy that he seemed to be coming around.

..

Half an hour later, Ryan met up with Quinn in front of her locker after the makeup session. "Hey," he said, smiling as he brought his hand up to Quinn's face. "You've still got a bit of green there." Quinn just blinked at him as he wiped it off with his thumb. "What's the matter?"

"Sue just told us to resign from the glee club."

"Wait, what?" Ryan stared at his girlfriend. "You're not doing it, are you?" he asked.

Quinn hesitated, unable to meet his eyes, because she was. She had to. Ryan gaped at her in horror. "You can't leave the glee club Quinn, that'll leave us three members short, _again_, and besides, it's not like Coach Sylvester has ever done anything remotely nice for you, hell, she wants to shoot Brittany out a cannon!"

"What do you expect me to do, Ryan?" Quinn asked, slamming her locker shut. "I can't just quit the Cheerios, I _need_ to be on the Cheerios!"

"No, you don't," Ryan insisted. "I know you joined the squad again so you could be popular, but you don't need to be popular, Quinn, not if you've got your friends! And the glee club has been there for you much more than the Cheerios have ever been, you know that."

"Of course I know that! But I can't, okay?!" Quinn burst out. "And you can't ask me to, either! This is my decision, Ryan, and I don't have to explain myself to you."

"I'm one of the captains of the glee club, _and _I'm your boyfriend, don't I at least deserve an explanation for why the three of you are quitting?"

"You are my boyfriend, not my boss! You don't own me, I can make my own decisions myself!" Quinn stopped short, suddenly upset with how this had escalated. She hadn't meant to yell at him like that.

Ryan stepped back, looking at her in disbelief. "So that's it? You're just choosing them over the glee club?"

"Ryan –" Quinn stepped closer to him, only to stop abruptly as he held a hand up.

"I get it, okay? Clearly your popularity is more important than we are." He turned around and stormed off. Quinn just stood there, the Ice Queen mask that had served her so well in the past coming up instinctively to hide her hurt.

* * *

**Hello, everyone! I've gotten a couple of requests to update, so here it is. I'm glad people like this fic enough to request more. This is the first part of the Sue Sylvester Shuffle episode, and I was actually trying to fit it into one chapter. But the characters had a lot to say, and the chapter turned out to be over 15k words long. Again, no beta, and I hate proofreading. The second part will be up very soon.**

**\- Karofsky's back, some of you wanted more of him, so here he is.**

**\- Sue's here too, I find her fascinating to write. I like writing her scenes with Shelby, in my mind they have a lot in common.**

**\- And Faberry moments, I'm glad you guys are liking what I've got so far (kilig moments lol), tell me if it's getting too sappy though. **

**\- As for Ryan testing James, we'll see, though I have an idea for that already. James isn't in here, but he'll be in the next chapter.**

**So, that's it for today, I will have the next part up soon, and it's longer than this one. I hope you guys liked it. Leave reviews, I'd love to hear what you thought. See you!**


	52. Chapter 51

"How the hell could you do this?"

Quinn rolled her eyes in irritation, turning away from Finn. Seriously? This conversation again? It was bad enough with Ryan, she did not need to rehash it with Finn Hudson of all people. "Oh, don't get all up in my face, Finn, what were we supposed to do?" She shut her locker door and walked away, hoping he took the hint. Of course, he followed her.

"Uh, quit Cheerios?" he asked, as though it were obvious. "Coach Sylvester is awful to you guys. And don't forget who was there for you last time she dumped you on your ass. Us. Glee club."

"And you don't think I feel awful about that?" Quinn retorted, spinning on her heel to face him with a glare.

"You don't need to be a Cheerio to be cool."

"Ugh, you are so naïve," Quinn said in disgust. Finn had no right to say that when he was the king of insecurity when it came to his popularity status. "This whole school is about labels."

"I didn't realize you were so freaking weak."

_Really? _Quinn opened her mouth angrily to lay into Finn when her boyfriend showed up behind him.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Ryan asked, glaring at Finn, pulling him around so they were face to face. Quinn stopped talking, folding her arms in front of her chest as she watched the two boys talk.

"All the Cheerios are leaving glee club," Finn said angrily.

"I know that," Ryan said evenly, his hard gaze still on Finn. "That still doesn't give you the right to yell at her."

"Dude, I'm the leader of this team –"

"Excuse me?" Ryan eyed him disbelievingly. "You are a _co-captain_ of the glee club, _dude,_ a position which frankly now that you bring it up, I don't think you're filling to the best of your abilities."

Finn sputtered at him. "What?!"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "You're the football quarterback, you are in the best position possible to influence the football team to ease off on their bullying. You're their leader, and as you said you're one of the captains of the New Directions. And yet the glee club is constantly being harassed by the football team and you don't do a thing about it."

"The other guys don't listen to me," Finn said defensively. Quinn scowled, folding her arms in front of her. She couldn't believe she'd ever dated this idiot.

"If you were any type of leader at all you should have found some way to bring the two groups to a peaceful resolution somehow, or at the very least gotten them to cease hostilities," Ryan pointed out heatedly. "If you're not willing to step up and be a leader, then you might as well leave the position to someone who can handle it."

"You mean like someone you?" Finn challenged. "You know, just because Coach Beiste gave you that jacket doesn't mean you're a big shot now."

"Maybe not, but at least I know where my loyalties lie, and everything I do around here is to benefit the glee club."

Finn scowled. "You wanna settle this right now?" He pushed a large hand against Ryan's shoulder, shoving him back slightly. Ryan scowled.

"You're seriously picking a fight in the middle of a school hallway, Hudson?" he gritted out, forcing himself not to retaliate. Fortunately Finn seemed to come to his senses, a constipated-looking expression coming to his face. Finally Quinn stepped in.

"Finn, you have absolutely no right to say anything to me when you're the one so _weak_ you couldn't even stand up to one football player for you stepbrother," she seethed. If there was anything she couldn't stand it was self-righteous hypocrites. "So just back off, okay?"

"You heard her," Ryan glared at Finn for a moment. "You say you're a leader? Grow up and act like it."

Finn scoffed, before walking off angrily. Ryan and Quinn watched him leave.

"I could have handled that, you know," she said, not looking at him. She heard him sigh, and looked at him just in time to see his hand combing through his hair.

"I know," he said shortly. "I just didn't think he should be allowed to yell at you like that without reprimand, and we both know Mr. Schue isn't going to do a thing," he added, nodding at said teacher, who was standing at the other end of the hall. "That said, he had a point. As I told you yesterday, you don't need the Cheerios. I mean sure, the popularity is great, but you have actual friends in glee club, who were there for you when you needed them."

"It's not that simple," she argued.

"Well, then, we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this point then." He turned to go. Quinn scowled, as she chased after her boyfriend. She'd be damned if she was going to let one of Coach Sylvester's tantrums get between them. She grabbed his wrist as she caught up to him, dragging him into an empty classroom. Ryan glared at her. "Quinn, you've already made yourself clear, I don't have anything more to say."

"Well too bad, because I'm not done yet," Quinn told him severely. "I need to stay on the Cheerios, Ryan."

"Yes, we've established that, but come on, Quinn, really?"

"I know that," Quinn said heatedly. "But I can't leave."

"Why not?"

Quinn looked down. "I need the Cheerios because there's a chance I can get a scholarship for it. Since the divorce, my mom can't afford to send me anywhere good. And I need to get out of here, Ryan," she said, looking at him fiercely. "I can't stay here forever. And the only chance I have to get out of here is if I can get into college, which isn't going to happen unless I manage to get a scholarship. Do you understand?"

Ryan stood there silently for a moment. "Yes," he said quietly. "I understand."

"Good." She couldn't stay here in this hellhole of a town. Especially if he was leaving too.

"Wouldn't it be possible to get a scholarship from something else, though?" Ryan asked. "Like academics, I know you're at the top of almost our classes. Or even for glee, if we win Nationals –"

Quinn shook her head. "Academic scholarships are crazy competitive. There aren't enough to go around. And I'm not like you, you know I'm not that good of a singer. And the Cheerios are National champions, Ryan. I can't pass this up."

Ryan sighed in defeat. "Okay." He ran his hand through his hair unhappily.

"Thank you."

"I still don't like it." He frowned. "And where are we supposed to find three singers to replace you? One was hard enough, and I'm still not quite convinced that taking Lauren Zizes was a good idea."

"You'll figure it out," Quinn told him. They had to.

..

"Thanks, Brad," Ryan smiled at the glee club's taciturn pianist as he gathered up his sheet music. He'd needed to rework a couple of parts of the _Thriller/Heads Will Roll_ mash up for the halftime show and had stayed behind to work with Brad.

Ryan headed to the boys' locker rooms to get his zombie makeup off, quickly scrubbing the stage makeup off with some special soap. He was just rinsing it off when the entire football club barged into the locker rooms, covered in what seemed to be… "Is that cherry slushy?" he asked in surprise.

Mike nodded. "Some of the hockey guys must have made a Seven-Eleven run, they got all of us pretty good."

Karofsky stumbled over to one of the sinks, splashing water in his face. "My eyes, they're burning!"

Finn wiped at his own face with a towel, lucky enough not to get any in his eyes. "Just relax, they'll stop burning after a couple of hours."

"There's no way I'm letting that happen again!"

"He's in the first stage of loser-dom," Artie predicted. "Denial."

"No!" Karofsky said defensively. "I am not a loser, and I don't sing and dance. I walk tall, and carry a big stick!"

Finn approached him, only to get pushed off. "Dude, just relax, it's gonna be fine."

"Yeah it is," Karofsky snarled, flicking his eyes toward Ryan for a moment. "Because I'm quitting glee club."

"No you're not," Coach Beiste spoke out suddenly as she entered the room. "Covered in ice and Red Dye #7, you guys looked more like a team than you ever did on the field."

Karofsky shook his head. "I don't care. I'm out."

"Then you're off the team."

"No way." Karofsky looked at his team in consternation, receiving questioning looks in return. Ryan could see that the football players, except for the ones in glee club, looked to Karofsky for their cues. The decision Karofsky made right now would go for all of them. "If we all quit you barely have enough guys to play on Friday. It's the championship game, you're not gonna give that up."

Coach Beiste looked him dead in the eye. "Try me."

"Don't do this," Finn said. "If we stand together, and we do the halftime show, we could win the game and be kings in this place."

Karofsky looked at her, before glancing around him at the other guys on the team, who shook their heads at him.

He looked back at the coach, then back at Finn. "Good luck with that." He led the rest of the football team, leaving Finn, Mike, Sam, Puck, and Artie as the only players on the team. Ryan quickly followed the football team out of the locker room, catching up to Karofsky.

"What do you want?" he asked once the other guys had scattered.

"Just because a few guys on the hockey team have a negative reaction to you guys doing the halftime show doesn't mean everyone will," Ryan said, trying to persuade him.

"I said I don't care. I am not going out to do some gay routine out in front of a hundred people. It's not happening."

Ryan sighed, having suspected something like this. "Look, the rest of the guys on the football team are following your lead. Think about this. You're keeping them from playing in the championship game. If you decide to perform with us, they'll all do it too."

Karofsky hesitated for a second. Then he shook his head firmly. "No. I'm not doing it. Just back off, okay?" He turned around and strode off, leaving Ryan in the hallway watching him.

* * *

"Thanks," Ryan smiled at the Lima Bean barista who handed him his order. Mr. Schue and Coach Beiste were busy figuring out how to fix the mess with the football team, meaning that glee rehearsals were cancelled for the day. He walked back to the table he was sharing with Tina and Mike. Quinn had Cheerios, so she hadn't been able to come. And she was still on the outs with the glee club.

"Coach Beiste put up a sign-up sheet for guys who want to be on the football team," Mike was saying. "She was hoping she could get some more guys."

"Well, that's good, right?" Tina asked. "I mean, loads of guys probably want to get on the team."

Mike sighed. "That's just the problem, no one's signed up yet."

"Wait, how's that possible?" Tina wondered. "Didn't she cut a whole bunch of people earlier this year? She even cut Finn."

"Yes, but the news that Karofsky and the other guys are boycotting the team is probably all over the school," Ryan said. "And I imagine they'd be rather upset if someone does try to take their place. No one wants to risk annoying the whole football team."

"Yeah," Mike nodded.

Tina sighed, rubbing his back. "It's just so unfair, you guys have worked really hard to get to the championships, and now you might not even get to play."

Ryan nodded, taking a sip of his drink. "It's just so sad because the teams were getting along quite well before this." His eyes were caught by a familiar person walking up to the counter. "Guys, my friend Blaine's over there, you mind if I ask him to sit with us?"

Both of them shook their heads. "No problem," Tina said.

"Good, because he just spotted me," Ryan chuckled, waving at his friend. "Hey Blaine. Want to sit?"

"Hi Ryan," Blaine smiled back. "Yeah, but only if I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, it's fine. This is Mike Chang, and that's Tina Cohen-Chang," Ryan introduced his classmates. "Guys, this is Blaine Anderson."

Tina waved at the newcomer with a smile, and Mike nodded. "You're the lead singer from the Warblers, right?" he asked.

Blaine nodded back. "Yeah. I'm really looking forward to Regionals," he added, as he sat down. "You guys were great."

"Well, so were you, that's why we tied," Ryan said.

"How do you know Ryan?" Tina asked curiously.

"Oh, we went to the same voice teacher back in middle school," Blaine answered, setting his mug down on the table as he opened a packet of sugar. "I moved away after 8th grade though."

Ryan nodded in confirmation, before asking, "What are you doing over here?"

"Oh, this place is a regular Dalton haunt," Blaine said. "I'm actually waiting for Kurt, I'm supposed to meet him here. He said he just had to swing by his house to get something. How about you guys?"

"We're decompressing," Ryan said dryly. "We're having a bit of a situation with our football team." He quickly ran Blaine through the drama. "So the championship game is on Friday, and we have five guys on the football team, the ones who are also in glee."

"And one of them's in a wheelchair," Tina added.

"That is a mess," Blaine agreed. "Don't you guys have reserves?"

Mike shook his head. "Even the reserves quit. There are open tryouts, but so far no one's taking the bait. I think we're taking pretty much anyone at this point."

Ryan nodded. "I already signed up, and Coach Beiste agreed. I just feel really sorry for the football guys, they've worked so hard to get to this game. They already take so much abuse for being in glee, and winning this game might take some of the pressure off. I think they'll take anyone to fill the team places at this point."

Blaine nodded pensively. "Well, the good news is you only need three more guys. High school regulations actually let you play a couple of guys short if you want to."

Just then Ryan spotted Kurt coming towards them.

"Hi Kurt," Tina smiled, standing to give Kurt a hug.

"Hey Tina, Mike. Ryan. Hey Blaine." Kurt sat down at their table, giving his fellow Warbler a questioning glance. "I didn't know you guys knew each other."

"Yeah, Ryan and have actually known each other for a few years," Blaine said. "I just met Mike and Tina."

A minute later Kurt went to the counter to order, and Blaine went with him to get a biscuit. "He's cute," Tina said, when the two were out of earshot. Ryan chuckled as Mike gave his girlfriend an incredulous glance. "Oh, don't give me that look," she told him.

"Yes, I suppose he's kind of good-looking, from an objective point of view," Ryan said in amusement. "He's also 100% gay."

"Oh," Tina sighed. Mike just smiled, a little relieved.

* * *

The next morning, Shelby woke up to the beeping of her 7 AM alarm. She reached out to shut it off, before spending a few more moments in bed, eyes closed as she contemplated what was supposed to happen today. Her days were a lot more relaxed than they had been when she was coaching Vocal Adrenaline, something she was enjoying. Then she opened them again as she heard her bedroom door open and close. She smiled. "Hey."

"Hey, sleepyhead," James teased as he came over to the bed in just his pants, leaning down to kiss her sweetly on the lips. Shelby pulled him down next to her so they were lying side by side, before giving him another kiss.

"Did you take a shower?" she asked, running a hand lazily through his slightly damp hair.

"Yeah," James nodded. "I borrowed some of Ryan's stuff, otherwise I'd smell like lavender. I'd never hear the end of it at work."

"Hey, my stuff smells perfectly fine."

"Sure it does, on you." James buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply. "Not so much on almost-40-year-old guys."

"Point taken," Shelby chuckled, resting a hand lightly on his bare chest. "Is Ryan up yet?"

"I don't think so, his door was still closed when I went outside."

"He's been pretty busy with the glee club lately, I guess he decided to sleep in." Shelby bit her lip. "You don't think this is going to freak him out, do you?" she asked, gesturing between the two of them. They hadn't had overnight stays very often, maybe just twice in the last month, preferring to spend time together when they knew for sure Ryan wasn't going to walk in on something traumatizing. Things had gotten a bit out of hand last night, though.

"I'm pretty sure he's figured it out," James admitted, having received strange looks from their son several times when he was over in the early mornings. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

"If you could, yeah," Shelby smiled gratefully. She wasn't quite sure how to broach this particular topic with Ryan, and if James would do it, more power to him. She stretched, before sitting up, smirking slightly at James' inhale when the blankets fell off. She picked his shirt up off the floor, shrugging it on. "I'm going to go take my own shower."

He seemed to shake himself slightly before answering, "Okay."

Minutes later, the two of them were downstairs in the kitchen, in their own clothes, sharing the paper, when Ryan came downstairs. "Mom, did you –" he stopped short as he saw both his parents sitting at the counter, drinking coffee. "I didn't know you were here already," Ryan said slowly.

Shelby glanced at James, who was looking at Ryan. "I crashed here last night, is that okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ryan answered guardedly. Shelby found their interaction interesting, two guys suddenly unsure of their standing with each other. She cleared her throat.

"Ryan, you should eat breakfast before you go to school."

"Okay," Ryan shook his head, before pulling out some cereal and milk. "I actually wanted to run something by you guys. You know about the whole mess with the football team, right?" Both parents nodded, having heard of the ongoing saga as it progressed. "I've thought about something that might get them qualified for the game."

"This should be good," Shelby said wryly. Ryan's schemes were sometimes on the crazy side, such as sending someone to a crack house.

Ryan gave her a flat look. "Very funny. I was talking to Blaine yesterday, and he said we only need three more guys to play. So I was thinking, maybe if we got the girls on glee club to join, the football team would be allowed to compete."

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "You want the girls to play football? As in, football with 200-pound guys tackling everyone else? Isn't that just a recipe for disaster? And lawsuits?"

"That would only happen if the girls actually played," Ryan corrected. "I thought that if they agreed, as soon as the quarterback snaps the ball, all of them just lie flat on the ground, so they stay out of the action."

James nodded slowly in understanding. "I guess they can't get hurt if they're flat on the ground," he mused.

"Until those 200-pound players land on top of them," Shelby deadpanned.

"Well, they'd be wearing all that protective equipment," Ryan defended. "Besides, it's only if Coach Beiste can't find anyone to join the team. And I thought, to cover our bases, the girls could get their parents to sign off on some permission slips. Which reminds me, you have to sign this." He pulled out a permission slip from his pocket. "I'm filling in for the football team."

Shelby scanned through the slip, before signing it. "I will be very upset if you end up in the hospital because of this," she informed her son.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Ryan said dismissively, taking back the signed form. He quickly swallowed the rest of his breakfast. "I have to go early, I want to find Tina and Mercedes, and possibly Lauren Zizes to see if they'll cooperate." He quickly exited the kitchen, and Shelby heard his car start up a few seconds later.

James turned to Shelby. "Is he mad at me?"

"I'm not really sure," Shelby admitted worriedly. She'd been worried about this since the first time she'd asked James to stay the night. "He's probably just really focused on the school issues."

"I'll talk to him about us," James promised.

"Okay. Just a piece of advice though, you might want to wait until after the football game tomorrow," Shelby said, standing to take her plate to the sink. "He's pretty focused, and you want this talk to go well."

"Got it." James smiled slyly, pressing her up against the counter. "So, since he's not here right now, maybe we can go back upstairs? I've got the afternoon shift today." He pressed a kiss against the side of Shelby's neck, and she hummed in appreciation, the touch sending shivers up her spine.

"Okay," she breathed, her breath hitching as his lips moved to her ear, his hand running along her sides. "But I have work, we need to be quick."

Then she yelped, clutching at James' shoulders as he suddenly swooped down, picking her up to set her on the counter. He crashed their lips together, sending Shelby's head spinning, before pulling back to give her a lascivious grin. "I think I can manage that."

..

That evening, Quinn went home after another exhausting Cheerios practice with Sue screaming at them the whole time. Honestly if the woman wasn't such a damn good coach she would have been fired a dozen times over for child abuse or something already. Mr. Schue was a complete idiot, and Quinn just wanted to scream at him for riling Coach Sylvester up like this. Thank god Shelby had already persuaded her to let up on the cannon.

"Quinn?" Her mom's voice came from the kitchen, and she went inside. "Hello, dear. Dinner's almost ready," Judy looked up at her with a smile, which Quinn returned weakly. Things with her mom had been going pretty well. Their therapy sessions had been doing a world of good, and Quinn was starting to feel comfortable around her again. Not enough to spill everything to her mom, but comfortable.

"Quinn? Are you okay?" Judy waved a hand in front of her daughter's face, and Quinn looked up to meet her gaze.

"Sorry, just thinking."

"Care to share?"

Quinn smiled a little at the casual question. The therapist had encouraged them to talk, but had warned them about pushing the other. Quinn could hear the note of hopefulness in her mom's voice though. "Just some problems with the Cheerios."

"Routine problems?" Judy asked.

Quinn hesitated, before relating the whole situation with Coach Sylvester forcing them to choose between the Cheerios and the glee club. "I'm just not sure I made the right choice," she said, letting her guard down a little.

Judy looked at her as she stirred the pot of sauce she was working on, quiet for a moment. "Which one makes you happier?"

"Huh?" Quinn blinked.

"Which group makes you happier, Cheerios or glee club?" Judy repeated. "The way I see it, you've done a lot of things because they're what you were supposed to do, and a lot of that was our fault." Quinn knew who she meant by 'our'_._ "So I think it's time you do what you want, not what you think people expect of you."

"I guess glee club makes me happier," Quinn admitted softly. "But I told you –"

"– that you're trying for a cheerleading scholarship," Judy interrupted, smiling sadly. "I'm sorry," she added quietly. "It's partly my fault you won't be able to go to Yale or Harvard or wherever you want."

"No it's not," Quinn said immediately. Her mother's tendency to blame herself had come up quite a bit in their sessions. And she knew exactly whose fault it was. "It's his."

Judy nodded with a sigh. "Right. But sweetheart, I think maybe you'll be able to work it out, without you being miserable about your choice. There are other ways to get scholarships."

Quinn sighed as well. She knew that, but they were really slim, and if she were really honest with herself, a small part of her was scared to leave the Cheerios. The Cheerios were her safety net, from becoming Lucy again. She couldn't get hurt again if she was at the top of the pyramid as Quinn. But her mom was right. She wasn't happy.

Judy turned off the stove, and came over to Quinn to press a kiss against her hair. "Just don't waste your time trying to keep up public appearances like I did. Do what _you_ want, and you'll have support. From your friends, and me too."

Quinn watched her leave the kitchen, frowning as she thought about what her mother had said. She sighed, before going into the dining room to help set the table. This was just so hard.

..

_8:45 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Hey_

_8:47 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Hey, what's up?_

_8:48 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Nothing_

_8:49 PM From: Ryan Corcoran Are you sure? I can come over there if you want?_

_8:52 PM From: Quinn Fabray – No, it's ok. Just talked with my mom about the Cheerios thing._

_8:54 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Oh._

_8:54 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – What did she say?_

_8:55 PM From: Quinn Fabray – She said I should do what makes me happy_

_8:55 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Not what I think I'm supposed to do_

_8:57 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – That's smart of her._

_8:58 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Yeah, she was surprisingly useful_

_8:58 PM From: Ryan Corcoran – Are you reconsidering going to the Cheerios competition? You know there's always room for the three of you if you change your minds._

_9:00 PM From: Quinn Fabray – I don't know_

Quinn jumped in surprise as the phone in her hand started to ring. She smiled slightly as she picked up. "You surprised me."

"_Sorry, I thought this conversation would be better off if conducted orally rather than through text," _Ryan's voice came through the connection. _"You should listen to what your mom says."_

"Yeah, but…" Quinn trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Ryan was quiet for a moment. _"Let's take this a step at a time. What makes you happier?"_

"Glee."

"_Good_," Ryan said, obviously pleased. _"So what's holding you back? I know it's either the popularity or the scholarship angle. So which one is really holding you back?"_

"Both, I suppose." Quinn lay back, intrigued by the way Ryan was going at this.

"_So let's look at this from the scholarship side. I know you said that you think cheerleading is the only feasible way you can get a scholarship, but it's not. You're so talented, Quinn, you can get anything you want. I've been looking at college options in New York to find the best performing arts schools, but I've also unearthed courses for things like fine arts, and photography, both of which I know you're interested in. And there are loads of scholarships for those too." _He paused._ "You're not just a cheerleader, Quinn. You're so much more than that."_

Quinn smiled shyly, even knowing that Ryan couldn't see it. "Thanks." She wasn't used to people complimenting her outside of her looks or her cheerleading position. When she was younger it had been impressed on her that frivolous things like art weren't really things to focus on.

"_And on the popularity side… what does it matter if people don't part like the Red Sea for you anymore? If you think about it, you're only going to be with these people for less than two more years. They don't matter."_

Quinn was quiet for a moment. "How do you do that?"

"_Do what?"_

"Not care what people think about you?" It was something Quinn had always admired about him, even before they were together. How he could take all the slushies, all the insults, and keep his head up high and push through with his goals. She'd asked it before, but it was incomprehensible.

"_I do care,"_ Ryan admitted, after a moment. _"I care a lot, and it does get to me."_ He was silent for a moment, and Quinn wondered what he was thinking_. "But before, I just told myself that I was going to make it out of here, and I was going to make everyone eat their words. Then when things started getting better this year, with you, and my family, I decided that it didn't matter what everyone else said, as long as the people I cared about were proud of me."_

"That's… nice." Quinn sighed wistfully.

"_You can do it too."_

"No I can't."

"_Yes you can,"_ Ryan said encouragingly. _"You think you can't, but I know you can. You are one of the strongest people I've ever met. Even if you don't think so."_ He was quiet for a second. _"In the end, it's your choice, and I hope you know I'll support you either way, even though you know what I'd like you to do. Just… do what you want to do, like your mom said."_

Quinn sighed. "I'll think about it."

"_Good. I gotta go, talk to you tomorrow?"_

"Okay." Quinn hesitated. "Thanks. Love you."

"_I love you too. Anything to help you."_

* * *

Santana grumpily made her way up the bleachers the next morning at six forty-five, blinking sleepily as she balanced the cup of coffee she'd gotten at the drive-thru on the way over. She plopped herself down next to two blondes near the top of the stands. "This better be really good," she groused.

Brittany rubbed her back, and Santana had to keep herself from arching towards the touch. "Don't worry San, if Q called us out here half an hour before practice starts, she must have a good reason."

"Well then, spill, Tubbers."

Quinn looked at her and Brittany. "Is this worth it?"

Santana groaned. "Q, if you pulled me out of bed for some philosophizing shit –"

"I'm serious," Quinn interrupted. "I want to go with the glee club. But the Cheerios…"

"The Cheerios are what gives us our stripes," Brittany nodded. Santana gave her a look. "You know, it makes us special like zebras. 'Cause without the stripes, then we'd just be horses like everyone else at school."

"Right," Quinn nodded slowly. "And I've been thinking about it… I think we need to go back to glee."

Santana was silent. She'd never admit it, but she wanted to go back to glee too. It was nice to be somewhere where people weren't always screaming at you. And she actually did like singing. "So what do you want to do? 'Cause as much as it kills me, you're the leader."

"Yeah, we've totally got your back, Quinn," Brittany chimed in. "Besides, I don't want to die yet, not until _One Tree Hill_ is cancelled, anyway, which won't be for a couple of years."

Quinn took a deep breath, seeming to steel herself. "Looks like we're leaving the Cheerios."

"Coach is not gonna like this," Santana said, shaking her head. She smirked. "But screw her. She put me on the bottom of the pyramid."

Brittany smiled. "Let's do this."

..

Sure enough, Sue Sylvester was very not happy. "You can't quit Cheerios, it's blood in, blood out," she informed them. "Now get your sweet little cans out on the field, you're doing sprints."

Santana smirked in satisfaction, years of wanting to give it to the vitriolic coach bleeding through. "But we still quit."

Sue stared at them in disbelief. "You're my stars! If you leave, I have no performance!"

"Sucks for you," Brittany said matter-of-factly.

Quinn nodded, folding her arms. This was it. No going back. "Look, Coach, we want to be on the Cheerios," she said. "We just want to be on the glee club more." She leaned forward. "You should be proud, we're doing what you always do, not giving a crap about what other people think."

"This is disappointing, Q. I told you, I thought of you as a young Sue Sylvester. But instead you've allowed Will Schuester and his moronic gaggle of geese to ruin you."

Quinn lifted her chin up slightly in defiance. "Well, maybe I don't want to be you." She stood up. "Thanks for being our coach, but we're done." Santana and Brittany stood as well, and the Unholy Trinity turned to leave the office.

"If you leave, there is no way in hell you're coming back!"

"That won't be a problem." Quinn led the other two out of the office. Minutes later, they found themselves at the auditorium. They could hear the sounds of the glee club getting a final rehearsal in. "You guys sure about this?" she asked Santana and Brittany.

"Totally," Brittany said happily.

"Hell yeah, bitch," Santana smirked.

Quinn nodded, opening the door to the left entrance. She stepped out onto the stage, flanked by her friends, and the glee club turned to look at them. She sought out Ryan, who had a questioning look on his face, before her gaze snapped to Mr. Schue. "We heard you could use a few more dancers at the game later."

Mr. Schue nodded, a relieved smile on his face. "The more the merrier ladies. Everyone, let's take five, Mike, show them their places."

Mike quickly came forward to give them a quick run-through of the dance, and soon enough, Quinn found Ryan standing next to her. She turned, look him in the eye, receiving a warm smile in return. "I knew you could do it," he said softly.

Quinn shrugged. "I thought about what you said… and you were right."

He smiled at her. "I know."

"Don't let it get to your head."

"Never." Ryan pressed a kiss in her hair, before grinning. "I can't wait for tonight, this is going to be epic."

..

_Before the game_

"So, you ready to be the hottest cheerleaders at the game?" Santana asked Quinn and Brittany as they stood on the sidelines, waiting for the game to start.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "You do know that we're the _only_ cheerleaders at this game, right?"

"We're still three smokin' hot bitches though."

A smile cracked through the Ice Queen façade. "Right." Quinn smiled contentedly, completely at peace with her decision to return to the glee club. She scanned across the crowd that was starting to fill up the bleachers. The sun had just set a few minutes ago, and the stadium lights were on. Finally, the locker doors opened and the rest of the glee club spilled out, all of them, even Tina, Mercedes, and Lauren in full football equipment. Ryan immediately walked over to Quinn.

"So, how do I look?" he asked, taking of his helmet.

Quinn nodded, impressed. "Not bad. Very hot." She was understating, as soon as Ryan walked over she was seconds away from having to fan herself. He smiled disarmingly at her, and she couldn't resist grasping the jersey and tugging him down to kiss him on the lips.

"Wow, Hobbit, I thought the letter jacket was good, but this is a whole new level," Santana butted in.

"Yeah, you look super hot, Ryan," Brittany agreed. She fished out a digital camera from her McKinley jacket and aimed it at the couple. "Smile." Quinn rolled her eyes, but obliged. Ryan did as well, his picture-worthy smile quickly appearing on his face.

Santana took the camera and thrust it at Ryan. "Here, take one of us."

Ryan quickly did so, not wanting to anger the volatile Latina. "Nice," he said appreciatively, as the Unholy Trinity posed for the photo. Now Brittany took the camera, and waved at one of Coach Beiste's assistants.

"Hi, could you take a picture of us please?" she asked. Quinn smiled in amusement as the assistant agreed. No one could ever say no to Britts when she wanted to be sweet.

"Yo, glee bitches! Get over here!" Santana yelled. A minute later, several shots of the entire time, complete with Mr. Schue and Coach Beiste, were taken, just in time for the game to start.

"You ready?" Quinn asked, straightening Ryan's shoulder pads.

"Hell yeah, we're gonna win this!" Ryan grinned. Quinn pulled him into another kiss, before letting him go onto the field. She took a deep breath. Since when had it gotten this hot?

"Careful Lady Chastity, I can almost smell you going into heat," Santana fake gagged, before smirking. "Seriously, you should tap that already."

"Whatever, Santana," Quinn grumbled, blushing.

"Just sayin'."

..

"Watch the step," James said, as he and Shelby climbed up the bleachers before the game. The seats were packed, it seemed like the entire district had turned out to watch. And it made sense, since this was the first time in a decade that McKinley had gotten into the championships.

"I got it," Shelby said, settling down in one of two empty spots as she zipped up her jacket against the cold weather. James sat down beside her, wrapping his scarf more tightly around his neck. Shelby looked at her other side, and saw a familiar face. "Hello, Mr. Hummel."

"Hey Miss Corcoran, nice seeing you again. Mr. Walker," Burt Hummel nodded at James with a smile, before looking back at Shelby. "And it's just Burt. This is my wife, Carole." He indicated the woman sitting next to him.

"Shelby, then," she replied, shaking his hand and waving at Carole. "You're here for Finn, right?" she asked, remembering that Carole was Finn Hudson's mother.

"Yep," Burt nodded. "Ryan's playing too, right?"

"Yeah, that's the only reason I'm out here at night in the middle of February," Shelby said dryly. "Go Titans."

Carole laughed lightly. "Yeah, this isn't exactly my thing either." Just then two boys Shelby recognized as Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson showed up, taking up spots next to Carole. "Looks like they're getting ready to start," Carole nodded towards the field, where the players had just come out of the locker rooms."

"Wow, Finn said they were playing the glee girls. Didn't think they'd go through with it though," Burt commented.

Shelby nodded, amused at the way the girls were dwarfed by their male counterparts. James chuckled. "This is going to be one interesting game."

..

"All right, how's everyone doing?" Finn asked in the huddle. There were three minutes left in the first half and the score was 0-17. Not in their favor.

"Kill me now," Mercedes wheezed. "I'm gonna die."

"Is anyone else tired of lying down all the time? I wanna play," Tina chimed in. Ryan sighed. He'd already been tackled several times. He wasn't quite as tired as Mercedes, but there was only so much they could do with only five functioning players against a whole team.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves," Finn cautioned. "Ready, break!"

The glee club tiredly got into formation again, and Finn started calling the play. "Set! Hut!"

The players clashed again, and Finn got creamed again. Somehow, by some miracle, the opposing player fumbled the ball, and Ryan saw it roll towards Tina. After a second, she stood up, grabbed the ball, and ran for the endzone, cheered on by the crowd. Ryan quickly scrambled after her. He was faster than most of the other players and managed to knock one out of the way before he could get to Tina.

She was tackled heavily a few seconds later though, and play stopped as medics ran onto the field to check on her. The glee club crowded round as the medic turned her over. Ryan could practically feel the worry coming off Mike, and he couldn't help but be glad Quinn wasn't playing.

"Is she breathing?" Mike asked anxiously, watching as the medic checked his girlfriend over.

Finally, Tina's eyes opened, and she reached up slowly to tug the mouth guard out of her mouth. "Did we win?"

A relieved laugh bubbled up from the team, and Mike smiled in relief, helping Tina up from the ground. Ryan watched them go with a slight smile, before turning to Finn, who had a dazed look on his face. Finn took off his helmet. "We're still in this," he said determinedly.

Ryan sighed, taking off his own helmet. "Give it up, Finn. Our only shot at redemption here is to kick butt at the halftime show." The score was abysmal, the only way they'd even have a shot at winning this thing was if all the football players sucked it up and did the halftime show so that Coach Beiste would let them back.

Finn thought for a moment, brow furrowing. "Sam! C'mere" he called out. Sam jogged over, looking at Finn expectantly. "I need you to play quarterback for the rest of the half."

The blonde looked surprised, but nodded. "Okay."

Finn turned to Puck. "Puck, when the half ends I need you to come help me convince Karofsky and the rest of the guys to do the halftime show."

"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Puck asked incredulously.

"We'll figure it out. You're my wingman, right?" Finn held out his fist. He and Puck stared at each other for a moment before Puck nodded, tapping Finn's fist with his own.

"Yeah, I'm in."

Ryan stayed quiet, nodding as Finn finally stepped up to be the quarterback in the team's crisis. The game was soon back in play – not that it really mattered, with only a couple of minutes left in the first half – with Sam as quarterback. As soon as the time ran out, Puck hurried to the locker rooms, while everyone else started on their zombie makeup.

Ryan decided to follow Puck, thinking that maybe they could use some help convincing Karofsky. When they got there, it looked like Finn wasn't quite having an easy time convincing the football players to do the halftime show until Puck stepped up.

"You're all just a bunch of cowards! This is our moment to actually win something we can tell our grandchildren about, and you're all sitting in the damn stands!" The mohawked boy stalked towards the other guys. "You're so afraid of being called freaks, or losers, or gay, that you settle for being nothing. We've still got another half to play, and we can still win this, guys, I know it!

If he had to admit it, Ryan was impressed. He hadn't known that Noah Puckerman was capable of doing that. The other football guys were looking at each other guiltily. This might actually work.

"What's the point, man? Beiste isn't gonna let us play," Azimio said.

"She will if you do the halftime show with us," Finn said quickly. The boys looked around, undecided. Ryan looked at Karofsky, who still looked like he was dead set against the idea.

"I'm in," Azimio said suddenly. The others started nodding.

"No way," Karofsky exclaimed.

"Come on, man," Azimio said. "I really wanna win this game. It'll mean so much to my dad, man."

"Forget it, okay? Glee club sucks!"

"Okay, Karofsky's out, whatever," Puck said. "But the rest of you need to get on your zombie makeup and hit the field, come on!" He and Finn led the football team out of the locker rooms, leaving Karofsky and Ryan alone.

"You gonna blackmail me into joining now?" Karofsky asked Ryan.

"No, of course not," Ryan denied. "But you need to reconsider this. Doing this halftime show is not going to make you look gay, even if being gay were a bad thing, which it's not."

"I don't care."

"Puck was right, this is your chance to be champions. Don't cheat yourself out of it just because you're afraid," Ryan said persuasively. When Karofsky didn't protest, he pressed on. "No one's going to think less of you if you do it, except the hockey guys, and if you win this, they won't be able to say anything."

"If everyone thinks I'm gay –"

"Then they'd be calling the entire football team gay, and I don't think anyone has the courage to do that."

Karofsky huffed a laugh. "I guess not." He seemed to struggle with himself for another minute before nodding. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Good," Ryan said in relief. "Come on, we've got just enough time to get the makeup on."

..

Up on the stands, Shelby rubbed her hands together to get them warm. The last football game she'd attended was probably an OSU home game, and that was a very long time ago, not that she cared to think about it. James wordlessly took her hands and tucked them into his jacket against his side before wrapping an arm around her. "Remember that football game when I was in Senior year?" he asked nostalgically.

"The one that ended in a riot when someone decided to throw water balloons filled with grape juice in the crowd?"

"No," James rolled his eyes. "The first one of the season."

Shelby tilted her head at him. "As I recall, we didn't see the end of that one because _someone,_" she nudged him in the ribs, "decided it would be more fun to sneak under the bleachers and make out."

James smirked. "We could do it again."

"No we can't, shut up," Shelby hissed, smacking his arm as he laughed. "I'm a teacher here now, all hell would break loose if we got caught."

"Didn't stop you from Grand Theft Slush-Machine."

Shelby rolled her eyes as the smoke machines started working on the field. "Looks like they're getting ready to start."

"This is going to be cool," James said excitedly, as the band and the glee club started getting into place. "I was eleven when _Thriller_ came out, and the family I was with had a record."

"We had one too," Shelby smiled. "And you're right, this is going to be fantastic."

True enough, the _Thriller/Heads Will Roll_ mash-up was a terrific hit with the crowd, with everyone standing and dancing to the beat. Shelby couldn't help but notice that the football team was out there with the glee club, and wondered what kind of drama must have gone down in the locker rooms.

"Am I seeing things?" Burt asked a few minutes later, as the whole football team jogged out onto the field. Shelby did a double take and saw that all the boys were still wearing their zombie makeup. A quick glance to the sidelines confirmed it. Ryan was standing there with Artie and the three cheerleaders, all still in their undead costumes.

James laughed. "They're trying to psyche the other team out," he chuckled, as the Titans hissed and growled at their uneasy opponents.

One play later, Shelby decided James was right, when one of the opposing players chased after the referee, complaining that one of the zombies had bitten him. "Looks like it's working."

..

Unfortunately, it wasn't working well enough, and with ten seconds left in the second half, the score was 21-24, with the Titans trailing by three points. Ryan watched as the team huddled up, wondering what they were planning. The Titans weren't in possession, and it wasn't like basketball, where ten seconds could stretch into forever. The game was pretty much over. Curiously, Finn seemed to perk up, suddenly telling the team what to do.

The team jogged back onto the field, setting up their formation one more time. Then –

"Brains…"

Ryan's eyes widened in confusion, along with everyone else's, when the Titans started chanting "Brains…" in creepy zombie voices. He looked over at Quinn.

"They're trying to get the other quarterback to fumble," she said.

"Just might work," Santana mumbled.

Ryan glanced back at the team. "Then let's help them."

Soon, the entire McKinley crowd was up and chanting along with the football team, leaving the poor opposing team very unnerved. Finally, their quarterback called for the ball, and everyone held their breaths as the ball shot past him. Finn leaped forward, wasting no time snatching it up and running it to the endzone.

The referee raised his arms, signaling a touchdown, and the crowd went absolutely crazy, the glee club on the sidelines screaming themselves hoarse as Mr. Schue grabbed the giant bass drum and started pounding on it.

"We won!" Quinn yelled, shaking her pompoms as Ryan grabbed her in a hug.

"Yeah!" Ryan cheered. Caught up in the moment he swept Quinn into a deep kiss, heat exploding against him even in the wind. For a second they almost looked like the clichéd football player and cheerleader high school couple. Covered in zombie makeup. A moment later Santana literally shoved in between them.

"Victory party at the Green Giant's place," she bellowed at them to be heard over the crowd. "Let's go, bitches!"

* * *

Quinn dialed the combination on her locker in between first and second period, idly noting the hall decorations. Things were just starting to settle down after the big game, and the school hallways were filled with banners celebrating the win. The afterparty at the Hummel-Hudson house had been fantastic. She'd passed on the alcohol though, and thankfully Ryan hadn't pushed, not that she'd expected him to. In fact he'd abstained as well, but she thought that was mostly because he was scared of what Shelby would do if he had any.

Right on cue, Ryan showed up beside her. "Morning," he greeted, with his charming smile. He kissed her quickly, looking appreciatively at the dress and cardigan she was wearing. "You look beautiful today."

Quinn smiled wryly, flattered. "Thanks." Today was the first day of her second stint as a not-Cheerio. She sighed wistfully, before shaking herself. She didn't need them.

"How does it feel to be out of the uniform again?" Ryan asked.

"Weird," Quinn admitted, as they set off for their classes. "Turned a few heads."

"Did you see the Cheerios Regionals on TV?"

"Yeah," Quinn nodded. "Saturday morning on FOX." Coach Sylvester had swapped Kenzie Larkin as her lead Cheerio, shooting newbie Cheerio Bea Hart from the cannon. Probably because she was new and easily cowed. The cannon had misfired, but thankfully the damage hadn't killed the freshman. She was now in the hospital with first-degree burns and a broken leg. Quinn shuddered, thinking that that had almost happened to Brittany. Obviously it was too bad it had happened to Bea, but that was on Sue.

"Mom and I watched it on CNN Saturday evening," Ryan mentioned. "Apparently Sue singlehandedly sparked a national debate on athlete safety and whatnot."

"Serves her right," Santana grumbled, popping up randomly beside them. "If that happened to Britts, Snixx would have murdered Sue by now, and we'd never find the body."

"Good morning, Santana, how was your weekend?" Ryan asked. Quinn turned to her friend.

"I heard it was really good. Did you really kiss Sam on a dare at the party last Friday?"

Ryan's eyes widened as he stared at the Latina. "You what?"

Santana shrugged. "Puck dared me to. And I was curious. The boy's lips are _huge_. Those trouty lips had to be good for something, right? And I was right. You totally missed out, Q," she smirked.

Quinn frowned. "TMI, Lopez, and I'm perfectly happy with my boyfriend's lips, thank you very much."

Ryan grinned, "Aww, thanks." He have her another kiss.

"Yes, yes, we get it, you two love playing tonsil hockey," Santana snarked, rolling her eyes. "No demonstration necessary."

"Shut up, Santana," Quinn requested.

"You're not my captain anymore, don't need to do what you say."

"As if you ever did in the first place."

..

Shelby walked into the nearly empty faculty lounge on Monday morning, walking over to the coffee machine to get a pot going. She nodded at Mr. Whitmore, the overweight history teacher, and sat down at an empty table to flick through a newspaper. While she was waiting, Sue Sylvester entered the room, a pair of aviator sunglasses on her face, toting a large mug. The tall blonde plopped down unceremoniously in front of Shelby, who raised an eyebrow. "Something you want?"

Sue pulled down the sunglasses to reveal empty blue eyes. "Barbra, for the first time in seven years, Sue Sylvester has lost a competition."

"I know, I saw it on CNN the other night," Shelby said, turning back to her paper. "Sweet exhibition. Is your frosh alright?"

"I have been completely humiliated."

Shelby snorted, turning a page. "That is true. You also have the dubious honor of having sparked a national debate. I did warn you against the cannon." She sniffed, detecting something strange in the air. She peered over at Sue's mug. "Is that alcohol?" she asked suspiciously.

"I would never think of bringing a substance as dangerous and prone to abuse as alcohol to a school environment. No, this 100% hypochlorite solution, also known as straight bleach."

"I see." Shelby refrained from rolling her eyes at the woman's dramatics. Honestly, if she wanted to be an actress, Sue Sylvester would be among the best. "So, any plans for the rest of the year?"

"Well, I have an interview with Katie Couric for Ten Most Fascinating in a few minutes," Sue said, pushing her sunglasses back on. Shelby opened her mouth before shutting it again. "So I'll be going."

"Have fun." Shelby returned to her paper. Call her crazy, but she was sort of looking forward to what the cheerleading coach would get up to next.

..

Meanwhile, Ryan was down the hall at his locker, looking for his science textbook.

"Hey."

He looked up, mildly surprised to see one of the Cheerios in front of him. What was her name again… Kenny? _Kenzie_. "Hello, Kenzie, right?" he asked politely. The girl smiled widely.

"You remembered." She twirled a finger through her ponytail. "I heard you did really well at the game last Friday."

"I only played in the first half, actually," Ryan corrected, a little unnerved by the girl in front of him. It almost looked like she wanted to eat him. Things were weird today, this was the third random girl who had talked to him, and it wasn't even ten o'clock yet. Manners won out though. "What can I do for you, Kenzie?" His attention was caught by Finn approaching Dave Karofsky a few feet away though. He glanced back at the Cheerio, smiling apologetically. "Now isn't really a good time."

"Oh." The smile dimmed slightly, but was back again in a second. "That's okay, I'll catch you later."

"Okay," Ryan said vaguely, trying to listen into Finn and Karofsky's conversation without being too obvious.

"…It was a team effort," Finn was saying. "So, listen, uh, there's no way the glee club's gonna let you join permanently until you clean things up with Kurt. So, I was thinking maybe we could go together, to Dalton, and apologize…"

It took Ryan a lot of effort to keep quiet at Finn's rambling. If Finn thought Karofsky or any of the other football players were going to stay on the team, he was a lot dumber than Ryan had given him credit for.

Sure enough, Karofsky scoffed. "Who said I want to join the glee club permanently?"

Finn blinked. "Well, I just thought after this week, and the way we won the game, and the way you came out to dance –"

"What do you think?" Karofsky glared at him. "We all dance around together, and win a football game, and everything's gonna change? Glee club's gonna be cool, and we're all gonna sing hippy peace songs every morning?"

"Maybe? I – I don't know, it's a start –"

"No, dude, it's a finish!" Karofsky said sharply. "This is high school. People's memories for good stuff last about as long as a FaceBook status." Ryan almost laughed at the appropriateness of the statement.

"We've got a chance to really change things here," Finn argued.

Karofsky stared at him. "I just won the conference championship," he said smugly. "Why would I wanna change things?" Finn shook his head, walking off. Ryan went over to Karofsky, who looked at him. "What? Did you expect me to join up too?"

"No, I never expected any of you to join permanently," Ryan admitted. "I don't think any of us did, except for Mr. Schue. And obviously, Finn."

"Well, good." Karofsky closed his locker door.

"What I want to know is if things between the glee club and the football team are going to go back to before."

Karofsky rolled his eyes, walking away. "I don't know. I don't care."

Ryan scowled, following after him. "You should. You owe us, if the glee club hadn't stepped in to play the first half after your misguided exodus from the team, you never would have even qualified for the game."

Karofsky slowed down, before turning to face Ryan. The two stared at each other, and Ryan thought he saw a bit of fear in the other boy's eyes. Then he realized, _he's still afraid I'm going to out him._ He sighed. He'd never out someone without their permission, that was below the belt. "Look, whatever you decide, I'm not going to say anything. I hope you'll take that into consideration."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I told you, you have the right to come to terms with this at your own pace," Ryan answered simply. "Even if you wouldn't extend the same courtesy to anybody else."

Finally Karofsky broke eye contact first. "Whatever, okay? I'll tell the others to back off."

"Thank you," Ryan nodded in satisfaction. "I'll see you around." He walked off in the opposite direction. Couldn't be late for class, after all.

* * *

**Hello people, hope you liked this latest installment. Thanks for the continued support.**

**\- I'm glad you're liking the Sue/Shelby interactions, they're fun to write, if only because Sue is so unpredictable. **

**\- I hope I handled Ryan/Quinn well, look out for some further conflict later on…**

**\- Yes, Ryan does seem to know what he's doing, doesn't he? We'll see later on if he's been getting some Google advice ;)**

**\- Dave and Ryan might have a friendship in the future, it'll be very slow going though, because of Dave's insecurities.**

**\- I find that Mr. Schue does have his heart in the right place. Unfortunately, he does seem to be hopelessly outmatched by Sue. In Season 2 he's also very confused about what's going on with his life, leading to him not quite making the best decisions.**

**I'm having an okay start of the year, hopefully you're all having better ones, hahaha. I'll be getting back home and back to school in a week, so expect updates to slow down again soon. I'm trying to get as much done as possible though. So leave comments, I'll get back to you, and I will see you as soon as I can.**


	53. Chapter 52

"All right, guys, I have one word for you," Mr. Schue said as he entered the choir room on Friday afternoon. He enthusiastically printed out the word LOVE on the whiteboard, surrounding it with a large heart. He turned towards the assembled glee club with a large smile.

"Is it love?" Brittany piped out from her seat next to Artie, not noticing the incredulous looks on everyone else's faces. "Totally gonna graduate now!"

Mr. Schue just shrugged it off and went on. "Valentine's Day is coming up. So, for this week's lesson, I want you guys to pick a partner. Because you're gonna sing to them what you think is the world's greatest love song." He ignored several eye-rolls that were coming in his direction. "Find a song that communicates all the things that love means to you. Now, partner up."

Finn raised his hand. "Mr. Schue? Can I say something?" Mr. Schue nodded and Finn stood and came to the front of the room. "I just wanted to point out that for the first time, the entire glee club has gone a week without getting harassed by any of the jocks." He paused as a few of the other kids applauded a little. "I think the fact that I lead the football team to a win at championships had something to do with it."

Ryan looked at him disbelievingly. "Um, correct me if I'm wrong here, but weren't we all part of that football game?" Mike and Sam nodded, also looking at Finn strangely.

Finn shrugged. "Yeah, but I'm quarterback and team captain. Fact is, I'm the closest thing the glee club has to a celebrity right now. And, just a famous athlete, I wanna give to a charity. You guys. So I'm setting up a kissing booth. For a dollar a smooch. And donating the proceeds to glee club to help us."

The entire glee club stared at him as he spoke. Ryan didn't say anything more, slightly impressed at the sheer audacity or sheer stupidity that was Finn Hudson's thought process. Mercedes scoffed at the tall quarterback. "Don't even act like you're trying to help this glee club out. You just wanna kiss a bunch of girls."

Santana was next. "You know, I've kissed Finn, and can I just say, not worth a buck," she said sassily. Everyone knew she and Finn had slept together last year. Someone let out a snicker at Santana's evaluation. "I would however pay a hundred dollars to jiggle one of his man-boobs."

"Don't you ever get tired of tearing other people down?" Finn frowned at her.

"No, not really," the Latina shrugged.

"Cause you always seem to be meddling in other people's business."

"Oh please," Santana rolled her eyes, looking around at the rest of the glee club. "You guys love me. I keep it real, and I'm hilarious."

"Actually you're just a bitch," Lauren said coolly. Everyone's eyes widened at the antagonistic response, and Mr. Schue started to intervene.

Santana immediately turned in her seat to face the large girl. "Okay, I'm sorry," she sniped. "You've just got eyes for my man."

"First of all, I'm not your man," Puck interjected.

"And Finn is right, all you ever do is insult us," Quinn added irritably. "A few weeks ago you said you were disappointed I didn't have a lizard baby."

Tina continued. "Five minutes ago you said Mr. Schue should be in a twelve-step program."

"Wait, what?" Mr. Schue gave Santana a shocked look.

Santana shrugged again. "You're addicted to vests."

Ryan decided this probably needed to end soon before Santana murdered somebody. "Yes, Santana, maybe you're right and I am destined to star on the Broadway musical biography of RuPaul," he said a touch sarcastically. "But I think should return to the topic of Finn's kissing booth. Don't you find that just a tiny bit arrogant, Finn?"

"Well, judging by the Valentine's hearts I've gotten all day, not really. So if anyone's going to do this, it should be me. You think you could make as much?" Finn asked challengingly.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Unlike you Finn, I don't need a kissing booth to get someone to kiss me."

"I think that's enough of that," Mr. Schue said quickly. "Finn, if you think can make us some extra money, go right ahead. Now, everybody find your partners, and start thinking of what songs you're gonna do."

..

After glee Ryan went to his locker to pick up some of his things for his next class, and couldn't help overhearing a conversation between Puck and Lauren Zizes. He really picked up a lot of things. It really helped that no one really paid attention to him until recently.

"I suppose you want me to thank you for sticking up for me back there, but that makes it seem like I need someone to stick up for me," Lauren was saying.

Puck shook his head quickly. "Oh, no, trust me, I know you don't need me to stick up for you. I mean, you're all kinds of tough."

Lauren nodded. "That's true."

"How about you let me take you to Breadstix for Valentine's Day?" Puck asked hopefully. Ryan almost laughed at his tone. Who would have thought that Noah Puckerman, player extraordinaire, would be close to begging someone to go out with him?

"You seriously think it's that easy? I'm not desperate. So if you really want this, you'd best come correct 'cause I spell _woman_ Z-I-Z-E-S, and I need to be wooed. You understand me? Wooed."

Ryan pulled his history homework out of his locker just in time for Puck to come up next to him. "Hey Berry."

"Don't call me that," Ryan said sharply, irritation flaring up.

"Okay, Ryan then, whatever," Puck said dismissively. "I need help wooing Lauren."

"And why would you ask me?"

"'Cause you got my Baby Mama to fall in love with you. Plus, you're into all that Broadway and romantic crap, right? So you've got the moves."

"I think I'll ignore that slightly offensive statement," Ryan said dryly, closing his locker door. "And don't call Quinn that, she doesn't like it." Quinn hadn't said anything, but he'd noticed her wince slightly whenever Puck called her his Baby Mama.

"Oh. Okay." Puck seemed sorry for a second before perking back up again. "So, what do you say?"

Ryan sighed. "Well, Lauren did say she wanted to be wooed, yes? Try giving her some candy, because we all know that girl likes her candy. And the glee assignment is the perfect opportunity for you to let her know how you feel by singing to her. Pick a good song, and express yourself."

"Hey, you're right," Puck grinned. "Awesome, thanks bro." He walked off.

Ryan turned around to see a couple of freshman girls watching him. Then he watched in bemusement as Quinn showed up and glared hard at the girls, causing them to scurry away. "What was that?" he asked curiously.

Quinn just sighed, rolling her eyes. "You really haven't noticed it yet?" she asked.

"Noticed what?"

"Uh, the girls who've been popping all over the place around you?" Quinn said sarcastically.

"What?" Ryan frowned. Now that Quinn pointed it out, there _had _been a lot more people talking to him lately. He'd assumed that it was because of his rising popularity with the basketball team, but he hadn't noticed that most of them were girls. "Is that a problem?"

"Ugh." Quinn rolled her eyes again. "Figure it out yourself."

* * *

That weekend, James went over to Shelby's house on his off day. He still needed to talk to Ryan about him and Shelby. He walked up to the house, and found Ryan outside, practicing basketball. He jogged up behind his son, catching the ball as it rebounded.

"No game last week?" James asked, tossing him the ball. Ryan shook his head, quickly shooting it in the hoop before catching it again.

"Last game of the season's next Friday," he answered.

"Look, I wanted to talk to you," James started, watching as the teenager lined up another shot. "Are you mad at me or something?"

The ball sailed through the air and hit the backboard. "Why would you think that?" Ryan asked guardedly.

James chased after the ball. "You've been a little distant lately, and you've been shooting me weird looks whenever I'm over for breakfast." Ryan didn't answer, so James pressed a little more. "You have a problem with your mom and me being together?"

"No," Ryan hedged. "I've actually wanted to talk to you about that. I already had a stern lecture in place for anyone who wanted to date Mom, but since you're my dad, it's different. I mean, I want you two together. It's just weird, you know? I know what you two have been doing, and I suppose it's a natural progression of your relationship." He reddened slightly.

"Okay, but…?" James prompted.

"It just seems like you're getting really serious."

"We are."

"That's just it," Ryan said. "And when it gets serious, people get hurt. And I don't want my mom getting hurt. Even if you're my father. Besides, what if you continue forward, and you end up just like my old parents? I like what we have now, and I guess I'm just worried that if things change between the two of you, then everything will change. And I don't know if it will be better."

James guided the two of them back to the porch, where they sat down. "I can't really promise you that we'll end up well," he said honestly. "I think we've both seen too many relationships crash and burn to do that." Ryan nodded morosely. "But I promise that I won't do anything to deliberately hurt your mom. I love her." James nudged his son in the shoulder. "You're kind of proof of that."

"I guess so. And I do understand that you're both adults, and this isn't exactly my business. And if you're both happy, then I am happy for both of you. I just need to adjust, I suppose," Ryan said.

"Of course you have a say."

Both James and Ryan turned to see that Shelby had joined them. "We talked about this," she continued, sitting down on Ryan's other side. "And we won't do anything you're uncomfortable with. This is your home."

"That's right," James chimed in. "And we're both very committed to this relationship."

Shelby nodded. "And no matter what happens, neither of is just going to up and leave you."

"I guess I'm okay with the two of you," Ryan conceded. "You're my parents anyways, I suppose it's no different than what kids with normal families have to deal with."

James snorted a little. "'Normal families'? Does that mean we aren't normal?"

"Not even a little bit."

"No."

Ryan and Shelby both spoke at the same time, breaking out into smiles as their words tumbled over each other. Ryan continued. "But anyways, as I said, it's okay. However, I do ask that you keep your… _activities_… neat and discreet. If I see anything you'll be responsible for any therapy that has to occur. Okay?"

"Sure, kid," James smirked. Shelby just nodded, reddening slightly. This was a very strange conversation for all involved.

"Okay then," Ryan said. "Now, I'm going to go upstairs, I have homework to do." He stood up and went into the house, leaving his parents on the porch bench.

"So, what do you think?" James asked Shelby as she moved closer to him.

"Nicely handled," Shelby told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for talking to him. I'll let you know if I need you to handle the sex talk next."

"Wow, thanks," James said sarcastically, as he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his side.

"You're welcome."

"I wonder if my being his dad made things a little more confusing than usual," he mused. "I mean, if I were dating someone with a teenaged son, boundaries would probably be more set. But here, it's a little different, you know?"

"Yes, as he pointed out we're hardly a conventional family, are we," Shelby answered jokingly. "And you're right, maybe it's making things confusing. But we'll muddle through."

"Yeah," James agreed. They'd figure this whole thing out. "So," he said, changing the subject. "Valentine's Day this week. Have dinner with me?"

Shelby's lips curved into a smile. "It's been a while since I've had a date on Valentine's Day."

"Good for me then, it means I won't have anything to measure up to."

"Jerk."

"I'm sorry. Will you please go out with me?" He gave her his most charming smile.

Shelby rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Fine. But only because I don't have anything better to do."

James grinned anyways. "Good. Now let's go inside, it's getting cold." James started to stand up, only to have Shelby pull him back down beside her. "What?"

"I know how we can stay warm," she said slyly, moving up to kiss him again on the lips. James smiled as he pulled her closer to him, feeling her body heat even through their clothes. He cupped one hand around her neck, threading it through her dark hair as he angled his head to deepen the kiss. She was right, this was getting him hotter than any heater would be able to. Her tongue darted out to swipe at his lips, and he eagerly opened his mouth, allowing her more access. A second later, he jumped in surprise as her hand found its way to his lap, pressing down slightly as he hissed in pleasure.

"Oh my _god_."

James and Shelby jumped apart at the sound of their son's scandalized voice. The two of them were flushed and panting, both from their activities and at being caught. Ryan clamped his hand over his eyes, disgust written across his features.

"Okay, I don't know what 'discreet' means in your language," Ryan said sarcastically. "But this?" He gestured at the two of them. "This is most decidedly not it."

* * *

On Monday, Quinn stood off to the side of the corridor, watching in disgust as Finn kissed girl after girl. Right after kissing Becky Jackson on the cheek, he rang a small bell and flipped a sign on the booth from _The kisser is IN_ to _The kisser is OUT_. "Sorry, ladies," he told the line of girls. "Brush and floss time. Gotta keep up the oral hygiene if I'm gonna satisfy all of you. Sorry."

Finally she'd had enough. She walked up to Finn and pulled him around to face her. "I know why you're doing this," she informed him. "I'm the only girl in school who won't kiss you and you think that the peer pressure will get to me."

He smiled smugly at her. "Well, it is sort of uncool that you're too uptight to spend a buck for a good cause like glee club."

Quinn just rolled her eyes, humoring him. "I'm not kissing you again."

"What are you so afraid of?" Finn leaned down on the booth so their eyes were level with each other.

"Leading you on, hurting my boyfriend," Quinn said, folding her arms.

"Your boyfriend's a boy. Tell me you don't wanna kiss me right now."

Quinn leaned in. "I don't want to kiss you right now," she said confidently. She was perfectly happy with Ryan, and Finn had never turned her on anyways. Not like Ryan did. At that moment, Ryan showed up beside her.

"Hi Quinn, Finn. What are you two talking about?" Ryan asked, a touch too cheerfully.

Finn backed away slowly, keeping eye contact with Quinn. "Nothing, dude, I was just saying how it's too bad Quinn doesn't wanna give any money to glee club. It's just a dollar, after all."

"Ah," Ryan nodded, smiling slightly as he wrapped an arm around Quinn. She rolled her eyes again, this time in grudging amusement. Boys and their testosterone displays. Even Ryan wasn't immune. "Well, her money, her choice," he said lightly his tone not matching the hard gaze he was giving Finn. Then his smile turned mischievous. "But if you really think we should support your so-called charity event, how about I give you a dollar, and you can give me a kiss?"

Quinn couldn't laugh that escaped her at Finn's horrified look. Point to Ryan. Leaving the tall boy at the booth, she and Ryan went back to her locker. "Would you really have kissed him?" Quinn asked curiously.

"Probably not," Ryan admitted. "Not that I'm not open to homosexuality. But it's Finn." He shuddered theatrically.

That brought a new question to Quinn's mind. "Have you ever been attracted to a guy before?"

Ryan shook his head. "No. I don't believe in labels, but if I did I think I'd identify as straight."

"Okay. Good. Just thought I should know if I was going to have any more competition than I do now."

"I'm pretty sure you don't have any competition, Quinn," Ryan chuckled. Quinn just rolled her eyes. Boys.

..

"Dude, it didn't work."

Ryan closed his locker that afternoon after glee, turning to face Puck. "Well, while I commend your rousing rendition of _Fat-Bottomed Girls_ today, perhaps that wasn't the best choice of song to use to woo Lauren," he informed the mohawked football player. The song had been sung well, but it wasn't exactly appropriate for Puck's purposes. "What did she say?"

"She said it made her feel like crap," Puck answered dejectedly.

"Well, I don't think girls take comments regarding their weight very well," Ryan told him. "She probably perceived your serenade as a dig."

"I've already tried giving her candy. She said they sucked. After she ate all of them."

Ryan sighed. This was very strange. He'd never thought he'd be asked for courtship advice by anyone, let alone Noah Puckerman. "Well, it sounds like she wants you to do some kind of grand romantic gesture. Something like when Lloyd Dobler plays the boombox outside of Diane Court's window in _Say Anything._"

"What's that?"

"Never mind. The point is, you need to do something to surprise her. In a good way," Ryan added. Everyone had certainly been surprised by _Fat-Bottomed Girls._ "Just something that will sweep her off her feet long enough for her to agree to a date."

"Well, I do have that candy ring I won from the arcade the other day," Puck said thoughtfully. "I can work with that."

* * *

The next morning, Quinn was in the ladies' room between classes when her new mortal enemy, Kenzie Larkin, walked in. She had just been relatively unpleasant before this year, but she had now graduated to Quinn's most disliked person in the school.

"Hey Quinn," Kenzie said sweetly as she came to the sinks, pulling out some mascara to apply to her eyes. "How is it, not being on the Cheerios?"

Quinn smiled tightly. She was fine with not being on the Cheerios anymore, but this girl just grated on her. Kenzie was exactly like all those popular, mean girls who had tormented Lucy in middle school. In short, she was just like Quinn two years ago. "It's actually a lot of fun, I have much more free time now."

"I'll bet," the other girl said smugly. Silence fell in the bathroom for a moment. "I can't wait to see the basketball game next week, Ryan is capital H Hot."

Quinn turned to the brunette cheerleader with cold fire in her eyes. "Yes he is. He's also my boyfriend." She made sure to put just the right amount of menace in her voice, and was satisfied to see Kenzie falter for a second before recovering.

"Well, I'm think he'd definitely think twice if a Cheerio showed some interest," Kenzie continued, smirking slightly as she continued with her mascara. "After all, he's one of the basketball jocks now, he should be with one of the cheerleaders. Which you're not anymore."

"Oh please," Quinn folded her arms and glared at the girl, wanting nothing more than to reach out and push her arm so that she stabbed herself in the eye. She could get away with it if she made it look like an accident. "Like he'd want anything to do with a skank like you. Stay away from him."

"Why? Are you scared?" the new head cheerleader asked tauntingly. "Face it, Quinnie, your time is over. You had your chance and you blew it. You were at the top of the school, and look at you now. You're in the _glee club,_ you've lost the uniform, and it looks like someone's been letting herself go a little, or maybe it's just the baby fat," Kenzie said in a patronizing voice, with a pointed look at Quinn's waistline. "It's just a matter of time before your boyfriend dumps your ass. He seems to like all the attention. And I will be right here waiting in the sidelines."

With that, Kenzie sashayed out of the bathroom, leaving Quinn speechless. She'd been dealing with the not insignificant number of girls that seemed to be talking to Ryan these days, because she trusted her boyfriend.

Kenzie's words had cut hard though. This was what Quinn had been afraid of when she'd left the Cheerios. The roles were reversed now, and Quinn didn't have the status to keep up with Ryan. Kenzie had even made a dig about her weight, which was a weak spot that had played a part in that whole mess with Puck. And Kenzie was right, Ryan seemed to be enjoying the attention of all the other girls.

She straightened up, looking at herself in the mirror. She'd just talk to him later. They could work this out.

..

That afternoon, Ryan was at his locker, picking up a few books as he listened to Kenzie telling him about last week's Cheerios Regionals.

"It's too bad you weren't there," the brunette cheerleaders said, running her fingers idly up his arm. Ryan looked down at her curiously.

"Yeah, we had that game to go to," he said.

"I hope you guys win the game next week," Kenzie continued. "You're really good."

Ryan smiled at the compliment, humming in response. Half his attention was on the cheerleader, while the other half was still trying to decide what song to sing to Quinn for the glee assignment, when Quinn marched up to them. To his surprise, his girlfriend pulled Kenzie around to face her.

"You," Quinn barked. "Last warning. Back off of my boyfriend."

Kenzie just smiled at the blonde. "I was just talking to him, are you keeping him on such a short leash that he's not allowed to talk to anyone else?"

Quinn glared at the other girl, hands on her hips as they faced off. Ryan watched them warily, unsure of whether or not he should intervene. Again, he had the feeling that there was something here that he hadn't completely grasped yet. "Quinn –" he started.

His girlfriend held up a hand, cutting him off as she kept her hard glare on Kenzie. "Let's get one thing straight," she said. "I may no longer be on the Cheerios, but I was there since freshman year, and you know I know things. So if you don't want anything compromising to miraculously leak onto JBI's blog, you stay away. You piss me off, and you will find yourself at the bottom of the social pyramid so fast your head will spin. Got it?"

The look on the brunette girl's face clearly said that she did get it. Ryan didn't know what Quinn had on her, but it must have been good.

"And besides," Quinn continued. "You've been Cheerios captain for less than two weeks, and you epically lost the only competition you've been in. Not to mention a major injury occurred. I was captain for a year. We won a Nationals trophy in my freshman year, and we also won Sectionals this year." She looked at the other girl contemptuously. "Obviously it's gone to waste. Now leave," she ended menacingly.

With one last glare at the blonde, Kenzie left, leaving Ryan with Quinn. He looked at her incredulously. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Quinn replied shortly, spinning around sharply and walking down the hall away from him.

Ryan stood there for a moment before running after her. "Hey!" He easily caught up to the blonde. "Okay, I'm not completely sure what happened back there, but you're obviously upset. You've been really short with me all week, and I want to know what's wrong. I know it's hard that you're off the Cheerios, but you really don't have to take it out on me, or on the other cheerleaders."

"I'm not."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Why don't you ask Kenzie?"

"What?" Ryan stopped, confused. Quinn just kept on walking. And after a second Ryan chased after her again. "Is that what this is about again? Because I was talking to her?"

Quinn turned sharply to face him, and Ryan almost walked straight into her before catching himself just in time. "Look. All I know is since you joined the basketball teams, the other girls started noticing you. Then when you won State with the football team and I left the Cheerios, everyone seems to think you're fair game, and you," she jabbed a finger into his chest, "have just been playing right into them!"

"I have _so _not been 'playing into them,'" Ryan snapped back. "I'm just being friendly. How am I supposed to help it if they want to talk to me? What, am I not allowed to talk to anyone else anymore?"

"No, I'm not saying that!" Quinn threw up her hands in frustration. "Don't you see it? They're _flirting_ with you! And you're just letting them!"

"I haven't –"

"Oh please. Jessica was just hanging all over you yesterday, and Rita was pretty much fucking you with her eyes! It's like watching goddamn _Mambo No. 5_! And don't even get me started on Kenzie Larkin," she spat out in disgust.

Ryan gaped at her. "So what? What do you want me to do about it?"

"Uh, tell them you've got a girlfriend?" Quinn seethed at him. "It's like you're actually enjoying having them flocking around you! I'm not stupid, I saw how you were grinning with her!"

"She was just saying she thought I was a really good basketball player, and that she hoped we won next week!" Ryan defended. It had been completely innocent, they hadn't been flirting with him. Had they?

Quinn arched a devastating eyebrow at him, and he shrank back involuntarily. "And when she was touching your arm, why didn't you stop her?"

Ryan's mouth opened and closed again, as he couldn't find words to defend himself. She was right, and maybe in the back of his mind he actually knew had been going on with all his admirers. It had just felt _so damn good _to be getting some positive attention from his peers for once in his life. And maybe he'd let it go too far.

And judging by the furious, devastated look on Quinn's face, he had. "I – I'm sorry," he said helplessly.

Quinn's jaw clenched as she looked at him. "Good. Just… I need some space, okay?" Without waiting for a response, she turned around, leaving him standing alone in the corridor.

He needed to fix this.

..

That evening, Shelby entered her music room just past ten. She found Ryan sprawled on the floor listening to some of her old tapes. "What are you up to?" she questioned, startling the teenager.

"Song hunting," Ryan replied, as he pressed the pause button on the stereo. "I need to find the right song to sing to Quinn, especially since I have made a major misstep in our relationship this week."

"Oh? Would you like to share?" Shelby settled down on the couch. "I did hear something about a little spat in the corridors today."

"Who told you that?"

"The teacher's lounge is a gossip pit," Shelby answered dryly. "I'm pretty sure none of the teachers watch TV anymore, just listening to high school drama is entertainment in and of itself. Not to mention the fascinating war between Will Schuester and Coach Sylvester."

"Huh," Ryan said thoughtfully. "Normally my money would be on Coach Sylvester, but the advantage seems to be with Mr. Schue currently."

"That's true." Shelby glanced at the tapes Ryan had taken out of her cabinets. They were the old-fashioned ones, the kind that had to be rewound to play them again. Most of them had songs that were recorded before CDs were popular. "What are you listening to?"

"Actually, they're homemade mixes," Ryan admitted. "I think you made them, but I've never heard these songs before." He pressed the play button, and music started streaming out. "I know it's you singing, but who were you covering? I don't recognize the song titles on the tape cover. Some of them aren't quite my style, but they're really pretty good."

Shelby listened to the tape for a few seconds, before recognizing the music. "I wasn't covering."

"Huh?"

"Is that the 1992 tape?" Shelby asked, and Ryan nodded. "I wrote those."

Ryan's eyes widened. "Original songs?"

"Don't sound so surprised."

"That's actually pretty cool," Ryan said, smiling. "Like I said, they're good." He smirked. "I like the lyrics in _All of the Above_."

"Yeah, well, I was nineteen when I wrote that one, it's not nice to judge," Shelby snarked.

"I can tell."

"Oh hush. It was a phase. Which ones have you listened to?"

Ryan thought. "I think I've listened to four songs," he answered slowly. "This is the fifth."

Shelby nodded, picking up the tape case. She remembered recording these in her second year of college for one of her theater arts classes. She'd made her own copy, this copy, just for fun. She'd written these songs throughout her late teens and early twenties, stopping a while before she'd entered into the contract with the Berrys.

"Did you write any more besides this?"

Shelby glanced at the box of tapes Ryan had been digging around in. "Yeah. Two more." She looked at the covers, before pulling out one tape, then another. She handed them to Ryan, who took them eagerly.

"Why did you write these?" he asked curiously.

"Music is good for expressing your feelings," Shelby explained. "That's the whole point. Otherwise it's just noise. And sometimes it's not enough to use another person's words. Sometimes you need to use your own. That's why."

Ryan nodded absently, and Shelby gave him a suspicious look. He had that expression where she just knew he was thinking up some sort of scheme. Then he smirked again. "What was running through your head when you wrote _Planet Z_?"

Shelby mock-glared at him as he changed tapes. "Maybe this was a mistake, I should take those back."

"No, don't." He waited as the tape started running, and then Shelby saw his expression change. "What song is this?"

"_My Own Worst Enemy_," Shelby said automatically, remembering the emotions that had led her to write this, and her second-guessing of every important decision she made. Mother and son listened in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. "I wrote it in 1995."

Ryan glanced at her. That was just after he'd been born. "Why?"

"Because I felt like I'd been sabotaging myself in every decision I'd made," she answered bluntly. Pretty much every single decision she'd made back then had been the wrong one.

"Did it help?"

"It was…cathartic, I suppose," Shelby admitted. Ryan nodded as she stood up. "Don't stay up too late."

"Okay."

"I love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

The next morning Ryan opened his locker, shuffling through some sheet music. "So, how did it go?" Ryan asked as he saw Puck walking up to him.

"She stood me up," Puck answered morosely.

"Oh."

"I don't get it. I've never been stood up before, why would she turn down a date with the Puckasaurus?"

"Well, maybe because you're kind of a jerk," Ryan retorted, rolling his eyes at the other boy's arrogance. "Puck, you call yourself a _sex shark_. And I think what you did to Quinn was despicable. You got her drunk and then you took advantage of her."

"I already know I'm a screw-up, okay?"

He closed his locker and faced Puck, who looked very remorseful. Ryan sighed, relenting. "You're not a bad guy, Noah. When it really counts, you come through for us. I remember when you quit the football team for glee last year." Coach Tanaka had purposefully scheduled football practice with glee rehearsals to force the boys to choose, but only Finn had chosen the football team. "You just need to find some way to get Lauren to see it. Be honest with her about why you want to go out with her."

"Fine." Puck looked around, speaking after a bit of hesitation. "Quinn's okay now, right?" he asked awkwardly. "I mean she has to be, it's been almost a year."

Ryan shook his head. "She's getting better, but I don't think giving away a child is something you get over very quickly. Are you over it?"

"Yeah, it's whatever," Puck said unconvincingly. "Does – uh – do you know if she knows how she's doing? You know… Beth."

"You should ask her that yourself," Ryan told him gently. It was Quinn's decision to let Puck know about Beth. She'd told Ryan that Puck had declined regular updates when they'd been finalizing the adoption.

"Right." He looked away. "I guess it's good that she has you now," he said begrudgingly. "She deserves better than Finn or me, anyways."

Ryan nodded, not knowing what to say to that. The bell for the first class of the day rang. "Good luck with Lauren, okay?" he told the football player. "I'm sure you can figure out how to get through to her."

Puck just nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, dude."

..

A few hours later, Quinn entered the choir room, where a few of the other kids were already waiting. Fortunately Ryan wasn't there yet. She'd been avoiding her boyfriend all day, not particularly wanting to see him with his legions of fans at the moment. She was a little ashamed of her outburst yesterday though.

Mr. Schue came a few minutes later, followed by Ryan, who glanced at her for a second before taking a seat next to Mike, obviously trying to respect her request for space. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. On one hand, she was still a little upset with him, but on the other, she did miss him next to her. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she realized Finn was actually talking in the front of the room.

"…kissed almost all the girls in the school and raised $323 for the glee club," he said tiredly. Quinn looked at him more closely, and he didn't look so good. She frowned slightly.

"All right Finn, thanks," Mr. Schue said. "That'll pay for half a ticket to Nationals, so, uh, still a long way to go." He patted Finn on the back, sending him back to his seat. "Now, I believe it's time to hear what the world's greatest love song is to Miss Tina Cohen-Chang. Give it up, everybody."

Everyone clapped, and Quinn heard Finn ask nobody in particular if it was getting kind of stuffy in the room. A few minutes later, Tina had been overcome with emotion and had broken down crying in the middle of _My Funny Valentine,_ and everyone was looking around uncomfortably.

"Okay, that was powerful," Mr. Schue said, going over to check on Tina. "Almost too powerful."

Finn raised his hand. "Mr. Schue, can I be excused, I don't feel well."

Santana smirked. "Let me guess. You have a sore throat, your glands are swollen, and you're feverish."

"Yeah, which is why I need to go to the nurse."

"Sounds like you have mono," Santana continued smugly. "Also known as the Kissing Disease. Maybe you shouldn't have tongued all the girls in the school, huh?"

Quinn looked sharply at Santana to find a very happy smile on her face, which was rarely a good sign. Of course. Santana had probably given him mono. Quinn knew that Santana was immune to mono after all the times she'd caught it. Now that she thought about it, Kenzie had been looking a little peaky this morning too. Quinn smiled slightly. Looks like she had to thank Santana again. This was going to get really tedious soon.

After Finn had left the room, Ryan raised his hand. "Mr. Schue, if no one wants to go next, I'll volunteer. I have a song that I believe fits the assignment criteria perfectly."

Mr. Schue nodded. "Okay, sure. Go ahead, Ryan."

Smiling, Ryan took the floor. "I'd like to dedicate this song to my girlfriend." Quinn looked at him curiously, and he sent her a slightly lopsided smile. "I know that you were right yesterday. I haven't been a very good boyfriend this past week," he started. "And I'm truly sorry for that. But I want you to know that it doesn't matter. I don't see any of those other girls, because you're everything for me. I love you." He looked at the band, then back at Quinn. "For me, love means that everything else pales in comparison. And I think this song expresses what I want to say about how I love you." He nodded at Brad the piano player.

The strings band started playing a smooth rhythm, giving the music an old, classic 1950's feel. After a couple of bars, Quinn smiled in recognition, receiving one in return from Ryan as he started singing.

_Are the stars out tonight? _

_I don't know if it's cloudy or bright_

_Cause I only have eyes for you, dear_

Ryan closed his eyes as he crooned out Sinatra's version of _I Only Have Eyes For You._ Quinn couldn't keep the smile of her face as he sang. His voice was magnificent as always, and the rich tone he poured into the song made her thrill all over.

_The moon may be high_

_But I can't see a thing in the sky_

_Cause I only have eyes for you. _

His eyes met hers now, and she could almost feel herself swooning at the romantic song. He flashed her a smile as he went into the next part.

_I don't know if we're in a garden_

_Or on a crowded avenue_

_You are here, so am I_

_Maybe millions of people go by_

_But they all disappear from view_

_And I only have eyes for you_

Ryan's smile broadened as the band went into the instrumental, the music turning jaunty as he flitted forward, extending a hand out to Quinn. She stared at him for a moment before Tina pushed her up and into Ryan's arms. She laughed as Ryan twirled them around, dancing to the classic tune. She looked up into his eyes as they moved, his warm brown sparkling as he smiled at her. And finally she let it sink in that those girls didn't mean anything to him, because he loved her.

_I don't know if we're in a garden_

_Or on a crowded avenue_

_You are here, so am I_

_Maybe millions of people go by_

_But they all disappear from view_

_And I only have eyes for you._

..

Ryan's performance was met with enthusiastic applause from most of the glee club, but Ryan only cared about the reaction of the person he was holding in his arms. Quinn was smiling softly, tilting her head on one hand as she looked at him. The bell rang, and the rest of the glee club filed out. Soon, it was just the two of them in the choir room. He looked shyly at Quinn. "So, what did you think?"

"It was perfect," Quinn told him, wrapping her arms around him. "I love you."

He smiled in relief as he wrapped his arms around her, resting his cheek in her hair. He hated fighting with her. "I love you too." He paused for a moment. "I'm glad you liked it, I know how much you like vintage songs."

Quinn smiled. "Sinatra's one of my favorites. I think I like you better though."

"I aim to please." He hesitated again. "I'm sorry. About not calling off the girls who were flirting with me. I didn't really figure out that they were flirting until you pointed it out, but I should have. I think I got carried away by all the people who were paying attention to me, and not the slushy type."

"It's okay," Quinn sighed. "And I'm sorry too. About blowing up. I shouldn't have done that. That girl just makes me so mad, though."

"Don't worry, I think you scared her off quite effectively."

Quinn smirked in amusement. "Yeah." She paused, smile fading. "I was just so upset because I saw you talking to Kenzie again yesterday, and after what she said that morning I just got so mad at her…"

Ryan stared at her for a moment. "What did she say?"

Quinn sighed. "She was just baiting me," she said. "She's had it out for me ever since Coach Sylvester made me captain in freshman year. And now that she's captain, she suggested that maybe you'd want someone with more status than me. Someone like her. Made a few digs about my weight, how I'm 'letting myself go'."

"Well, that's completely untrue," Ryan told her vehemently, scowling at the thought. "Don't listen to anything she says. I don't care if you're head cheerleader, or She's just jealous because she knows you're so much better than her. Trust me." He gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "And you know what? You're gorgeous."

"Thanks," Quinn answered softly, smiling at him. "I guess I'll have to get used to it for the future, when you have hordes of fans ready to throw themselves at the stage for you."

Ryan smiled widely. This was the first time Quinn had hinted that she thought they'd be together for the long haul. He was confident in their relationship, and he was fairly certain that she was too, but this was the first time she'd said anything.

"Yes, you are," he agreed. "But don't ever worry about anyone else, okay? Because," he moved closer, pressing a kiss to her neck, feeling her melt against him. "I," he moved his mouth lower, "am all yours, Lucy Quinn Fabray." He moved up to the spot just under her ear, leaving a trail of kisses in his wake, and she shuddered as he found the spot that always drove her crazy. "I don't see any of those other girls, because you're everything for me. You understand?"

"I understand," she breathed out, and he reluctantly pulled away. They were still in a public setting after all, and anyone could walk in at any moment.

"Breadstix tonight?" he asked hopefully. "Blaine and the Warblers are putting on a special show for Valentine's Day."

"Okay," Quinn answered, smiling, causing Ryan to swoop down for another stolen kiss.

..

"Place sure is packed," Santana noted, sliding into the booth Ryan had been sharing with Quinn.

"Hello, Santana," Ryan answered, taking a sip of his iced tea, no longer fazed by the Latina's antics. It was the evening of Valentine's Day, and he and Quinn were just finishing dinner at Breadstix. "Did you want something?"

"Nope."

"Good to know." The evening had gone pretty well, and he and Quinn had sorted things out. He glanced around idly. He'd seen Puck sitting with Lauren earlier, and was happy that things had worked out, even if he did think that it was a weird pairing. He never would have thought that the school man-whore would go for Lauren Zizes. His attention shifted back to Santana, who had a slight frown on her face. He followed her gaze to see Brittany sharing a bowl of pasta with Artie. "You really like her, don't you?"

"No I don't," Santana said automatically, before glaring back at Ryan. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"If you say so."

The two were quiet for a second. "Fine. If – and I'm not saying I do – I did, you know, _like_ Brittany, it doesn't matter. She likes Wheels."

"She's with Artie because she knows you won't be with her," Ryan corrected. "And she's right. You can't be with her until you admit that you like her to yourself."

"That's because I don't!"

"Don't what?" Quinn asked, as she slid into the booth beside Ryan. She looked at him curiously, and he gave her a meaningful look. She nodded.

"Okay, it's all cutesy that you two can talk telepathically or whatever, but hows 'bout you clue the rest of us in?" Santana snarked. Quinn ignored her in favor of looking for Brittany in the crowd.

"Oh," the blonde nodded.

"What, 'oh'?" Santana grumbled.

"You should just go talk to Britts," Quinn said, taking a drink of her iced tea.

Santana stared at her. "What the hell? Did you tell her?" she demanded of Ryan, who held up his hands in defense.

"Oh, please," Quinn rolled her eyes. "We've been the Unholy Trinity for years, and I'm not stupid. What I am was the third wheel."

"I do not like Brittany that way," Santana insisted, after a surreptitious look around to check that no one was listening.

"Yes you do, and she likes you too, you just need to do something about it," Quinn informed her.

"That's basically what I've been saying," Ryan chimed in.

"Whatever," Santana grumbled, going back to her original table. Ryan turned to Quinn.

"You really think she has chance with Brittany?"

"Of course," Quinn nodded. "It's kind of obvious, they're always together, or at least they were before Artie. If Santana grows a pair and talks to B, I think they'd be great together. Plus she might be able to stop Santana from being such a bitch."

"True." The two were complete opposites and would probably complement each other perfectly. Ryan propped his head up with his arm against the table, staring appreciatively at the scoop-necked blouse she was wearing. "Want to get out of here?" he asked hopefully.

Quinn smiled at him innocently. "Still pretty early," she said. "Sure you don't want to hang out around here some more?"

He moved up closer beside her. "I can think of a few things we could do at home…" he suggested, trailing a hand along her arm. She just smirked at him.

"Get the bill, and we'll see what we can do."

Ryan lost no time paying for their dinner, and soon they were on their way to his house. Judy was having friends over for the evening. They quickly made their way up to his room, Quinn pulling him down to her level for a long kiss. "Is Shelby going to be out late?" she asked, pulling back for air.

"Yeah, she's with my dad," Ryan answered breathlessly.

Quinn smiled. "Good." She pushed him down to sit on the edge of the bed, before settling herself in his lap, moaning as his hardness pressed against her. Setting her hands on his shoulders she rocked forward, drawing a sudden gasp from him as his hands ran up her thighs. Quinn pushed his hands off though, smiling mischievously. "Hands off." Ryan groaned reluctantly as she caught his lips in another searing kiss, swirling her tongue in his mouth as she rocked on top of him.

"You're evil, you know that?" Ryan whimpered, as he struggled to keep his hands off her as instructed. Quinn smiled, trailing her lips up to his ear as she sucked lightly on his earlobe.

"Oh, I know," she assured him, grinding down especially hard and causing him to almost choke on his own tongue. "Just consider it payback for last week, huh?" She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him flush against her as she crushed their lips together, moaning as their bodies pressed up against each other.

"I – I already t-told you I was sorry about that," Ryan stuttered. She slowly placed a trail of open-mouthed kisses down his neck as she slipped a hand under his shirt, feeling his rapid breathing under her fingers.

"I know, and I forgive you," she told him, closing her eyes in pleasure as his dick pressed perfectly against her core. He thrust upwards into her, putting just the right amount of pressure on her clit, causing her eyes to roll back. "But like you said, I'm evil."

Ryan groaned again as she nipped on his pulse point before sucking at it, all the while keeping up her rocking on his lap as he bucked his hips into her erratically. _"Oh god."_

Sensing her boyfriend was about to come, Quinn moved her lips back up to his for a kiss before slowing her movements. Ryan whined in disappointment. She slowly pulled the shirt off, smiling as she let her gaze rove over his body. "You know, I really didn't like the way all those girls have been looking at you."

"It won't happen again," Ryan panted out, trying to run his hands up her legs again, only to be batted away. He moaned as Quinn dragged her fingers down his chest and across his abs. He bucked against her, frantic for more pressure. Quinn swore she could almost feel him throbbing against her even through their clothes. "I'm all yours, Quinn."

She hummed approvingly. "I like that." She ground down onto him, the tip of his cock pressing teasingly against her. Not for the first time, she wondered what it would feel like to let him completely inside her. She kissed him lightly, letting her tongue run over his bottom lip.

"It's true, I'm all yours, I swear," Ryan said desperately, leaning forward as he thrust up. Quinn smiled, licking along his neck again, torturously slow. "Quinn, _please._"

"Well, since you asked so nicely…" The blonde ground down, hard, causing both of them to gasp as Quinn sped up her rocking again. Ryan's hands came to rest on her waist, and this time Quinn allowed the touch, letting him pull her close to him. She let her head fall back as he kissed her neck.

Suddenly she let out a squeal as he gripped her thighs and stood up, depositing her on her back on the bed as he fell on top of her. Eyes met for a moment and then they were kissing again in a mess of lips and teeth and tongue, Ryan thrusting down on top of her.

"Oh god, Ryan, harder!" Quinn shuddered as her boyfriend's dick rubbed against her clit with a glorious friction. She was so close, and finally Ryan thrust up hard, hitting her sex perfectly, and Quinn leaned her head on his shoulder as her climax washed over her. With a deep groan Ryan hit his own finish, and he collapsed on top of Quinn, his weight settling pleasantly on her own body.

As they rode down their highs, Quinn tapped Ryan on the side, prompting him to roll over onto the bed. The couple spent the next few moments in silence, busy catching their breaths.

Ryan flipped over onto his side, staring adoringly at his girlfriend. She was so amazing, so perfect, and he couldn't believe how badly he'd messed up with his newfound popularity. He needed to do better. "I promise, it won't happen again."

Quinn just smiled, knowing what he meant. "Okay."

Ryan smiled goofily. Sometimes he still found it hard to believe that someone like her would pay attention to someone like him. He buried his nose in her golden hair. He smiled at the thought of going to sleep later with her scent in his sheets. "Happy Valentine's Day, Quinn."

"You too."

Then Ryan's eyes flew to the bedside clock. 10:11. "Oh crap, I think my parents are going to be home soon," he said, springing into a sitting position. He wasn't allowed to have Quinn in his room when Shelby wasn't home.

Quinn looked at the time as well. "And I need to get home."

He looked around the room to find his shirt, which was strewn on the floor. He quickly put it on as Quinn tried to get her hair back into a semblance of order. "You ready?" Ryan asked.

Quinn nodded, and the couple went downstairs. Ryan opened the door, and once he and Quinn were outside, pulled out his keys.

..

A few minutes later, James opened the car for Shelby, letting her into the passenger seat. "So, how did the evening rate?" he asked playfully as he got into the driver's seat.

"Hmm," Shelby said thoughtfully. "I give it an eight out of ten."

"What? Why?"

"I don't give perfect grades easily, it gives my students something to strive for," Shelby answered solemnly. James rolled his eyes, leaning over to give her a kiss.

"I'm not one of your students though," he said, leaning his forehead on hers for a second, before pulling back.

Shelby smiled at him affectionately as he started the car, pulling out of the parking lot. "That is true. I had a great time," she said sincerely. In fact, it had been the best Valentine's Day she'd had in years. "Thank you."

James beamed at her. "Well, the night's not over yet," he said mischievously. Shelby chuckled at him.

"Only if Ryan isn't home yet," she cautioned him. They had discussed her spending the night at his apartment, but she didn't think she could just leave Ryan on his own for the night without notice. She loved having Ryan, but there were times that kids put a damper on the romance department.

"Got it." A few minutes later, James pulled into Shelby's driveway. "Just in case he's in…" He leaned over the console again, pressing his lips against hers, moaning as she deepened the kiss, cupping her hand around the back of his neck. His hand came up to tangle in her hair before they broke apart, breathing heavily. Shelby smiled at him contentedly before glancing out the window to spot two figures on the front porch.

"Is that Ryan?" James asked.

Shelby nodded. "Yep." She glanced at the dashboard clock, which read 10:15. She got out of the car, followed by her – boyfriend? They couldn't quite find the right label. She stepped up to the porch, unnoticed by the two teenagers. Ryan was busy locking the door, and Quinn was looking the other way. She cleared her throat.

Quinn quickly looked towards her, eyes widening at the raised eyebrow Shelby sent her way. Ryan took a second to turn around, and he had a nervous smile on her face.

"Hi, mom." He peered around her to see James, who was next to Quinn, hiding a smile.

"Good evening, Ryan," Shelby answered nicely. "I don't suppose you recall the rule about not having girls over unsupervised, yes?"

Ryan gulped nervously. "Uh, yeah," he said convincingly. "That's why I was just about to drive Quinn home. In fact, I also remembered that I have a 10:30 curfew, which gives me just enough time to get her home and back." He smiled charmingly at his unimpressed mother.

Shelby kept her gaze at him for another moment before nodding. "All right. You do that. Good night, Quinn."

Quinn smiled weakly. "Good night, Shelby." The young couple started to hurry away.

"Ryan." Her son stopped and turned to look at her. "Just this once, okay?"

"Got it."

Shelby watched in amusement as Ryan drove off with Quinn. "Did you really have to scare them like that?" James asked teasingly, as he wrapped his arms around waist from behind.

"He knows he's not supposed to be alone with Quinn in the house, who knows what they get up to?" Shelby countered. Both Ryan and Quinn had told her that they weren't sleeping together yet, but they were teenagers. It was only a matter of time. Hopefully Ryan talked to her or James about it when it did happen.

On the upside, the house was all theirs. "Inside?" she asked.

James grinned, kissing her cheek. "Inside."

* * *

**Hi everyone, it's almost been a couple weeks since the last update. I've been pretty busy with real life. Almost had to go to the hospital the other day for an allergic reaction. And I just got back home the other day after a nine-hour flight, and I'm pretty bummed out because I had to leave my family again for school. Classes start tomorrow, in about seven hours, actually, so updates will be slowing down again.**

**Anyways, hope you liked this installment. I managed to put in a serenade scene in this one, but there will probably be more in the future. I found Sinatra's rendition of **_**I Only Have Eyes For You,**_** and I thought it was perfect for this one. I also liked the song suggestions you guys posted in the reviews, and I'm already thinking of ways to work them in. About Ryan/Quinn's 'first time', we'll be getting there soon. Give it a few more chapters.**

**As always, mistakes are my bad. Thank you for your reviews, please keep on giving me long ones, I love hearing what you think.**


	54. Chapter 53

"Good morning, Sue, what can I do for you today?" Shelby barely looked up from her newspaper as the blonde cheerleading coach sat down opposite her in the faculty lounge.

"I have nothing left to live for."

"I know, I heard about your attempted Sue-icide by gummy vitamins yesterday." Shelby looked at her over the newspaper. Emma Pillsbury had related yesterday's episode to her. "I have to say that was going a little overboard."

"I am in the throes of depression. My life has ended and the Cheerios are dead."

"Where's your cup of bleach, then?"

"I'm fresh out, and my incompetent maid has neglected to stock up. Too busy watching those Spanish telenovelas."

"You do know that sports go on for the whole year, right? Not sure if you got the memo, but tht's actually what cheerleaders do. They cheer." Shelby shook out the newspaper and turned the page. "And your Cheerios are not dead, you get to start up again next year. You get to go right back to spewing vim and vitriol at your poor minions in just a few months."

"Barbra," Sue said solemnly. "I have not lost a competition in seven years. My depression is such that you would not believe, and there is no longer any rhyme or reason to my life. Even my feud with Will Schuester has been lost, and that smug toilet brush has won the rest of the Cheerios budget for the year."

"Ellen," Shelby answered just as solemnly, putting down the paper. "Get over yourself."

Sue stared at her contemplatively for a moment. "I must say, I find your utter lack of sympathy refreshing. Scotch-Brite and Bambi pretend they don't care, but their desire to console me from my utter humiliation is sickening. Really, I half-expect them to ask me to join the Mouth-Breather Club."

"That would just be a dream come true for you, wouldn't it," Shelby asked sardonically, before her eyes widened in realization. She gazed calculatingly at the coach, wondering if she should intervene. On the one hand, Ryan really cared about the glee club, and she wouldn't want anything to jeopardize it. On the other hand, there was always the chance that Sue would backfire and end up bringing the team even closer together. Plus it would be interesting to watch.

"It most certainly would not," Sue denied. "But I am willing to try anything to pull me out of my doldrums, including subjecting myself to the wailing that Q-Tip considers music."

Shelby nodded slowly, picking the newspaper back up. "Whatever floats your boat, Sylvester."

"Glad we understand each other, Barbra."

..

That afternoon, Ryan and the rest of the New Directions received the surprise of their lives: Coach Sylvester was there, and according to Mr. Schue would be there for the rest of the week. After initial protests and one threat by the Cheerios Coach to shoot someone with an airgun, the irate glee club settled down.

"Now," Mr. Schue went on, having quelled the angry masses for now. "I've just received a letter from the show choir committee. It seems the governing board has assigned a theme to this year's Regionals, and part of our score will be based on how well we interpret it. And this year's theme is… anthem." He looked around expectantly. "Now who can tell me what an anthem is?"

Ryan quickly raised his hand, only to beaten to the punch by Brittany. "It's the bottom of an ant's pants."

Mr. Schue gave her a look. "So close. So close. No. An anthem is a song, full of emotion that somehow seems bigger than itself, than the person performing." Ryan rolled his eyes. Again, if he didn't want an answer, why ask? Oh yes, he wanted an answer from anyone else besides Ryan.

"Mr. Schue?" Sam raised his hand.

"Oh, hey Sam," Mr. Schue nodded at him. "I didn't even notice your new haircut." Sure enough, Sam was sporting the iconic hairstyle of one Justin Bieber, compelling the entire glee club to stare at him.

"I've been working on a new haircut to go with my new one-man band, the Justin Bieber Experience."

Quinn stared at him. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Dude, the haircut makes your mouth look even bigger," Puck said in awe.

Coach Sylvester held out her hand to shush Puck, looking intensely at Sam. "Let her speak."

Sam looked at them. "Laugh all you want. But there's a new number I've been working on that I want to show you. And I think it qualifies as an anthem because… it's hugely emotional and sums up our generation." Ryan held back a snort of derision. Justin Bieber, hugely emotional? Sure.

Mr. Schue nodded, clapping Sam on the shoulder. "Let's hear it, buddy."

Sam nodded, picking up an acoustic guitar, and launching into a rendition of Justin Bieber's Baby, much to the initial derision of the entire glee club.

Ryan watched, mostly unimpressed by the performance. First of all, he was still quite annoyed with Sam after finding out that he'd tried to kiss Quinn. Yes, it had been a while ago, and he didn't exactly want to punch those giant lips anymore, but still. Also while he considered himself to have an appreciation of all musical genres, Justin Bieber was not one of his favorites. The music was too teeny-bopper for him, and the singer's voice was childish and hadn't dropped yet. Most of the boys seemed to agree with him, if the skeptical looks on their faces were anything to go by.

Unfortunately, the girls didn't quite appear to concur with the male opinion. Ryan glanced around, and most of them were bopping to the beat. He exchanged a look with Mike when they noted that Quinn and Tina seemed to be enjoying Sam's ridiculous dancing a little too much. Then he frowned as Sam sat down in front of Quinn and seemed to be singing to her. Yeah, he'd focused on each of the girls one by one, but Ryan did not like him so close to Quinn.

The performance was soon over – not quickly enough for Ryan's taste – and he exited the choir room with Quinn, shaking his head as Coach Sylvester murmured that she had to get Sam on the Cheerios. "What was that?" he asked his girlfriend suspiciously.

Quinn looked at him curiously. "What was what?"

"That," Ryan said a little dramatically, gesturing back at the choir room. "You can't actually tell me you liked that."

The blonde shrugged, smiling slightly. "I just thought it was kind of fun."

"Seriously?" Ryan asked incredulously, trying to tamp down some of the jealousy that was rising up. It was irrational, he knew Quinn wasn't going to drop him for a blonde Bieber.

"Well, yeah."

Ryan continued to stare at her. "Quinn, Justin Bieber is a sugary pop singer whose main target audience is twelve-year-old girls."

"I know that," Quinn answered a little defensively. "But it was cute."

"Oh my god," Ryan said, scandalized. "Your taste in music is suddenly very much in question. If you were anyone else I'd probably be reconsidering our entire relationship right now."

Quinn rolled her eyes at him. "Very funny."

..

Unfortunately, Quinn wasn't the only one who had reacted in a bizarre manner to Sam's Justin Bieber Experience. Mike was having a similar problem with Tina as he kissed her in the hallway. He felt her arms moving strangely behind him, and he turned his head to look. "Are you playing Angry Birds?" he asked incredulously.

Tina quickly put the phone down. "Sorry."

Mike groped for something to catch her interest, but they'd been in a bit of a slump since Valentine's Day. "Want me to show you my abs?"

"If you want to…" she answered apathetically. He lifted his shirt, only to have Tina go right back to her game. She looked up after a moment. "Hey, I gotta go to class…" she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and left him at his locker. Mike shook his head. Ryan approached Mike a few seconds later.

"What's up with you two?" he asked the Asian boy.

"Nothing," Mike sighed. "As in, actually nothing. It's the usual post-Valentine's Day slump. The girls get all high on the chocolates and the flowers, and then they crash." It seemed to be a thing all over the school. "That Justin Bieber Experience though," Mike continued thoughtfully. "It was like a girl magnet."

Ryan gaped at Mike as they walked to their next class. "You cannot be serious right now."

"Didn't you see how the girls were squealing at Sam?" Mike asked. "Sorry," he added, remembering that Ryan wasn't exactly friendly with Sam. Mike couldn't blame him, he wouldn't have reacted well to anyone trying to kiss Tina either.

"What's your point?"

"Artie's been having the same problem with Brittany, and we were thinking, maybe we could get in with Sam. You saw how the girls were. Maybe a jolt of the Bieber Experience is what we need to get some action again. You could come with us," he suggested.

Ryan stared at him in disbelief. "Has everyone gone insane today? Justin Bieber is a child who's riding on Usher's coattails to fame. He is not a girl magnet, if a girl came onto him it would probably be classified as statutory rape. And even if I were willing to lower myself to that questionable level of musicality, I do not want to go into it with Sam, of all people."

"Right," Mike nodded sympathetically. "Just thought I'd throw it out there. And yeah, I think Bieber's overrated too, it's just that I can't think of anything to jumpstart things with Tina."

Ryan sighed. "Well, you go right ahead. I'll think of something else to serenade Quinn."

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Mike agreed. "And hey, if you need help, I've got your back."

He received a broad smile from the other boy. "Thanks, Mike. That means a lot."

* * *

The glee club met again the next afternoon. Ryan entered the room, frowning when he saw only the girls and Finn inside, along with Mr. Schue and Coach Sylvester. He sat down next to Quinn, who was having a whispered conversation with Finn. "Hi Quinn." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, taking her hand as he looked at the tall quarterback. "Finn."

"Hey Ryan." Finn nodded at him. Quinn smiled at Ryan, squeezing his hand.

"Sweet Jesus, who bought tickets to crazy town?" Mercedes asked loudly in exasperation.

Meanwhile, Ryan was too busy staring at the four boys who had just entered the room to say anything. Sam was dressed the same way as yesterday, with his blonde hair combed into the (in)famous Bieber 'do. The surprise was the other three boys. Artie and Mike had their hair coiffed into a similar style, but Puck had somehow gotten a head full of hair, and was tossing it to keep it out of his eyes. The rest of the glee club's jaws were hanging open as they made their entrance. Ryan glanced surreptitiously at Quinn, who had that smile on her face again.

"All right," Mr. Schue said. "Looks like the guys here are ready to give us their anthem."

"Hey everybody," Sam spoke. "We are the new and improved The Justin Bieber Experience. And we think this song is an anthem because everything Bieber does is epic."

Ryan noticed Finn's face screw up incredulously. Looks like he wasn't the only one who thought this whole rigmarole was ridiculous. Unfortunately any sense of camaraderie was ruined by the fact that he was pretty sure Finn was still trying to get Quinn back.

The whole glee club moved to the auditorium for the performance, and as soon as the boys came out with _Somebody to Love,_ the girls started squealing and rushed to the front of the stage. Ryan, Finn, and the two teachers followed at a more sedate pace. Out of the four of them, Mr. Schue seemed to be the only one enjoying himself.

Critically, Ryan admitted that the production was okay. The four boys had opted to imitate the music video for the song, and the flying chalk dust against the black background made a pretty good effect. Focused as he was on the performance, he jumped slightly as a person sat down next to him. "Mom, you're gonna give me a heart attack," he scowled at Shelby, who gave him an unimpressed look.

"I would have thought that was already giving you one," she whispered quietly, gesturing at the performance. "The vocals are okay, but Justin Bieber? You're seriously thinking of doing Justin Bieber for Regionals? Talk about suicide."

"I know that," Ryan grumbled. "I'm still trying to figure out how to talk Mr. Schue out of this one."

"And how exactly is this an anthem?"

Ryan looked at her suspiciously. "How did you find out about the anthem requirement?"

"I have my ways."

Ryan just grunted in response, gazing back sourly at the girls, who were completely enamored with the performance. "You're a girl," he whispered to his mom. "Why do girls like Justin Bieber so much, huh?" He noticed Finn listening in on them, and shot a frown at the taller boy.

Shelby rolled her eyes, shrugging. "I don't know. I'm a girl, but I'm not twelve years old," she snarked. "Ask your girlfriend, who seems to have regressed in age." She nodded pointedly at the crowd of excited girls.

"I tried that, she just said it was kind of cute."

"Then there you go."

"What are you doing here, anyways?" Ryan asked. He was actually pleased that she was here, at least he wasn't the only one besides Finn who thought this was stupid. Thank god his mom had good musical taste.

"I just thought I could use a break. And free entertainment," Shelby added with a smirk.

"Right."

..

"Okay, I don't get it."

Quinn looked up from her locker at her boyfriend's statement. "Get what?"

"Why you all think the Justin Bieber Experience is so amazing," Ryan answered. "I've already made all my points clear. I think Bieber's songs are childish, his voice is too high, and his hair is tacky. So I really don't get why you girls were all squealing during those performances today and yesterday."

"I thought it was gonna be stupid too," Quinn admitted. "But it was just so… shameless. They just went up there and owned it. It was sexy."

"Sexy?" Ryan gaped at her. Quinn detected a bit of hurt in his voice, and opened her mouth only to be cut off. "Quinn, the Justin Bieber Experience contains the guy who got you pregnant, and the guy who tried to kiss you earlier this year. That doesn't exactly sit very well with me."

Quinn sighed. "Ry, I already told you, I don't feel anything for either of them."

"You just said you thought they were sexy!"

"I don't think they're sexy, I think the fact that they got up there and did something way out of their comfort zones was sexy," Quinn argued. She put a hand on his cheek. "Trust me, you're the only one that gets me hot."

Ryan kept his adorable pout for another moment before relenting. "Fine," he grumbled. "But please refrain from calling any other guys 'sexy' around me, okay? It's not nice."

"Done," Quinn agreed. She leaned forward, smiling slyly. "You know what really turns me on?"

She smirked when she heard the soft hitch in his breath. "What?"

"Artists." Quinn ran a finger slowly down his chest, keeping her smile on her face. "And you're my favorite one." She leaned back, patting his chest, before turning and sauntering off to her next class.

..

That evening Ryan ended up at his dad's apartment for dinner, since Shelby had a faculty meeting. James had picked him up at school. "Good pizza," Ryan commented with a smirk, as he ate his third slice. James glared at him.

"Sure, laugh it up, kid."

"It's rather comforting to know that I inherited my lack of cooking skills somewhere," the teenager continued, glancing meaningfully at the charred pan in the sink. They had attempted to cook something, but unfortunately they had been unsuccessful.

"I'm so proud," James answered sardonically, opening the fridge. He pulled out a can of beer, popping it open. Ryan watched curiously.

"I don't suppose I could have one?" he asked.

"Sure." James pulled another can out of the fridge. "Here."

Ryan blinked at him. "You're offering me a beer?" he asked in confusion, not really expecting a positive response.

"Yeah," James shrugged. "I figure you teens are already drinking anyways, and it's just us anyways."

"Okay," Ryan smiled. He'd never actually had a real drink before. He'd only been to one party and he'd been too scared of his mom to drink anything stronger than Kool-Aid. His dad was offering though, so he was covered. James pulled another can out of the fridge, handing it to Ryan. He opened it just as James turned on the TV. Taking a swig, he grimaced a little at the bitter flavor. It was okay, not really something he'd want to drink all the time. "So. What do you think of Justin Bieber?"

James stared at him blankly. "Who?"

..

An hour or so later, Shelby knocked on the door of James' apartment to pick Ryan up. Ryan opened the door, grinning at his mom when he saw her. "Hi, Mom!"

"Hi sweetie, ready to go?" Shelby asked, stepping into the apartment. Ryan nodded and went into the other room to get his things. She smirked when she saw the pizza box. James always had been hopeless at cooking. Then her eyes narrowed as she spotted the two cans of beer on the coffee table.

"Hey Shelby," James said amiable, standing up to give her a kiss on the cheek. Shelby gave him a tight smile just as Ryan came back from the other room.

"Okay, all ready," he said. As he spoke, Shelby leaned forward, eyes narrowing even further when she smelled a hint of the alcohol on her sixteen-year-old's breath.

"Good. Sweetie, how about you go get in the car, I just need to talk to your dad for a second."

Ryan shrugged. "Okay." Shelby watched carefully as he walked outside before turning to James with a hard glare on her face.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" she seethed.

James winced slightly. "Shelby –"

"Your son is sixteen, he has no business drinking any sort of alcohol!"

"It was just one beer, he didn't even finish the whole can! It's not like I got him drunk or anything! And besides, like you said, he's sixteen. Come on, Shelby. We got up to a lot more than that when we were kids."

"That's not the point," Shelby insisted. "You're his father. You are not one of his classmates, he is not one of your Army buddies. He's your son. You're not supposed to be the one giving him alcohol!"

"You know, if we forbid him from doing it, he's probably going to do it anyways," James fired back. "It was in a controlled environment, I didn't see any harm in it! That's why I offered!"

"You offered him the alcohol?" Shelby asked, even more annoyed now.

"Yeah. And like you said, he's my kid too, don't I get a say?

"No, not yet, because the way this whole thing is arranged, I am going to be the one who ends up as the bad guy when he comes home drunk at one in the morning!" Shelby sighed angrily, rubbing her head with one hand. "Look, we'll talk about this next time, it's late and we both have work tomorrow."

"Fine," James answered. Shelby just nodded, and turned to walk out the door, pausing when James spoke again. "Text me or something when you get home, okay?''

"Yeah." Shelby made her way downstairs to her car, where Ryan was waiting a tad impatiently. Looks like she needed to give him a stern talking to about drinking. Though she wasn't sure if he was entirely at fault since James had offered the beer. What teenager would turn down parent-sanctioned booze?

"Can I drive?" he asked. Shelby stared at him.

"No."

* * *

Quinn entered the cafeteria for lunch the next day, quickly spotting Mike and Ryan sitting at a table. She ordered her food, then slid in next to Ryan just as Tina sat down next to Mike. "Hey guys," Quinn greeted, opening the juice box that came with her lunch. Seriously, the cafeteria people thought they were feeding kindergarteners. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing," Ryan smiled, kissing the side of her head. "Just exchanging some thoughts on choreography. Mike's really good at it, you know."

Tina grinned. "Yep, I know. He choreographed for the Justin Bieber Experience, after all." Mike blushed at the comment as Tina kissed him, and Ryan just chuckled. A slight smirk spread across Quinn's face, knowing Ryan's opinion of the group.

"Do any of you have anything in mind for the anthem thing at Regionals?" Tina asked.

"Not really," Quinn shrugged.

"I know Finn's working on something for later," Mike revealed. "He was talking about it in the locker rooms this morning."

"Fantastic," Ryan sighed. "To be honest, as much… fun… as the Bieber songs have been, they're just not anthem material. And I don't think we could win Regionals with them, especially against the Warblers and Oral Intensity. No offense," he added quickly for Mike's sake.

"None taken."

The group of four chatted some more amongst themselves. Quinn found Mike and Tina pretty easy to talk to. Although considering she was friends with Santana and Brittany, with whom she always had to be on her game, that was pretty much a given. The bell rang, and they got up for classes. "See you after class?" she asked her boyfriend.

He made a face. "Actually, I've got something planned with Mike after class. Maybe after dinner later?"

"Oh," Quinn said, a little surprised. This was a first. Ryan didn't have many guy friends, and as such rarely had conflicts when she wanted some time with him. She was happy for him though, Mike seemed like a nice guy, and Ryan probably should have friends other than her. She nodded. "Okay, that's fine."

"Great," Ryan smiled, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

..

At the afternoon glee meeting, Finn entered the choir room, and Ryan had to stare at him like everybody else. For some reason, he was wearing the same getup as the Justin Bieber Experience, with a maroon hoodie and his hair swept across his forehead. Ryan watched suspiciously as Coach Sylvester leaned down and whispered something in his ear.

The Cheerios coach leaned back just as Tina sat down next to the quarterback. "Thought you weren't into the Biebster."

"Well, I wasn't," Finn answered. "Then somebody told me Justin Bieber's like the King of YouTube, with over a billion views? And an anthem was supposed to appeal to the masses, right? So before I picked my anthem, I was working on my anthem look."

Quinn came in, sitting down next to Ryan with a weird look directed at Finn. "What's up with that?"

"No idea."

"Okay, everybody," Mr. Schuster called. "Let's settle down. Today we've got Finn singing for us, take it away, Finn." He sat down, letting his student take the stage.

"Hey guys," Finn said, smiling. "Now, I'm not really sure what makes an anthem an anthem or whatever, but the way I see it, you just really need to feel it." He nodded at the band, who started up the music. Ryan quickly recognized the song _Open Arms_, and had to suppress an eye roll. Of course Finn would pick a Journey song, he was Mr. Schuester's mini-me after all.

He did an okay job with the song, straining as usual on the high notes, but Ryan didn't mind. What he did mind, though, was the fact that Finn sang most of the song to Quinn.

_So now I come to you_

_With open arms_

_Nothing to hide_

_Believe what I say_

_So here I am_

_With open arms_

_Hoping you'll see_

_What your love means to me_

_Open arms_

Ryan gritted his teeth as Finn stood there in front of Quinn, singing his heart out about how he wanted her back, and all Ryan could think about was how satisfying it would be to just reach over and sock him in the eye. He didn't, though, since he had to stay professional. Not to mention the action wouldn't particularly endear him to Quinn. Or Shelby, for that matter. He was gratified to see that some of the glee club were slightly uncomfortable with Finn's focus on Quinn as well, while others were indifferent.

Mr. Schue stood up as the song ended. "Thank you Finn. If no one's got anything else, we'll all meet back here tomorrow." The students all stood up and started to disperse. Ryan took his bag and went immediately after Finn. He pulled the tall boy around to face him.

"What the hell was that?" he fumed.

"What?" Finn asked innocently. "It was a journey song. Like I said, not sure if it was really an anthem, but whatever, you know?"

Ryan scowled at him. "I know what you were trying to do, and it's not going to work."

"Relax, man, I wasn't trying to do anything," Finn answered, with that annoying smirk on his face. "But if I was, you look kinda worried. Why, think it'll work?"

"You –" Ryan took a deep breath to get himself under control. He _so _wanted to smash that expression off of Finn's face. "I'm not going to tell you to stay away from Quinn, because that's horribly clichéd," he ground out. "But I'm telling you to back off from my girlfriend. Don't sing to her again, you understand?"

"I wasn't singing to her."

"Back off, Hudson, I'm warning you," Ryan said, glaring at the taller boy straight in the eye.

Finn raised his hands. "Dude, chill," he said smugly. "I'm not up to anything." He turned around and sauntered off, leaving Ryan glaring after him.

Ryan took another deep breath, trying to get himself to relax. _He's just jealous because he knows Quinn's not going back to him._ He started to calm down. He was confident that Quinn was with him. He just didn't trust Finn. One more breath. He shook his head, and turned around to go meet Mike.

..

Later that evening, James stepped up to Shelby's porch, knocking on the door. He waited a few moments, before Shelby finally answered, opening the door and looking at him expectantly.

James fidgeted a little. "I'm sorry, okay? About last night."

Shelby looked at him impassively. "Good."

"And I guess you're right. The way things are now, I'm sort of the fun parent, because you're the one who deals with the everyday things. And I'm sorry if I overstepped."

Shelby sighed, then after a moment stepped aside to let him into the house. "It's okay. I kind of overreacted too." She paused. "It's just weird, you know? Having to jump into this whole parenting thing, straight to teenager?" She chuckled humorlessly. "It's like when they're kids, it's parenting with training wheels, so that you're not totally unprepared when they turn into teenagers and the shit hits the fan."

"Neither of us know what we're doing, do we?" James asked morosely. "You're right, since he's older it's easy to forget he's my kid and not just another one of my buddies."

"The boundaries get confusing," Shelby admitted. "I mean, I deal with teenagers. Like, all the time. For years. But it's different when it's your kid." The two were quiet for a while. "Just… I want you to talk to me, when you're making decisions about him, okay? If we're going to do this co-parenting thing together, we need to communicate."

"Deal." He didn't just want to be the fun parent, it wasn't fair to Shelby. He decided that he was going to try to step it up a little. "Where is he anyways?"

"Oh, he stayed at school, he said he wanted to work on something with Mike Chang," Shelby answered. "And then he said he was going to Quinn's."

"Right," James nodded. A sly smile spread over his face. "Well, maybe we should take advantage of the fact that we have the house all to ourselves, then…"

A smile matching his appeared on Shelby's face as well. "Hmm, that might be a good idea," she said coyly, inhaling sharply as his arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling them closer together. "Not wasting any time, are we?" she asked.

"I do hate to waste time," James agreed, smiling as he leaned down to crash his lips against hers.

* * *

The next day Quinn walked into McKinley in quite a good mood. Last night had been great. Ryan had shown up just after dinner, and they had had a fantastic make-out session. He'd been a little different, more aggressive, which was just fine by her. Up until her mom had arrived and he'd had to leave, that is. She'd woken up really happy that morning, and it was a pretty good day, all in all. She went up to her locker, frowning slightly at the bare green door. She had expected… Well, never mind. She opened it to pull out her books for the day when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She was greeted by her smiling boyfriend, who immediately swooped down to steal a kiss. "Happy birthday," he said brightly.

Quinn beamed back at him. "Thanks." She pulled him into another kiss, smiling at his minty flavor before turning back to her locker.

"What's the problem?" Ryan asked.

She shook her head slightly. "Nothing. It's just…never mind." She opened the locker and placed her things inside.

"What?" Ryan prodded curiously.

Quinn shrugged. "The past two years, on my birthday, whenever I get to my locker in the morning, there's a gardenia stuck on the locker door with a green ribbon. I thought maybe I'd be able to catch whoever's been leaving it this year, but it looks like they gave up."

She closed the door and turned to face Ryan, only to see her boyfriend holding a white gardenia, complete with a green ribbon, wearing a small smile on his face.

Quinn stared at him. "It was you?"

Ryan offered her the flower. "Guilty. I've always admired you." He smiled when she took the white flower, giving it a sniff.

"It matches my eyes."

"Exactly." Anything else he might have said was cut off by Quinn crashing their lips together in another kiss. The broke apart seconds later, Quinn smiling at the goofy look on Ryan's face.

"Thank you," she said, pulling him into a hug.

Ryan smiled happily, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You're welcome. I researched what flower to give you the first time, and gardenias were perfect. They mean that I think you're lovely, which I very much do, and they also symbolize a secret love."

Quinn smiled at the fact that he'd had a crush on her even then. And it was so like her boyfriend to research what kind of flower to give her rather than pick a random one off the side of the road. She looked up from the flower just in time to see him pull a small box out of the pocket of his brown jacket. He presented it to her and she opened it to find a small silver gardenia charm inside.

Ryan gently took the box from her, pulling the charm out. "I thought this would be a good one to symbolize today, since I was banking on the fact that you hadn't figured out I was behind the gardenias for the past two years," he said, taking her wrist. She watched as he easily clasped the gardenia onto the bracelet he'd given her last Christmas. She wore it all the time now.

When he finished, Quinn held out her arm, admiring the bracelet, before placing a soft kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. "I love you."

Ryan smiled at her adoringly. "I love you too." He offered her his arm, and they walked off to their first class.

..

The glee club met again that afternoon, and Lauren had made her first solo debut in front of the New Directions. Ryan watched skeptically as the large girl walked up. He still wasn't quite convinced that she could sing. "So what are you going to sing for us, Lauren?" Mr. Schue asked.

"Okay, so here's how I see it," Lauren said in her flat voice. "I know I'm the hottest bitch in this joint. If I was a country, my flag would be a giant fist giving the rest of the world a finger, and this would be my national anthem." Ryan cocked his head at her from his front row seat next to Quinn.

"O-kay," Mr. Schue said, going to sit down as Lauren called Puck, Tina, and Brittany to back her up. She then counted off and launched into _I Know What Boys Like_ by the Waitresses.

Like the rest of the club, Ryan watched in fascination as Lauren sang. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly good either. She seemed to floundering in the beginning before getting into her groove by the second stanza. Ryan was a little put off by the strange smirk she was wearing, it was almost like she was imagining them all in their underwear. At one point Lauren had her chest in Artie's face, leaving the boy a little dazed and in shock. She'd almost done the same to Ryan but Quinn had held out her hand and glared at Lauren, causing her to back away. Thank god for his girlfriend.

Lauren finished up her performance to loud applause from the glee club, who had gotten into the song about halfway in. Ryan had noticed Mr. Schue looking uncomfortable and Coach Sylvester looking… well, like she usually did.

"How fricking hot is she?" Puck asked happily as he clapped. Ryan hid a smile, knowing Puck was still smitten by the female wrestler who wasn't making it easy for him. It seemed Puck had finally met his match. He hoped it ended well.

"Okay, so does anyone else have anything?"

Ryan quickly raised his hand, and Mr. Schue nodded at him. He stood up, going to the front of the room. "Now, this doesn't actually qualify as an anthem." Not that the past performances this week had. "But it's a special performance for my girlfriend." He smiled at Quinn. "In light of our conversation a few days ago, I've decided to perform something a little out of my usual genre." He glanced at the band, giving them the signal.

The guitarist started the upbeat music with the drummer, and he closed his eyes, immersing himself into the music. True, this was outside his usual repertoire of Broadway showtunes, but he knew he could do it. He'd certainly be better than Finn, anyways. When his cue came up he took the mic, his eyes opening.

_You're so delicious_

_You're so soft_

_Sweet on the tip of my tongue_

_You taste like sunlight_

_And strawberry bubble gum_

_You bite my lip_

_You spike my blood_

_You make my heart beat faster_

_Own me, you own_

_You rattle my bones_

_You turn me over and over_

_'Til I can't control myself_

_Make me a liar_

_One big disaster_

_You make my heart beat faster_

Ryan focused his voice into the drawling, bouncing notes, the style so different from the broad belts he was used to, as he slid around the room in the choreography Mike had helped him with yesterday. He glanced at Quinn as he sang, feeling all his effort worth it when he saw the surprised smile on her face, saw her laugh in delight at his performance.

_It's the way you swell, slow_

_Pushing right out your seams_

_It's the way you smile, baby_

_When you've got me on my knees_

_Your all night noise_

_Your siren howl_

_You make my heart, beat, faster_

He threw himself into the music and the dancing as he went into the chorus again, not minding at all if he looked ridiculous. The rest of the glee club was smiling and clapping along to the beat now, and Quinn had the biggest grin of them all.

_Cause I jump back, crash, I crawl_

_I beg and steal, I follow you_

_Yeah you own me_

_And you make my heart beat faster_

_You own me, you own_

_You rattle my bones_

_You turn me over and over_

_'Til I can't control myself_

_Make me a liar_

_One big disaster_

_You make my heart beat faster_

He came to a stop in front of his girlfriend, panting from the effort he'd pushed into the song. The rest of the glee club burst into applause, and Quinn stood up, throwing her arms around him in a hug. "Happy birthday."

"Wanky," Santana called out. The couple ignored her though.

..

Later that evening Ryan showed up at the Fabray residence after dinner. Judy opened the door, and Ryan smiled at her. "Good evening, Judy," he said pleasantly.

"Hi Ryan," she answered with a smile, letting him inside. "Quinn's just upstairs."

"Okay," he replied. He knew she and Quinn had been spending more time together, and dinner on Quinn's birthday had been a special event. He was glad Judy was making the effort to repair relations with Quinn. "How was your dinner?"

"It went well," his girlfriend's mother replied. "Thank you. For your suggestion."

"Did she like it?"

"Definitely," Judy laughed. "She's upstairs with it now. She knows I'm going out, I have… well." She trailed off at the end.

"Okay," Ryan smiled encouragingly. He knew from Quinn that she had AA meetings every Thursday night. "Thanks, Judy." He went upstairs, knocking on Quinn's door before entering. "Hey."

Quinn looked up as soon as he entered, a broad smile on her face. "Hey you."

Ryan went up to the bedside to have Quinn pull him down to lie beside her. "So, do you like it?" he asked, gesturing at the object in her hands.

"Definitely," she beamed, and Ryan had to smile at the realization that she'd given the exact same answer as her mother. Genetics were truly amazing. His smile widened as Quinn aimed a brand-new Nikon DSLR camera at him. "Smile."

"Already am," Ryan teased, flashing her his most camera-worthy smile as she shot the photo. He craned his head around to see the shot. "Nice," he said appreciatively.

"Thank you," Quinn said.

"I just posed. True, it was an amazing pose, but it was nothing."

She shook her head. "My mom told me you were the one who suggested it to her."

"Ah." Ryan smiled in amusement. "Well, she was at loose ends for a birthday present for you. And I knew you wanted one of those. It was a teensy bit out of my price range, but I figured she could get it for you."

"Like I said, thanks." Quinn kissed him on the cheek, snuggling closer against him. She held out the camera, taking a selfie of the two of them. Ryan chuckled, loving how excited she was. She rarely got like this.

"I love you," he said softly. "Lucy." Quinn blushed slightly at the name, leaning her head against his.

"Love you too."

Ryan smiled, turning his head to place a kiss on his girlfriend's neck. "Your mom said she's leaving, I know she's got AA today," Ryan mumbled, causing Quinn to shiver. He gently took the camera from her hands, carefully sliding it onto the bedside table before turning to place a soft kiss on Quinn's lips. She moaned, turning to face him and slipping a hand into his shirt. Ryan moaned happily as her tongue delved into his mouth.

Then he pulled back slightly, making her huff in mild irritation, before quickly flipping them so that he was on top. Quinn blinked up at him in surprise, before he smiled and leaned it to kiss her, closing his eyes as he let himself melt into her.

They broke apart a few seconds later to breathe. "I loved your performance today," Quinn said dreamily.

"Thanks," Ryan smiled. "I'm glad. It was quite a different experience for me, I don't think I've ever sung anything like that before."

Quinn smiled at him, running a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes, relaxing at the sensation. Then they flew open again as Quinn pulled him down on top of her. He suddenly flashed hot all over as the movement caused their bodies to press flush against each other. He swore he could feel ever part of her front molding to his. Quinn's smile turned coy. "I told you artists turn me on." She put a hand on the back of his head, drawing him in for another kiss.

"Mmm, I can tell," Ryan answered, lightly licking down her neck. He slid one hand up her thigh and into her skirt. Slowly, because even though they'd done almost everything but sex her was still wary of pushing her too fast. She didn't protest though, instead arching her hips against his, and making him groan at the pressure. He slipped his fingers into her underwear, moaning at the wetness he found there. He brushed lightly against her entrance, making her whine softly, before pulling his hand back out. "Definitely turned on," he said, smirking slightly at his wet digits.

"Are you gonna do anything about it?" Quinn asked, a hint of a challenge in her eyes. Instead of responding, Ryan looked her straight in the eye before pushing his fingers into his mouth. Her hazel eyes darkened in arousal as he sucked.

He smiled at her lasciviously. "You taste amazing." He leaned his head back down, brushing his lips against his girlfriend's as he thrust lightly against her, earning a soft gasp. She tangled her right hand in his hair again, pulling him down to deepen the kiss. He indulged for a few moments before pulling back with a smile, working his way down her body so he was kneeling between her legs.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she questioned breathlessly, confusion mixed with the arousal in her eyes. Ryan smiled at her a tad nervously, running his hands lightly up and down her legs.

"I thought maybe I'd give you the same birthday present you gave me a couple of months ago," he answered, searching her eyes hopefully.

"What? Why?"

"I thought it might be nice. Obviously I won't do it if you don't want me to, but I would really, really like to," he said, his gaze burning. He could practically smell her from here, and that taste he'd had earlier had turned him on more than he'd expected.

Quinn nodded, a little jerkily. "Okay."

Ryan smiled, smoothing his hands on the inside of her thighs. "Just relax." His smile broadened as he felt her do as he said. He slipped his hand up again, slowly pulling her panties down before running his finger over her clit again, giving her enough time to stop him if she wanted to. She didn't though. The movement was familiar now, after the two had spent several awkward sessions with him figuring out what he was doing. She bucked up against his fingers at the touch, and Ryan moved his body lower on the bed, pushing her skirt up to get access before gently spreading her open.

He lowered his head, taking a deep breath, and he was immediately intoxicated by her scent surrounding him. He sighed in satisfaction. Quinn let out a gasp. "I don't suppose you'd like to get a move on down there?"

Ryan chuckled at Quinn's breathless comment. "As you command," he quipped, once more brushing his finger against her before leaning down to lick tentatively at her clit. He was surprised when her hips jumped up at the contact, and he instinctively brought his hands up to her thighs to hold her down.

Soon he started to experiment, trying out different movements with his mouth, figuring out what she liked from the sounds she was making and the way her hips trembled under his hold. Her hand tangled tightly in his hair as he sucked lightly on her clit. He pulled away for a second. "Is this ok –"

The hand in his hair immediately pushed him back down. Looks like it was more than okay. He slowly ran his tongue over her entrance, before pushing in slightly. Her hand tightened in his hair, her body shaking under his hold. "Oh god, Ryan!"

He'd been completely hard for a while now, his erection pressing into the bed as he worked, and he groaned as he humped lightly against the mattress. His voice seemed to make Quinn shake even more, trying to buck up against him, and he hummed experimentally, causing his tongue to vibrate inside her. He heard her whining incoherently above him, her legs trying to close instinctively even as he held her open.

He could tell she was close now, and he redoubled his efforts, thrusting and licking at her as he rubbed his cock against the bed. He was really close too. A second later, he pulled out, sucking at her clit again. Finally, with a strangled cry, she came apart, twitching on the bed as he kept on sucking at her, rubbing lightly at her thighs. With his own groan, he climaxed too, the knowledge that he'd caused Quinn's orgasm enough to trigger his own.

For a second he slumped down on the bed, recovering, before crawling up to Quinn's side and wrapping an arm around her. Quinn opened her eyes a few moments later, and Ryan was pleased to see the satisfaction in them. He smiled. "So?"

"Your face is wet," Quinn answered. Ryan automatically brought his hand up to his chin and found that yes, his face was indeed still wet.

"I'll go clean up –"

He was cut off by his girlfriend simply cupping the back of his neck with one hand and pulling him into a kiss. Ryan closed his eyes, moaning at the eroticism of the moment. He had the best girlfriend ever.

* * *

On Monday, Ryan and Quinn walked into the choir room to find Santana sitting in Sam's lap. "When did that happen?" he heard Mercedes ask. Ryan stared at the couple in confusion, before sighing. He really thought Santana should just admit to what she felt about Brittany, but if she didn't want to, there wasn't really any point in pushing.

"All right," Mr. Schue spoke up. "I hate to say it, but I think we all owe Sue a big thank you. She may hate us, but she did give us a kick-butt song for Regionals." The room clapped in response, Ryan noting the motion of somebody lurking just outside the choir room door. His focus returned to the glee club though, and he raised his hand.

"Mr. Schuester, I think our admiration for Coach Sylvester may be a little premature," he stated. "I think our performance of My Chemical Romance was spectacular, but as captain of the glee club, I don't think that song is good enough for Regionals. The Warblers have Kurt and Blaine, and Oral Intensity kicked our asses last year. We need something really special to beat both of them."

"You mean a number where you get to sing the entire song," Mercedes snarked.

Ryan sighed. "This isn't about me."

"What do you suggest?" Mr. Schue asked.

"We need something bold and epic." Ryan took a breath before making his proposal. "We need to write original songs for Regionals. It'll give us an undisputable advantage." He could sense that the idea wasn't quite well received. "We can't lose this year, you guys," he pushed. "Trust me, guys, I really think this is the way to go."

"Let's put it to a vote, Ryan," Mr. Schue said. Ryan deflated inside. He knew from the look on the teacher's face that he didn't agree with the idea. And both he and Mr. Schue knew that turning it into a vote instantly meant that Ryan's idea wouldn't fly. Sure enough, the majority of the club voted against. Ryan had actually been surprised when he'd gotten two votes – Quinn's and Mike's. "Sorry, Ryan," Mr. Schue said, closing the matter.

The bell rang, and the glee club dispersed. Ryan smiled halfheartedly at Mike in thanks, receiving a sympathetic one in return. Quinn stayed beside him, before standing up once they were alone in the room. "You really think we can write our own songs for Regionals?"

Ryan sighed. "Whether I think so or not, it's a moot point. But yes."

Quinn nodded. "Okay. Then we can try to write one, and we'll show them and see if it makes the cut."

Ryan stared at her for a moment, before giving her a small smile. "Thank you." Quinn smiled at him, putting a hand on his cheek for a quick second as she left for her class. Ryan stood up more slowly, not in a hurry since he had a free period next.

He wandered over to the auditorium, the place he usually went whenever he didn't have anything to do. It had become a habit over his first two years of high school, since no one had actually wanted to hang around with him. Now he just came here whenever he wanted to be alone.

..

Shelby entered the auditorium, spotting her son leaning on the grand piano on the stage, talking to Brad the piano player. Honestly, she couldn't figure out how the man kept popping up exactly when he was needed. The band players were there too. The right instrumentalists always seemed to be present when needed and could play the required song with no apparent practice.

She was drawn out of her musings when the musicians began playing. She sat down in one of the chairs near the back, observing as Ryan began to sing _Anthem_ from the musical _Chess_.

_No man, no madness_

_Though their sad power may prevail_

_Can possess, conquer, my country's heart_

_They rise to fail_

_She is eternal_

_Long before nations' lines were drawn_

_When no flags flew, when no armies stood_

_My land was born_

_And you ask me why I love her_

_Through wars, death and despair_

_She is the constant, we who don't care_

_And you wonder will I leave her - but how?_

_I cross over borders but I'm still there now_

_How can I leave her? Where would I start?_

_Let man's petty nations tear themselves apart_

_My land's only borders lie around my heart_

Shelby took a second to compose herself as he finished. This was what her performers on Vocal Adrenaline were missing. Ryan could take a song and give it emotion, feelings. It was what would get him to Broadway and his dreams. She stood up and started walking to the stage.

"Very nice," Shelby complimented him, coming up to the edge of the stage as Brad and the rest of the musicians cleared out. "How long have you been practicing that?"

Ryan shrugged. "Since I caught wind of the fact that this year's Regionals competition has anthems as a theme." He glanced at his mom as she came up to the side of the piano. "I saw you with Coach Sylvester outside the choir room."

Shelby smiled lightly. "I spotted Sue lurking outside the door, and I was curious as to how Will ran the club. I wanted to see for myself."

"And?"

"I think you're right, and that writing your own songs would give you an edge over the competition." Ryan smiled, and she held up her hand. "But," she added, "You should also realize that writing original songs isn't easy. You've got what, less than a month before Regionals? Inspiration strikes at strange moments, and writing can take a while. And then you'd have to practice it before the competition."

"I guess so," Ryan said reluctantly. "I just know we could write a kick-ass song, though. Sue's anthem was okay, but we need something unique."

Shelby nodded. "For now though, maybe just stick to known songs, huh? Like the one you just sang. Why didn't you sing that this week? It's perfect. For the theme, I mean. The very title is the same as the theme. Your vibrato could use a little work though, and you wobbled a little in the middle."

"I would have, if everybody hadn't been preoccupied with Bieber week," Ryan answered. "And I would have sung it today, I had it prepared as a backup for when everyone rejected the original song idea. Because we all know that if it turns into a vote, I'm going to lose no matter what."

"You should have sung it anyways."

"You heard Mercedes, the only reason I ever suggest anything is so that I can sing a song entirely by myself," he said almost bitterly. He sighed. "And sometimes it's just exhausting, trying to help people who don't want to be helped."

"But you stay with them because you want to be the best, and push everyone to be the best they can be as well," Shelby added. She'd had the same frustrations during her own glee club days. She had been very similar to Ryan actually.

Ryan smiled crookedly. "Genetics are amazing aren't they?" he asked knowingly.

Shelby nodded. "Yes they are," she smiled contentedly, running a hand through his hair. "You can do it though. I have every confidence that you'll get all the way to New York." She smirked. "You're not competing against me, after all."

Ryan rolled his eyes, chuckling a little at her arrogance. "There is that."

* * *

**Hey everyone! How are you guys doing? I've got a couple of requests to update, so here you go. I'm glad everyone's enjoying. Thanks for all your reviews. **

**Hmm, not too much to say. We're getting a little up there in chapters, I'm thinking about labeling them if I have the time. We'll see about adding drama, I'll think something up. As to Ryan and Quinn 'sealing the deal', give it a couple more chapters. Hope this one tides you over until then ;) Since this is an AU, a lot of things will turn out different while we follow the things that happened in cannon. I have thought about what happens in college, but I'm still not sure if I'll be continuing past graduation. We'll see if inspiration strikes. I haven't considered what I'm going to do for Jean's funeral yet, but I probably won't change too much. I think the show handled that part pretty well.**

**I'm back at school, hence slower updates, but bear with me, I'm chugging along. Sorry for any errors, I'm my own beta and I'm not perfect. I probably made a few mistakes. Again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all next time.**


	55. Chapter 54

"So," Mr. Schue said on Friday afternoon. "Our assignment for next week is a number for the Alcohol Awareness Assembly. Let's spend the weekend brainstorming songs about the dangers of alcohol, and we'll have number ready for the assembly on Wednesday."

The glee club stood up, shuffling to their respective classes. Ryan stayed behind, sitting down at the piano. He'd been working on his original song, and he had an idea of how he wanted the melody to be. He still didn't have lyrics though. He pressed a few random keys before he heard someone coming back into the choir room.

"Hey bro."

"Noah," Ryan nodded as the Puck came over to the piano. He sat down next to Ryan on the bench, Ryan sending him a confused frown. "We're bros now?"

"Well, yeah. After you gave me that advice about Lauren, I talked to her and she decided we'd start it off slow."

"Ah." Ryan nodded, going back to his sheet music.

"So, word is Miss C's going out of town for the weekend, and you're all alone in your house," Puck commented.

Ryan looked at him strangely. "She's going to Cleveland for a teaching seminar tomorrow evening, not that it's any of your business. How'd you even find out about that?"

Puck smirked. "It's the kind of information a guy like me tends to know. So, party this Saturday?" He said cajolingly. "I'll bring the beer, and the mini keg."

"Forget it."

"Oh, come on," Puck wheedled. "Just the glee kids. We're losing our minds, all stressed about Sectionals and stuff –"

"Regionals," Ryan corrected, unimpressed. "And besides, you're just looking for somewhere to have sex and get drunk."

"Yeah, there's a word for that. A party."

"I don't think so. Besides, you really want to get on my mom's bad side?"

Puck stood up, hoisting himself up on a desk. "Aw, come on, she can't be that bad." He looked at Ryan persuasively. "So…?"

Ryan hesitated for a moment. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. "No, no! My mom's leaving me at the house because she trusts me to be responsible." Not to mention his mom would probably kill him if she found out.

Puck scowled. "She trusts you 'cause you suck, and are a total bore," he shot out, turning to leave the room.

Ryan's face fell slightly as he stayed in his position at the piano. Okay, that had hurt.

Quinn found him there a few minutes later. "Hey, are you okay?"

Her boyfriend looked up in time to see her coming over to settle herself next to him on the piano bench. She could see as he put a fake smile on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"No you're not," Quinn said, frowning slightly. She liked to think she could tell when he was faking it by now. And he wasn't exactly doing a fantastic acting job.

Ryan sighed. "It's nothing. Puck was just a little upset that I turned down his suggestion of holding a glee club party at home when Mom goes to Cleveland this weekend. Apparently I suck and am a total bore."

"Not true," Quinn denied. "Well, you do suck, but you're the opposite of a total bore when you do it," she amended coyly, remembering her birthday a few days ago. She smirked as Ryan's jaw fell open, giving her a surprised stare.

"You've been hanging out with Santana too much," he accused.

"Guilty," Quinn answered flippantly, smirk widening as he licked his lips, obviously having less than pure thoughts. She picked up the papers where he'd scribbled down a few notes for the original song he was trying to compose. "Any luck?"

"Uh, not much," Ryan replied, still a little flustered. "It's harder than it looks. But the music's easier than the lyrics. I don't suppose you have any ideas, do you?" he asked hopefully, watching with his mouth slightly agape as Quinn bit her lip.

"I might," she hedged. She liked to write things out, had for the past few years. Maybe she had something. "I'll check it out when I get home."

"Perfect," he smiled, kissing her on the cheek. "What are you doing here, anyways? I thought you had class."

"Just forgot something," Quinn said, standing up to retrieve a folder from the chair she'd been sitting at during the glee club meeting. She smiled slyly. "And then you were here."

"Lucky me," Ryan smiled, following her. He took her hands, pulling her closer for another deeper kiss, after a surreptitious glance to check that the choir room door was closed. Quinn knew it was, she'd closed it herself. And she might have turned the lock, too. Satisfied that no one was around, Ryan wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist as hers wrapped around his shoulders. He tilted his head, moaning giddily as their lips slid smoothly together.

Quinn broke the kiss a second later for air. "So are you ready for the game tomorrow?" she asked, breath hitching as Ryan kissed her neck. This was getting her very hot. A devious smile spread across her face as she thought of what to do.

"Completely," Ryan answered with a smile. He pulled back slightly. "We are going to kill it, the opposing team isn't going to know what hit them." Quinn smiled, drawing him back into a kiss, before asking another question.

"Has Kenzie tried anything with you lately?"

"No," he mumbled. "You scared her off pretty well last week." His hand started slipping up into her top, hungrily roaming across smooth pale skin. "And I thought it was really hot." Quinn moaned at the sensation of his fingers dancing along her abs. She pulled his lips back up to meet hers, before pushing him down onto a seat.

"Good," she said, shaking her hair back as she straddled his lap. She smiled innocently at the absolutely dazed look in his eyes.

"W-wha… what are you d-doing?" he stuttered, as she settled herself against his hardening length. Her smile widened again. She loved how she could reduce him to incoherency, he was just so adorable when he was like this. She leaned down to kiss him again, swiping her tongue across his lip and into his mouth. He groaned, hands wrapping around her waist to pull her even tighter against him.

"I can stop if you'd like," Quinn suggested, biting lightly on his lower lip as she rocked slowly against him.

"N-no, don't sto-op," he choked out as she pressed down into his lap. She smirked.

"Didn't think so." She moved her lips to his neck, sucking at the spot just under his jaw that drove him crazy. He thrust upwards into her, making her gasp as he hit right where she needed him to. He was close, she could tell. They probably needed to stop soon…

_RIIIIING!_

The two teenagers froze as the warning bell for the next class rang. Quinn smiled mischievously, giving Ryan a light peck on the lips before standing up. "I gotta go."

"_W-what?!"_ Ryan stared at her disbelievingly.

Quinn smiled nicely, patting him on the chest. "It's all about the teasing, right?" Yeah, she hadn't gotten her release either, but that was okay. She'd deal with it. "I have class. I'll see you later." She smirked again as his jaw flapped open, unable to speak. She ruffled her hand through his hair one more time, before turning around to leave him in the choir room with his rather visible problem.

..

Ryan and Quinn stopped by the Lima Bean later that afternoon after his basketball practice. Quinn had just gone to the ladies' room when Ryan spotted someone he very much did not want to see enter the establishment. _Fuck, what was he doing here? _He quickly looked away, but true to his luck, the person spotted him anyways, and approached him after a slight hesitation.

"Hello Ryan."

Ryan kept his face impassive as he stared into the face of one of the last two people he ever wanted to talk to ever again. "Hiram."

Hiram Berry flinched slightly at that. "I guess I deserved that."

Oh, he deserved so much more, Ryan thought sourly. He didn't say that, though. "Why are you here? Are you following me or something?"

"No, of course not." Hiram paused uncertainly. "Just a coincidence. I'm just here for a coffee." He glanced subconsciously behind him, and Ryan quickly followed his gaze, spotting a guy who had come over to the Berry house a few times last year.

"That your new boyfriend?" he asked rudely. "Although I suppose 'new' isn't really the word, since I'm pretty sure you were seeing him even while we were still living together." _Before you were divorced_, he thought nastily. He was actually a little surprised at his own viciousness right now.

Apparently so was Hiram. "That was uncalled for," he said sternly.

To his surprise, Ryan felt himself backing down, a residual instinct from fifteen years spent with the older man as his parent figure. It was confusing. A part of him wanted nothing more than to let Hiram have it. But another more childish part of him just wanted Hiram to notice him positively for once. He looked down, conflicted, before flicking his gaze back up, not meeting Hiram's eyes. "What do you want?"

Hiram hesitated. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. I'm in town for a few weeks, I have some business to follow up on." _That figures_, Ryan thought disdainfully. Of course he was only here for work. "And I'm overseeing the sale of the house."

"Oh." Ryan played with a napkin, ambivalent to the news. He had a new house now. Once where he was happy. "I'm fine."

"How's Shelby treating you?"

"Really good." _Better than you guys did,_ he thought resentfully. He couldn't bring himself to say it, though.

The two spent a minute in awkward silence before Hiram nodded and stood up. "Good. I should go." He pulled a card out of his pocket and offered it to Ryan. "Like I said, I'll be here for a few weeks, give me a call sometime." Ryan stared at the card, and when he didn't take it, Hiram laid it on the table, then went back to his companion.

Ryan stared at the card for a moment before looking up to watch Hiram grinning at his apparent date. The sight made him upset, somehow. He wasn't sure why. He shouldn't care. Hiram wasn't his dad, it wasn't any of his business who he dated. So why was he feeling something?

"Ryan?"

He jumped at the voice, jerked suddenly out of his thoughts. He looked up, seeing Quinn looking at him curiously. He flicked his eyes back towards the counter. Hiram and his friend were no longer there, probably long gone by now. He mustered up a smile. "Hey." He stood up, pulling a seat out for his girlfriend.

"You okay?" Quinn asked as she sat down, Ryan quickly occupying his former seat.

Ryan hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah. I'm fine." He surreptitiously took Hiram's card off the table, crumpling it up with a used napkin as he pushed his previous thoughts away. Didn't need that. He nodded again. "I'm fine."

Quinn looked at him for a moment, before nodding as well. "Okay. If you say so."

* * *

"Are you sure you're going to be okay here by yourself?" Shelby checked again as Ryan helped carry her bags out to the car. She had found out that she needed to attend a teachers' seminar in Cleveland to keep her license up to date. The seminar would take place over the weekend, and since it took several hours to get to Cleveland she had to leave right after classes ended.

Ryan nodded patiently. "Yes, Mom, it's just two days. I've been alone longer than that."

Shelby clenched her jaw at the reminder of the Berrys. "I know. I don't want you to be alone if you're not okay with it. Are you sure you don't want to stay with your dad?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Ryan had pointed out that James had the night shift over the weekend anyways, so it didn't really matter. This also removed the idea of James staying over at Shelby's house. Also, James didn't have a spare room at his apartment, which meant Ryan would end up sleeping on the couch or something. "Relax."

"Okay. Relaxing." She shook herself. He'd be fine. She raised her eyebrow at him. "You're not planning a party as soon as you get me out of the picture, are you?"

Ryan sighed. "We're going to be late."

..

That afternoon was the last basketball game of the season. The game had been a close one, with the current score 23-25 in McKinley's favor, with eleven seconds left on the clock. Ryan dribbled the ball across the court, quickly passing to his teammate. The ball quickly came hurtling back at him, and he shot it into the basket, scoring another two point.

Finally the buzzer rang out, signaling the end of the game, and the crowd cheered loudly. Finally the Titans had had a basketball season where they'd won more than one game. Ryan found himself engulfed in a hug by his girlfriend. "Congratulations!" she yelled.

He grinned broadly. "Yes!" He pulled her into a kiss, wrapping his arms around her. Soon he found himself exiting the lockers, fresh from a shower. Suddenly he found himself flanked by Puck and Santana.

"So, Corcoran, any more thoughts on that party?" Puck asked.

"What party?"

Ryan looked around as Santana seemingly popped out of nowhere. "Where did you come from?"

"You mention free booze, I be right there," the Latina said cockily. "So, when and where's the party?"

"There isn't any party," Ryan said in frustration.

"Come on, man, you gotta let loose a little. It's harmless, no one's gonna get hurt. It'll just be the glee club," Puck said, still trying to convince Ryan. "It'll be fun."

Ryan opened his mouth to protest again, before faltering. What was the harm, really? "But it's Alcohol Awareness Week," he argued feebly. Puck lit up, his shark senses knowing that Ryan was crumbling.

"Yeah it is," Santana smirked, "And I'm totally aware of how awesome alcohol is. Puck's right, you gotta have some fun."

Again, Ryan thought about protesting. It would be fun, right? And it's not like anything would happen, teenagers had house parties all the time. And it wasn't like alcohol was all bad. Hell, his dad had let him have a can last week! He bit his lip, still undecided.

"We'll be in and out, no one's ever gonna know," Puck promised. "Everybody's gonna love it. Stop being so uptight and just go with it."

"Yeah, come on, Frodo, you gots to let loose a little."

Finally Ryan made his decision. "You know what," he said. "You're totally right. I have been too uptight lately! Let's do it. Party at my house tomorrow night!"

"Awesome!" Puck cheered, grinning widely. "I'll score us some beer and wine coolers."

"I'll snag us some tequila," Santana added. "So now here's what's gonna go down. "Tonight, Puckerman's gonna go tell everybody and get the joice. Imma go with Sam to my house to gets my mack on. Then tomorrow, that's Saturday, we're gonna gets our party on!"

* * *

Santana rolled up to the Corcoran house at eight-thirty on Saturday evening, Puck in the front seat of her car. Finn's pickup was already there, so it looked like the party was ready to start. "Come on, Puckerman, move your ass!"

The two of them lugged several cases of beer, courtesy of Puck's fake ID, up to the front door and rang the bell. Ryan quickly answered, smiling at them as he let them in. "Welcome," he said nicely, showing him into the living room, helping carry a few of the cases.

"Whatever, Hobbit, I just needs to gets my drink on!"

Ryan held her back though, and Santana looked at him like he was crazy. "Hang on, let's just go over the rules. Tonight, everyone gets two drink tickets, to keep this from getting out of hand," he said brightly, handing her and Puck two pieces of paper each. Santana stared at him.

"Are you serious right now?"

"Come on," Puck complained. "No one's gonna get buzzed off of two wine coolers!"

Mercedes stood up, Kurt just behind her. "Yeah, we're just gonna go. Dinner rez."

"But we haven't even started yet!" Ryan exclaimed. "Brittany, no sitting on the furniture," he called out when he spotted Brittany perched on the desk.

"Look, if you're only gonna give us two drinks, this party's gonna blow," Puck said. "Just let loose already."

"Midget, you wanna have a good time?" Santana barked. "Then give it up and let's get our party on."

Ryan looked conflicted for a second. Then he nodded resolutely. "Let's party!"

..

A couple of hours later the part was in full swing, Shelby's high end stereo blaring out the latest dance hits. They'd even done a few song numbers, and everyone was nicely buzzed and/or already drunk. Quinn nursed a drink, watching in amusement as the other kids went crazy. Finn was the designated driver, and he'd been sober enough to tell her he missed her. She'd brushed him off though. Ryan came stumbling across the room to flop down next to Quinn.

"So you sure you're not drinking?" Ryan asked, hanging an arm on her lazily.

"One's good, thanks," Quinn answered, raising a red solo cup. She liked alcohol as much as the next seventeen-year-old, but something about getting pregnant under the influence put a damper on things. "Besides, I'm kind of enjoying watching the rest of you get wasted," she smirked, raising her voice over the blare of the stereo playing _Like a G-6._

"Really now?" He pulled her down beside him onto the sofa. The world wobbled for a second before coming back into focus. "How about you enlighten me as to what you find so fas – fani – fatsi – cool?" he finally settled on.

"I'm guessing you're trying to say fascinating," Quinn smirked. He nodded, quickly stopping. "Finn explained this once," she started, smirking again in amusement at her normally articulate boyfriend. "When people get drunk, they sort of fall into archetypes." She looked around, pointing at Santana. "Santana turns into the Weepy Drunk." Ryan turned his head to observe the Latina, who was dancing with Sam.

"You like her more than me, she's blonde and awesome and smart! Admit it, just admit it!" Santana sobbed out, pointing at Sam as they danced. Sam turned away to get away from his wailing date, only to be pulled back. "No, kiss me!"

Ryan giggled drunkenly, leaning further into Quinn, who now pointed at Lauren. "That's the Angry Girl Drunk."

"Who told you that haircut was cool, Geronimo?" Lauren yelled at Puck, waving her red solo cup dangerously at Puck's Mohawk.

"Hey! Chill out!"

"Brittany turns into Stripper Girl Drunk," Quinn continued, gesturing at Brittany. Ryan grinned as the dancer took off her top, leaving her in her bra and extremely short shorts. Artie tossed a bunch of dollar bills in the air as he cheered.

"Makin' it rain! Woooo! That's my girlfriend, I love you, babe!"

"And then there's – hey, eyes here, Ry," Quinn said sternly, dragging Ryan's gaze away from the impromptu strip show. Ryan reluctantly pulled his stare away from Brittany, sparkling brown eyes meeting Quinn's.

"Can you dance like that?"

Quinn scoffed. "Only in your dreams," she answered, rolling her eyes. It probably wouldn't have been as funny if she were sober, and she would have been pissed if she were drunk, but she was a just the right amount of buzzed.

"Don't worry, you're still way hotter than her," Ryan breathed, kissing her neck. Quinn smiled in amusement, patting him on the cheek.

"Good to know," she quipped back as he pulled away from her and took another swig from his cup. "As I was saying, Mercedes and Tina turn into Happy Drunks." Wild cackling erupted from the two girls sitting on one of the couches. Ryan couldn't tell what was so funny, but they seemed to think that it was hilarious.

"Well, what am I then?" Ryan asked, frowning as his normally impeccable diction slurred slightly.

"You are the Needy Type drunk," Quinn informed him with a smirk. "That's the type that finds someone to latch onto, becoming borderline creepy with the touching." Ryan just smiled and wrapped his arms around Quinn. "Usually needy drunks get really clingy to their exes. Fortunately, you've got me."

"Yeah, I do," Ryan grinned happily, burying his head in the crook of Quinn's neck. He inhaled happily, his breath making her shiver. He pulled her into his lap, grinning as he pulled her into a warm kiss, his mouth opening as he devoured hers. He pulled away a moment later, his eyes closed. He opened them, looking at her adoringly. "Your face tastes awesome," he said dreamily.

Quinn just pulled him into another kiss. She huffed softly into his mouth, tasting the cocktail he'd been drinking. She let her arms wrap around his shoulders as she shoved her tongue in his mouth, moaning as she pulled him closer. It was completely intoxicating. For a moment it was just the two of them in the room, and all she wanted was more. She wanted everything, right now.

Which was why she pulled away, closing her eyes as she tried to catch her breath. This was how it had started last time. Ryan opened his eyes, looking at her with soft concern in her eyes. "Do you need a break?"

Quinn nodded, trying to clear her head. Ryan gently pushed her off of him before standing. After swaying for a second, he got his balance and pulled her up, leading her out to the porch. "Thanks," she said softly, sitting down on the first step of the porch. Ryan plopped down beside her.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded again. She just needed a second to get her head on straight. Because she wasn't going to repeat her mistake again.

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Ryan fretted. "I didn't think clearly about how this could affect you, oh god, Quinn, I'm sorry –"

Quinn pressed a finger to his lips, effectively stopping his ramble. "Ry. It's okay. I wanted to do this. I need to show myself that I can do this. I don't want to be scared of drinking. I just need to find my limits."

Ryan looked at her. "Aren't you scared of it happening again?"

"A little," she admitted, latching onto his arm and leaning her head against his. "But I know it won't happen."

"Why not?"

"'Cause you're here," she said softly. "You're not gonna let that happen to me again, and I know you wouldn't do that to me. I trust you."

She smiled as Ryan seemed to puff up at her confidence in him. "Right. I'm here, I'll take care of you." He wrapped an arm around her again, pulling her closer. "I love you," he added sweetly. Quinn sighed, settling against him with a smile.

"I love you too." They stayed like that for a few minutes. "Want to go back inside now?"

Ryan smiled. "Okay."

..

Some time later, Ryan and Quinn were back in the living room, cheering as Santana did a tequila shot off of Brittany's stomach. The stereo was booming away in the background, and Mike and Tina were busy making out in the corner of the room. Ryan had had another wine cooler and another cupful of whatever Puck had mixed up. Mercedes held up her empty wine cooler bottle. "Who wants to play spin the bottle?" she yelled.

The proposal was met with enthusiastic cheers, and a checkers board was quickly located to serve as a spinning surface. Soon different combinations of the New Directions had kissed, including Puck and Mercedes, Finn and Tina, and Mike and Quinn. Ryan wasn't exactly thrilled about the last one, but it was just a game. And if he absolutely had to pick a guy here to kiss Quinn, it would probably be Mike. Or Blaine. Blaine. Because Blaine was gay.

Brittany spun the bottle, turning it onto a blur on the checkers board, before it slowed and came to a stop pointing at Sam. Brittany got up, grinning.

"Okay, you know what, a reminder. I owns that Guppy Mouth, got it?" Santana said sassily as she went up to get another drink. "Those giant airbags belong to me, so." Ryan giggled in amusement. Santana and Sam had bizarrely started dating a week ago, and when Ryan had asked her about it, she'd just said that it was like kissing a big puffy pink cloud.

Sam just grinned back at Brittany as he got up, leaning forward to catch her lips in a kiss. The rest of the kids started catcalling as Sam tilted his head to one side, their mouths opening as the kiss deepened. Ryan laughed along with everyone else as the two blonde's continued kissing.

"Hey, hey honeys?" Santana snarked, coming back with her refilled cup to break them apart. "You know what this is not? A Big Red commercial! No es un comercial!" Sam and Brittany just grinned goofily at each other.

"My turn," Ryan exclaimed, taking hold of the bottle after a misaimed attempt. He quickly spun it, everyone watching in boisterous anticipation as it slowed. Cheers erupted as it ended up pointed towards Blaine, who grinned, his hands up in delight.

"Whoa there," Kurt said, trying to get between them. "How about we put down some ground rules –"

"Come on Kurt, it's just a game," Blaine broke in, leaning over.

"Come on Blaine Warbler," Ryan said, grinning widely. "Let's show 'em how to dance!" An instant later, their lips met, and Ryan closed his eyes. He'd never kissed anyone but Quinn before and this was… completely different. Blaine's hand came around to cup his neck, burrowing into his hair. Ryan angled his head to the right, sliding their lips together as the kiss continued longer than necessary.

"I think that's good," Ryan heard Quinn say, and he sobered slightly, quickly pulling away from Blaine a little guiltily. Blaine's eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open.

"Yeah, I think we've had enough of that," Kurt jumped in, clapping his hands.

"I'm gonna have to agree."

Ryan's head whipped around at the new voice, and all the alcohol effects seemed to rush out of his system at once. He stumbled to a standing position as he beheld the newest member of their party.

"Dad."

..

_Half an hour ago_

"Thanks so much, Kyle," James said sincerely to his co-worker. Kyle Daniels had agreed to a last minute shift switch for the weekend. James would be working the graveyard shift from Tuesday to Thursday, but that was fine with him. He really wanted to be available if Ryan had any problems.

"Yeah, no big deal," Kyle said amiably, signing into the log. "Don't have any kids, but I guess you gotta be there for 'em if you do."

"Yeah," James agreed, shrugging on his jacket. He checked his watch, waving at the receptionist as he went out. It was half past eleven, and he could just go in and check on Ryan before heading home to crash. Just to make sure there weren't any illicit sleepovers with his son's girlfriend. He got into his car, turning up the radio for the drive. It took him about fifteen minutes to make the trip, since there was hardly any traffic at this hour, and he turned the corner onto Shelby's street, quickly pulling up to the appropriate driveway.

And as soon as he did, he knew what was going on. Unfamiliar cars were parked on the curb, lights were on in the living room, and the music was up way too loud. James got out of his car just as one of Shelby's neighbors came down their walk.

"Hey, hey buddy," he called.

James turned to the middle-aged man resignedly. "Yeah?"

"You're Shelby's boyfriend, right? And the kid's dad?"

"Yeah," James nodded.

"Good, can you get them to shut up, please?" the guy said tiredly. "I like Shelby, and your kid's not a crazy delinquent, so I don't really want to call the police. But I will if I have to, so if you could rein it in, that would be great."

"That's exactly what I'm going to do," James assured Shelby's neighbor. "I'm really sorry about my son, Shelby's out of town and I just got off work. I'll put a stop to this."

"Thanks," the other man nodded with a relieved smile. "Don't worry about it, it's the first time in this neighborhood, and like I said, Shelby's really nice. Just don't let it happen again, huh?"

"Got it." James nodded at the neighbor, before walking up to Shelby's house. He tried the door, which was unlocked. So he went inside, totally unprepared for the sight that greeted him.

He wasn't stupid. He knew what was going on. It was a teenage party, and therefore there was a 99.9% chance that alcohol was involved. So the wine cooler bottles and beer cans strewn about didn't exactly faze him. No, what did cause his eyes to bug out slightly was the sight of his teenage son engaging in a rather spectacular kiss with another teenaged boy in the middle of the living room. James thought he recovered quickly enough, and he folded his arms across his chest, waiting for the conclusion of the liplock.

"I think that's good," Quinn said.

"Yeah, I think we've had enough of that," another boy piped up.

James cleared his throat. "I'm gonna have to agree with that.

The speed at which Ryan's head spun around to face him would have been comical in any other situation, but here, James just felt grim satisfaction at the slightly fearful look on the boy's face. He went to the stereo, shutting the music off. "Does anyone want to explain what's going on here?" he asked quietly, his voice loud in the silence of the room.

Ryan's mouth worked open and closed for a few second. "Dad – I – it's not –" He trailed off, seemingly unable to say anything. James nodded.

"Everybody, get up, stand over there."

The teenagers all stared at each other, balking at his request. James nodded, straightening up instinctively as he glared at the group. "Did you hear me?" he barked, all his years of experience ordering platoons of men around evident in his voice. "Everybody, line up over there, NOW!"

That did it. Twelve teenagers were suddenly scrambling for the indicated side of the room, forming into a more or less straight line, with another wheeling into position in a wheelchair. He silently walked up the line, noting the intimidated gazes that looked back at him before shooting a withering glare at his son, who shrank back. He turned again to face the rest of the group. He bent down, picking up an empty beer can from the floor. "Where did this come from?"

Again, nobody answered. "I know Miss Corcoran doesn't keep this in her house," James continued. "So somebody bought this, probably illegally, and brought it over. So who was it. Speak up, RIGHT NOW!"

Finally a boy with a Mohawk raised his hand. "I did, uh, sir," he said quietly.

"And me," he heard a Latina girl add just as softly.

He nodded, folding his arms again as he stared impassively at the group of teenagers. He checked his watch. 12:26. He sighed, going over to the shelf in the corner to pick up a pen and a piece of paper.

"All right. Here's what's going to happen," he ordered. "I know that all of you are drunk off your asses. So, I am going to pass this sheet of paper around. You will each write the name of your parent and their phone number on this piece of paper. I will then call each of your parents to pick you up." James smiled inwardly at the dismayed looks on most of the faces in front of him.

One of the boys, the tallest among them, raised his hand tentatively. "Uh, I'm not, I'm the designated driver, sir," he tacked on feebly. "I can take them home."

"Oh, but then we'd deprive all your parents of knowing just where you all are," James answered, smiling at him. "Any more objections?" He paused for a moment, daring any of them to complain. None of them did. "While I am doing that, you are all going to clean up this house. This will be done to my exact specifications, and none of you will be going home until it's done. Am I understood?"

A low mumbling acknowledgement met his words. He shook his head. "Speak up. You obviously had no problem keeping the rest of the neighborhood awake. Am I understood?" he demanded.

"Yes, sir!" the teenagers answered, in varying degrees of slurring. He nodded.

"Good." He passed the piece of paper he was holding to the boy in the wheelchair at the end of the line, waiting patiently as the group wrote down their parents' contact details. Quinn was about to hand the paper to Ryan, who was at the other end of the line, when James took the sheet from her.

"You don't need to do that," he informed his son. He scanned down the information on the paper. "Good. I hope for all your sakes that this information is accurate. Now, start cleaning this place up. I will be inspecting every inch of this place after I finish the calls, so it had better be spotless." With that, he left for Shelby's office to make thirteen phone calls.

..

"Dude, why didn't you tell us you had a crazy mom _and_ a crazy dad?" Puck hissed at Ryan as the group fixed up the living room. With the twelve of them, it was proving to be quick work, but their inebriation wasn't helping matters. Neither was the knowledge that they were going to be in massive trouble with their parents. "And more importantly, why didn't you say your whack-job dad was coming to check on you?"

"He's not a whack-job," Ryan argued hotly, bending down to pick up a stray beer can and tossing it into the garbage. "And I didn't know he was going to stop by, okay? He doesn't live here."

"All I know is my dad's gonna kill me," Mercedes said glumly.

"Me too," Kurt moaned. "This is all your fault," he shot at Ryan, who sighed. Great. Everyone was mad at him again.

"Back off, it's not like he poured the alcohol down your throats or anything," Quinn grumbled, wiping off the coffee table with a wet rag. Ryan shot her a grateful quirk of the lips.

"Yeah, lay off, guys," Mike said tiredly. "Let's just get this done so we can go home."

That shut up the conversation, and a few minutes later James was back in the room. "I've finished calling all your parents, and they'll be here within the hour," he announced. He surveyed the room, and Ryan could practically see him zero in on everything they hadn't cleaned up yet. "You better hurry if you want to finish before they get here."

The kids set back to work. The room was clean soon, and James came back to check on it. He shook his head. "Not good enough, you missed the side tables over there, and there's a beer can behind the sofa as well as chips scattered randomly."

"Was your dad a janitor?" Santana snarked once James was out of the room. "It's like he can see every speck of dirt in here."

Ryan shook his head morosely. "Army." A second checkup revealed a beer spill in the kitchen. Finally, after a third check, James deemed the house adequate, just in time for Artie's mother to pick him up. Mike's mother was next, followed by Sam's father. Eventually the rest of the New Directions was picked up, leaving Ryan alone in the house with his dad. He glanced up at the older man, wincing at the thunderous expression on his face. "What exactly were you thinking?" James asked coldly, pure steel in his voice.

Ryan gulped. "I –"

"No, I know what you were thinking," James cut in. "You weren't. There were fourteen minors in this house with a shitload of alcohol. Illegally obtained alcohol, I'm sure. What would you have done if the cops showed up, huh? Your neighbors were about ready to when I showed up, so what were you planning?"

"I-I don't –"

"Exactly, you have no idea what you would have done, do you?" James seethed, his voice rising angrily. "Anything could happened to you kids here! Alcohol poisoning, drunk driving, hell, a rape could have occurred here! Not to mention, you took advantage of your mother's trust in you and completely disrespected her home! You should have known better than this!"

Ryan was almost in tears at this point. His dad was right, he didn't know what he would have done if things had gotten out of control. He shouldn't have done this at all, he knew that.

James let out a deep breath. "Go to bed. We will talk about this in the morning, do you understand?" he bit out.

Ryan nodded frantically. "Y-yes sir." He escaped into his room, leaning against the closed door and sliding down to the ground. He'd just messed everything up.

* * *

Less than five hours later James woke up from his spot in the bed in the guest bedroom. It was next to Ryan's room, fortunately, and he'd been keeping an ear out to see if the kid needed help. He'd checked on him at around three in the morning and found him out cold. He'd probably have a massive hangover. He did his morning routine and went downstairs just in time for his phone to ring. "Hello?"

"_Hi James, you guys okay over there? Did you check on Ryan?"_ Shelby's voice came through the speaker.

"Morning, Shel, I'm at your house right now, as a matter of fact," James answered, sitting down in the living room. "You're a little early."

"_No choice, the seminar starts up at eight. Is Ryan okay? I called his cell, he's not answering."_

Probably because he's still dead to the world, James thought wryly. "He's okay." At least he will be, once the hangover wears off. "He just… had a late night last night."

"_That sounds ominous,"_ Shelby quipped. "_Do I want to know?"_ James didn't answer for a moment. _"Your silence is not encouraging."_

"We had a bit of a situation," James said slowly. "There may or may not have been a party last night. And it may or may not have been here in your living room."

Shelby was silent for a moment. _"I see."_

"I caught maybe a dozen of them last night, with enough booze to rival that party we went to in '88."

"_Ah."_ More silence._ "What did you do?"_

"I got them to clean it up and called all their parents to pick them up," James answered, giving her a quick rundown of the story. "And I had a short talk with Ryan. There may have been yelling." He hesitated. "I'm not really sure what to do here."

"_You did fine,"_ Shelby told him. _"That's probably what I would have done too. With more yelling at our little delinquent. Did the neighbors call the cops?"_

"No, I got here a few minutes before one of them was about to. Look, maybe we should just wait for you to get here so we can talk to Ryan together. I don't know what to say."

"_No,"_ Shelby said immediately. "_You're there, you caught him, you have to deal with it now. Besides, you also said you want to be more involved, right? Here's your chance. You're his father, you have as much right and responsibility to deal with this as I do._"

"Yeah, but I didn't think it would be so soon," James lamented. "You just don't want to deal with it," he accused.

"_There is that," _Shelby answered, a hint of amusement in her voice. "_But seriously, I'll back you up on whatever punishment you deem necessary."_

"Gee, thanks," James said sarcastically. "But okay."

"_You'll do great. Now, I need to go if I want to have breakfast. I'll see you guys later. Love you."_

"I love you." James hung up the phone. He sighed. Time to go wake up his errant offspring.

..

"Ryan. Ryan, wake up."

Ryan shut his eyes tighter, waving a hand at whoever was calling him. Then he winced as he moved his head, the motion sending spikes of pain into his head. "Whuh?"

"Come on kid, up you get."

Damn it, who was that? Couldn't they just let him sleep? He opened his mouth to tell them to go away, only to cough at the cottony feeling in his mouth. Of course the cough just made his head throb even more. He blinked, and wished he hadn't as the sunlight streaming in from the window almost blinded him. What was happening? What – oh.

The memories of last night came rushing back – the party, the beer, the spinning bottle – oh god.

"So, are you awake now?"

Ryan finally recognized the booming voice. The sound reverberating in his skull made it a little difficult to think, and dimly he felt the bed dipping down as his father sat down on the bed.

"Here." He felt a glass being pushed into his hand, and he struggled into an upright position. He squinted, trying to let as little light into his pupils as possible. It was fine too, since he wasn't sure he wanted to face James after what had gone down last night. He took a sip of the water, swirling it around to get rid of the dryness in his mouth. He felt a couple of tablets pressed into his hand. "Drink that, then come downstairs, okay?"

"But –"

"No buts," James said firmly. "You want to drink like an adult, you get to handle the hangover like an adult. Downstairs in ten minutes, understood?"

Ryan nodded, instantly regretting the action as he felt like his head was being shaken loose. He heard James close the door as he exited the room, and the resulting bang made Ryan shut his eyes, trying to relieve his pounding headache. Why did people drink at all if this happened?

He made his way downstairs a few minutes later, the aspirin having done a tiny amount of good. Not much though, he thought wryly as he slid himself onto a chair at the dining table. He slumped down against the table, only to sit up again as James sat down opposite him. He averted his eyes, unable to meet James' gaze. "You okay?" his father asked.

Ryan started to shake his head, before thinking better of it. "No," he said quietly.

"I thought so." James paused for a moment. "We're going to have a little talk."

Talk? Ryan glanced at him in confusion. "About what?"

"Don't play games with me," James said sternly. "We're going to talk about what happened last night. What exactly made you think having a party with alcohol was a good idea? The neighbors were almost ready to call the cops, you could have all been arrested for underage drinking."

'I know, I know I messed up, okay?" Ryan mumbled, bracing for more yelling. "I didn't think about all that, I just thought we could have some fun because we were so stressed out about Regionals, and we just won the basketball game, so I thought it wouldn't do any harm."

James nodded. "Look, I get it, but that doesn't change the fact that all of you were underage, and you're not supposed to be drinking. When I gave you that beer last week, that was because it was just the two of us, and I'm legal. Last night was not okay." He looked at Ryan. "You're grounded for two weeks. That means phone, iPod, laptop, TV, car keys. You are also going to go and apologize to all of your neighbors for causing such a disturbance last night. You will also take any additional punishment your mother deems necessary."

"You're going to tell her?" Ryan asked, dismayed. He'd been hoping to maybe keep it between them.

"I already did, she called earlier this morning," James informed him. "She's your mom, and this all happened in her house, of course I was going to tell her."

Ryan slumped down on the table. "Okay." His head was still pounding, and the light in the room wasn't making it any better. "Can I please go up to bed now?" He was just ready to get this over with, preferably before James started to yell.

James looked at him. "No. Come on, we're going out first."

Fifteen minutes later, Ryan found himself at McDonald's with James, eating an Egg McMuffin as James sipped a coffee and read the morning paper. James had given him a pair of sunglasses to block out the sunshine that was streaming in through the windows, and Ryan wasn't sure what was happening. "I thought I was grounded."

"You are," James assured him, turning a page. "But we need breakfast, and greasy things help me with hangovers. So finish the sandwich, it might help."

Ryan chewed his Egg McMuffin slowly as he watched his father warily. He glanced around him uncomfortably, taking in the sights of the breakfast crowd in the fast food place. The noise of the other customers was making his head throb, and he settled his gaze back on James. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Ryan chanced another glance at his father. "I don't understand," he mumbled, wincing as his voice reverberated in his own head.

James peered at him from the top of the paper. "Understand what?"

"Why are you doing this? Aren't you mad at me?"

"Yes, I'm still a little bit pissed that you thought you could get away with having a party, but we've talked, it seems that you get that what you did was wrong, so you just ride out your sentence and we can leave it at that."

"But that's not how it's supposed to go," Ryan countered, getting a little frustrated. He was very confused with what was happening, and it wasn't helping his hangover headache at all. James put down his newspaper, looking at him seriously.

"How is this supposed to go, then?" he asked.

"I don't know," Ryan answered, his voice slurring a little as his head pounded. He slipped the glasses off to rub at his forehead, screwing his eyes shut as a marching band paraded through his brain. He stubbornly went on though. "Not like this! You're supposed to be mad at me! You yelled at me last night, and that's what you were supposed to do again this morning, not talk calmly like that! Then, we're supposed to ignore and hide from each other for a few days until this blows over." _And then you eventually end up leaving. _He looked around him. "We are not supposed to be at McDonalds, discussing this calmly over drinks!"

James looked at him for a long moment, and Ryan almost started fidgeting. "Is that how things went at your old house?"

Ryan deflated instantly. That was exactly right. That was why he'd been so thrown. He'd been expecting this with his dad to go the way they had with Hiram and Leroy. And the reality was… disconcerting. "I…" He groaned, losing his train of thought as his head pulsed. Thank god for the food, at least now he didn't feel like he was about to vomit.

James sighed. "Look, just finish your breakfast and then we'll go home, okay? You can sleep it off."

Ryan just nodded and did as he was told. He really didn't want to have to think right now.

..

It was eleven-thirty at night by the time Shelby finally pulled into her driveway. She sighed heavily as she shut of the engine, completely glad to be back home. There was a light on in the living room, but none upstairs, so she figured Ryan or James must have left it on for her. She put her key in the front door and went into the house, locking it again behind her. She walked to the stairs and nearly jumped out of her skin when a figure stood up in the living room. "You scared the crap out of me," she scolded. James gave her a small smile in return.

"Sorry," he said unapologetically, pulling her into a hug. She let him, before pulling away after a few seconds.

"So how did it go?" she asked, pulling him into the kitchen. She pulled out two glasses from the cupboard and a bottle of wine from the fridge, pouring them both a glass. James looked at her in amusement. "I've been dealing with sanctimonious educators for 48 hours, cut me some slack."

James just chuckled at her. "Whatever you say."

"What's the sentence?" Shelby prodded, sitting down at the counter opposite James.

"Two weeks, and I told him to apologize to your neighbors."

"Ah." She nodded approvingly, taking a sip of her wine. "Good touch. I'll enforce it. And maybe add something else," she said as an afterthought. "Hangover?"

"Massive." James hesitated. "I talked to him this morning."

"That's good."

"I'm not really sure." Shelby listened as he told her about how his chat with Ryan had gone, and the mini meltdown Ryan had had at McDonalds. "He was expecting me to act like his old parents, Shelby."

Shelby sighed. She'd suspected that this might come up sometime. "He acted like that with me the first time I grounded him," she admitted, remembering the way Ryan had tried to sneak out of the house since Hiram and Leroy hadn't been any good at enforcing their groundings.

"He was so confused when I was talking to him this morning, I'm pretty sure he expected me to start screaming at him or to never speak to him again."

"But you didn't, right?" Shelby asked. He shook his head. "Well, that's good. The Berrys really did a number on him. And if you think about him, he hasn't even been away from them for a year. He was with them for fifteen. He's going to have some leftover expectations. And I think the only thing we can do is show him that we're different. That's what I've been trying to do, anyways."

James nodded slowly, mulling on her words. "Do you think he's mad at me?"

"Honestly? Yes. At least, he will be when he gets over his hangover," Shelby amended. "He doesn't like being grounded."

"Great."

"But it's fine, kids get mad at their parents all the time. God knows I was furious with mine half the time in high school. He'll get over it."

"If you say so." James stood up, stretching. "Are you going to bed?"

Shelby nodded. "You can stay over, if you want to." He nodded, and she smiled happily. She slept better when he was there. "I'm just going to go check on Ryan." She went upstairs and quietly opened Ryan's door. The teenager was sprawled on the bed, fast asleep. She watched him breathing for a few moments. Even while annoyed at him for the party, she still loved him so much. She ran a hand softly through his hair before exiting the room.

James met her outside. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah," Shelby nodded. "Let's go to bed."

* * *

**Hi people, here's the next chapter. We're up to Blame It On the Alcohol already, and I can't believe I've been doing this for almost a year. Glad people are still reading. **

**On more drama, there should be some coming up soon. Ryan and Quinn need to have a little drama to write their original song. The question is how much drama should they get? I'm open to suggestions. Right now the plan involves Finn somehow or other. We'll see how it plays out. Also, what do you think about Shelby getting involved with the New Directions? I have an idea of how to get her to do it.**

**We're still going slowly with the Faberry. I've said it before, I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible, and we're talking about the girl who had a teen pregnancy and the boy who wanted to wait until 25. Also, they might hit a snag with the upcoming drama. We'll see about college, I haven't thought that far ahead yet. As to actors in mind, I don't really have anyone in particular, so go ahead and fill them in with anyone you like ;)**

**So, more fallout from the party next time, we might get into the next episode a little. Tell me what you thought of this chapter, and I'll see you next time.**


	56. Chapter 55

**Hey everyone, just thought I'd try putting the AN up here. First of all, thank you to all the reviewers last time, I love hearing your input and all sorts of ideas started flooding in when I saw your suggestions. I'll be doing quite a few of them. **

**\- Ryan walking out on ND will happen. Won't say when though. Yes, half of ND are still unlikeable. Puck in particular. At this point he's still immature and a dick, even in canon.**

**\- You guys are all right, I thought Faberry breaking up 'cos of Finn would be completely wrong and OOC too.**

**\- For the people wanting more sexytimes, it will come, don't worry, but I'm not sure how to write those, tbh. Zero experience, LOL. **

**I haven't had a lot of time, therefore late update. But I'm glad people are still reading. Again, any mistakes are mine. On to the story!**

* * *

Ryan woke up with a headache again the next morning. True, it wasn't quite as bad as yesterday's bass drums, drilling-jackhammer, bang-your-head-against-the-wall headache, but it still wasn't fun. After getting dressed, he went downstairs and pulled himself onto at stool at the counter, slumping his head against the cool marble.

"Good morning to you too."

He jumped awake at Shelby's voice, wincing as he did so. "Mom. Hi Mom. Good morning Mom."

"Hmmm." Shelby slid a plate of toast in front of him. "It seems we need to have a talk."

"I know," Ryan sighed. "I shouldn't have had the party the other night, since we were all underage and there weren't any adults in the house. It was stupid and reckless and very inconsiderate to the neighbors, to whom I shall be apologizing. I shouldn't have let Puck and Santana pressure me into hosting a party here, especially since you trusted me alone in the house for the weekend. I'm sorry I broke your trust, and I'm extremely sorry that I had a drinking party here, especially since I still have a hangover."

Shelby raised her eyebrow as he rambled on. "Are you done?" He nodded. "Good. Since you seem to have lectured yourself, we'll skip that part."

"Wait, what?"

"You seem to have covered the major points of what needed to be said, and I hope that this incident will not be repeated." Ryan shook his head, staring at her. It couldn't be that easy, could it? "Now, your dad told me that he issued two weeks of grounding. Now, aside from the grounding, you're also going to communicate to me extensively the effects of alcohol, why underage drinking is prohibited, and exactly why what you did was wrong. Essay form, 3000 words."

"_3000 words –"_

"5000," Shelby said, cutting him off before he could get any further. "Keep going and it'll be seven. I suggest you stop." She paused for a moment to see if he would push it. He didn't. "Good."

Ryan stared at her. He hated writing essays like the plague, and 5000 words? He could barely write 2000 for school without running out of things to say – surprising, when he was usually orally verbose – so how was he supposed to come up with 5000? "You're evil, you know I hate writing."

"Then hopefully this gets the lesson to stick."

..

"So you're all grounded for the next week?" Mr. Schue stared at the glee club disbelievingly. The hungover group of students were all wearing sunglasses, some of them wincing at his loud voice as they sat in the choir room. "What about after school rehearsals?"

About half the club shook their heads, their parents having made it clear that there were to be no extracurricular activities. "Well, I'm grounded, but it doesn't matter," Puck shrugged.

Mr. Schue shook his head. "What happened?"

"Ryan had a party at his house while Miss Corcoran was away," Lauren answered.

"And he didn't tell us his dad was going to be there at midnight," Mercedes grumbled, rubbing at her forehead. "So his dad came and called all our parents."

"Do you realize what you guys just did?" Mr. Schue said angrily, staring at Ryan. "Regionals is in less than three weeks, we need every bit of rehearsal time we can get. Not to mention, any of you drinking is illegal. I'm very disappointed, Ryan."

Santana raised her hand slowly. "It's not all his fault, okay, Puck and I brought the booze."

"You shouldn't have done that," Mr. Schue said in disapproval. "But Ryan, you held the party, you should have been responsible enough to keep the alcohol out."

"That's not fair, if you put it that way, everyone should have been responsible enough not to get drunk," Quinn pointed out, one of the few students not too hungover to come up with a coherent argument. Yes, maybe he'd been the one to host the party. But it hadn't been completely his fault. Santana and Puck had been the ones to procure the alcohol. And he wouldn't really be cutting into rehearsal time, since Mr. Schue wouldn't be having them rehearse for the competition until three days before.

"All right, enough," Mr. Schue said, holding up his hand. "We only have a couple of days to come up with the number for the assembly. So let's see what we've got."

Ryan smiled at Quinn halfheartedly. "Thanks for trying." He already knew that the rest of the club was angry with him after James had called all their parents. It wasn't completely his fault, but then he was used to it.

After the glee meeting Quinn opened her locker to get her things. The group had tried out a performance of _Blame It on the Alcohol_ for Mr. Schue. It had turned out pretty well, but Mr. Schue had decided that the song glorified alcohol and wasn't a good song for Alcohol Awareness week. This had prompted a mini argument in which the kids had expressed their opinions that since adults had alcohol all the time, there wasn't any reason for the students not to. Mr. Schue had become defensive and had sent them off to find more appropriate songs.

As she pulled her bag out of the locker, Finn showed up next to her, leaning on the locker next to hers. "So, that was an awesome kiss between Blaine and Ryan at the party, huh?" Quinn shut her locker, turning away from the tall quarterback. She wasn't even going to dignify that with a response. "Didn't it bother you? Like, at all?"

"Nope." Quinn walked away. It had been a stupid spin-the-bottle game, of course she wasn't worried. Well, maybe a little, when that kiss had turned a little steamier than called for, but Ryan wasn't gay. At least that she knew of. Whatever. But she wasn't about to tell Finn that. As if. "Go away, Finn."

He didn't oblige though, falling into step with her instead. "You know, you deserve a lot better than him."

Quinn rolled her eyes, turning a corner. "You mean like you?"

"Maybe. He got the whole glee club into trouble after all."

"Newsflash, Finn, I'm much happier with him than I ever was with you. Sorry, but it's the truth." No, actually, she wasn't sorry at all. Finn could be sweet when he wanted to be, but most of the time she just found herself annoyed by the lumbering football player.

"Then why didn't you kiss me at the booth on Valentine's Day?"

Quinn stopped walking as looked at him incredulously. Was he stupid or something? Oh yeah. "Did you not just hear what I said, Finn?"

"Yeah, so if you kissed me, there shouldn't be anything between us, right? No sparks or anything?" Finn argued, before giving her a smug smile. "See, I think you're scared. I think that you think that if you kiss me, you'll feel it again. We were good together. We had fireworks. And you're scared to find out."

"We did not have fireworks."

"Oh?" Finn moved closer. "How about we try it out and see?"

Quinn stared at him. She wasn't _scared_ of having fireworks with him. She didn't feel anything for Finn. She stepped back. "No thanks."

He shrugged, that smile still on his face. "Okay, but you'll never know what you might be missing until you try it."

She rolled her eyes, walking away from him. "Whatever, Finn."

..

"Did you have a good day?" Shelby asked brightly as Ryan got into her car after class. For the next two weeks the teenager would only be leaving the house in her Range Rover with her driving. Shelby had also taken much joy in speaking as loudly as possible whenever she spotted one of the glee kids in her classes. She may have also dropped a few heavy books just to see them wince. "How's your hangover?"

"Ugh," Ryan leaned his face against the cool window. "Do you really have to talk so loud?"

"It's _loudly_," Shelby corrected his grammar pleasantly as she pulled out of the school parking lot. "And my voice is at a perfect modulation, I'll have you know." Ryan just grunted in response. "How was glee?"

"Fine. Well, the performance was," he amended. "Everyone's mad at me again because I neglected to inform them that I had insane parents who would check up on me at midnight. Pretty much the whole club is grounded right now."

"Insane parents, huh?" Shelby smirked. "But I'm pretty sure you didn't force them to come to the party, so they don't really have any right to blame you."

"Especially since Puck and Santana were the ones who pushed for it in the first place," Ryan sighed, closing his eyes.

"You shouldn't have caved even if they had pushed," Shelby told him sternly. "Peer pressure is not a good way to make decisions. Trust me, I know." She had made her fair share of less than smart decisions at the urging of friends.

"I know that," Ryan said quietly, looking down.

"So why did you do it?"

He shrugged. "I usually say it's part of my pathological desire to be accepted. I can't really help it."

Shelby sighed. It bothered her how everyone at this school treated him. It wasn't just the slushies. She'd watched a few of the glee club sessions, and it was like the club just outright dismissed him and his ideas most of the time even when he bent over backwards to help them. "You know, you shouldn't let them treat you like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're disposable."

"Oh." He picked at the hem of the jacket he was wearing. "I know that too. But I need the glee club, and I need us to win. And it's not as bad," he added unconvincingly. "Not like before. Some of them actually pay attention now."

Shelby frowned. "They should pay attention. It's basic respect. You shouldn't be pleased that some of them pay attention, as if it's a favor to you."

"I know." He looked down. "It's exhausting to have to continually fight for their respect. Whenever I do get it, I do something that ends up losing it. Or they simply forget. Good deeds are far more easily forgotten than bad ones. Elphaba had it right. No good deed goes unpunished and all that. I guess sometimes it's just easier to go with what everybody wants."

"Easier, but not always right. You can't please everybody in the world," Shelby told him. "It'll kill you to try. Do what's right, not just what makes people happy. If they don't respect you, forget them."

"You know, I guess that's why I always wanted those solos so much," Ryan said thoughtfully. "The only time anyone ever listened to me was when I sang. They may not have respected me as a person, but they respected my voice. I know it wasn't the same, but it was the closest I was ever going to get." He glanced at her. "Until we found each other anyway."

Shelby wasn't quite sure what to say. Every time she thought she was getting over the past, something like this came up that reminded her how her child's life had been before. "You know you don't always have to have the solos for me to be proud of you, right?" she asked. "I love you."

Ryan gave her a small smile. "Even when I mess up?"

"Even if you burned the house down, I'd still love you," she promised, sending him a smile. "I'd be incredibly pissed, but I'd still love you."

"That's good to know."

Shelby nodded, moving on. "Now, we're still having your vocal lesson later."

Ryan shot her a sideways glance. "I was kind of hoping to have a nap."

"You can have one after," she smirked, back in good spirits. "You wanted the hangover, you get to perform with a hangover."

"You're a slave driver, you know."

"I know. Suck it up."

* * *

"Hi Will," Shelby said as she sat down with the rest of the teachers in the bleachers of the gym, waiting for the Alcohol Awareness Assembly to start. "Hi Emma."

"Hey, Shelby," Will said tiredly, as Emma waved at her.

"You okay there, Will?" Shelby asked, glancing sideways at the Spanish teacher. "Looking a little peaky over there."

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are, Brillo Head," Sue interjected as she settled next to Shelby. "I'm sure the bloodshot eyes and the glasses you were trying to hide them behind were simply a poorly thought out fashion statement. Much like the vests that make up your entire wardrobe." She nodded at the other two females. "Irma. Ice Queen."

Emma sighed. "Sue."

"Satan," Shelby nodded back. "Nice to see that your doldrums are gone."

"Yes, I can safely say that I am back to my usual charming self. How was your spawn's house party, by the way?"

"Much fun, I'm told. Until James - Ryan's dad - broke it up and called everyone's parents."

"Excellent."

Right then, Principal Figgins walked out onto the stage, tapping the microphone. It whined, and the whole gym winced at the sound. "Quiet please, children," Figgins intoned. He went on to introduce Lima's Chief of Police, who made a grisly presentation on DUIs and automobile accidents. Then Figgins went back up. "Thank you Chief. And now, performing the hit single _Tik _and also _Tok_, by rapper Ke-dollar-sign-ha, the New Directions." Feedback emitted from the mic again, and the crowd clapped unenthusiastically as the glee club stepped out.

To Shelby's surprise, Brittany Pierce took the lead on the song, and she did a good job. The girl was a great dancer. Shelby frowned as she saw Brittany say a few words to Ryan in between lyrics, and Ryan seemed to say something back. She had a bad feeling about this…

_Tick tock on the clock_

_But the party don't stop, no_

_Oh, oh, oh, oh –_

Brittany suddenly lurched forward, vomiting a disgusting grey-purple sludge right into Ryan's face, causing him to freeze. She put out a hand in shock. "Oh my god."

Ryan rushed off the stage, just in time for Santana to clap her hands to her mouth before a fountain of the same sludge erupted between her fingers. The gym was silent, everybody too shocked and grossed out to say anything. Brittany looked around at the audience.

Silence, then… "Everybody, drink responsibly."

"Well, it seems that my predictions have come to fruition, William," Sue said, standing up And walking out. "I tried to warn you," she threw over her shoulder.

Shelby leaned over to Will. "I'm assuming that's not a part of your show."

Will just shook his head in shock.

"I thought not."

Half an hour later Shelby watched as Ryan got into the Range Rover after the assembly, his hair still wet from his shower. "Do I want to know what was in that sludge?"

"No, you don't."

"You can just go ahead and add 'being vomited on' to your essay on why not to drink, then."

* * *

The bell rang for first period the morning after the assembly, and Shelby turned to her first class of the day. "Okay, class, I need you to turn to page –"

She was cut off by the intercom system crackling to life, the dulcet tones of a xylophone coming out. Random notes started coming faster until they came to a sudden stop. Becky Jackson's voice then announced, "Heads up, McKinley, Coach Sylvester's gonna shout at you."

Sue's voice then spoke out calmly. "Students. Colleagues. Indeed, all who understand the Queen's English. We all still quake in terror at what we witnessed yesterday at the assembly by a glee club spiraling out of control. My nose is still filled with the acrid stench of teen vomit, and there is simply but one person to blame. The alcoholic teen vomit fetishist, Will Schuester, the director of that club." Shelby rolled her eyes at Sue's dramatics, noting that the glee club members who were in her class, including her son, were wincing at the comments. "Two days ago, I received a drunk dial in the middle of the night from a horny Will Schuester. Open your ears, McKinley, and behold the awful price of alcoholism."

A phone beeped, and a recording played. _"Hey there, sexy lady,"_ Will's slurred voice blared out of the intercom. Shelby shut her eyes, one hand rubbing at the bridge of her nose. Fantastic. He laughed. _"There's something I really, really want to say to you. I love how you eat your lunch with your little plastic gloves, and they crinkle and make the cutest sound I've ever heard in my life."_ Well, that wasn't so bad. Everyone and their dog already knew about Will's infatuation with Emma Pillsbury.

_"Why don't you pick up some wine coolers, and come over here?"_

Oh.

_"And it'll be just one night of us just getting crazy. Let's just get crazy! Let's get really crazy and roll around in the hay."_ Will laughed drunkenly again. _"I was just in some hay earlier tonight, and I rode a bull and I was thinking of you."_ The phone beeped again, and Sue's voice returned.

"Will Schuester? You've just been publicly humiliated."

..

That afternoon, Ryan sat listlessly in his room, flicking through a novel Shelby had assigned for English class. The glee club had been called into Figgins' office earlier. They'd thought they were about to be disbanded, but the principal had said that their 'ruse' had worked, and that there hadn't been any alcohol-related incidents all day. He'd then proceeded o give them coupons for half-off frozen yogurt. Sometimes it was good to have one of the most oblivious people in the state as the principal. A knock sounded on his door. It was probably his mom. "Yes?"

The door opened, and James peered in. "Mind if I come in?"

Ryan nodded. He wasn't going to turn down someone who wasn't his mom to talk to. They would be getting very tired of each other's company during the next couple of weeks. "Yeah, sure." He sat up on his bed as James came in. "How come you're here?"

"I just wanted to talk, if that's okay."

"Oh." Ryan fiddled with the corner of his bedspread. "I'm sorry I messed up with the party," he said lowly. "And about what I said at breakfast."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," James answered, sitting down on the bed. "How did things usually go before, at your old house?"

Ryan shrugged. "What I said. They would yell a little, then ground me. Then I'd lay low for a bit, because if I made them angry they'd yell again. But after a couple of days they'd forget about it. That's if they were around to catch whatever I did in the first place."

"Do you expect your mom and me to act like them?"

He shrugged again. "I'm relatively sure that you won't," he admitted. "You and mom appear to be the very opposite of Leroy and Hiram Berry. I guess I was just really out of it, and I expected… well." Not to mention his old life had been near the surface recently, ever since Hiram had reappeared last week. He hadn't told Shelby or James about the run-in, feeling that it wasn't important. He just wanted that part of his life over and done with. "I know you're not the same."

James offered him a small smile. "That's, that's good, then." He looked at his son closely. "Is there something else bothering you?"

Ryan shook his head. "No. Just sick of the house, I guess," he said with a slight chuckle.

"Can't help you there," James answered, amused. "Now," he continued, a mischievous smile on his face. "That kiss with your friend looked pretty hot and heavy. Blaine, wasn't it?"

"It was spin the bottle," Ryan answered defensively. "It was just a game."

"You sure about that? You two looked pretty into it," his dad smirked.

Ryan wrinkled his nose. "No, okay? Just no. He's my friend, that's it." He had absolutely no romantic attraction to Blaine whatsoever. This brought up a new question, though. "Would you have a problem if there was something to it?"

James shook his head. "No. You remember Frank? The guy who was here when I moved in?" Ryan nodded. "His boyfriend works in IT, just starting up in Oregon."

"Oh." Ryan nodded. He had quite a few friends now who were gay, he didn't want either of his parents to be homophobic. "That's good for him."

"Don't worry. I think it bothered Quinn more than me," James told him. Ryan winced.

"She knows it didn't mean anything."

James nodded, before looking at him again. "You're sure there's nothing else?"

The teenager considered for a moment, careful not to let it show on his face as his thoughts drifted back to Hiram. He'd been thinking about it more than he'd care to admit. He had thought he was over his old parents basically abandoning him, but… "No, it's nothing."

"Okay."

* * *

_One week later_

Shelby sighed, marking a C on the latest paper she was grading in her office. It had been over a week since the alcohol incident. Ryan's grounding was up on Saturday, and to be fair he'd been good about it. He was always underfoot in the house, but he hadn't complained. The alcohol essay had also been completed in good time. She finished reading another paper and marked a B+ when she heard a knock. "Come in."

"Hey hot stuff."

Shelby looked up, smirking at the familiar voice. "Holly Holliday."

The door opened to reveal a blonde woman standing there with a smile. "Shelby Corcoran." She came into the office, plopping herself into the chair in front of the desk.

"Sure, Holly, make yourself at home," Shelby quipped. The blonde ignored her.

"So, I was here a few months ago, replacing a teacher whose kid was out with the flu. The old fossil at the front desk didn't give me a name. And my friend Shelby Corcoran doesn't have a kid living with her, so it couldn't possibly be her." Holly tilted her head at Shelby. "So, spill, girlfriend."

Shelby rolled her eyes, but couldn't help her smile at the woman's antics. The two had known each other since sophomore year at OSU. Their friendship had been built on Holly's insanity and Shelby's sarcasm, and Holly had been one of the very few to know about Shelby's plans to become a surrogate for the Berrys. They'd kept up their friendship while Shelby was in New York, with Holly occasionally visiting to see whatever off-Broadway show Shelby was involved in, and Shelby catching up with Holly whenever she visited Ohio. Eventually, when Shelby had taken the job at Carmel High, they'd met again when Holly popped up to sub at Carmel every once in a while. Holly had hopping around schools in Cincinnati for the past few months, and she hadn't been in Lima for a while. "I was watching last year's show choir Sectionals competition," Shelby started to explain.

"Scoping out the competition," Holly nodded.

"And I saw the lead singer of the new glee club at McKinley, and he was fantastic, Holly, the performance was incredible. And he looked like me. So I checked the program, and his name was there."

"Wow, so all this was a total coincidence?"

"That's just the beginning." Shelby told Holly the whole saga of how Ryan had come to live with her.

"Those men are assholes," Holly commented.

"Total bastards," Shelby agreed. "But I've got him back Holly," she continued, a smile spreading on her face. "I got my baby back."

"That's wonderful, Shelby," Holly said sincerely. "I'm happy for you. I know how messed up you were after he was born. And he's adorable, I saw him in class today, he looks like your male copy. Except for those eyes."

Shelby beamed happily. "So, what's up with you?" she asked the blonde. "Sex ed, right?"

"It's called 'Health Class', but I like to call it 'Giggly Squirmy Class'. I had Timmy Thurman write 'I will not giggle during health class' fifty times on the board."

"I'm aware," Shelby said dryly. "Ryan mentioned you used a cucumber to demonstrate how to wear a condom."

"At least he knew what it was for," Holly quipped. "Some of the kids are now under the impression that cucumbers give you AIDS. I love my job." She smirked. "On to more important things. Will Schuester's cute, isn't he? And just your type too – show choir director with slightly ambiguous sexuality."

Shelby just rolled her eyes at her. "Yes, I did notice that he's cute. He actually asked me out a few weeks after I started here."

"Ooh, gossip," Holly grinned. "How was he? I assume you got it on with him already. Did you use a condom?" she smirked.

"I didn't."

"What? Looks like you seriously need to attend my health class. We're doing STDs tomorrow. I'm gonna dress up as a yeast infection."

"No, you psycho," Shelby grumbled, not even wanting to think of how Holly was going to pull that off. "I didn't go out with Will."

"Why not? He's gorgeous, what's wrong with you?"

Shelby picked up her pen. "I'm kind of with someone."

"What?! Who? I skip town for a few months and all this stuff happens," Holly moaned.

"I'm sort of with Ryan's biological dad."

Holly stared at her for a moment. "Wait, I thought they were both gay."

"It's…complicated."

"Wow, it's like a really sappy Nicholas Sparks novel," Holly commented. "Minus the steamy sex scenes. Unless…?"

Shelby glared at her. "Shut up."

Holly smirked. "You need to tell me everything right now."

..

Before the glee meeting that day, Quinn headed to Ryan's locker to meet him. She smiled as she spotted him pushing some of his books into his locker, and she went up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she rested her chin on his shoulder. She felt his chest move as he chuckled. "Hi."

"Hi," she answered contentedly, happy to just be touching him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Well, Finn had been annoying her again, but that wasn't an issue. "How about you?"

"Can't complain." He turned so he was facing her, wrapping his own arms around her waist. "You're here, after all."

"Cheesy."

"Perhaps." He gave her a quick kiss before releasing her, taking a folder of sheet music from his locker. "So, I was thinking about our set list for Regionals, we still only have one song. Since Mr. Schue still refuses to consider writing our own songs. I'll be doing either a solo or a duet of course, so I've been looking through a list that might be considered as anthems…"

Quinn just smiled as she listened to him compare and contrast different songs, half of them ones that she wasn't familiar with, as they walked to the choir room. She liked seeing him like this anyways. He was so passionate about his music, it was one of the many things she admired about him. Unfortunately, it was also something for which he was teased by the rest of the student population, including herself until last year.

"Quinn? Did you hear me?"

"Um…" She blinked at him, and he smiled ruefully.

"Too much, huh?" he said a bit self-deprecatingly. "Don't worry about it, I tend to ramble. It's okay for you to tune out if you get bored."

She shook her head. "No it's not. I'm sorry." She'd spent enough time tuning him out before. She reached up to kiss him on the cheek. "I'm listening." She pulled him over to their usual seats in the choir room, just as Mr. Schue walked up to the whiteboard to write and underline the word SEXY.

"Is that a requirement for Regionals?" Puck asked, smirking. "Cause the Puckeroni's got that covered." Quinn rolled her eyes.

"No, this isn't about Regionals," Mr. Schue replied, walking to the front of the room. Quinn shot a look at Ryan, who had a frustrated look on his face. She was well aware that he really wanted to get the ball rolling on their Regionals preparations. Mr. Schue continued. "I'm a little less worried about that right now and more worried about the fact that some of you seem to be lacking when it comes to understanding the… ah… the intricacies… of… adult relationships…" He trailed of uncomfortably, causing some of the kids to let out stifled giggles. He shook his head, soldiering on. "So, along with preparing for Regionals, I want to spend some time educating ourselves about some of these… intricacies."

"Is this the appropriate form for that?" Ryan questioned skeptically.

"Look, when we've had issues in the past, it's always helped us to sing about it," Mr. Schue explained.

"I really think we should talk about our set list for Regionals…"

"And we will," Mr. Schue told him. "But this is a little more important." Quinn almost laughed as Ryan stared at him in disbelief. She knew that to Ryan the competition was of the utmost importance. The teacher continued though, drowning any protest he might have made. "So, this week, I've invited a special guest." He turned to the door. "Miss Holly Holliday!"

"Hola, clase," Miss Holliday called out, smiling at the cheers of the glee club. Ryan just folded his arms, frowning. "So, sex," she announced. "It's just like hugging, only wetter."

"Yeah, it is," Artie agreed, holding a hand up. Ryan's eyebrows went up, as did Quinn's. Seriously? Wet hugging?

"Okay, so let's start with the basics." Miss Holliday turned to Finn. "Finn, is it true you thought you got your girlfriend pregnant via hot tub?" Quinn flinched slightly, and Ryan looked at her in concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a whisper. She nodded, waving his concern off. It was just a little jarring to be reminded of last year like that. Ryan looked at her for a moment before nodding and turning back to the front of the room.

"… That's all gonna change, right here, right now," Miss Holliday was saying confidently. "Today, we're gonna get under the covers, all together, and get the ditty on the dirty."

Will stood up. "I think this is a good time for a song," he interjected.

"Oh! Yes, okay," Miss Holliday said agreeably. "Rule number one. Every intimate encounter that you're ever gonna have in your life is gonna start with… a touch. Hit it!"

The band started up the introduction to _Do You Wanna Touch Me_, and Miss Holliday hit her cue perfectly. Quinn's eyebrows climbed even higher as the teacher started some rather provocative choreography, backed up by Santana and Brittany. Soon, all of the girls – except for Quinn – were up and dancing with the blonde teacher. The boys were enjoying themselves too, she noticed, and she glanced at her boyfriend. Ryan was also staring at the spectacle in fascination. Quinn rolled her eyes, poking him in the back of the head. He immediately turned to her, rubbing one hand against the spot. "Ow! What?"

"Take a guess."

"Sorry," he mumbled, flicking his eyes back to the dance number. Quinn rolled her eyes again. Eventually the two of them joined in, pulled forward by Miss Holliday. It was kind of fun. In a weird way.

The song finished up a few minutes later – Quinn noticed that even Mr. Schue was getting a little hot and bothered – and Miss Holliday spoke up. "Now, just remember, when you have sex with somebody, you're having sex with everyone they've ever had sex with. And everybody's got a random."

Quinn didn't even want to think about that. She slowly went back to her seat to collect her things, letting the rest of the group leave the room first. Ryan came over to her after she dawdled for a minute. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked. "You seemed a little bothered by what Miss Holliday said."

"I'm fine," Quinn said absently, picking up her bag. She moved past him toward the door, before stopping. She turned to face him again. "Does it… does it bother you?"

Ryan frowned. "Today's lesson? No, not really. I don't think glee club is quite the appropriate place to be discussing sex education, especially with Regionals looming ahead, but I do think we should be educated in these matters. We could avoid misunderstandings such as Brittany thinking that babies came from storks."

Quinn let out an amused huff at the memory. The other day word had spread that Brittany was pregnant with Artie's baby, but then it turned out she only thought that because a stork was building its nest outside her window. After a moment of shock, the rest of the club had just accepted it as Brittany being Brittany.

"Honestly, I'm more bothered by the fact that Mr. Schue is so flippant about the competition. We need time to pick the set list, and you just know there's going to take forever. Then we need to rehearse, and work out choreography and think about costumes."

"I know, I know," Quinn said, kissing him on the cheek. "But no. I meant the last part of what Miss Holliday said. About how when you have sex with everybody then you're having sex with everybody they've had sex with."

Ryan tilted his head curiously. "You think we haven't had sex yet because I don't want to have sex with someone who's slept with somebody else?"

Quinn shrugged, looking away. "I don't know." She looked back at him. "Is that why?"

"I thought we talked about this already," he said. "We're not having sex because we're just… not ready, I guess. It doesn't have anything to do with your past, or my past. That doesn't matter. What matters is how we feel, and I love you, and you love me, and when we're ready to take that step, then it'll happen."

"What if I'm ready now?"

Ryan looked at her, surprised. "Are you?"

She shrugged self-consciously. "I don't know, maybe I am."

"If there's an 'I don't know' in there somewhere, maybe we're not ready," Ryan reasoned. "I really want you to be sure. I want it to be good for both of us. I don't want to be…"

"Like Puck?" Quinn finished dryly.

"Yes."

"I know. And that's why I want to do it with you. Because I trust you. You're nothing like Puck." She hesitated. "Remember at the party, when you took me outside?" He nodded. "The night… the night Beth was conceived the same thing happened. I had a little too much to drink, and Puck was there, and I tried to go outside, get some air, but he kept saying all this stuff to convince me to stay. So I did." She smiled wryly. "And the rest is history. And it means so much that even if you were drunk, you didn't do that."

Ryan silently pulled her into a hug, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, fitting into him perfectly. "You know I'll always want to take care of you, right?"

"I know. I think that's when I started thinking that maybe I'm ready. Maybe we're ready."

"Maybe we are."

Ryan pulled back, and the two locked gazes for an instant before meeting each other in a rough kiss, lips sliding together frenetically as he pushed her back up against a wall. Quinn swore fireworks were going on behind her eyes, and she was suddenly reminded of something Finn had said. Fireworks? With Finn? That was a laugh. She pulled away from Ryan after a moment, gasping for breath as she shot a furtive look at the door. Thankfully it was closed, and she focused her attention back on her boyfriend, who was busy kissing at her neck. She could feel heat exploding in her body as Ryan pulled her closer, sliding his hands up her blouse and running his hands all over her back. "Oh…"

"I have to admit, that performance did turn me on somewhat," Ryan acknowledged breathlessly, his voice fluttering across her sensitive skin.

"I know," Quinn shuddered, pulling him back for another kiss. Her hands curled in his shirt, before jerking as Ryan nipped at her lower lip. "Ryan!"

He smiled into the kiss. "Sorry." Quinn just pressed closer against him, rubbing against his partial erection, and he bit back a moan, trying to keep still. "You know we have class in ten minutes right?"

"I think it's okay to be late once in a while, isn't it?" She whispered, kissing lightly at the spot just behind his ear. He'd been grounded for a long time, which meant no visits to her house, which meant a dry spell in the make-out department. Her hormones were up.

"You know I'm never one to turn down a chance to perform, but I'm not sure I'm ready for any exhibitionism either," he said breathlessly, moving his lips down her neck again as she raked her hand down his stomach. "Anyone could walk in any moment."

"Don't worry, like you said, everyone's supposed to be in class."

Ryan smirked. "If we're going to be late, we should make the most of it."

"Very true."

* * *

"What did you think about Santana and Brittany's song this morning?" Ryan asked Quinn the next day. Santana and Brittany had sung _Landslide_ with Miss Holliday at the morning glee meeting, and it had gotten very emotional for the two. "The Sapphic charm was wonderful, although I don't think Santana quite appreciated my comment."

Quinn smiled, amused. "Yeah, you might want to work on your tact a little bit," she told him, bumping his shoulder with her own to soften the words. "But I think this could help them move forwards. They both need to get their heads out of their asses already. Santana does, anyways."

Ryan hummed in agreement. "It's only a matter of time until they figure it out," he reasoned. He hoped it worked out. He considered Santana a friend now and Brittany was really sweet.

"I think Santana's close," Quinn admitted. "She told me she and Britt have been talking more. I just hope Britt being with Artie won't mess them up. Santana might have waited too long."

"Maybe." Ryan smiled at her, ready to change the topic. He looked around, before dipping down for a kiss that she happily returned.

"Quinn! Ryan!"

The two of them turned around to see Miss Pillsbury hurrying up to them. "Hello Miss Pillsbury, what can we do for you?" Ryan asked, smiling at the teacher. The redheaded teacher smiled at both of them.

"Mr. Schue has asked me to prepare a number for the glee club countering Miss Holliday's inappropriate stance on… intimate encounters. He suggested that I recruit a few members of the glee club to help me out, so naturally I thought of the two of you."

Ryan beamed. "Well, I _am_ the most talented member of the glee club, and I never turn down a chance to perform." He turned to Quinn, who nodded, smirking at him.

"We'll be happy to perform with you, Miss Pillsbury," she answered nicely.

"Wonderful," Miss Pillsbury said happily, handing them two copies of sheet music. "I have to say, I'm very impressed with the way you two conduct yourselves in your relationship. Not like some of the other kids in this school, who can't seem to keep their hands off each other. I'm glad that some students still take a good stance on intimacy. I'll see you in the auditorium at lunch for a rehearsal." She strode off in the direction of her office.

Ryan and Quinn glanced at each other. "A good stance on intimacy?" Ryan asked, thinking about what he and Quinn had gotten up to just yesterday in the choir room. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Quinn answered, brow furrowed.

Ryan shrugged it off after a second, before opening the sheet music Miss Pillsbury had handed them. He frowned. "Wait, isn't this –?"

Quinn's eyes widened at the song title. "You have got to be kidding me."

..

"Shelby, this is a nice surprise," Will said as Shelby came into the auditorium that afternoon. "What are you doing here?"

Shelby settled down on the seat next to Holly, flashing a smile at her friend. "I heard there was going to be an anti-intimacy performance today," she said, a slight smirk on her face. "I'm told that I already missed the pro-intimacy one, I couldn't bear to miss this."

"Yeah, too bad you missed mine," Holly chirped as Emma, Quinn, Puck, and Ryan went up onstage. "I was hot, if I do say so myself. Now let's all shut up."

The music started up, and Shelby frowned as she recognized the song. She and Holly exchanged a glance as the performers started into the first verse of _Afternoon Delight_, pictures of some kind of pie flashing in the background. It was a fun song, if you didn't consider the circumstances, and Will and Holly were soon in the groove. Shelby glanced at the students, who seemed to have bewildered looks on their faces. Looks like the teachers weren't the only ones who knew what the song was about.

As the song ended, Brittany was the only one of the students to clap. Holly raised her hand. "Hi, um, Holly here," she said hesitantly. "Um, I'm a little confused. Isn't this a strange song for you guys to sing?"

"But why?" Emma asked breathlessly, shielding her eyes from the spotlight with one hand. "It's so wholesome. It was written during the bicentennial to celebrate America, and fireworks…"

"No, it's about sneaking out for a nooner." Shelby had to hide a snort at her friend's blunt reply.

"Right, a nooner's when you have dessert in the middle of the day, right? Right, Carl?" she asked her husband, who had been on the drums during the performance. He looked at her strangely. Shelby bit back a laugh, and Holly put a hand over her heart, smiling patronizingly.

"Well, regardless," Will broke in. "It was a great job, guys, great number." After another round of applause, the group dispersed, Holly being called over by Carl Howell, Emma's husband.

Shelby caught up with Ryan backstage. She raised her eyebrow at her son. "You do know what that song was about, don't you?"

"Yes," he said straightening in an attempt to preserve his dignity. "I attempted to enlighten Miss Pillsbury as to the nature of this particular song, but she said an afternoon delight was a kind of dessert with coconut, pineapple, and marshmallow fluff."

"I see." Shelby gave him an amused smile. "Well, like Will said, it was a great performance."

"Thanks."

* * *

The next day Ryan walked into the choir room, intent on picking up some sheet music, when he spotted an unusual sight. Santana Lopez was hiding in the room, sitting on the floor against the wall. "Santana?" Ryan walked forward. The ex-cheerleader looked up in alarm, swiping furiously at her eyes as he came over. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

She snorted brokenly. "Oh, yeah, Treasure Trail," she bit out sarcastically. "I'm just in here, hiding in the fucking choir room sobbing my eyes out 'cause I'm okay. I do this all the time for kicks." She sniffed. "Just leave me the hell alone."

Ryan ignored her, moving closer to the Latina. He put his bag down and slid down the wall next to her. She glared at him halfheartedly, wiping at her eyes again, and Ryan got a better look at her. Santana looked miserable, eyes puffy and mascara messed up.

"Are you deaf, Hobbit? Go away!"

"I can't do that," Ryan answered. He hesitated for a moment, weighing the risks – he really didn't want to be kicked in the balls – before coming to a decision. He shuffled closer to Santana, wrapping her in a hug. For a second the girl struggled against him, before just collapsing into his hug with renewed sobs. Ryan just held her, waiting for her to calm down.

"Get off me," she told him a few minutes later, all the heat gone from her voice.

This time Ryan did as she asked, letting her go. She scrubbed at her face, before finally giving up and slumping back against the wall. "You want to talk about it?" Ryan asked.

"Talk about what?" Santana scoffed. "You mean how I finally told her how I felt? And about how I told her I wanted to be with her? Or talk about how it doesn't fucking matter because she's totally not breaking up with Artie for me? Because no, I don't want to talk about any of that shit, okay?"

Ryan's heart clenched at the absolute misery and anger in the girl's voice. "I'm sorry, Santana." The words were trite, but they were all he could say. "I understand how you feel."

"No, you fucking don't! You've got your perfect relationship and your perfect girl, how the hell would you know how I feel?"

Ryan chuckled humorlessly. "Santana, I spent almost two years with my 'perfect girl' assisting the school in making my life living hell. I think I can imagine how you feel," he told her dryly, remembering freshman year when Cheerleader Bitch Quinn had been tossing slushies like they were going out of style. Santana didn't seem to have anything to say to that.

She sniffed. "I love her."

"I know."

"She said she loves me back."

"That's good."

"But she won't break up with Artie to be with me! How fucked up is that?" Santana demanded.

"I don't know, Santana," Ryan admitted. He knew Brittany liked Santana back, but she seemed happy with Artie too. Although he much preferred Brittany to Artie. The boy was a jerk sometimes. "Maybe you just have to be patient, and wait for her."

She scoffed again. "That is the stupidest advice ever. I don't do patient."

"I think you will, for her. Because you love Brittany."

The two of them fell silent again. Then Santana sighed in defeat. "Whatever, okay?" She swiped her hand one last time across her face in an effort to clear it. She stood up, Ryan following her lead. She looked down. "Thanks. For whatever."

Ryan nodded. "You're welcome. That's what friends do. And we're friends."

Santana gave him another halfhearted glare, one lacking any fire whatsoever. "You tell anyone else about this…"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Ryan promised, standing up and pulling Santana up with him. "Come on. Let's go get you cleaned up."

* * *

"Can I go out now? Please?" Ryan asked, drawing out the last word as he put on his most pathetic face for his mom. It was the last day of his grounding, and he was itching to get out of the house. Shelby rolled her eyes at him, before sighing theatrically.

"Am I really that miserable to be around?" she asked, giving him her own sad face. It was so pathetic that Ryan almost backed down. Almost.

"That's cheating," he accused. "You are using my sympathies and your considerable acting skills to get me to stop."

"And what exactly are you doing?" Shelby returned. "But yes. You can go now. Just be sure to come back by eleven."

Ryan lit up happily as Shelby handed him his car keys and phone. He'd get his laptop later. "Okay!" His curfew had been bumped up by thirty minutes. Not much, but he'd take what he could get. He quickly left Shelby's office and checked his phone to find a dozen messages. Mostly from Quinn, but there were a couple from Blaine too. He quickly sent a message to Quinn.

_5:27 PM From: Ryan Corcoran __– Finally sprung! Are you busy?_

_5:29 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Finally. No, not busy. You wanna come over?_

_5:30 PM From: Ryan Corcoran __– Be there in fifteen._

A twelve-minute drive later Ryan parked on the curb, shutting down the engine. He'd missed driving. He'd only been doing it for a few months, but he loved it. He got down from his car and started walking up the Fabray's driveway.

Suddenly he heard something crash in the Fabrays' house. He stopped short.

Then his blood froze as a loud scream rang out.

* * *

**See you next time!**


	57. Chapter 56

_6:25 PM_

Shelby checked the clock on the wall as she finally finished grading her sophomore class paper. That was a nightmare. It was just past six, she was supposed to be meeting James for dinner in a while. She knew Ryan was going over to see Quinn, that would probably take a while. She stood up, stretching, and was just about to leave her home office when the phone rang. "Hello?"

"_Hello, could I speak to Shelby Corcoran?"_

"Yes, speaking."

"_This is Rhonda Allen, from Lima Memorial Hospital. We have your son Ryan here in the ER, he was admitted a few minutes ago…"_

Oh god.

Shelby froze on the spot, unable to process anything. The world spun for a few seconds and she almost dropped the phone. "I'm on my way."

..

"_Hi Shelby, we still on for dinner tonight?"_

"James, you need to get to the hospital, Ryan's in the hospital."

"_What? What happened?"_

"I don't know, I just got the call, he's in the ER, I don't know what happened –"

"_I'll meet you there."_

..

James used the staff entrance to get inside the hospital building, since it was much closer to the parking lot than the visitors' entrance. He quickly strode over to the ER reception desk. "Toni," he called to the nurse who was on duty at the desk.

Toni barely looked up from her work. "I thought your shift was over."

"It is, my son just got admitted here. Ryan Corcoran. Do you know where he is?"

"Your – oh!" the nurse nodded. "Just a sec," she said, pulling up the records. James waited a tad impatiently, spotting Shelby as soon as she entered the ER. "Shelby, over here!"

Shelby hurried toward him. "Did you find him yet?"

"Toni's looking right now," James told her, taking her hand. She looked insanely worried, her face pale. He was worried too, the hospital hadn't given them any details other than the fact that Ryan was in the hospital. They didn't know what happened.

"Okay, Ryan Corcoran is in 1B," Tony finally informed them. "He's not critical. I can get a nurse to take you…"

"It's okay, I know where that is," James answered. "Thanks, Toni."

"No problem."

James led Shelby to a small glass-doored room off the ER, and the two parents let out a breath of relief when they saw their son inside with a doctor. They quickly hurried inside, causing Ryan to look up with a relieved expression. "Mom, Dad!"

"Ryan?" Shelby looked him over, worry spiking as she saw what the doctor was doing. "What happened? Why is there glass in your back? Did you get into a fight again? Who –"

"Mom, I'm fine, I'll be fine. Quinn and her mom are in here too, I don't know if they're okay," Ryan cut in, looking at his parents desperately. "Can you go find them?"

James looked at him intently. There was a bruise on one side of the boy's jaw, and the knuckles on one hand were split. And of course, as Shelby had noticed, a series of glass shards cutting into his lower back. "Ryan, what happened?"

"Quinn's dad was at their house when I got there." He turned to Shelby, who was staring at him. "He was hurting them, Mom, I had to stop him." Shelby looked at James, who looked back at her helplessly. Sure, he was proud that he'd helped Quinn and Judy, but they could also be upset that he'd gotten hurt doing it.

"Doc, he's going to be okay, right?" James asked. "Shelby, this is Dr. Rainer," he introduced belatedly. Dr. Rainer frequently worked on the patients James brought in.

The doctor smiled at the pair. "Ryan's going to be just fine. A little sore for a couple of weeks maybe, but he'll be fine. I didn't know he was your kid. Different last names."

"It's complicated," James said sheepishly.

Ryan got his attention again. "Dad, can you find them? Please."

"I'll see what I can do." James exited the room and went back to reception. "Hi Toni."

"What do you want, James?"

He just smirked, unoffended. She was like that with everybody. "Listen, my kid's girlfriend and her mom were brought in with him. Last name's Fabray. Think you can get me an update?" He wasn't family, but patient locations weren't kept too strictly.

"The ones the cops brought in? Word is it's a domestic issue." Toni called up the records on the computer. "There were three Fabrays brought in. Parents and the daughter. Quinn Fabray's in 1E, the mom Judy is in surgery. Looked like a nasty concussion and they're thinking internal bleed. The dad Russell is in 2A, the cops are watching him."

"Good," James said shortly. If there was anything he couldn't stand it was child abusers.

"What's the whole deal with them? And how's your kid involved?" Toni asked curiously.

James sighed. "I don't know yet." He needed the whole story, and he did not need it rolling through the hospital grapevine just yet. "Thanks, Toni."

"Sure. Tell your kid to feel better."

"Will do." James turned around and headed back to Ryan and Shelby. The teenager glanced up at him as soon as he walked back into the room.

"Quinn's just down the hall," James told him, forestalling any questions. "I can't get any news on her since I'm not a relative. And after what you said happened, I don't think she'll be too receptive to my talking to her." He'd seen it way too often in the kids at the group home. The ones who had been abused by a father were often skittish around men for a while.

"I need to go to her," Ryan muttered. "Can't you go any faster?" he asked the doctor.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Dr. Ranier told him apologetically. "Hold still."

"Mom, maybe you can go talk to her," Ryan said, looking at Shelby. "She knows you, maybe she'll be okay with talking to you." Shelby looked at him, torn between staying here for her own son and going to Quinn, who didn't have anyone else right now. "Please? I don't want her to be alone."

"I'll stay with Ryan," James told her. "I'm sure we'll be done soon."

Finally Shelby nodded. "Okay."

..

Exiting Ryan's small room, Shelby made her way down the hall to room 1E. The door was made of glass, like the rest of the doors, and she could see Quinn sitting on the exam table, an extremely distressed look on her face. Seeing no one in there with her, Shelby went inside. Quinn's eyes widened. "What are you doing here? Where's Ryan? Is he okay?" Her voice came out hoarse and her eyes started watering as she coughed twice.

"Ryan's going to be fine," Shelby soothed, quickly coming up to the blonde teenager. Of course he was. He had to be fine. "He's a little banged up, but he's okay."

"Shouldn't you be with him?" Not that she wanted Shelby to leave. In fact she desperately wanted the woman to stay. But she was Ryan's mom, Ryan needed her too.

"His dad's there with him. Ryan asked me to come stay with you. Are you okay? Do you want me to leave?" she asked, thinking that the blonde might want to be alone. But Quinn shook her head, almost desperately.

"They said my mom's still in surgery."

Shelby wordlessly pulled her into a hug, and she felt the girl trembling, from fear or shock she didn't know. Shelby kept holding her, trying to comfort her. She desperately wanted to know what had happened, but this wasn't the time yet. She could ask her questions later.

The door opened again, and her doctor came in. "Hello, Quinn, I've got your x-ray back. Your wrist isn't broken, it's just a bad sprain. We'll just keep it wrapped up, and it'll be okay in a couple of weeks." The doctor turned to Shelby. "Are you a friend?"

Quinn looked at Shelby uncertainly. The older woman nodded. "Yes."

"Good, I'm glad you have someone with you. Your mom's still in surgery, but she's stabilized." The doctor made quick work of Quinn's wrist, before scribbling down a prescription and handing it to Quinn. "For your wrist, and your throat. If your throat still hurts you can use the gargle."

"Okay. Thanks."

The doctor handed her another slip. "Just hand this over to the nurse at the desk and you can go."

"Thank you, doctor," Shelby said. "Come on, we can go sit in the waiting room for a bit." She led Quinn over to the seats. Fortunately there weren't too many people. There was just one old guy across the room and a middle-aged man asleep a few seats from him. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Actually, I need to know that too." The two of them turned to see a female police officer walking towards them. "Hello, Quinn, my name's Detective Anya Gates, I'm handling you and your mom's case."

"Oh." Quinn looked down. "She's still in surgery."

Detective Gates nodded. "Okay. And you are?" she asked, turning to Shelby.

"Shelby Corcoran. I'm a… family friend. My son is her boyfriend, he was there too, he's still getting fixed up," Shelby nodded vaguely in the direction Ryan was in.

"Oh," the detective nodded. "My partner will be interviewing him as well. Quinn, do you know why your dad came over tonight?" The teenager shook her head. No. "Do you think you walk me through what happened? It's important for the investigation."

Shelby watched as Quinn bit her lip anxiously, her gaze moving back to the hallway they'd wheeled her mother down when they got here. She looked back at Shelby, who offered her an encouraging nod as she took her hand, giving it a squeeze. Quinn took a breath. "I… I was waiting for Ryan to come over…"

_5:27 PM From: Ryan Corcoran __– Finally sprung! Are you busy?_

_5:29 PM From: Quinn Fabray – Finally. No, not busy. You wanna come over?_

_5:30 PM From: Ryan Corcoran __– Be there in fifteen._

_Quinn was still up in her room when the doorbell rang a few minutes after Ryan's last message. "__Quinn!__" Judy called. "Can you get that?"_

"_Yeah!" she yelled back, hurrying over to the front door. Quinn was pretty sure it hadn't even been ten minutes since Ryan had texted her. He must be in a hurry. She opened the door. "That was fas –"_

"_Hi Quinnie.__"_

_Quinn's heart stopped as she gazed up at the imposing figure of Russell Fabray in shock. She hadn't seen her father in months, not since last summer when he'd dropped by, drunk and screaming that it was all her fault their family had imploded. She stared at him for a moment in horror. His eyes were bloodshot, and she knew just be looking at him that he was drunk again. Finally snapping to her senses she tried to slam the door shut._

_But she was a millisecond too late, and Russell managed to block the door. Quinn wasn't any match for him, and the door burst open with a bang. Quinn stumbled back into the living room at the force. She tried to get away, only to have Russell's hand clamp powerfully around her wrist. She winced at the pressure, starting to panic. "Let go of me," she said, her voice rising in fear. Her mom. Her mom was here. She had to help her. "__Mom!__"_

_Suddenly Russell's forearm was pressing against her throat, cutting off Quinn's air as he pushed her into the wall. "__Quinn, don__'t yell," Russell reprimanded, his words slurring. "It's not ladylike. Besides, didn't you miss me?"_

_Quinn couldn't answer, couldn't force any sound up as she struggled to breathe. Where was her mom? Her eyes started to tear up, and she wasn't sure if it was because of the lack of air or because her mom had seemingly abandoned her. Again._

"_Worthless girl," Russell growled. "I gave you everything you wanted. Even fixed that nose of yours. But you still had to go and ruin this family. You are a disgrace –"_

"_Russell! Russell, stop!__"_

_Quinn was about to pass out, but she could barely make out her mom screaming at her father to let her go. Finally, finally the pressure on her throat vanished, and she slumped against the wall only to feel Russell backhand her in the face, sending her sprawling to the floor gasping for air._

Quinn fell silent in her retelling.

"What happened after that?" Officer Gates prodded gently. Shelby kept silent, her horror mounting at what had happened that evening.

"I… I think I might have blacked out for a bit," she said stiltedly. "They were yelling at each other – I couldn't understand – I couldn't breathe right – and…"

"Take a deep breath," the police officer advised her gently, and Quinn complied, inhaling once and releasing the air with a shudder. "Do you want to take a break?"

The teenager shook her head. "I'm… I'm okay." She swallowed. "Next thing I remember was something crashing. I think the vase from the mantelpiece fell…"

_Quinn forced her eyes open as she heard a loud crashing sound from her left. She wasn't sure what it was, and right now she didn't care. Because her mom was on the floor next to the fireplace, and Russell was still there. "Stop…"_

_Move, move, you idiot! She screamed at herself. She tried to get up, only to fall back with a whimper as pain shuddered through her right arm where Russell had grabbed her. The only thing she got was a better view, and she immediately wished she had stayed still._

_Because she could see blood. Her mom's. A lot of it. _

_She screamed._

..

"Almost done," Doctor Rainer said. "Just need to clean you up and stick the bandage on."

"Okay," Ryan said, a little tensely. James rubbed him lightly on the shoulder.

"You doing okay, buddy?" he asked. "I know it feels weird."

Ryan looked at him curiously. "How do you know?"

"Because the doctors had to pry shrapnel out of me a few years ago," he explained. "IED went off when my unit was in the middle of a raid. Thankfully it wasn't too bad, but getting all the metal out was a shitty experience, even with the local anesthetic." He knew Ryan wasn't really feeling the doctor poking around his back too badly, but it was still an odd sensation.

"Well, I'm glad it was just shrapnel and that you didn't blow up."

"Me too."

They heard a knock on the door, and a police officer came in. "Hello. I'm Officer Bentley, I'm investigating the Fabray case. You're Ryan Corcoran?"

Ryan nodded. "That's me. That's my dad," he said, nodding at James.

Officer Bentley nodded. "You mind if I ask a few questions?"

"I guess not, since I'm sure it's pertinent to the investigation."

"Could you tell me what happened tonight?"

James looked at his son. He hadn't told him what had happened at Quinn's house yet. Ryan was quiet for a moment, before starting to talk.

_Ryan was just walking up the driveway when a smashing sound from inside the house made him stop. Then he heard a scream emanate from within the house, and he inhaled sharply, before bolting inside. His worry shot through the roof as he found the door slightly ajar and his mind started drawing up all sorts of conjectures about home invasions. Heart pounding he rushed into the living room to be met with a horrible sight._

_His girlfriend was lying on the ground, obviously knocked down by someone. She was clutching her wrist and blood was trickling from a cut on her lip, a red mark visible on her cheek. Nearby he could see Judy also on the ground next to a broken urn, seemingly unconscious, and he could see blood pouring from somewhere. Finally, he saw Russell Fabray, pulling his unconscious wife up by the front of her blouse as he yelled profanities at her._

_Ryan saw red, and at that instant he didn't care that Russell was bigger and a good deal heavier than him. He surged forward, pulling Russell away from Judy and throwing him into the coffee table. Ryan had the element of surprise and he managed to land on top of the older man, immediately slamming his fist into his face with a satisfying crunch. _

"_What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he bellowed at his girlfriend's father, landing another hit on Russell's face._

_He reared back for a third punch, but his right side suddenly exploded in pain._

..

Quinn looked down. "I forgot he was coming over," she whispered. "This is my fault, he shouldn't have been there, he shouldn't have gotten hurt –"

"Quinn, stop," Shelby told her, squeezing her hand. "It's not your fault." She was incredibly upset and angry that this had happened, but not at Quinn. It wasn't like she'd asked Russell to barge in and start hitting her and her mom.

"She's right," Detective Gates said. "Your dad is going to be locked up for quite a while as soon as he gets fixed up here."

"Wait, he's here?" Quinn asked, her voice rising in panic. "I don't –"

"Calm down," the detective said soothingly, scooting back a little at the frustrated look Shelby shot at her as she wrapped an arm around Quinn to comfort the teenager. "We've got two officers watching him, and the second he's allowed to leave he's going straight to the country jail. He can't hurt you, I swear."

Quinn took a shaky breath as she clutched Shelby's hand. "Deep breath, sweetie," Shelby urged her. "He can't hurt you. You're safe." Quinn took another deeper breath, and continued with the story.

_She watched, wide-eyed, as Ryan tackled her father, throwing him away from her mom. She stared frantically between her mother, who was bleeding from a cut on her head, and the fight going on between her boyfriend and her father. Ryan was yelling at Russell, she couldn't process what he was saying –_

_Suddenly the violent crash of shattering glass filled her ears, and she gasped as Russell managed to land a hit against Ryan's face, knocking the teenager off of him and into the pile of broken glass. Glass that had come from the large vase that Russell had just bashed into Ryan'__s side._

_Russell stood up drunkenly – how was he still standing? Why wouldn't he stop? – and he advanced on Ryan, who was just starting to get up. "Who the hell are you?!"_

"_Daddy, stop!" Quinn cried out. Oh god, oh god, this couldn't be happening. Russell stopped short, eyes widening as he looked between the two._

"_I know who you are, you're the fags' boy, aren't you?" he growled out contemptuously. He turned to Quinn. "Are you with him now?" His face contorted in fury. "Is there no end to your disgrace? I will not have you ruining our name any further!" _

_He lunged at Quinn, and she braced herself, screwing her eyes shut. _

..

_Ryan's head was ringing, he'd landed hard, and he could feel something jabbing into his back. He could hear someone yelling at him. Then Quinn's voice, and he rolled himself over, trying to get up. He shook his head, desperately trying to think over the pain that was radiating from his back. Come on, get it together! _

"… _I will not have you ruining our name any further!"_

_That didn't sound good. Ryan looked up just in time to see Russell lunge forward towards Quinn, and he panicked. He couldn't let him hurt her. Adrenaline kicked in, and he pushed himself forward, managing to tackle Russell around the legs and sending him tumbling back down._

"_Stay out of this, boy!" Russell bellowed, catching Ryan in the side with his knee, knocking the breath out of the teenager. _

"_Please, Daddy, stop it!" Quinn cried out again. Suddenly another voice entered the mix._

"_Police, everybody freeze!"_

"That's when the police got there," Ryan ended. "The paramedics arrived soon after. They had to look over Quinn's mom first. She was bleeding profusely, I don't know what happened. They took her in a different ambulance. Is she okay?"

"She's in surgery," James admitted. "No news yet when I asked. Do you know who called the police?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Thank you, Ryan," Officer Bentley said. "We might be in touch if we need anything else, but we're done for now."

"Am I in trouble?" he asked anxiously. The last thing he needed was to get arrested for assault or something ridiculous. Of course, an accusation like that might be interesting to put in his future memoir – title pending – but that was neither here nor there.

"No, you're not," the policeman assured him. "We got a 911 call from Judy Fabray saying that her ex was in the house. And if your story checks out with your girlfriend's, you're in the clear. Good job on hitting that bastard. His face is all messed up."

"While I'm not a fan of violence it was satisfying to hit him. Where is he?" Ryan asked hesitantly.

"He's in custody. He'll be going away for a long time for this."

"Good," Ryan and James said simultaneously.

"All done," Dr. Rainer announced, taping the bandage into place on Ryan's back as the officer left the room. "You didn't need any stitches, so you're good there. Try not to get it wet until tomorrow. I'm sure your dad can show you how to keep it clean."

James nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay," Ryan nodded.

The doctor handed James his discharge slip before glancing at Ryan. "I'll go find you a spare shirt, I'm sure there are some around."

"No need," James interjected, handing Ryan a clean shirt. "I got this from my locker. It's mine, but I think it'll fit."

"Thanks," Ryan said gratefully, carefully putting it on. It did fit, he and his dad had a similar build now. And it smelled a bit like his dad. Kind of comforting. "I guess it's useful to have a dad who works at the hospital."

James chuckled. "Yeah, but try not to end up here too much, okay, buddy?"

"Okay."

They went to the waiting room, and Shelby went over to them as soon as possible. "What did the doctor say? Are you all right? Do we need to do anything?" she demanded anxiously, fussing over him. Ryan just smiled, letting out a small laugh.

"Mom, I'm okay. A little sore, but I'm okay." It was weird that she was making a such big deal out of it. Well, admittedly, it was a big deal. It wasn't every day one got into a brawl with the father of one's girlfriend. And it was kind of nice to have someone so worried about him. "Where's Quinn?"

"Over there." Shelby led him back to the waiting room, where Quinn was still sitting. She looked a little out of it, and he sat down beside her gently.

"Hey."

She snapped out of her trance at his voice, and her face broke into a relieved smile. "Oh my god. I'm so glad you're okay." She threw herself at him in a hug, and Ryan wrapped his arms around her, relief washing over him. She was okay. For a minute back there in her house, he'd thought…

"What about you, are you okay?" he asked gently, as he pulled away to inspect her. She had a wrap around her left wrist, and he could see a split lip and a bruise on her cheek, as well as some bruising around her neck that made him want to punch something. Preferably Russell Fabray, even though he'd done that already. "Do you want to talk?"

"No, not really."

Ryan looked at her for a moment, trying to decide what she meant. Did she mean no, she didn't want to talk about it, or no, she wasn't okay. Probably both. He nodded slowly. She probably needed time. "Okay."

..

Half an hour later the four of them were still in the waiting room, waiting for news on Judy. Russell had been escorted out by the police a few minutes ago, according to one of the nurses, but no one cared about that. The nurse had also asked Quinn to fill out as much of her mom's information as possible on a form, and she'd wrapped that up. Ryan and Quinn were sitting pressed up against each other, both needing the physical contact.

"Fabray?"

"That's us," James said, raising his hand at the doctor, who was still in scrubs. He nodded towards Quinn. "That's her daughter."

"Okay. Do you want to talk privately?" he asked the teenager. Quinn shook her head. "Okay. Well, your mom has a bad concussion, and some minor internal bleeding. She lost a bit of blood, so we had to give her a transfusion, but she's going to be fine." The group let out a sigh of relief. "She's still out, but she'll be up in an hour or so."

"Thank you," Quinn breathed. Ryan squeezed her hand, smiling at her as he pulled her into a hug. He was glad Judy was going to be okay. Quinn needed her to be okay.

"When can she leave?" James asked. "Judy, I mean."

"Hospital policy says we need to keep her for at least a couple of days after surgery for observation. She's in room 221 for recovery, you can go up to see her if you want. Just ask one of the nurses to take you." He left the group in the waiting room.

"Do you want to go up?"

Quinn started, looking at Shelby. "What?" she asked guiltily. Shelby just gave her a small smile.

This time Ryan asked. "Do you want to go see your mom?"

She nodded. "Yeah." The group stood up, stretching, as James went to get a nurse. They were quickly led up to Judy's room, Ryan holding Quinn's hand the whole way. Neither wanted to let go. When they reached the room Ryan squeezed her hand.

"You should probably go in by yourself," he told her. She nodded, and went into room 221 alone, leaving Ryan with his parents outside.

"How about I go get us some take-out," James suggested, checking his watch. It was past seven-thirty in the evening and none of them had had dinner yet. "Chinese work for you guys?" He received two nods and went off in the direction of the elevators. Ryan and Shelby sat down in some chairs that were in the wide hallway.

"Thank you," he told Shelby sincerely. "For being here. I know you don't have to be."

"Nonsense," Shelby told him sternly. "Of course I do. I can't let you and Quinn stay here by yourselves." She studied him carefully. "You're really okay now, right?"

Ryan nodded. "I'm fine." He held up his bandaged right hand. The doctor had wrapped it up. Apparently he'd split his knuckles open on Russell Fabray's face. It stung, but he didn't regret it. That bastard deserved it. "Writing's going to be a pain, though."

Suddenly Shelby had him wrapped up in a hug. "You had me so worried," she breathed. "When the hospital called… I couldn't breathe. They didn't say what happened to you. I thought…" She took a shuddering breath. "Don't scare me like that again."

"I won't," Ryan assured her. "It's not even that bad…"

Shelby pulled away, looking at him, unimpressed. "Ryan, you had glass shards in your skin. That's bad." She softened. "But… I'm proud of you. I'm glad you defended Quinn and Judy."

"I couldn't just leave them there with him."

She stroked his hair. "I know, sweetie."

"When I saw Quinn on the ground… I thought… I didn't know… and then I saw Judy, and there was all that blood…" He choked back a sob as the adrenaline rush he'd been on this whole time faded, and the fear and horror he'd been feeling over the whole situation crashed over him in an overwhelming wave. Shelby pulled him into another hug, running her hand soothingly across his back, gentle over the bandages that covered the cuts caused by the broken vase. "I was so scared, Mom," he cried.

"Shh," Shelby whispered, pulling him close. "I know. It's okay. You're okay."

..

Inside the room, Quinn watched Judy's chest rise and fall regularly as the machines beeped to signal her heart rate. Quinn's eyes had teared up as she saw the thick bandage on her mom's forehead, covering the cut she'd gotten from falling against the mantel. The surrounding area was quickly bruising. The doctors had said she'd had internal bleeding too, and Quinn couldn't even articulate how much rage she felt at Russell for doing this to them. Her mom had to get better. She just had to. They were just starting to get better after everything that had happened, and now Russell had to come and mess everything up.

A knock on the door made her look up. Ryan poked his head inside. Quinn glanced at him, noticing that his eyes seemed a little red. "Quinn? My dad got us dinner, if you're hungry."

Quinn looked at her mom again before nodding. "Okay."

After a quick dinner, she was back in the room. The doctor had stopped by to tell her that her mom would wake up very soon. James and Ryan had headed home a few minutes ago. Ryan had been falling asleep on the bench, and Shelby had insisted that James take him home and that she'd stay with Quinn and bring her home after Judy woke up. Finally, Quinn saw her mom's hand twitch, and her eyes fluttered. She teared up again, this time in relief. "Mom. Hi Mom."

Judy opened her mouth, coughing once as Quinn pressed the button to call a nurse. "Are you okay?" she asked raspily.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. But you're not. I can't believe…" Quinn choked on the words. "Why did he come back?"

Judy coughed some more. "It's the anniversary of when I kicked him out. It was two weeks before I found you at your singing competition last year. I thought he might try to contact me, but I didn't think…" She sighed. "What happened?"

"He threw you against the fireplace. Then Ryan came, and he fought dad off. He got messed up, but he stopped him until the police got there." Quinn hesitated. "Did you call 911?"

Judy nodded. "That's why I didn't get to you in time."

Quinn sniffled. "I thought you left me again."

"Never."

The doctor came in, and Quinn left the room to let them do the checkup. "How is she?" Shelby asked.

"She seems okay," Quinn said. The doctor came out after a few minutes, and this time she asked Shelby to come with her.

"Quinn, you should go get some rest." Judy stopped. "The doctor said I need to stay for a couple of days. I don't want you alone in the house," she fretted.

Shelby stepped forward. "Don't worry about that, she can stay with us until you're released," she told Judy.

"We couldn't impose…" Judy started.

"You wouldn't impose," Shelby interjected.

"I… okay," Judy agreed. "… Thank you. Quinn, you behave over at Miss Corcoran's house, okay?"

Quinn almost rolled her eyes. Almost. If she hadn't been on the verge of bursting into tears. "I will," she assured her mother. "I'll come back tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Okay. I love you, Quinnie."

"Quinn, how about you go ahead," Shelby suggested, sensing that Judy had something she wanted to say to her. "I'll be right out." Quinn left the room.

Judy sighed, closing her eyes. "Thank you."

Shelby nodded. "Don't worry about it, I'm happy to take Quinn for a few days. Just focus on getting better."

"Not just that," the blonde said tiredly. "For Ryan too. I'm sorry about what happened. Is he okay?"

"He'll be okay. A little worse for wear, but he'll get better. It's not your fault. It's your ex-husband's. Fortunately, he's going away for a good long while."

"I don't know what would have happened if Ryan wasn't there."

Shelby didn't either. "I'll take care of your daughter, Judy."

"I know."

"And I won't let them have sex in the house either," Shelby quipped, trying for a bit of levity. Judy let out a snort of laughter at that.

"What more could I ask for?"

..

After a quick stop at Quinn's house to pick up some clothes – Quinn avoided the living room like the plague – Shelby and James took Ryan and Quinn home. James left them at the Corcoran house to get settled. A few minutes later Quinn helped Shelby change the sheets on the bed in the guest room. "If you need anything, I'm right down the hall," Shelby told her as they finished. She offered the blonde a half smile. "Though I'm sure you know where everything is by now, seeing as you're here often enough."

Quinn couldn't help the smile that came. Yeah, she was very familiar with the layout of the Corcoran house. "Shelby… thanks."

"Don't mention it, Quinn." Shelby looked at her with those piercing green eyes. "If you want to talk, you know where to find me. You can talk to James, too… he might be able to help you more than I can."

"Maybe," Quinn shrugged. She wasn't entirely sure how Ryan's dad could help here, but she'd keep it in mind. "Just, thank you. You didn't have to take me in," she said, looking down.

Shelby came over and wrapped her in a hug again. Quinn clung to her tightly, wishing that her own mom were here. Shelby pulled back after a while. "Of course I did, Ryan would have my head if I didn't let you stay," she joked, and Quinn chuckled. "I'm sure you're tired, I'll let you get ready for bed."

Two hours later Quinn rolled over in the bed one more time, unable to fall asleep. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable. This bed was nice, even if it wasn't hers. And she'd taken the painkillers, so her wrist didn't hurt too badly. She just couldn't get her mind to calm down. It was too quiet, it was almost… unnerving. She wasn't scared, exactly. She just didn't want to be alone.

With a sigh, she pushed back the covers, standing up. It was midnight and she couldn't fall asleep. She went to the door, quietly going to Ryan's room. The door was open a crack, and she pushed it open and padded towards the bed. "Ry?"

"Quinn?" From his voice, Quinn couldn't tell if he'd been asleep or not. "Are you okay? Do you need anything? Is something wrong? Do we need to go to the hospital?"

She had to smile. Even in the middle of the night his brains still ran a mile a minute. "I'm…" She couldn't quite force the _okay _out. Because she wasn't just yet. "I just wanted to see if you were awake," she said instead.

"Oh." Ryan looked at her thoughtfully before scooting over to the right side of the double-sized bed. "How about you stay here for a little while?"

She smiled gratefully, quickly taking him up on his offer. She'd been hoping he'd do that. Soon she was snuggled up against him, using his arm as a pillow. She sighed contentedly, breathing in his smell. It was comforting. "I couldn't get to sleep," she confessed. "It's like my brain won't shut up."

"I couldn't really fall asleep either," Ryan admitted. "I was so scared when I got into your house," he continued in a whisper.

"I get it, my dad's a big guy –"

"No, not about that," Ryan cut in. "You were on the ground, and Judy… I didn't know what your dad had done and I was scared I was too late…"

"But you weren't," Quinn said, her hand splaying across his chest over the plain shirt he was wearing. For a few moments she just rested her hand there, rising and falling with his breathing. She'd been scared too. So scared that her father was going to hurt him, badly, and just watching him breathe was comforting. She was starting to relax now, and she could feel herself getting drowsy. She pressed a kiss against his neck as she stretched her arm over his stomach. "Sing me something?"

"Do you have any preference?"

"No."

Ryan thought for a moment before starting to sing softly.

_When you walk through a storm hold your head up high_

_And don't be afraid of the dark_

_At the end of a storm is a golden sky_

_And the sweet silver song of a lark_

Quinn closed her eyes, letting his voice, soft and sweet, wash over her. She loved his voice so much, she couldn't get enough of it. She rested her hand back on his chest again, feeling it vibrate as he sang.

_Walk on through the wind_

_Walk on through the rain_

_Though your dreams be tossed and blown_

_Walk on, walk on with a hope in your heart_

_And you'll never walk alone_

_You'll never, ever walk alone_

Ryan looked down at his girlfriend as he finished the song, smiling softly when he saw that she'd fallen asleep. He placed a gentle kiss on her hair, breathing her in. He settled back, closing his own eyes as he drifted off. "I love you, Lucy."

"Love you too," she mumbled drowsily.

* * *

**Hey guys, I hope you liked this. Sorry about the cliffhanger last time, but you did say you wanted more drama. This story is getting quite long. Do you guys think there's too much detail? I'm a little worried I might be putting too much extraneous stuff that's making it too long. **

**Just a short note for now, I'm kinda tired. Anyways, tell me what you thought, and what you'd like to see during the aftermath. We'll be covering that, and possibly Regionals, next chapter, if we can fit it in. See you next time.**


	58. Chapter 57

Late on Sunday afternoon Santana Lopez was in her car, grumbling to herself as she drove to the Midget's house. She'd never visited him in the whole time they'd lived in this stupid town, and now she was going for the second time in as many weeks. He was nice though, under all that argyle and arrogance. She knew she'd never forget that hug in the choir room after Brittany had broken her heart. She would never admit this, she was too much of a bitch, but she liked Ryan now. Not romantically, because she wasn't into hobbits and it was gross. Plus she was figuring out she was gay. Just as a friend.

Madre de Dios, the world was probably going to end soon, now that she thought of Ryan Berry/Corcoran as a _friend._

Finally she reached her destination, and she scowled when she saw that Quinn's red bug wasn't around. Rats. Maybe Blondie wasn't here after all. Still, maybe Ryan knew where she was. He probably did, the two were closer than Siamese twins now. She parked and marched over to the front door, banging on the door. "Munchkin! Open up!"

The door finally opened. "Took you long enou –" Santana stopped short as she came face to face with Shelby Corcoran. Shit, that was right. Miss Corcoran lived here too. "Uhm…"

"Can I help you, Miss Lopez?" Shelby inquired, staring impassively at the teenager. Santana's jaw flapped up and down a few times before she managed to answer.

"Uh, I was looking for – Ryan," she corrected hastily. "Actually, I was looking for Quinn, and she wasn't at home so, I thought she might be… with…" she trailed off meekly, the older brunette's gaze still boring through her. Great, she sounded like a complete idiot.

"Mom, who's… oh." Ryan finally appeared behind his scary – but still hot – mother. "Santana? What are you doing here?"

"Selling Thin Mints," she snarked, wincing when she heard Shelby let out a pointed cough. "I'm looking for Quinn, where is she? And what happened to your face?" She frowned as she took in the nice bruise on the left side of Ryan's face.

"I'll let the two of you talk," Shelby said, leaving Santana in the doorway with Ryan. Santana let out a small breath of relief. The woman was hella intimidating.

"So, where's Q? She's here, right?" she asked, recovering from her shock. She raised her voice. "Q, come out here before I eats your hobbit!"

Quinn magically appeared behind Ryan. "Santana, shut up, you're bothering the whole street," she growled, pulling Santana into the hallway and into the living room as Ryan trailed behind them. He said something about letting them talk, leaving Santana and Quinn in the living room.

Santana's smirk fell off her face as she got a good look at Quinn. "What the hell happened to your face?" she demanded. Quinn also had a bruise on her cheek, and a red cut on her lip. "Did you get in an accident? I told you, you really have to leave your phone alone when you're driving –"

"Santana, shut up!" Quinn barked again. "What are you even doing here?"

"My dad told me you were in the ER when he went in for the night shift," Santana explained. "But he wouldn't tell me why you look like… that!" she gestured at Quinn's face irritably. The bruise was much more obvious on her pale complexion than on Ryan's. "Was it one of the football guys? I swear I'm gonna –"

"It was my dad, okay?"

Santana stopped dead. "W-what?"

Quinn sighed in frustration, folding her arms. "My dad came over to my house shitfaced, he knocked me around, knocked my mom into the fireplace. Then the police came and we all went to the hospital."

The Latina was speechless. Her dad? That couldn't be right. Dads weren't supposed to do this to their kids. "What – why –"

"I don't know, okay?" Quinn burst out. "I don't know why he came over last night besides to do _this._ Mom said maybe it was because it's the anniversary of her kicking him out last year. I think he just wanted to be more of a jackass than he already was. Happy now?"

"No! No, I'm not happy! You think I'm happy you got beat up by your dad?" Santana yelled at her. She didn't know why she was yelling. She didn't know how to react at all. She didn't understand how anyone could do this to their kid. Her dad was always busy with work, but he loved his family. "What about your mom? Is she okay?"

Quinn's face fell, and she looked away. "She's in the hospital. We went to see her earlier. She got a bad concussion when she hit her head on the fireplace, and she had to have surgery for internal bleeding."

"Ryan –"

"He got to the house a few minutes after my dad did. He pulled my dad off my mom and me until the police got there."

Santana fell silent, dropping onto an armchair. "This is messed up, Q."

Quinn snorted humorlessly, sitting down on the sofa. "You're telling me." She wiped a hand across her eyes, and Santana pretended not to see it. That was the way it had always gone between the two of them. They were both bitches, they didn't do mushy. They had Britts for that. Or they did, anyways.

She shook her head free of that last thought, not wanting to go there. She didn't know what else to say though. "What about your dad?"

"The police have him."

"Oh," Santana nodded. "Please tell me Ryan got him back."

A small smile ghosted across Quinn's face. "He did."

"Good." She knew Ryan had gotten hurt. She'd seen the wrapping on Ryan's hand and the way he'd been moving earlier. She wasn't a doctor's kid for nothing. "How long's your mom gonna be in the hospital?"

"Until Tuesday. Shelby said I could stay here until she gets out."

"Oh. Good," Santana nodded. "Cause you can't stay with me," she joked. "Once was more than enough."

"Yes it was," the blonde answered, laughing a little. They couldn't have a sleepover with just the two of them without wanting to murder each other. Ryan came into the room right them.

"Are you two still okay?" he asked. "Do I have to call someone to separate you two?"

"We're good," Quinn assured him.

"Yeah, no one's gonna get killed here," Santana agreed, watching as Ryan eased himself onto the sofa next to Quinn, moving a little stiffly.

A few minutes later Ryan's mom came back into the living room, and Santana swallowed a little, remembering her little faux pas from earlier. She still thought Miss Corcoran was kind of hot, and the older brunette looked very nice today in casual clothes with her hair thrown up in a loose ponytail. Santana blushed. Thank God for dark skin. "Hi Miss Corcoran." Ryan gave her a strange look. She shot him another glare and he looked away. "Nice to see you. Sorry for turning up all of a sudden like this." Now Quinn raised an eyebrow. _What?_ Santana thought grumpily. She could be polite if she wanted to. She just rarely wanted to.

"It's fine, Santana," Shelby told her with an amused smile that turned stern after a moment. "As long as you're not smuggling alcohol into my house, you're welcome to come over."

"Okay," she said sheepishly as Quinn excused herself to the bathroom.

"Actually, you can stay over for dinner if you want," Shelby offered.

Santana smiled a little goofily. "Uh, thanks, but no thanks," she said regretfully. "Dinner with the 'rents tonight. Maybe next time." Her dad had limited dinners at home and it was a family thing. Besides, she really needed to give him a hug tonight. Shelby nodded and left. Santana scowled at Ryan. "What?"

Ryan looked at her speculatively. "Do you have a crush on my mom?"

Santana blushed a little, looking away. "No," she grumbled. "Shut up."

"You totally do!" Ryan grinned. "Aw, that's so cute!" He cocked his head, making a face. "And a little disturbing."

"Shut up, Hobbit. And, you know, thanks," she added in a mutter. "You know, for Quinn. She's my best friend, even if we're total bitches to each other, and I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to her. I don't – I don't get how her dad could do that, but I'm glad you were there. So, yeah."

Ryan shook his head. "I don't get it either." He smiled lightly. "You know, I've always wondered. How are you friends when it seems as if all you do is bicker? Is it a girl thing?"

Santana's smirk returned to her face. "Pretty much."

..

One in the morning, and Quinn still couldn't sleep. She and Ryan had school tomorrow, and she needed to rest, but she just couldn't. She got up, heading downstairs for a glass of water. She turned the corner and entered the kitchen, only to stop short at the sight of Ryan's father sitting at the counter. "Oh. Hi Mr… James," she corrected, when the man gave her a look.

"Good evening Quinn. Or good morning," James answered, smiling at her. "Did you need something?"

"Just some water," Quinn muttered.

James nodded, quickly pouring her a glass from the pitcher on the counter. "Couldn't sleep?" She shrugged. "Do you want to talk? I think I can listen pretty well."

Quinn stayed quiet for a moment, thinking. Did she want to talk? "Shelby told me you might be able to help me more than she could. I don't know what she meant though."

He nodded again. "Did Ryan tell you anything about me?" he asked.

She shrugged. "He told me you were in the Army, and you and Shelby met when you were in high school." She gave him a small smile. "He thinks you're a really cool dad. I can tell he really likes you." She knew Ryan spent some of his afternoons at James apartment just hanging out.

James smiled. "That's good."

"I kind of got from Christmas that you didn't have it really good growing up," she continued, recalling the short conversation she'd had with him in the tree lot. "Is that why?"

He was quiet for a moment, running his finger idly along the rim of his coffee mug. "Maybe. I was a foster kid, that's how I met Shelby in high school. I got transferred in the middle of my sophomore year, and I couldn't catch up. Shelby was in AP English, and she got extra credit for tutoring."

"I'm not sure how that helps me."

"Foster kids get transferred a lot," James explained. "In between placements, you spend a couple of months or so in a group home. Before I got to Akron, I spent three months in one. And I saw a lot of kids come in. Kids whose parents… weren't very nice."

Quinn stiffened, jerking her gaze away. "That doesn't mean you know what to do about it."

"No, it doesn't," James conceded. "I was placed in a home when I was thirteen, the mom was the one who worked. The dad… he liked to drink. And when he did, he got mean. There were four of us there, and when he was drunk, he took it out on all of us." He was quiet for a moment. "I thought maybe I had done something wrong, and I felt guilty that I hadn't been able to do anything to protect the others, since they were all younger than me. And afterwards, I just wanted everything to go back to normal. Well, as normal as at got for a foster kid, anyways," he amended. "I wished people would stop asking questions about what happened, and how I was feeling, and all that crap."

"I just don't know how I'm going to take all the questions at school," Quinn whispered. "Telling Santana this afternoon was hard enough, and she's like my best friend. How do I tell people that my own father did this to me?"

"You don't owe them any explanations."

"But they'll ask anyways."

"They probably will."

"I just…" Quinn stopped, not knowing what to say.

"You're ashamed that this happened to you," James predicted. "That you weren't strong enough to stop it yourself, and that you were weak enough to let it happen."

Quinn felt all her breath leave her at once, because that was exactly how she felt. "I thought I'd hit rock bottom last year," she said, with a shuddery laugh. "Pregnant, no home, no parents, no rep. But I can't help feeling like this is worse."

James sighed. "I'm going to give it to you straight. Your situation sucks. But you need to understand something. You have nothing to be ashamed of. All right? None of what happened this weekend was your fault. It's natural to think that you could have stopped it, but at the end of the day, your father was the one who decided to come over to your house and hurt you and your mom. It wasn't your fault."

"But –"

"No, listen. Did you know he was coming over?"

"No, but –"

"Could you have fought him off if you'd tried? I saw him when the police took him out of the hospital, he's a big guy."

"No…"

"Did you ask him to hit you or your mom? Or Ryan, when he got there?"

"No!"

"At any point, can you think of anything that you could have done to stop him?"

"… No."

"Then how exactly was any of this your fault?" Quinn stared at him, stumped. "You couldn't have done anything, Quinn, you need to understand that," James said gently. "It's not weakness, it's just plain fact. Your father is bigger and stronger than you, and he was drunk. That's not on you. You couldn't have done anything differently. It's not weakness to need help."

Quinn stared at him, mind reeling. He was right. She'd been tormenting herself since last night, about how she'd been too weak to stop him, how she should have done something, anything, to protect herself and her mother. That Ryan shouldn't have had to intercede. But James was right. She hadn't done anything wrong. She took another deep breath, suddenly feeling much lighter. Not as light as she'd been before all this, but it wasn't as if she had a great weight hanging on her chest. "Thank you," she said quietly. "I needed that."

"It's fine, Quinn. To be honest, you would have figured this all out yourself," James admitted. "I did. I just wanted you to have a head start. And to not go through that angry period where you push away everyone who cares."

"Did that happen to you?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, I didn't have that many people at the time, so my bouts of rage were limited to my psychiatrist and my social worker," James said wryly. "But you have a lot of people who care about you, Quinn. And they'll help you through this."

She nodded. She knew that. She looked down, once again wondering why her own father couldn't have been more like this. It wasn't fair that some people who weren't fit were able to become fathers, while others like James didn't get the chance until it was almost too late.

"Now, how about you finish that up and you go get some sleep in Ryan's room, huh?"

Quinn's eyes snapped up to James' in alarm. She relaxed marginally when she saw the amusement and mischief in those twinkling brown eyes that looked so much like her boyfriend's. "You know?"

"Oh, most definitely," James answered. "Don't worry, I haven't told Shelby. Our secret. But knowing her, she probably already knows."

She sighed. "That's just great."

* * *

The next morning Quinn woke up to an incessant beeping sound, and she sighed. She did not want to wake up right now, she was too comfortable. She threw out her arm haphazardly to shut off the alarm.

"Oof."

Quinn opened her eyes in surprise at the noise. "Sorry," she said contritely, realizing that she'd flung her arm out over Ryan's chest in her attempt to reach for the alarm.

"S'okay." Ryan reached for the clock himself, making the beeping stop. "Morning," he said, smiling at her. "You know, I could get used to this."

"Me too," Quinn said with a small chuckle. This was the second night in a row that she'd ended up in Ryan's bed. The guest room was great and all, but she felt especially safe here with him. And she needed that.

When she'd woken up yesterday she had been too anxious about her mom to relax like this, and too guilty about everything else. But today was different, after her midnight talk with James. She turned on her side so she was facing Ryan, tracing his features with her eyes. She'd always secretly thought he was good-looking, even before they'd become friends. And now, as he looked at her with that soft look in his expressive eyes, she loved him so much more. He turned to face her, and she moved forward, capturing his lips in a gentle kiss. She cupped his cheek gently with her hand, pulling back with a soft chuckle. He looked at her curiously. "What?"

"You need to shave," Quinn told him, running a finger along his rough cheek.

"Oh." Ryan rubbed his hand over his chin. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay. It just feels different." She kissed him again. "But the morning breath, yeah. That's definitely got to go," she said, playfully tipping his head away as he laughed at her, swooping in for another kiss. Quinn moaned softly as he ran his hand lightly down her side, skimming along the side of her breast before resting on her waist. The she inhaled sharply at the sudden spike of arousal that shot through her – they were two teenagers alone in a bed, she couldn't help it. She pulled Ryan's lips back to hers, feeling his morning wood pressing against her leg. "Someone's happy today."

"There's a gorgeous blonde in my bed, can you blame me?" His eyes were dark with arousal now as they bored into hers.

"I suppose I can't," she said, his compliment making her smile. He started kissing her neck, and she moaned softly, every touch sending heat shooting straight to her core. She felt him slip his hand up her shirt to rest on her waist, his thumb drawing lazy patterns into her skin and making her shiver. His hand crept upwards, suddenly freezing. "Why are you stopping?" she almost whined.

He swallowed. "You're not wearing a bra."

"No, I'm not," she said innocently. "Problem?"

"N-no, not at all," he recovered quickly. "Just surprised." He dipped back down, placing an open-mouthed kiss against her neck before gently massaging her breast with one hand.

"Ohh… that feels so good, Ry…" Quinn could feel her pulse racing, every touch between them hot as fire. Suddenly he pulled away, and her eyes flew open. She didn't even remember closing them. "Ryan, seriously, you need to stop stopping."

He grinned at her, and she felt him tugging her shirt up. "I just thought you were a little overdressed." Quinn quickly caught on, and pushed herself up enough for Ryan to pull the shirt over her head. Suddenly his lips were back on chest, dipping lower until he was skimming over the top of her breasts.

Quinn's brain was just about short-circuiting by now, and she moaned loudly, pushing her chest up towards him. They had done this a few times by now, and he knew how to get her going. "Keep going," she panted. Her breath was ragged as he smirked, sliding lower to place a kiss on her nipple, and she gasped, her hips involuntarily jerking forward into Ryan's cock. He pulled back ever so slightly, glancing up at her with a smirk. "Is that good?"

She just whimpered in response as he continued to work his mouth on her breast. His hand snaked up to cup the other one, and when he pinched the nub between his fingers, she pulled his lips back to hers, her tongue delving into his mouth as she rubbed against his length, the friction hitting her clit perfectly.

"Ryan…" She needed him inside her, right now, she was so fucking ready –

Suddenly a loud knocking made the two teenagers jump apart, and Quinn looked at Ryan wildly, so turned on she wasn't sure how to think.

"Kids, time to get up," Shelby's voice said loudly. "Quinn, I know you're in there. Separate bathrooms please, thank you!"

Quinn shut her eyes in frustration, flopping back against the pillows as she desperately to catch her breath. Ryan was having an equally hard time. He groaned. "Okay, we're getting up!" He sighed regretfully, collapsing back on the bed. He gave Quinn one more quick kiss. "I apologize."

She just smiled reluctantly. "It's okay." No it wasn't. Yes it was. Argh, this was so confusing. She let out a deep sigh. "I guess this isn't the right time yet."

"I guess not," Ryan said. "But soon. Really soon."

"I'll hold you to that." She gave him another kiss, their lips sliding against each other sensuously, before he pulled back. He stood up slowly, and Quinn felt a twinge of guilt at his careful movements. She knew he was still hurting from the injuries Russell had given him.

Half an hour later they headed downstairs. "You know, I've been wondering," Quinn said. "Why does your mom have such a huge house? Didn't she live alone before?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, she did, but she told me she inherited the house from her grandparents. She had it redone when she moved in." They headed into the kitchen where Shelby was making some toast with James reading the morning paper. "Morning Mom, Dad."

"Good morning," Quinn added. James smiled at the two of them.

"Good morning guys," Shelby replied. "You know the drill, help yourself to whatever you want." Quinn nodded her thanks, pulling a box of cereal towards her. The doorbell rang, and Shelby glanced at Ryan. "Can you get that?"

"Okay." Ryan left the kitchen, but came back a minute later. "Quinn, there's someone waiting for you in the living room. You should go talk to her."

"Okay…" Quinn got up and went into the living room. Her eyes widened when she recognized the person standing in the living room. "Frannie."

"Lucy," the older blonde said in relief as she walked over to Quinn, putting her hands on the younger girl's shoulders as she inspected her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Quinn answered, still in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a flight out as soon as you called," Frannie explained. "I had to come out here."

"What about your classes?"

"I can miss a week," Frannie said dismissively. "I'll make it up. You and mom are more important."

Quinn nodded, still couldn't believe Frannie had dropped everything to come out here. She'd never done that before. "I – have you seen Mom yet?"

Frannie shook her head. "No, I decided to come see you first. And before you ask, I wasn't sure you'd be here, but I had a hunch," she said knowingly. "Are you going to school?"

"Yeah. We were just having breakfast."

"Well, don't let me interrupt," Frannie said lightly. Quinn nodded again, slowly, before returning to the kitchen with Frannie following her. Shelby and Ryan looked at the two of them inquisitively, and for a second they had the exact same expression on their faces. "Shelby, James, this is my sister, Frannie. Frannie, Shelby Corcoran and James Walker, they're Ryan's parents."

"Nice to meet you Frannie," Shelby said.

"You too," Frannie answered sincerely. "Thank you so much for letting Quinn stay here."

"It's no problem at all."

"Are you picking your mother up at the hospital later?" James asked. "The doctors think she'll be ready for release this afternoon. I work at the hospital, I can take you to see her if you want." Frannie nodded gratefully.

Shelby checked her watch. "We need to get going if we don't want to be late for school."

"Okay. I'll see you later then?" Frannie asked Quinn, who nodded.

Later, Quinn was in McKinley with Ryan. She'd tried to cover up the black bruise on her face with some makeup, but she'd still turned a few heads. Ryan was sticking to her like glue, never letting her out of his sight for long. "Are you all right?" he asked concernedly. "I guess it was a bit of a surprise to see Frannie today. I'm glad she came back though, I'm sure you and your mom could use the extra help."

"I think I'm okay," Quinn said. "Yeah, it was a shock, but it's kind of nice. I didn't expect her to come back, since she's got classes and all that. But it's nice," she said quietly. She and her sister had started to tentatively repair their relationship last Christmas. Maybe this was a sign that it was working. She hoped it was.

..

"Okay guys, time to get into our set list… Quinn, Ryan, what happened?" Mr. Schue asked, looking at the two in confusion as he took in their injuries. Both of them were still sporting bruises on their faces and Quinn's wrist was in a wrap.

"Yeah, we were kind of wondering that too," Sam said.

Ryan glanced over at Quinn, unsure of how she wanted to answer. The day passed by with no untoward incidents. Ryan had made a point of being around Quinn as much as possible, it was almost unbearable for him to let her out of his sight. Quinn had been a little annoyed with him, but he didn't care. He just needed to know she was safe. People had given them strange looks, but hadn't commented. Quinn's reputation as the Head Cheerleader was still in people's minds, even though she was off the Cheerios, and less people had been messing with Ryan since he had joined the basketball team, and especially after the incident with Dave Karofsky and Azimio Adams.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Quinn said.

"Why not?" Mercedes prodded. "Maybe we can help."

Quinn sighed. "It's personal, and I'd really rather keep it to myself."

"But –"

Ryan started to ask them respectfully to drop it, but Santana beat him to it. "Hey, she said back off, okay?" she barked. "None of your business."

"Santana's right," Ryan intervened, before Santana could start spouting off random insults. "It's a personal issue, and as Quinn doesn't really want to talk about it, we should return to topics that actually pertain to the glee club."

"You know, you should really take better care of your girlfriend, dude," Finn commented. "If that had happened to her last year I would have kicked someone's ass."

Ryan just rolled his eyes, willing to let it pass if they could move on. Santana wasn't though. "Okay, listen here, Flubber –"

"Ryan pulled my drunk dad off me and my mom Saturday evening, Finn," Quinn cut in coldly. "He barged into the house and started to knock me and my mom around. Ryan fought off my six-foot, 200-pound father for us. You, on the other hand, couldn't be bothered to talk to Karofsky about leaving your stepbrother alone a few months ago. So you do not get to say that, got it?"

The whole room fell silent, and Finn shrank back, looking appropriately chastised. Mr. Schue cleared his throat. "All right. We should get back on track." Quinn nodded, and the room focused reluctantly back on their teacher. "Now, I've been thinking it over, and I thought for our solo, we'd have Finn sing _Open Arms_ by Journey. He did a pretty good job a few weeks ago after all."

Ryan stared at him in disbelief. "Mr. Schue, you can't be serious. We can't win Regionals with that."

"Sure we can," Finn insisted. "We'll kill it, just like last time."

"Or it'll kill us," Quinn said sarcastically. "We lost, remember?"

"That's right," Ryan said quickly. "We already tried a Journey set list last year, and we lost. Surely that's some kind of sign for us not to do it again."

"We lost last time because Sue was on the panel of judges," Mr. Schue argued. "I've already checked with the Show Choir Board, Sue is definitely not a judge this year because she's coaching Oral Intensity. We're doing Journey's _Open Arms_. Finn did a good job with it when we brainstormed for anthems, and with a little work it will be great for Regionals."

"A good job?" Ryan asked incredulously. "He was straining like crazy on the high notes!" Mr. Schue couldn't do this. They needed to win Regionals, and he was furious at Mr. Schue for springing this on them. They should have been preparing weeks ago, but God forbid anyone ever listen to him. Working out choreography would take another day, and perfecting the choreography would take at least until Thursday for most of the club, Friday for Finn. Vocal polishing would be squeezed into whatever time was left, and that was not enough time to get Finn up to par. "Mr. Schue, I'm the best performer we've got," he argued, wincing at the arrogant way it came out, but he needed to stop this. "We need to win Regionals if we want to make it to New York!"

"Have a little faith in your teammates, Ryan," Mr. Schue told him. "And besides, after what happened with Quinn's father, you could use some rest."

"Mr. Schue, I kinda think Ryan's our best shot at this too," Tina volunteered, as Mike nodded.

"I hate to say it, but Chang-squared's got a point," Santana shrugged. "McFlab can't do the lead, not if we want to win."

Ryan nodded, pleased by the support. "Mr. Schue -"

"That's enough arguing," the teacher said firmly. "Do you think the other glee clubs argue with their directors like this when they're choosing their set list? I'm sure no one in VA argued with Miss Corcoran when she gave them their set list." Ryan's jaw clenched. His mother was ten times the coach Mr. Schue was, there was no comparison, but saying that wouldn't win him any points. "I'm your advisor, and I think this is what will win us Regionals. Finn can do this, just give him a chance."

Ryan gave him a hard glare. "Then we're going to lose." He stood up and stormed out of the choir room. He picked up his things from his locker and headed out of the school, still fuming. He didn't understand why Mr. Schue was so hell-bent on making them lose. On his way to the school exit, he passed his mom.

"Hey, where are you going?" Shelby asked, catching him on the shoulder. "Aren't you supposed to be in glee?"

"I was, but apparently they don't need my input at the moment," he answered curtly. "I'm going to the garage, I'll be home later." He started to push past her, only to have her catch him again.

"Hold on, you're not supposed to be doing anything strenuous this week," Shelby reminded him. "You might strain something. And you don't have a car, remember?"

Ryan scowled. "I won't strain anything, okay? I'll be careful. And I could use the walk."

Shelby nodded slowly. "Okay. You call me if you need anything, or if you need me to pick you up later."

"Fine." He stalked off, leaving his mom in the hallway. He was in Burt Hummel's garage a few minutes later, and he went up to his boss.

"Hi Ryan, wasn't expecting you today," Burt nodded, looking up from the engine he was working on. "Your mom called a few minutes ago, she said you're not supposed to be doing any heavy lifting this week."

"Of course she did," Ryan sighed. Since when were Burt and his mom all buddy-buddy?

"You can do some inventory work. I've already gotten halfway through, you can go ahead and finish it if you want."

"Okay." It was better than nothing, and to be honest his back was starting to ache a little after the walk from the school.

"And I just thought I'd give you a heads up. Hiram Berry was in here earlier, and he'll be back later to pick up his car." Burt nodded at the sedan that Ryan recognized as belonging to Hiram.

"Oh." Ryan's shoulders slumped for a second. Of course he was. Because why would this day get any better? "That's okay," he said neutrally, setting his shoulders again. "I don't care."

Burt nodded, turning back to the car, and Ryan set to work. An hour passed, Hiram hadn't shown up, and Ryan had calmed down a little from his frustration over everything that had happened. It wasn't just glee. He was still reeling over what had happened with Quinn and her family just a few days ago. Burt had headed back to his office, and Ryan was almost done. Maybe if he finished fast enough –

"Hi Ryan."

Shit. He huffed, his irritation returning as he refused to turn from his work. He was not in the mood for this right now. "Hiram."

The older man was quiet for a minute, and Ryan thought that maybe he'd gotten the hint. Then he spoke again. "You didn't call me."

Ryan rolled his eyes, jotting down a note on his clipboard with a little more force than was probably necessary. What kind of a question was that? "No I didn't." Why couldn't he just be left alone? Where was Mr. Hummel, anyway? He heard a sigh. The sound just made him more irritated. He didn't have any right to sigh like that!

"Look, Ryan, can't we talk? I get that you're upset –"

Finally Ryan turned around, glaring angrily at Hiram. "_Upset_? I'm not _upset_, Hiram, I'm furious right now! You do not just get to waltz in and out my life anytime you want!"

"Ryan –"

"You want to talk?" Ryan seethed. "What the hell do you want to talk about? You want to talk about how you basically gave me away last year? You want to talk about how you didn't even try to fix things? How you just gave up? Well, newsflash, I don't want to talk to you!"

"It wasn't like that!"

"Oh, my mistake," Ryan spat back sarcastically. "You didn't just give up, did you? You left, both of you, you left me long before I found my mom!"

Hiram tried to respond. "We were working, we had to provide for you –"

"Don't you _dare_ make this my fault!" Ryan exclaimed, getting up in Hiram's face. He was past the point of caring who heard him. All the stress and frustration from the past few days was now bubbling over. "It was _not_ my fault! You did this! What the hell happened? Why couldn't you keep it in your pants for the sake of your family? Why couldn't you want me, even if I wasn't biologically yours?"

"Look we made a mistake, I get it, but I'm trying –"

"Why the hell couldn't you have tried then?! Why do you care now? You do not get to just come back here when you dumped me in someone else's lap and tried to pay me off! I didn't want your fucking money! I wanted my parents! And you know what, that's not you anymore! You don't deserve that title!"

"Ryan, stop."

He stopped short in the middle of his rant, whipping around at the new voice. His dad was here.

James made his way over to Ryan's side, surveying the man who had been talking to his soon. Hiram Berry was a little shorter than him, with watery blue eyes and greying brown hair. James couldn't help but feel a surge of anger when he thought about how this man had treated his son, and he looked at Ryan. "Ryan, how about you go out to my car?"

It wasn't a question, and he knew Ryan knew that too. The teenager looked at James and then back at Hiram, eyes boiling over with resentment. "Ryan, go. I'm just going to have a chat with Hiram here." Finally Ryan nodded tersely, spinning around and heading out of the garage. James turned his focus back to Hiram.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry," James replied, voice cold. "My name's James Walker. I'm Ryan's father."

"You –" Hiram frowned. "I see."

"I've heard quite a bit about you."

"I can't say the same, seeing as Shelby never told us," Hiram said resentfully. "What are you doing here?"

James barked out a laugh. "Seriously? I could ask you the same thing. You left him with Shelby, you have some nerve trying to talk to him again."

"I think I have every right to talk to him."

"I think otherwise," James ground out. "As for what I'm doing here, I'm doing what you didn't do. I'm trying to be Ryan's dad, something which you and your husband failed miserably at."

"We raised him for fifteen years, we took care of him! You have no idea what you're talking about, you've been his father for what, a few months? After leaving him with us? We were his parents," Hiram challenged.

James straightened, using his height advantage over the slightly smaller man. "You're right, I've only been around for less than a year," he said quietly, hating the fact. "But I came back for him when I found out. I may not be the best father, but at least I can say I'm trying. You and your husband gave up on him when you got tired of being parents and then dumped him in someone else's lap as soon as you had the chance. You do not deserve to be called parents." Hiram shrank back under the verbal assault, unable to rebut. "That young man out there is _my_ son, not yours," James growled. "You had your chance with him and you blew it. You almost ruined him. You were not fit to be his parent, and I'll be damned if I let you hurt him even more. "

"I –"

"You are not going to initiate contact with him at all, understand? Unless he wants to talk to you, you're not going anywhere near him. You denied his mother contact with him or all those years, I'm sure you can keep your distance. I will not let you mess him up even more than you already have. Is that clear?"

Hiram seemed to gain some of his bravado back. "What if I refuse?"

James stepped closer to him, as menacingly as possible, and Hiram drew back again. "You kept him for fifteen years and then you left him with Shelby when you couldn't keep her away anymore. You basically gave him away. You made him feel unwanted and worthless, and now you have the audacity to try to act like nothing happened, even when he wanted you to leave him alone?" He was face to face with Hiram now, and he could see the fear in the other man's eyes. James scoffed, backing away. "Stay away from my son, Berry."

Burt cleared his throat. "Mr. Berry, how about we settle the bill and you go. It's getting late, and you should probably get going." Hiram nodded a bit shakily, glancing back once at James before letting Burt usher him into the office. Leaving Hiram in the office, Burt came over to James.

"I was about to stop him."

James nodded. "I know." He'd seen the mechanic moving towards Ryan and Hiram when he had come into the garage. "Thanks. Shelby said you told her he might be here."

"Yeah," Burt nodded. "Kid's told me bits and pieces of what happened. If that had happened to one of my boys…" He shook his head. He locked gazes with James, understanding passing between them. "Tell Ryan I'll see him next week. He's got that glee thing this week, he should focus on that."

"I'll tell him. Thanks again."

"No problem." Burt clapped him on the arm before going to the office. James took a deep breath, reigning in his emotions. It had felt good to finally say what he wanted to say to one of the men who had mistreated his child. He headed outside, only to find Ryan just around the corner. James huffed out a laugh. Little eavesdropper. Just like him and Shelby once upon a time. Ryan had enough sense to look a little chagrined.

"Come on, buddy. Let's go." He headed out to his car and got into the driver's seat, followed by Ryan who sat down in the front.

"You good?" James asked.

Ryan nodded. "Yeah," he said quietly.

James sighed, knowing he wasn't. "I'll take you to my place. Your mom has a parent meeting thing."

..

Half an hour later the two of them were at James' apartment, sitting on the sofa side by side sharing a large pizza as a movie played on the TV. Neither of them were paying attention though. James stayed quiet, waiting to see if Ryan would come out and talk to him himself. He knew his son needed some time to think first, and he settled with just making himself available to talk whenever Ryan was ready.

"You know, some people shouldn't be parents at all."

James glanced over at Ryan, waiting for him to elaborate. He wasn't disappointed.

"I mean, if you don't want a child, if you're not absolutely sure that you're going to love that child, then you shouldn't even consider having one at all. It's irresponsible and I don't understand why people do it." Ryan took a bite from the slice of pizza he was holding.

"Kid, I've been wondering that my whole life," James answered. He looked at Ryan. "You do know that what they did wasn't your fault, right?"

"I'm aware," Ryan said, lips quirking up in a dry smile. "I've had several enlightening conversations with Mom on the subject."

"Well, she's right."

"It's still unfair though. We do everything to make people happy and proud of us, but it doesn't matter." He looked at the TV thoughtfully. "Did you know before she was pregnant, Quinn was in the Chastity Club, Christ's Crusaders, she was head Cheerio... But Russell still happened. And me… I tried to be what they wanted, but it didn't matter. They still left. Sometimes I think…"

"What?"

Ryan shrugged. "Sometimes it's like there seems to be something about me that pushes people away."

James looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"Hiram and Leroy, for one. Kids at school. You know I didn't have friends before this year. And even when I try to help in glee, they don't seem to want my help."

"You're not pushing me away. Or your mom, for that matter." James wasn't entirely sure about what to say. "You don't have to do anything special for us, either. We're going to be right here, all the way."

Ryan averted his gaze. "It's probably only a matter of time before I push you away too."

"No you won't. We're not going anywhere." James hesitated. "I know there's probably some part of you that doesn't believe me. And I don't blame you," he added, forestalling Ryan when he started to protest. "I stopped believing my social worker when I was ten and he told me I'd find a family who wanted me. I'd been in three homes by then, and it just wasn't true. Words don't mean as much as actions. So I guess we're just going to have to show you that we mean it. We're always going to be here for you."

They fell into silence again, the only sounds coming from the TV. Then… "Thank you."

James just nodded, clapping him on the shoulder. Ryan leaned forward, picking up a slice of pizza. "And you were wrong, about what you told Hiram in the garage."

"Oh?"

"You told him you're not the best father. But I think you are. I used to wish that Hiram and Leroy would pay attention to me more. Have dinner with me and listen to what I was saying, go to school and do something about the bullies. Just hang out with me and eat a pizza together," he shot James a lopsided smile. "I think you've done more than I ever expected a real dad to do."

James smiled at him, unable to speak as he felt his chest lighten with every word out of his son's mouth. He'd been worried that he would never be able to make up for lost time. Having him say that healed some of the pain of not being able to be there for him all along.

"I know you talked to Quinn the other night," Ryan said quietly. "Thanks. You know, for talking to her. I didn't really know what to say."

"Oh?" James glanced at him in amusement, clearing his throat. "Eavesdropping again, I take it?" Ryan shrugged. "I think you're doing pretty good with her," James smiled mischievously. "I bet you weren't complaining about sharing your bed, huh?" He nudged Ryan conspiratorially. The teenager smiled reluctantly.

"No, I guess not," he conceded. "I actually wanted to ask you something on the topic, actually."

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

Ryan fidgeted uncomfortably. "I need to ask for advice… about protection. For, you know…"

"Oh." James ran a hand through his hair, a little amused at the teenager's hesitance and the turn their conversation had taken, but also pleased that he'd come to him for advice. Even if it was a bit awkward. "Are you and Quinn…" he trailed off suggestively. Ryan blushed.

"Yes. No? I'm not sure," he stammered out. "We've talked, and I think we're ready. Sometime soon. We haven't yet though."

"Okay. So what's the problem? You do know how everything works, right?"

"Yes, I do know how it works, thank you," Ryan scowled. "That's not the issue."

James looked at him for a moment. "So are you having problems figuring out what type of protection to use, or what?"

Ryan cleared his throat. "I, ah, I actually went down to the drugstore once," he started. "But when I got there, there were, um, a lot of different kinds. And sizes. And I almost bought one of each kind just to be thorough, but then I realized that wouldn't look very good. I'm not exactly sure what kind to get. Don't laugh," he said, dismayed as James hid a smile.

"No, no, I'm sorry," James said sincerely. "I remember how hard it was to figure out." It was still funny though. It would be so like his kid to exit the drug store with multiple boxes of condoms. "Of course I'll help. Quick question. Why don't you have any already?"

Ryan shrugged. "I always planned to wait until I was 25, and it didn't really occur to me that I might be engaging in intercourse sooner."

"25?" James laughed, only to stop at his son's serious look. "Oh, you're serious. Okay. Well, kid, you have a girlfriend, be a boy scout. Always prepared. Didn't they teach you this in sex ed?"

"The health class teacher came down with herpes, and Miss Holliday subbed. She's sort of insane."

"Ah." James had yet to meet Shelby's infamous friend, but he'd heard stories. "Gotcha." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and took out a foil packet. "Here." He offered it to Ryan, who eyed it suspiciously. "It's not going to bite you."

Ryan took it carefully. "What do I do with it?"

"You take it home, try it on for size, so to speak," James explained patiently. "That way you know roughly what kind you need to get."

"Oh." Ryan pocketed the condom. "Thanks."

"That's what I'm here for."

A couple of hours of lighter conversation later, James and Ryan entered Shelby's house quietly. Shelby had texted James wanting to know all about what had happened, and James had replied that he'd talk to her soon. The two guys found Shelby asleep on the sofa with the TV on to a random movie. Ryan glanced at her. "I guess I'll go to bed. 'Night, Dad."

"Night, buddy." James smiled at the teenager, who slipped upstairs into his room. James sat down carefully next to Shelby, smiling as he brushed a lock of hair away from her face. Twenty years later and he still thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever met.

"You know, watching people sleep is creepy."

James chuckled. "Pretending to sleep while people watch is equally strange."

She kept her eyes closed. "I wasn't pretending, but you woke me up. Clumsy."

"Ouch."

Shelby opened her eyes, and he found himself staring at her again. It wasn't fair that she could still shut him up with just a look.

"What happened with Hiram and Ryan?" she asked. James jerked himself out of his stupor. Right. He quickly told Shelby what had gone down in the garage that evening. "Bastard," Shelby grumbled. "What is he thinking, he can't just come back and mess Ryan up again."

"I know."

"I'm glad you told him to fuck off."

"Well, I didn't use exactly those words, but effectively yes."

Shelby smiled. "Thank you for going," she said softly, kissing him on the cheek.

James nodded. He'd just been getting off his shift when Shelby had called him, asking him to check up on Ryan at the garage. "Thanks for calling. I'm glad I got to help him."

"I was right."

"I'm sure you were," James said humorously. "About what though?"

"About you being a good dad."

James stopped short. "Oh."

She smiled again, kissing him, this time on the lips, and he lost his train of thought again. He never got tired of this, and once again he found himself cursing the decision he'd made not to contact her sooner. His eyes fluttered closed, and he tilted his head, threading his fingers through her long hair. Shelby pulled away a moment later, both of them flushed and breathless. "How about we continue this upstairs?"

"You read my mind."

* * *

**Hi guys. This took a while, I've been really busy. Real life stuff. I'm okay, but my grandmother's in the hospital, I've been helping out with the rest of the family. I've got exams all over the place too.**

**I'm glad you liked last chapter, I was kinda nervous about it. I'm also happy that most of you like the detail I've been putting in and that my attempts at putting plot are appreciated. I've read quite a few stories that have a good storyline but not enough detail, or they're detailed but have zero plot. I'm trying for something in the middle.**

**Don't worry, I'm not abandoning this story, we're in it for the long haul. Thank you so much for your reviews and suggestions, they help a lot. I you'll notice I used one small suggestion here. And Asher Monroe as Ryan is actually pretty good :) Anyways, I'm hoping to have the next chapter out soon, so I'll see you next time!**


	59. Chapter 58

"What happened to you?" Ryan asked in confusion as Santana came down the hall the next day with dirt on her face and all over the front of her shirt.

"Sue happened," she grumbled, brushing past him. "_Esta loca_. The psycho filled Brittany's and my locker with dirt."

"Oh." Ryan shook his head, following her to the girls' bathroom. "I'll just wait for you out here." He opened his folder, studying some sheet music as he waited.

"Where's Blondie?" Santana asked as she emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later. "Aren't you two, like, supposed to be glued together?"

"She told me to leave her alone for just a few minutes, because apparently it's like having a puppy follow her around all day," Ryan said, half annoyed and half amused. Maybe he had been overdoing it a little. He just wanted to make sure she was okay, but he could give her space too. Not for long though.

Santana smirked. "Don't worry, you'll be all gooey again by tomorrow, making us all vomit with your sweetness."

"If you say so."

He held the door open for her as they went into the choir room, smiling when he saw that Quinn was already there. He quickly settled into the empty chair next to her, giving her a kiss and ignoring Santana's whisper of "Wanky."

Mr. Schue came in a few moments later. "Guys, I've got some bad news," the teacher announced. "You know how we decided on doing _Sing_ by My Chemical Romance? Well, I hold in my hand a cease-and-desist letter from the band. We can't do it."

"But it was the perfect anthem," Puck said in frustration.

"Additionally, there's a new requirement that all songs performed must be from this century. So _Open Arms_ is out too."

"How much do you want to bet that Coach Sylvester has something to do with this?" Mercedes asked. Quinn nodded. This had Sue written all over it. But maybe they should be thanking her instead of getting mad, because _Sing _wasn't really one of their best performances, and they were sure to lose with Finn singing _Open Arms._

"Way ahead of you guys," Mr. Schue sighed. "You're right."

"So what are we gonna do now?"

Mr. Schue opened his mouth to answer, but Ryan cut across him. "I really think we should do original songs for Regionals."

"All in favor of voting Ryan down again?" Mercedes drawled. Half the club started to raise their hands when Quinn cut in.

"I think he's right."

"Of course you do," Artie muttered.

Quinn ignored him. "The team works best when we push ourselves into something a little different. We won't be using other people's words or music, it'll be our own. Our own heart and soul, not just our voices. Ryan's an amazing songwriter and the two of us have been working on something, we just need a little more time to finish it."

"Wait, if the two of you are writing songs for Regionals, we should all get a chance," Finn said quickly. "It's a good idea, we should all get our heads together and write our own songs. That way we can kick some ass at Regionals."

"We can do this," Sam said confidently.

Mercedes looked at the teacher. "Mr. Schue, what do you think?"

Mr. Schue smiled. "Looks like we're doing original songs for Regionals."

..

Some time later Ryan found himself in the auditorium, playing around with a few melodies. He had a few that he was experimenting with, but still no lyrics. Well, good lyrics, anyways. He wasn't even going to touch on some of his earlier attempts. He looked up as Quinn sat down next to him on the bench. "Hey."

Ryan smiled. "Hi." He kissed her on the cheek. "Are we done with the whole space thing now?"

"Yes, very much so," Quinn deadpanned. "I miss my puppy/shadow." She rested her chin on his shoulder, her breath tickling his neck as he leaned his head on hers. "You got anything yet? I think everyone expects us to come up with something by tomorrow."

"Yeah, I've got a few things in mind," he said pensively.

Quinn straightened up again, looking at him curiously. "What's up now? Shouldn't you be happy? I mean, we're doing original songs like you wanted in the first place."

"Yeah, I'm happy about that," Ryan conceded. "I just couldn't help but notice that when I was the one advocating the idea, Mr. Schue didn't want anything to do with it. But when Finn and even you were the ones speaking up, he was all for it." He shrugged. "But never mind. I've got a few ideas for our song."

"Actually, so do I." Quinn showed him a sheet of paper where she'd scribbled some rough lyrics. Ryan read through it.

"This is good," he said thoughtfully. "Really good. How does the music go?"

"I was hoping you'd help me with that," she admitted. "I liked the tune you showed me a couple of weeks ago, I was thinking of that when I wrote this. I can write, but I'm not too good at music."

Ryan smiled. "Well, fortunately for you, I'm very musically talented."

An hour later they had hammered out most of their original song. They played it through once, Ryan thanking Shelby for all the piano lessons she'd given him. His accompaniment was rudimentary, but it got the job done. And his perfect pitch made up for his lack of technique. "This is really good, Quinn," he told her quietly. "It needs a bit more work, but this is really, really good."

"It wasn't just me," she told him.

"True. A lot of it was though." He smiled wryly. "Eight or nine more of these and we could publish our own album."

Quinn shook her head. "I think this may be a once in a lifetime thing."

"Maybe." He hesitated. "If you don't mind my asking, what prompted you to write this song?" He looked back at the lyrics. "It's too deep not to have come from somewhere."

"It just seems like… nothing ever goes right. Whenever everything's going well, I just… mess it up somehow. It's like something's keeping me from… getting it right." Ryan started to protest, but she stopped him. "I was the school loser up until I moved here, Ryan. It didn't matter if I was good at school, or if I tried to be nice to everybody, everyone still hated me. Then finally, everything gets fixed. I changed, puberty kicked in, we moved cities, I got to be head cheerleader with the perfect life and all that crap, but I still managed to mess up by getting pregnant. And now –" She reached out to touch his face only to stop herself at the last moment. "Now I have you, and everything was perfect, but then my father has to come and ruin everything."

"Quinn, he didn't ruin anything –"

"Have you looked in a mirror lately, Ryan?" Quinn asked him, tracing a finger down his still bruised jaw. "You wouldn't have that if it wasn't for me, you only have that because you had to step in and stop him."

"That isn't your fault though."

"Isn't it? Maybe if I had done something differently, he wouldn't have left us, he wouldn't have –"

"You need to stop," Ryan interrupted.

"But –"

"No. No but. You're not the one who told your father to come into your home drunk, and you didn't tell him to hit you, or me. If you did then we have to seriously reconsider this relationship," he quipped. "I know you know it's not your fault."

"I know," Quinn said softly. "I just don't want you to get hurt because of me."

"I chose to go in and pull him away from you and your mom. I'm glad I did, because I'd rather this happened to me than to you." He took her hand, the one with a sprain. "This is already killing me," he said softly. "And I can't imagine what else would have happened if I hadn't gotten there in time. You shouldn't have even this. If I'd gotten there a little earlier –"

"It wasn't your fault," Quinn inserted automatically. "He's the one who did this, not you."

Ryan gave her a small smile as she mirrored his words back to him, and she sighed, before caving in with her own smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Ryan leaned in, giving her a kiss, sighing happily as the familiar sensation overwhelmed him. Her tongue probed into his mouth as her hand fisted in his shirt, and he quickly opened his mouth to grant her access. He closed his eyes as he tangled his fingers in her soft hair as the kiss grew more needy, both of them seeking reassurance that the other was still there, still with them.

Finally they had to break apart for air, but even then they didn't move apart, still wrapped together as closely as possible as they caught their breath. Ryan leaned forward, pressing their lips together again. "We should probably finish the song," he said breathlessly.

"Right," Quinn answered, equally breathless. "We need another verse and lyrics for the bridge."

Ryan thought for a moment before scribbling something down. Quinn watched him over his shoulder. "That's good. I can work with that." She took the pen, changing a couple of words and adding a few more. "Where did that come from?"

"I seem to have my own issues," he answered wryly. "Hiram was at the garage yesterday, and we got into it a little. My dad showed up and told him off though." He smiled. "It was kind of cool."

"Your dad's really cool."

Ryan smiled proudly. "I know. But anyways, seeing Hiram again kind of brought up old issues. And that spat with the glee club yesterday… I suppose conflict is good for songwriting."

Quinn chuckled. "Right." She paused. "Ry?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Ryan smiled. He'd never get tired of hearing that. "I love you too."

..

After glee, James picked Ryan up from McKinley, making a quick trip to the closest drug store. Later, they pulled up to the Corcoran house. "Now, what's the rule?" James prompted. Ryan sighed.

"Always have one for emergencies," he recited, a blush still creeping up his neck. James had taken him to the store to get some condoms, and the two had had a very frank and open discussion in the car, both to and from the drugstore. It had been a little uncomfortable, but kind of cool, because he'd never had anyone to talk to about these kinds of things before. And he'd even learned a few things from their conversation. James obviously had more experience than he did, and Ryan had just clung to the knowledge that his dad had had other girlfriends besides his mom. Otherwise it would have been very disturbing.

"Good," James said. He turned to Ryan. "Now, I cannot stress this enough, but just because you have those doesn't mean that it's a license for you to do anyone you want. Use your better judgement on that, because sex changes relationships. After you cross that line, there's no going back."

Ryan nodded, filing the thought away into his head. "Okay."

"And you make sure that it's something both of you want. If the other party at any point says no, you stop. Doesn't matter if you're right there, if she says no, you stop."

"I'd never do anything that makes Quinn uncomfortable."

James nodded. "That's good. Now come on, I'm starving and I can smell food from here."

..

"So are you staying over tonight?" Shelby asked James after dinner. Ryan had gone upstairs to get ready for bed.

"No, I've got work early tomorrow," James replied regretfully.

Shelby nodded. "That's okay." She leaned up to give him a kiss. "How was your afternoon? You spent it with Ryan, right?"

"Yeah, it was good," James said, a little vaguely. "We just talked a bit, went for a ride. Guy stuff." He paused. "It feels nice."

"What does?"

"Having him ask me things," he answered. "It makes me feel like I'm not completely useless as a parent. Despite not being here before."

Shelby nodded. "I know what you mean."

James gave her a crooked smile. "I should get going." He pulled Shelby into another lingering kiss that left them both breathless, arms wrapping around each other.

"Mmm." Shelby closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against his. "Yes, you should go, before we have to finish this," she said. She kissed him again, patting him on the chest before stepping back. "Drive safe, okay?"

"Okay," James answered. Shelby walked him out the door, before locking up for the night. She went back into the kitchen for a drink of water and headed for the stairs. Then she spotted a small piece of paper on the steps. Leaning down to pick it up, she quickly glanced over it, eyes widening as she read. A minute later, she knocked on Ryan's door.

"Come in."

Shelby opened the door, finding Ryan propped up on his bed, working on his laptop. "Hi sweetie," she said, sitting down on the foot of the bed. "Can we talk a sec?"

"Yeah, sure," Ryan said, closing his laptop. "I could actually use your help, we're writing an original song for Regionals, I could use all the help I can get."

"I'd be happy to take a look, but I wanted to talk to you about something else."

He looked at her a little suspiciously. "Am I in trouble for something? Because I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything that warrants a talk."

"No, you're not in trouble," Shelby smirked, before holding up the paper she'd picked up. "I just found this out on the stairway." He reached out and took the piece of paper. His eyes widened just like hers did when she'd picked it up.

"I –"

"Relax, I'm not mad," Shelby told him. "It's okay. It's good that you're thinking ahead." The two were quiet for a moment. She took back the CVS receipt for one package of condoms from Ryan's hands. "So you and Quinn?"

Ryan blushed. "I'm not really sure I'm comfortable talking about this."

"Neither am I, so this is going to be very awkward," Shelby answered. She had never tackled this topic with a teenage boy before. "Is this what you and your dad were up to today?" Ryan nodded. "Did you guys talk about it?"

"Yeah."

Shelby nodded. "Good. I know this is a natural part of a relationship, even if I'm not exactly thrilled about you doing it so young."

"Aren't you supposed to tell me not to do it, along with graphic examples on what happens if you have premarital sex?" Ryan asked.

"As much as I'd like you to wait, no I'm not." That would make her a bit of a hypocrite, since she'd lost her own virginity at sixteen as well. "I think you know already, and Holly showed me her presentation for health class. It think that's graphic enough for our purposes. I just need you to understand that this, sex, it changes you."

"Yeah, Dad already told me about how it changes relationships and how you can't go back afterwards."

"That's right," Shelby nodded again, picking up a pen from the bedside table to keep her hands from fidgeting. Ryan was already fiddling with the wire on his laptop charger. "But not just the relationship." Ryan tilted his head at her inquisitively. "It changes you, yourself. Not just physically, emotionally too, because opening yourself up for intimacy leaves you vulnerable. And before you do it with someone, you need to make sure that you trust them enough to leave yourself that open."

"But –" Ryan stopped, getting his thoughts into order. Shelby just waited patiently. "I get that it's supposed to be special, but to some degree, isn't it just physical? I'm just not entirely sure how it ties to the emotional."

Shelby looked at him in surprise. "I thought you wanted to wait until you were 25?" She thought he understood how important this was.

"Yeah, but it was more along the lines of avoiding any unwanted pregnancies and related drama."

"I see." Shelby shook her head. "The kind of intimacy that we're talking about is an expression of your love for the other person. It comes because you have a bond with that person. That's why you obviously don't normally sleep with random strangers on the street. A lot of people think that sex leads to a better relationship, but it works the other way too. The right relationship can lead to better sex. With the right person, it deepens the connection between you. And casual sex, as fun as it is at the time, just isn't the same. It's missing something, and inevitably you just wind up getting hurt. You form that connection, but without the underlying relationship, it'll end up backfiring on you."

Ryan nodded slowly, absorbing her words. "So you're saying it's not a good idea to have sex?"

"Well, at your age it's probably not the best decision," Shelby said wryly. "But no. What I'm saying is that before you get into it, you need to think long and hard about whether it's with the right person. This step is huge, and you don't want to be making it with someone you don't fully trust."

He looked down at the wire he was playing with. "Quinn mentioned something about wishing she had waited."

Shelby nodded. "The first time is special. And if it's with the wrong person, it won't be as good. It's not just physical, like I said. You want to keep it special, for the person you love. Don't just do it with people you don't have feelings for. Save it for your special person."

"Okay." He glanced at her. "Is that it?"

Shelby nodded, standing up. "Yes."

Ryan hesitated for a moment. "Thanks. For being so open about this."

"I want you to be able to talk to me and your dad about anything," Shelby told him. "But," she added, "This is not me allowing you to do it willy-nilly with Quinn in this house. Open door policy still stands, you got it?"

"I got it."

"Good. Now let's see your song."

* * *

A couple of days later, Ryan entered the Lima Bean just in time to see Blaine. "Ryan, hey," the Warbler greeted him with a smile.

"Hello Blaine," Ryan answered, sitting down at the table. Blaine had called him yesterday asking to meet him for a few minutes. "Sorry I didn't answer your calls the past couple of weeks."

"It's okay, I figured you got an epic grounding," the other boy smile ruefully. "Fortunately, being at a boarding school doesn't really make grounding a thing." He gestured at the fading bruise on Ryan's jaw. "Kurt told me about your adventure. I think he heard it from your friend Mercedes."

Ryan nodded, adding a packet of sugar into his coffee. "Yeah. So, not that I wasn't happy to get the invitation, but what did you want to talk about?" he asked, as he stirred his drink. Blaine fidgeted a little, shrugging.

"It's sort of about that kiss at the party."

"Ah." Ryan nodded sagely. "I thought that might be it. Don't worry about it, it was just a party game."

"Yeah," Blaine said, scratching at the back of his neck. "That's the thing. It kind of ran a little long… Kurt got a bit annoyed about it actually."

"Do you want me to talk to him about it?" Ryan asked, confused. "I hadn't thought it was that big of a deal. True, the kiss did run a little longer than the average spin-the-bottle kiss, but we can chalk it up to the intoxication."

"No, it's not that. I kind of wanted to apologize."

"For Kurt?"

"No, for the kiss." Blaine took a deep breath, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Look, you probably don't know this, but, when we were in middle school… I kind of had a crush on you."

Ryan's eyes widened at this revelation. "Oh." He blinked, unsure of how to take this news. "Oh."

"Yeah," Blaine said, blowing out another breath as he played with a coffee stirrer. "And you're with Quinn, and I'd like to think I'm over you, but I guess the alcohol got to me a little, and you know, old crushes…"

"Oh," Ryan said again, smiling slightly as he absorbed the news. "Well, I have to say, I'm quite flattered that I drew your interest even when we were in middle school. I never suspected you might like me like that."

"You're not mad or anything?" Blaine asked anxiously.

"No, of course not," Ryan assured him, smile widening. "In fact, it's quite an ego boost. I'm not homophobic in the least, and you're quite attractive yourself. If I'm mad at anything, it's that you didn't tell me sooner. It would have done wonders for my self-esteem. And I enjoyed our kiss. Objectively, of course." He let his smile fade a little and he leaned forward. "I hope you're not offended when I say I'm not attracted to you romantically though. I don't put much stock in labels, but I think I'm firmly on the heterosexual side of the spectrum."

"Oh, no, it's fine," Blaine said quickly. "I was pretty sure you were straight. It's a little disappointing, but like I said, I'm over it, and you've got a girlfriend."

"I hope this means we're still friends."

"Yeah, of course." Blaine chuckled. "I'm kind of relieved, actually. I'm glad I told you."

Ryan smiled, sitting back. He took a sip of his coffee. "So, how are your preparations for Regionals coming along?"

Blaine cocked his head playfully. "Why Ryan, are you trying to get intel on the opposing team? Not that I blame you, we're going to kill it at Regionals. You better get a solo this time around, we still need to settle who's the better lead between the two of us."

Ryan smirked slightly, raising his cup of coffee. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see, don't we?"

* * *

That Saturday, Ryan entered the preparation rooms of the Perrault Auditorium in Dayton where the Regionals competition was being held. He quickly spotted Quinn doing her makeup in front of the mirrors. "I just saw Mom and Dad, they're sitting near the middle with your mom and Frannie," he told her. Judy had been recovering quite well from Russell's assault last weekend, and Frannie had been staying with them to help. She'd be leaving to go back to college on Monday.

"That's good," Quinn answered a bit absently.

He looked at her curiously. "What's wrong? Are you nervous? You don't have to be, you'll be great."

Quinn shrugged. "No. Well, kind of. I was just thinking, of last year's Regionals."

"Ah." Ryan came up behind her, wrapping her in a hug. "You did give your mom and me quite the scare when your water broke," he said lightly, not wanting her to get too bogged down with memories. "Fortunately, unless you have something you're not telling me, there is absolutely zero chance of that happening this year."

She let out a reluctant chuckle. "True."

"It's Beth's birthday next week, right?"

"Yeah." Quinn's hand dropped to her stomach almost without her permission. "I was thinking maybe I'd write her parents for a few more pictures."

"That's a good idea." Ryan studied her in the mirror, always in awe of his girlfriend. She was especially beautiful today, with complete makeup accenting her porcelain skin and delicate features. The bruise from Russell had faded, any remnant hidden by the makeup. He dropped a kiss on her hair, looking at the two of them in the mirror. "You're beautiful, you know."

Quinn reached up behind her, turning to pull meet his lips with hers in a kiss. "Thank you," she said softly. Ryan just smiled, kissing her again.

"Quit that before I hurls," Santana said, leaning over to look at her own makeup in the mirror. Ryan released his girlfriend, sending a mock glare toward Santana, who ignored him. "Q's lipstick looks pretty nice on you, Corcoran."

Ryan hastily wiped at his mouth with a tissue. "Thanks, Santana, I always knew rose pink was my color," he said sarcastically. "You know, I'll admit I was really nervous about letting the glee club write our group number, but I'll admit, you guys did a good job. First tries notwithstanding."

"Hey, _Trouty Mouth_ was a fantastic song," she said, referring to her own original song, three verses extolling Sam's unusually large lips.

"Sure it was."

"Guys," Mr. Schue called. "Let's go, we need to be out in the audience."

Ryan pulled Quinn up from the chair, giving her a smile. "I'd kiss you again, but I'm afraid of ruining your makeup. Also, I don't want Santana vomiting on my shoes, I just shined them."

..

"And now, from Westville High School, let's have a warm welcome for Oral Intensity!"

Ryan and the rest of the New Directions clapped politely as the curtains went up. They had made it into the auditorium just in time for the judges' introductions. This year they had a right-wing politician, a Carmelite nun, and Rod Remington. He was everywhere these days. Oral Intensity was the group Sue had started coaching after that bizarre week when she had joined the New Directions. The music started up and Ryan tilted his head in confusion as the performers started some very bouncy choreography.

_Jesus is a friend of mine (Jesus is my friend)_  
_Jesus is a friend of mine (I'm a friend of Jesus)_  
_Jesus is a friend of mine (Jesus is my friend)_  
_Jesus is a friend of mine _

A disbelieving laugh escaped Ryan's mouth before he clamped his mouth shut. Quinn's eyebrows were up, and Puck's mouth was hanging slightly open. Shelby and James were sitting further down the auditorium so Ryan couldn't see their faces, but he imagined they were trying to hold in laughter as well right now.

"That's kinda offensive," Puck muttered as the hyperactive group formed a Star of David with their arms as the song ended. The crowd didn't seem to agree though as they stood up and cheered for Oral Intensity.

Oral Intensity's set list ended, and after a short break… "And now from Westerville, Ohio, the Dalton Academy Warblers!"

The curtains went up again, and the Warblers started up to sing. To Ryan's surprise, Kurt had sung _Candles _by Hey Monday as a duet with Blaine. They did a surprisingly good job, their voices blending together quite well. Ryan's perfectionist side noticed that the song was slightly at the edge of Blaine's range, but all in all the song was very touching.

_Blow the candles out_  
_Looks like a solo tonight_  
_I'm beginning to see the light_  
_Blow the candles out_  
_Looks like a solo tonight_  
_But I think I'll be alright_

Ryan felt Quinn take his hand halfway through the song, and he squeezed it gently, intertwining their fingers. The Warblers finished their song to great applause, and they followed it up with P!nk's _Raise Your Glass _led by Blaine. Ryan was first of the New Directions to stand up at the end of the set list, followed quickly by the rest of the group. He wanted to support Blaine, and Kurt, after all.

Finally, it was the New Directions' turn to hit the stage. Ryan waited backstage, staring at a mirror, when he saw Quinn come up behind him. She put her hands on his shoulders, leaning her head against his. "Break a leg."

"I will," he said confidently. "I still wish you would have sung it as a duet with me though."

She shook her head. "It sounds better with just you. It's stronger that way."

"I'll sing it doubly well for both of us then."

"And now from William McKinley High in Lima, Ohio, the New Directions!"

Quinn gave him one last kiss, before pushing him slightly. Ryan took a deep breath, letting it out in one rush, before striding to the center of the stage where a single microphone awaited. Applause rang as he entered, filling him with the confidence he needed to perform. This was where he belonged, up on a stage. Brad played his introduction perfectly, just like they'd rehearsed, and he started.

_What have I done?_  
_I wish I could run,_  
_Away from this ship going under_  
_Just trying to help_  
_Hurt everyone else_  
_Now I feel the weight of the world is on my shoulders_

_What can you do when your good isn't good enough_  
_And all that you touch tumbles down?_  
_Cause my best intentions_  
_Keep making a mess of things,_  
_I just wanna fix it somehow_  
_But how many times will it take?_  
_Oh, how many times will it take for me to get it right, to get it right?_

Ryan glanced over in the wings as he sang, locking eyes with Quinn. These were her lyrics, but he felt it too. These words were borne of everything they'd had to go through, and he had to do this well, because he was singing for both of them. The music built up, and he took the mic from its stand.

_Can I start again, with my faith shaken?_  
_Cause I can't go back and undo this_  
_I just have to stay and face my mistakes,_  
_But if I get stronger and wiser, I'll get through this_

_What can you do when your good isn't good enough?_  
_And all that you touch tumbles down?_  
_Cause my best intentions keep making a mess of things,_  
_I just wanna fix it somehow_  
_But how many times will it take?_  
_Oh, how many times will it take for me to get it right?_

The music intensified again, and this time he looked at his parents, instinctively finding them in the audience. This next part was for them, because they had been the ones to save him, to make him understand, and he poured everything he had into his voice.

_So I throw up my fist, throw a punch in the air,_  
_And accept the truth that sometimes life isn't fair!_  
_Yeah, I'll send out a wish, yeah, I'll send up a prayer_  
_And finally someone will see how much I care_

_What can you do when your good isn't good enough?_  
_And all that you touch tumbles down?_  
_Cause my best intentions keep making a mess of things,_  
_I just wanna fix it somehow_  
_But how many times will it take?_  
_Oh, how many times will it take, to get it right?_  
_To get it right?_

Ryan came back to himself as the song ended. As caught up as he was in the music, it was almost a surprise to see the applauding audience in front of him. He smiled, taking a moment to bask in the applause. He looked behind him, smile widening as he saw the rest of the New Directions. He turned back to the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're the New Directions!"

The music for their group number started, and Santana led them off.

_Yeah, you may think that I'm a zero_  
_But, hey, everyone you wanna be_  
_Probably started off like me_  
_You may say that I'm a freakshow (I don't care)_  
_But, hey, give me just a little time_  
_I bet you're gonna change your mind_

Santana smirked at Ryan as he sang the next part, easily moving in the choreography Mike had taught them just the day before.

_All of the dirt you've been throwin' my way_  
_It ain't so hard to take, that's right_  
'_Cause I know one day you'll be screamin' my name_  
_And I'll just look away, that's right_

_Just go ahead and hate on me and run your mouth_  
_So everyone can hear_  
_Hit me with the worst you got and knock me down_  
_Baby, I don't care_  
_Keep it up and soon enough you'll figure out_  
_You wanna be_  
_You wanna be_  
_A loser like me_  
_A loser like me_

Finn took the next verse, and he didn't do too badly. Of course Ryan knew that he himself would have done a better job. The audience stood up as they hit the chorus again, clapping to the beat as the New Directions danced on the stage. The two and half minutes went by in a blink.

_Just go ahead and hate on me and run your mouth_  
_So everyone can hear_  
_Hit me with the worst you got and knock me down_  
_Baby, I don't care_  
_Keep it up and soon enough you'll figure out_  
_You wanna be_  
_You wanna be_  
_A loser like me (A loser like me)_  
_A loser like me (A loser like me)_  
_A loser like me_

They ended their performance throwing slushy cups full of red confetti into the audience, who roared with applause.

..

"And now, to announce our winner, Lieutenant-Governor Stevens' wife, Carla Turrington-Stevens!"

The audience applauded politely as a late-middle-aged woman with red hair walked out onstage in front of the three assembled show choirs. She swayed unsteadily as she came to a stop, and Quinn's mouth twisted as she figured out that the woman was drunk.

"My husband is verbally abusive, and I have been drinking since noon," she drawled out. Distracting herself, Quinn saw Sue Sylvester shoot a superior look towards Mr. Schue. "I'm bored, let's just see who won, huh?" Mrs. Stevens opened the envelope labeled _First Place_. Everyone held their breath as she read the piece of paper.

"The New Directions! You're going to Nationals!"

The glee club exploded into cheers as someone walked out with the giant trophy. Ryan grabbed Quinn in an ecstatic hug, laughing as Mr. Schue held the trophy up in the air.

In all the commotion, they never noticed Sue walking across the stage until she socked Carla Turrington-Stevens in the face.

..

Quinn sat in front of the dressing room mirror, checking her face. She smiled as she remembered how happy the team had been when they'd won, how happy Ryan had been. She knew he was the most invested in this out of all of them. She turned around just in time to see Ryan come in.

"Mr. Schue says we're leaving in fifteen minutes," he said, grinning at her. "We're all heading to Breadstix as soon as we get back."

"Great." Quinn reached up, pulling him down for a kiss.

Just then Ryan spotted someone enter the room, and he turned around. "Can I help you?"

The man was unfamiliar to Ryan, but not to Quinn. The blonde teenager felt her heart almost stop, and she stood up a bit shakily, making Ryan look at her in concern. Quinn ignored him for the moment. "Mr. Waterson? W-What are you doing here?"

The man, the one she recognized as Beth's adoptive father, the one Quinn had given her baby to last year, smiled. "Hello Quinn, it's nice to see you again."

Quinn didn't know why Mr. Waterson was here. Either this was just a coincidence or… "Is there something wrong with Beth?" Quinn asked tremulously. _Please say no, please._ She wouldn't be able to stand it if something had happened to her baby.

The man shook his head quickly though, and she let out a breath. "No, no, it's not that," he assured them, before offering Quinn a small smile. "You did very well today, congratulations on your win. You too, young man," he said, looking at Ryan.

"This is Ryan," Quinn said, clearing her throat. "He's my boyfriend."

"Ah. Nice to meet you, Ryan. I'm Simon Waterson." He shook hands with Ryan before turning back to Quinn. "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here." She nodded mutely, grabbing Ryan's hand, thankful that he was there right now. "I'm sure you remember it's Beth's birthday next week." Quinn nodded again. She'd never forget that. "And my wife and I remembered that you told us she was born just after your Regionals competition last year. When we heard you were competing again today, we thought we'd watch. We just live half an hour away."

"Oh," Quinn said faintly.

"We also wanted to know if you'd like to see Beth," Mr. Waterson said gently, and Ryan felt Quinn's grip on his hand tighten. "She's outside with my wife, she watched the competition with us. We didn't know if you were ready to see her yet, so we thought I'd ask first."

Quinn inhaled sharply. _They were going to let her see Beth. _"Yes," she blurted out. "Yes, please. I want to see her."

Mr. Waterson smiled. "Okay. I'll go get her." He left the room, and Quinn sank back onto the chair, still in shock.

Ryan crouched down in front of her. "Are you okay?"

Quinn was silent for a few moments. "I'm going to see her again, Ry," she whispered. She couldn't tell if she was excited, worried, afraid. Probably all of them. "She's here. She watched us perform."

"I know." He smiled at her, straightening up. "Do you want me to go?"

She shook her head. "Stay. Please." He nodded just as the door opened again. Mr. Waterson came back in the room. This time he was followed by a short brunette woman, who was holding a small child, and Quinn's breath caught.

"Hi Quinn," Mrs. Waterson greeted.

"H-hi," Quinn answered, gaze transfixed on the little girl the older woman was holding. Mrs. Waterson just smiled and turned to the baby.

"Beth," she whispered. "There's someone here who wants to meet you." She turned the child around, and Quinn couldn't breathe as she looked at her baby's face for the first time in a year. Her eyes were just like Quinn's, and she had blonde hair and Puck's nose. Mrs. Waterson looked at Quinn. "Do you want to hold her?"

Quinn nodded silently, and Mrs. Waterson passed Beth into her arms. Quinn locked eyes with the little girl, and she had to choke back a sob as she found hazel eyes identical to hers staring back at her curiously. Beth, perhaps wondering why the person holding her looked so similar to her, reached out and patted her cheek. Quinn let out a laugh at the feeling. "Hi Beth."

A minute later, Quinn heard Mr. Waterson ask Ryan, "Do you know where Noah Puckerman is? Maybe he'd like to see her as well."

"He's probably in the lobby, I can go get him –"

Finally Quinn tore her eyes away from Beth. "No, wait. Just text him or something." She didn't want Ryan to leave. She was this close to breaking down and she needed him here. Ryan hesitated before nodding as he pulled out his phone. "I don't think I have Noah's number. I'll just text Mike to tell him to send Noah here."

Quinn nodded, settling her gaze back on Beth. She still couldn't believe that she was here, couldn't believe that this beautiful, perfect baby was hers.

"Quinn…" She looked at Ryan again. "Your mom and Frannie…"

She had forgotten all about her family, as frazzled as she was by this unexpected encounter. She looked at the Watersons. "My mom and my sister are outside," she said. "Can they come in?"

The couple looked at each other before Mrs. Waterson nodded at her. "Sure, dear. Of course."

..

Ryan watched as Quinn held Beth, something akin to awe in her eyes. He couldn't keep his eyes off the little girl either. It was strange to think that Beth was the baby who had sort of hijacked Quinn's body for most of last year. Beth was almost a carbon copy of Quinn, and for a moment Ryan wondered what a baby of his and Quinn's might look like.

Then the door opened and Puck came in, looking uncharacteristically uncertain. Ryan had texted Mike to tell Puck that Beth was here if he wanted to see her, but not to tell any of the others. Then he had texted Shelby, who was just about to leave with Judy and Frannie, to come back. After greeting the Watersons, Puck approached Quinn and Beth slowly, before sitting down to get a closer look at Beth.

"She looks just like you," he told Quinn softly, mesmerized by the small girl. Quinn just nodded silently. He didn't ask to hold her.

Ryan looked up as the door opened again. This time Judy and Frannie Fabray came in followed by Shelby, who stayed at the door, watching the scene. Ryan glanced at Quinn, who was surrounded by her family, and he went over to his mom. She smiled at him, and he wrapped an arm around her as she wrapped hers around his waist. They stood there quietly at the doorway, watching the small family reunion.

"I wish…"

He let out a wistful chuckle at Shelby's soft whisper. "I know."

..

Breadstix found itself full that evening when the entire New Directions decided to go out for a celebratory dinner. Ryan was sharing a circular booth with Quinn, Santana, Mike, and Tina. "Okay, Asian and other Asian," Santana grumbled. "As much fun as we're having watching you feed each other, some of us are trying not to puke into our food."

Tina rolled her eyes, swallowing the bite of pasta Mike had just fed her. "Whatever, Santana."

Mike just smiled, taking a sip of iced tea. "You know, Puck was saying something about how it's a shame we did that whole 'no alcohol until Nationals' pact."

"Ugh," Ryan groaned. "After last time, I don't think I'm having it ever again."

"Yeah, your parents are scary," Mike noted.

"True dat," Santana smirked, picking up what had to be her millionth breadstick of the night. "But this is good. I mean, all you can eat breadsticks? Who wouldn't be happy?"

"Too bad you don't have your wheelbarrow," Quinn said ironically. She had been there when Santana had gone home with a large wheelbarrow full of Breadstix breadsticks as the manager watched helplessly. Quinn had expressed her surprise that Santana hadn't earned herself a lifetime ban yet.

"Guess I'll just have to settle for my backpack."

Quinn turned to Ryan a few minutes later. "Want to get out of here?"

He smiled. "Sure."

Half an hour later they were at Quinn's empty house. "Where are Judy and Frannie?"

"I don't know, they said something about watching a movie or something, some kind of bonding thing while we had our afterparty," Quinn answered, pulling him up to her room. Just outside her bedroom door, she turned around, pulling him into a kiss. Ryan smiled, wrapping his arms around her to pull her flush against him.

He leaned his forehead on hers as they broke apart for air. "You're okay, right?" he asked softly, as she tugged him into her room. "I know seeing Beth was a surprise."

Quinn nodded, sitting down on the bed with Ryan beside her. "It was… weird. I've been thinking about her a lot."

"Understandable."

"And I guess it just makes me happy that she's happy, you know?" Quinn mused. "She looked happy, right?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, she did." He kissed her again, pulling them back onto the bed so they were lying down. "It has been a fantastic day, hasn't it?" he murmured. "I mean, we won Regionals, you got to see Beth, and now I'm here with you. Everything's just about perfect."

Quinn leaned back, angling her head to look at him. "I know how we could make it even better."

Ryan smiled at her. "Oh? How?"

Instead of answering, she pulled him into a deep kiss. His smile broadened, lips opening invitingly. Her tongue swirled into his mouth, dancing with his as she deepened the kiss. For a moment, the kiss was gentle almost lazy as they explored each other. Soon though, the kiss changed, and Ryan felt the air practically leaving his lungs, stars exploding behind his eyes. Quinn reached around to run her hand through his hair, pulling him even closer to her.

Suddenly everything shifted, and she was on top of him, trailing hot kisses along his neck as he gasped for air, clutching at her hips. _God that felt good._ Then she canted her hips forward forcefully, the motion causing her to rub against his rapidly hardening cock, and he thrust back against her, moaning. Her golden hair was falling around him, her scent intoxicating him, and he couldn't think straight because she was everywhere.

Her fingers slipped up his shirt, dancing along his abs, and he moaned as his muscles twitched uncontrollably. Then he felt her fingers fumbling at the buttons of his shirt, and his head cleared for an instant. He understood. He put his hands on her wrists, and she looked at him. He swallowed. "Are you sure?" he whispered hoarsely, heart hammering.

"Positive." She hesitated. "Are you?"

Their eyes locked, and he nodded. "Yes."

Immediately their lips crashed back together in a frenzied mess of lips and teeth. Ryan surged upwards, and Quinn straddled his lap, making him groan as her heat pressed up against his raging erection. She made quick work of Ryan's shirt, wrangling it off him. They broke apart for an instant as Ryan pulled Quinn's blouse off, leaving her in her bra. Ryan stared at her lustfully for a moment before dragging her back in another series of heated kisses.

Her hands were roaming all over his back and every touch was electric. He dragged his lips away from hers, moving to her jawline and down her neck, pausing to suck at the spot that drove her crazy before dipping ever lower until his lips were on her heaving chest. "Oh, god, Ryan, there," she panted, grinding down hard onto his erection.

Ryan dimly registered her undoing his belt, sliding her hand inside to brush over his dick. He was so hard it was almost painful, and somehow he managed to maneuver them so that Quinn was on her back and his weight was settled on her. "Is this okay?" he mumbled, nuzzling her neck as he undid the clasp of her bra.

"Yes, yes, keep going," she said breathlessly. He managed to undo her bra, and he pulled back for a moment, admiring her as she lay under him, pupils completely blown, a flush tinging her pale skin. _God, she was perfect._

"Beautiful," he breathed, diving back down to kiss her again. He kept it quick though, and soon he was trailing back down her neck, focusing on one breast as he teased the nipple with his lips. His head spun giddily as she moaned his name, and he palmed her other breast with one hand, flicking the nipple with his thumb as he sucked on the other.

"Ohh…" Quinn arched her chest up into him. He removed his mouth, only to have Quinn push him back rather forcefully. He just smiled, switching to the other breast to give it the same treatment. When he was done, he started to drag his lips down her stomach, licking and sucking as he went along, enjoying how she twitched and whimpered whenever he focused on one spot.

He fumbled for the zipper on her skirt, pulling it down as he pushed himself off, tugging the garment away. He slowed his movements, flicking his eyes back up at Quinn, wordlessly asking for permission. She nodded, and he slowly pulled off her panties, leaving her completely undressed under him. "God, you're so beautiful," he said reverently. He breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of her arousal as he settled himself between her legs. Gently, he slid his hands up her thighs, spreading her open.

"Ryan," she moaned. He let out an amused huff. Finally, he leaned down, running his tongue along her wet slit. She gasped. "What are you doing? I thought –"

"Just relax," he told her, licking her clit again. "I just want to get you ready." As much as he'd like to simply pound into her right now, he wanted her to enjoy this too. And he'd had a rather candid conversation with his dad on the finer points of the deed. "Just trust me."

"Okay," she sighed, breath shuddering out as he sucked on her clit. Ryan felt her hand clutching at his hair, the other one grasping at the sheets. He pulled his lips away, pushing his tongue inside. "Ryan!"

He just hummed, which made her cry out, grasping tighter at his hair as she thrust up against him. The only time they'd done this was during her birthday, and he'd been excited to do it again. She tasted… indescribable. She was unlike anything he'd ever tasted, and he couldn't get enough. He lapped at the wetness leaking out of her core, bringing his hand up to play with her clit as she twitched under him. Slowly he pushed two fingers into her, sucking and licking at her clit, and it wasn't long until she was clenching around him, crying out his name.

He watched her as she started in awe as she started to come down, and he gently pulled his fingers out, moving back up her body to kiss her on the lips. Her eyes fluttered open, dark with lust, and she smiled, still breathing heavily. "That was…"

He smiled at her, kissing her gently. "Yeah." He paused. "You want to stop?"

She shook her head. "No. I want you." She pulled him back down on top of her, kissing him deeply. Ryan moaned before pulling away from the kiss with a loud smack. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out a foil packet before pushing off his pants and boxers, finally freeing his until now ignored dick. He tore open the packet, hissing as he rolled the condom over his length. He leaned back down, kissing Quinn softly as he settled back down, groaning as his dick lined up with her dripping heat.

"You're absolutely sure, right?" he checked, as he buried his face in her neck, his dick sliding up and down her slick folds.

"Yes," she breathed out, arching up against him. "Go, just go. Need you inside me." Ryan groaned again, getting impossibly harder, almost overwhelmed by the feeling of her pressing up against him so wantonly. He kissed her again, before lining himself up, the tip of his dick pressing against her heat.

He locked gazes with her, and she gave him a small nod. "I love you," he breathed, as he started pushing in. Slowly, so slowly, because he didn't want to hurt her, but the feeling of her tight, wet heat clamping around him was almost enough to break his self-control and make him push deep inside with one thrust.

Suddenly it hit him. _This was really happening._ He was losing his virginity to Quinn Fabray. She closed her eyes, tight, and he stopped moving, letting her adjust. Settling his weight on his arms he let his head drop into the crook of her neck, trembling with the effort of keeping himself from just slamming inside.

He felt her fingers digging into his back, stinging deliciously. Finally she nodded at him again, and he inched forward again, until he was completely inside. He took a second to compose himself, willing himself not to climax immediately at the feeling of her walls smothering him completely.

He could feel her trembling, and she dragged her nails down his back as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He pulled out an inch or so, the friction almost sending him reeling, before thrusting back in lightly. Quinn's walls tightened around him as she moaned, threatening to make him come. "Ry, keep going."

Ryan kissed her neck. "You're so tight." Soon they had a tentative rhythm going, Ryan rocking in and out of her as she gasped and whimpered with each movement, meeting him with her own thrusts. He couldn't believe how amazing this felt, and he thrust forward hard, knocking a cry out of his girlfriend.

He shut his eyes tight as he lost himself for a second, biting his lip to keep from finishing. How did people ever stop doing this? He looked at her breathlessly in concern. "Did –"

"Do that again!"

Ryan wasn't going to complain. Gaining confidence, he pulled back, before knocking into her with a soft grunt. She threw her head back against the pillows, clutching even harder at his back as she arched upwards, writhing against him. He moaned as the movement had him reaching even deeper. "Oh god, Quinn, that feels so good…"

She pulled his head down to hers, kissing him deeply. "Faster, Ry, please."

He nodded, moving faster, pulling out as far as he could before thrusting back into her as the friction caused his erection to pulse. This was fantastic, he never wanted to stop, but he was panting with exertion as he struggled to keep up the rhythm up. The heat, the tightness, the sounds Quinn was making, everything was getting to be too much. "Quinn…" he gasped. "I'm gonna –"

She nodded, writhing upwards against him with a whimper as he bore down. "You can – let go –" she panted. Ryan groaned, trying desperately to keep from coming until she did.

"Are – are you close?" he got out. He received a jerky nod in return, and he redoubled his efforts, moving even faster as he tried to get her to climax. He bent his head down, kissing at her neck as he reached between them to press at her clit.

That apparently did the trick, and Ryan heard her screaming his name as her walls clenched impossibly tight around his dick. It felt like a vice clamping around him and he toppled over the edge. Finally he let go with his own cry, spilling himself into her with a final thrust. His world blanked for one heavenly moment, as he came harder than he ever had before.

An eternity later he found himself collapsing next to Quinn, his entire body completely spent, but utterly satisfied. His chest heaved, his limbs feeling like jelly, and with the last of his energy he pushed himself off her and onto his back. She had her eyes closed and she was trembling. She turned onto her side, curling into him with her head resting on his outstretched arm. She seemed to force her eyes open, and Ryan smiled tiredly at the love, joy, and satisfaction he saw in the hazel orbs. "I love you so much, Ry," she breathed softly.

He let out a breathless chuckle. "I love you, Lucy Quinn." He kissed her head as she draped an arm across his abdomen. He sighed deeply, shutting his eyes. "You were right."

"About what?"

"That just made today absolutely perfect."

* * *

**Hello people, hopefully that was good. Not too much to say right now, and not a lot of time to say it, so just go ahead and tell me what you thought.**


	60. Chapter 59

Quinn woke up slowly that morning, resting on her side with her hand resting on something incredibly warm. She cracked her eyes open, met by the sight of her sleeping boyfriend, mouth hanging slightly ajar as he breathed softly. She shut her eyes again and for a moment she didn't move, simply relishing the feeling of complete satisfaction running through her. It was almost like her body was still humming, and she smiled as she recalled last night's activities. It had been better than anything she'd ever imagined. When she was on the Cheerios she had always enjoyed the sensation of flying through the air. Last night had felt just like she was flying, only a thousand times better.

Before Ryan she hadn't been completely sold on the concept of sex. It was just this thing that she wasn't supposed to do until she was married. And then everything with Puck had happened, and, while it wasn't horrible, it was something she thought she'd never actually want to do again. Once was enough.

But last night…

Ryan shifted beside her, turning onto his side and wrapping his arm around her body. His eyes stayed shut but a goofy smile appeared on his lips. "Hi," he mumbled sleepily.

She chuckled. "Hi." She shivered as he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, cuddling her close. "I love you, you know?"

"I know," he smiled. Finally she saw his warm brown eyes looking up at her. "I love you too. So much." He rubbed his hand lazily against her stomach. "You know, I'm not really sure what to say after last night."

"Me either." She smiled shyly, hesitantly. "I… last night was good, right? I mean, I was okay?"

Ryan laughed softly. "Oh my god, Quinn. I do not have words. And considering how extensive my vocabulary is, that's saying something." Quinn's smile widened. A tiny part of her was worried that she sucked at sex. A touch of vulnerability appeared in his dark eyes. "What about you? Was it good for you?"

She kissed him languidly, nipping lightly as his lower lip. "It was fantastic."

He gave her smile, a hint of cockiness showing through. "Good. I am an entertainer after all, and I always aim to please." She huffed out a laugh, pulling him in for another kiss. "And us, we're still good, right?"

Quinn locked gazes with him, nodding. "We're good." She'd been kind of scared that this might change them, ruin everything somehow. But everything just felt right. She felt even closer to him than ever before, something she hadn't thought was possible. "We're perfect."

He leaned in to kiss her again, and she sighed, melting into him. Then he pulled away. "Wait, what time is it?"

Right. Shit. They had parents who could very well kill them. Quinn glanced at the clock on the wall. "Almost six."

"Crap." He sat up, glancing around the room for his phone, which he'd laid on the table last night. Grabbing it, he checked his messages. Quinn watched him in amusement. They were probably so dead with their parents, but she couldn't find it in her to care right now. "I should get home before my mom wakes up."

She nodded. "Yeah, you should probably go before my mom and Frannie wake up."

He got out of bed, picking his pants up from where they'd ended up on the floor as Quinn eyed him with a smile. "See something you like?" he flirted as he pulled his clothes on.

"Most definitely," she nodded, eyes tracing his bare torso. "I wouldn't mind having it again sometime."

Ryan grinned as he leaned bent down to kiss her again. "I would be most delighted to oblige."

..

Fifteen minutes later Ryan pulled up outside his house, getting down from the car ever so quietly. He didn't want to wake his mom up, he'd probably be so much trouble for missing his curfew it wasn't even funny. Then he stopped short when he saw someone sitting on the porch. "Uh…"

James smiled at Ryan as he stood there, not knowing what to say. "Hey."

"Hi," Ryan answered warily. Then he sighed resignedly as he let his shoulders slump.

"Yeah," James nodded sagely. "Busted and all that. Don't worry, I'm not mad. Your mom's not awake yet."

Ryan ran his hand through his hair. "Does she know…?"

James shook his head. "No, we went in pretty early last night." He smirked. "You're not the only one who had some fun last night."

"Ugh!" Ryan clapped his hands over his ears, face screwing up in disgust. "Lalalalala! Don't wanna hear that, Dad!" He shuddered. He did not need to think of his parents doing that. "TMI!"

"Don't be like that," James teased, inviting Ryan to sit down. He did so, a bit reluctantly.

"Is this a trap? Are you going to ground me or something?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, and no." James studied him. "So, did you?"

Ryan flushed. "Yeah."

"Okay then. We've already had the safe sex talk, and your mom told me you had the 'importance of sex' talk. You're old enough to do what you want. Maybe give us a heads up so we know where you are next time."

Ryan looked at him confusedly. "How does that go, exactly? _Hi dad, I'm not coming home tonight, I'm having sex with Quinn._"

James shrugged. "Whatever works. I won't tell your mom if you don't want me to. But I'll bet she already knows. She's scary like that."

"Yeah, she is." They sat there for a few moments before Ryan stood up. "Okay. As fun – and awkward – as this conversation has been, I'm going upstairs, I'm going to take a shower, and then I'm going to have breakfast. Good talk."

"Okay," James answered, standing up. "Hey kid?" He offered Ryan a fist bump. "Congratulations."

Ryan chuckled as a reluctant grin spread across his face. He tapped his fist against his dad's. "Thanks."

A while later Ryan came down to the kitchen after his shower to find Shelby working on a pot of coffee. "Hi mom. Where's dad?"

"Oh, he said he had to go home for a bit. He'll be back for lunch. You're up early," she commented.

"Either that or you're up late," Ryan countered easily. He was quite happy with the world today, even if James catching him had been a bit awkward. His shower had quickly restored his spirits, and he was back to floating on air. Sex with Quinn had been amazing. He'd never felt like this before, it was like he was completely relaxed and completely energized at the same time. He was practically thrumming. He couldn't wait to do it again. And he was quite pleased with himself too, seeing as Quinn had enjoyed it as well. Not bad for a first time.

"Mm-hmm," Shelby nodded, spooning creamer into her mug. "Did you have a good night?"

Ryan froze for a nanosecond, his acting skills coming into play. Keep it cool. "Yes, I slept quite well," he answered, face straight. It was true, that had been the best night's sleep he'd ever had.

"That's good," his mother answered innocently. Almost too innocently. Ryan studied her face carefully. Did she know? "Could you stick some bread in the toaster please?"

"Yeah… sure." Ryan slowly pushed two slices of bread into the toaster. He looked back at Shelby, cursing her poker face. Why did he have to have a mom who was a performer? "Uh, how about you? Did you have a nice night?" _Shit, why did he say that? He didn't want to hear about her night!_

Shelby sent him an amused smile that still didn't betray whether or not she knew. This was freaking him out. "Oh, I had quite a nice evening," she said lightly. "I could tell you all about it if you wanted –"

"Nononono, that's quite all right!" Ryan yelped.

"Are you sure? You could tell me about yours, and I could tell you about mine…"

"NO!" Ryan shut his eyes, taking a deep breath to collect himself.

"Suit yourself," Shelby shrugged, still smiling that infuriating Mona Lisa smile that he didn't understand.

Ryan smiled tightly. "Excuse me for a moment, would you?" Shelby nodded, and he practically bolted out of the kitchen. He came to a stop at the foot of the staircase, thumping his head against the wall. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out.

_8:47 AM From: Quinn Fabray – Hi. Did you get in okay?"_

Ryan sighed, tapping out a reply.

_8:48 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – Yes. Busted by my dad but he didn't mind._

_8:48 AM From: Quinn Fabray – Oh. What about your mom?_

_8:49 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – I don't know_

_8:49 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – I don't know if she knows_

_8:49 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – And it's making me crazy not knowing if she knows_

_8:49 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – Because she's smiling this weird smile and I don't know what's happening_

_8:50 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – And I don't know if she's about to turn around and ground me for missing curfew_

_8:50 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – She's freaking me out, Quinn_

_8:50 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – HELP ME_

_8:51 AM From: Quinn Fabray – Okay, just calm down. If she's not mad, that's a good thing, right?_

_8:52 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – I'm just so confused right now_

_8:52 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – But really really happy too_

_8:52 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – Like REALLY happy_

_8:53 AM From: Quinn Fabray – Me too ;)_

_8:53 AM From: Quinn Fabray – I love you. You'll be fine._

_8:54 AM From: Ryan Corcoran – If you say so. I love you too._

* * *

On Monday morning, Quinn was just putting together her homework when her bedroom door opened. She looked up, a smile spreading on her face as she saw who it was. "Hi."

Ryan smiled happily at her. "Hi." He wrapped his arms around her waist as she moved close to him. She rested her arms around his shoulders as he leaned in for a slow kiss. She sighed contentedly, lips moving languidly against his as her eyes fluttered closed. She let out a breath as they parted, her lips still parted and eyes still shut.

She could hardly wipe her smile off, giddy just at the fact that he was here. "Mmm. You taste good."

He chuckled. "Thank you. So do you." He kissed her again, quickly, before stepping back. She almost let out a moan of protest, but she knew they had to go. "You ready?"

Quinn nodded, leaning down to pick up her bag, only to have Ryan beat her to it with a cheesy smile. She rolled her eyes in amusement. "I could have gotten that."

"I know."

She shook her head, letting him follow her out of her room and down the stairs. "Mom, we're going!"

Judy stepped out of the kitchen. "Have a good day, Quinnie," she said, giving Quinn a kiss on the cheek. "You too, Ryan."

"Thanks, Judy," Ryan smiled, as he followed Quinn out to his car. They got inside and he started the engine, setting off towards McKinley. "So, how was Frannie's flight back to California?"

"Delayed," Quinn deadpanned. "She spent a couple of hours texting us back and forth from the waiting area. But she's fine, she called and she's back in her dorm."

"That's good."

They reached the school a few minutes later, and they headed to Quinn's locker first to drop her things off. "Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something," she said. Ryan tilted his head curiously. "I need us to get some shots for our Prom King and Queen campaign."

"We're campaigning for Prom King and Queen?"

"Yes, we are. It's the ultimate popularity symbol."

Ryan looked at her strangely. "I thought you were over the whole popularity thing?"

Quinn shrugged. "Well, yeah, I am. It's just always been this thing that I wanted. Frannie was the prom queen, and I guess I always wanted to be like her when I was little. You know, when I was Lucy." She paused. "I know what you're thinking. I'm smart, and pretty, and relatively sane for a girl." Ryan opened his mouth mischievously and she shot him a glare. "Shut up."

"I haven't said anything," Ryan defended, unable to hide the smile playing on his face. "And you certainly are intelligent, beautiful, and yes, relatively sane. Does being prom queen really matter?"

"Well, I guess not," Quinn conceded. "I you had asked me last year, then yes, most definitely. But it's something I always thought I'd do."

Ryan smiled sincerely. "Well, I can't think of anyone more deserving of that plastic tiara than you. So if it's really important to you, then I'm in." He looked at her curiously. "But I'm not entirely sure how you'd fare with me as a running mate. I'm not exactly Mr. Popularity here. I guess I never actually considered running for Prom King."

Quinn smiled innocently. "I could run with Finn if you wanted me to…" She trailed off, enjoying the disgusted look on Ryan's face. "Great, we'll start campaigning tomorrow." She kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey, my mom has a staff meeting later. You want to come over?" Ryan asked.

She glanced at him over her shoulder as she pulled her books out of the locker. "Maybe," she said coyly. "What are we going to be doing?"

She felt him hugging her from behind, shivering as his breath tickled her ear. "Well," he said, his voice deep. "I think I recall someone saying that they wouldn't mind a repeat of Saturday night."

"Hmm. I think I do remember that," Quinn agreed, her body flushing hot at his close proximity. "I'll meet you in the choir room after class."

Ryan smiled broadly. "You got it." She kissed him on the cheek with a smile, before heading to Spanish class. Santana fell into step beside her a second later.

"Morning, bitch."

"Good morning, Santana," Quinn said breezily, causing the other girl to look at her speculatively. Then Santana smirked.

"Oh my god, you two totally did it this weekend didn't you?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, a blush creeping up her neck, her conservative upbringing now showing its face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's about time," the Latina continued, ignoring her. "You took forever, I thought we were all gonna be old and wrinkled by the time you got around to it. Well, _you_ were gonna be old and wrinkled. I'll be perfect forever." Her smirk widened. "So, how was it?"

"I am not talking about this with you."

"So there _is_ something to talk about," Santana said gleefully. "So, is he packing? You know I'm going to pester you until you spill."

Quinn just groaned in response.

..

"Are we sporting a sticker that says 'we had sex the other night' on our foreheads?" Quinn asked later as she followed Ryan into his house after class. "Because Santana ambushed me this morning, and Brittany was squealing about how she was happy we finally had some sexytimes."

"You know, now that I think about it, maybe we do," Ryan said, eyes widening. "I was talking to Mike and Tina this afternoon, and they were shooting me these funny looks. Is it that obvious?"

"That's what I'm asking."

"You're okay with it though, right?" Ryan asked, almost anxiously. "I mean, you're still okay with what happened? You don't regret it or anything, right?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, stepping into his personal space as she looked up at him. "The only thing I regret is that it's taken us two days to do it again."

Ryan chuckled, putting his hands on her waist to pull her closer. "Well, you did have to go to Columbus to see Frannie off yesterday. But yeah, I kind of regret that too." He placed a light kiss on her lips.

She nodded. "Besides," she said slowly, smiling as she ran a hand down his chest. "If I regretted it, then I probably wouldn't have been daydreaming about doing it again all day…" Ryan's eyes darkened as his tongue darted out to wet his lips. "I could hardly keep from jumping you…"

He swallowed, and she smirked as she pulled him into another fierce kiss. She moaned into their kiss, tugging urgently at his lower lip with her teeth before delving inside. She hadn't been lying, she'd been thinking about this all day. Just seeing him in the hallways had been turning her on, and only the fact that they'd been in a public place had stopped her from doing anything rash. She wasn't quite ready for that yet. But that night had felt so fucking good and she needed more. She needed him inside her, right now. She pulled back breathlessly. "Upstairs," she panted. "Now."

Ryan immediately started pulling her up the stairs, stopping a few times on the way to his room for more frantic kisses, before they finally made it to his bedroom. By the time they got in Ryan's shirt had come off and Quinn's hair was disheveled. Their lips crashed together again, and Quinn slid her hand down Ryan's pants, wrapping it around his erection. She pumped him hard and he moaned loudly into her mouth, his grip on her waist tightening. "Oh god, Quinn –"

She stroked him a couple more times, smiling as his dick twitched in her hand, before pushing him down onto the bed and straddling his stomach as she pulled her shirt off. He looked up at her adoringly, and she felt like she was about to explode with how much she loved him. He surged up to kiss her, lips and tongues sliding together frenetically as he fumbled with her bra, finally taking it off before laving her breasts with his mouth and hands.

"Ryan," she moaned, arching into his touch. His lips moved to her neck, and she tilted her head, shuddering as she started rocking back and forth, his dick pressing against her clit perfectly and sending jolts of electricity up her spine. "Say my name."

"Quinn," he breathed out, moving to her collarbone. "Quinn, I love you so much. I want you, please."

She let out a gasp as he thrust his hips up, angled perfectly against her. God, she was so ready. "C-condom," she gritted out, rocking her core against him. Ryan nodded, reaching over to pull one from his bedside table. Quinn took it, moving down to pull his pants and boxers off, his dick bouncing out. She tore the packet open, carefully rolling the condom down her boyfriend's shaft. Ryan fell back against the bed, screwing his eyes shut as he struggled not to come. She pulled off her own underwear, her wetness already leaking down her thighs.

She was back on top of him immediately, and she bent down to kiss him, her hair, falling around his face. "Quinn – please –" he whimpered, thrusting his hips up shallowly.

Quinn nodded, desperate to have him inside her, and she positioned his cock at her entrance before dropping down. She gasped as she felt herself stretching around him, and his hands on her hips tightened almost painfully as he moaned. She took a breath, still trying to adjust to the fiery stretch.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked, looking at her in concern, his brown eyes still dark with lust. Quinn nodded quickly.

"I'm fine – just need –" She rocked forward experimentally, and had to shut her eyes as her vision blurred. It was a different angle than last time, and it was fantastic. "Oh god Ryan." She braced herself against his chest, setting a rhythm as she rocked back and forth, helped by Ryan's hands on her waist.

Ryan screwed his eyes shut, holding still as he tried to get himself under control. "Quinn – I –"

Quinn slowed her movements, not wanting this to be over just yet, and she leaned down, kissing him softly. "You okay?"

After a moment, he nodded. "I'm good."

"Good," Quinn groaned. Her own climax was building, and she needed more. She ground down hard onto him just as he thrust up, and she let out a scream as it caused him to drive even deeper into her, hitting the spot that made her see stars. "Ryan!"

His grip on her was almost bruising, and she was scratching at his chest and stomach as she tried to find purchase as she rode him. "Almost –"

Ryan surged up again to kiss her, his fingers coming to rub at her clit, and Quinn shattered, her world dissolving into a white haze as she cried out her pleasure. She dimly registered Ryan reaching his own finish, and she let herself float away on the sensations wracking her body.

She didn't know how much time had passed by the time she came to her senses, and she opened her eyes to find Ryan gazing back at her, a soft smile on his face. She had collapsed onto her side, and he had moved close to her so their fronts were pressed flush against each other. He sighed contentedly. "That was…" he waved his hand vaguely.

Quinn chuckled breathlessly. "I know."

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and she closed her eyes, basking in the afterglow. "You're perfect, you know that?" he breathed.

She smiled happily. "I know. I think you're perfect too." She caught his lips in hers, sliding her tongue into his mouth. As close as they were, she could feel him starting to harden against her. "Again?" she chuckled. Ryan just smiled, running his fingers over her breast as she moaned. "We've created a monster, haven't we?"

* * *

_Several days later_

"You sold anything yet?" Mike asked.

Ryan nodded. "Yes, in fact, I have sold a net total of -50 cents," he said, with a painfully fake smile. Mike looked at him in confusion. "Brittany took a couple pieces."

Yesterday, Mr. Schue had told them that their brand new assignment of the week for glee was to sell 2000 pieces of saltwater taffy at 25 cents per piece, to make up the $5,000 they needed to get to New York for Nationals. They had been counting on the budget they'd gotten from the Cheerios after they had tanked, but apparently Sue Sylvester had squirreled away the cash in an offshore account in the Caymans. "This isn't going to work. Who even eats saltwater taffy?"

Mike nodded. "At least when we sold those cupcakes last year they sold for a dollar a pop."

"And it's kind of hard for Puck to spike candy with MJ," Ryan said dryly. He'd actually considered it, it had been surprisingly successful last year. "But ridiculous sales schemes aside, when do you want to work on that chemistry report?" He and Mike had been partnered up to do report on organic compounds for chemistry class.

"Oh, right. I'm free anytime this week," Mike offered. "How about you come over to my place tomorrow after school?"

"Really?" Ryan asked. He hadn't been invited to anyone's house in… ever.

"Yeah," Mike nodded. "My parents will be cool with it. Maybe we can hang out a bit after, too."

Ryan smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, that would be great." The two boys walked into the choir room, followed by Mr. Schue.

"Okay everyone, forget the taffy," he announced.

"Thank God," Santana snarked, backed up by sighs of relief from the other kids.

"To raise funds for our trip to Nationals, we are going to be doing a Night of Neglect fundraiser benefit. We're going to sing, and charge admission. Proceeds will go to our plane tickets," Mr. Schue explained brightly. "And you know what the best part is?" He paused for effect. "We're only going to do songs by neglected artists." The room was quiet, the kids' eyes narrowing in confusion. "Because it's a Night of Neglect."

Ryan raised his hand. "Could you define what you mean by 'neglected artist?"

"Uh, someone whose brilliance isn't always appreciated."

"Oh, you mean like me."

"I mean like all of us." The teacher clapped his hands. "All right everyone, next Saturday night in our auditorium, McKinley High's first annual Night of Neglect Fundraiser Benefit is a go!"

* * *

The next day Ryan had a brand new problem. After going around and canvassing the glee club members for performances, he and Quinn discovered that Lauren Zizes had set herself up as Mercedes Jones' manager. And they were making an awful lot of demands.

"A, I need a bowl of green M&amp;Ms," Mercedes ordered. "And by bowl, I mean large bowl. Well, really a small barrel."

Ryan nodded. "Done." He knew performers were very high maintenance, and if this was what they needed to get the show going, then so be it. "Anything else?"

"Two. I need humidifiers," the diva continued. "Lots of humidifiers. A team of humidifiers, whose only job is to make the air that Mercedes breathes more humid."

Quinn blinked helplessly. "We'll try our best –"

Mercedes held up a finger. "Shh. I'm not finished. Before every performance, I like to wash my hands. And after doing so, I like to dry them. On a fresh puppy."

Now Ryan looked at her in confusion. "I'm sorry, a fresh puppy?"

"I believe you heard Miss Jones," Lauren interjected. "In fact, if I were you, I'd probably get a whole litter of fluffy puppies, just in case she decides to take a post-show shower."

A few minutes later he and Quinn walked away with a list of things they needed to set up for Mercedes. Quinn turned to Ryan. "Okay, what the hell was that? Are you seriously going to find her a puppy to wipe her hands on? And where are you going to find just green M&amp;Ms? What do we do with the other colors?"

"Quinn, I know her demands were a little extreme, but a little leeway should be given to talented performers. She obviously feels that her talent has been neglected in the club. I can relate."

She looked at him disbelievingly. "So that means she can boss us around like we're her minions now?"

"As long as she performs, yes."

"That's insane."

"No it's not," Ryan argued. "Performers need to feel validated, and acquiescing to their admittedly outrageous requests is one way of showing them that."

Quinn shook her head. "Ry, I love you, but if you ever ask me to get you a puppy to use as a freaking hand towel, I will leave you."

..

After her fifth period sophomore class, Shelby made her way to the history classroom. Holly was back and subbing for the history teacher. Shelby knew it was one of her favorite subjects. Holly liked dressing up as important historical figures, and Shelby had to admit that it did get the students' attention. She stopped at the end of the hall as she saw a familiar figure enter the history room. Dustin Goolsby, her successor as coach of Vocal Adrenaline.

She went in after him, staying at the doorway. Holly glanced at her, nodding as she kept her focus on Dustin. Shelby smirked, knowing that Dustin hadn't noticed her yet.

"Lemme cut to the sexy chase," he was saying, seated on one of the tables in a rather provocative pose. "Think about how many more years you have left of productive ovulating. Those aren't eggs in those fallopian tubes, they're rare exotic pearls."

"Ohh, so you're trying to seduce me," Holly smiled.

"Jackpot," Dustin said brightly, sitting up. "This hairline is 80% my own and my sperm count is off the charts."

Shelby held back a snicker. She'd known he was a little sleazy when she'd met him last year, but this was something else. Holly was more than a match for him though, and she was already dating Will Schuester. "Well," Holly chuckled. "As tempting as that sounds, I have a boyfriend."

"You do, now. Admit it," Dustin said cockily. "I'm handsome, I'm good-looking, and I'm easy on the eyes. Also, I'm gorgeous."

"And I'm dating Will Schuester."

Out of the corner of her eye, Shelby spotted Will enter the room from the other door, stalking towards Holly and Dustin with a grim expression on his face. Looks like this wasn't going to be good.

Dustin stood up, coming face to face with Holly, almost close enough to be invading her personal space, completely ignoring Will. "Lemme tell you something about Will Schuester. That guy has tiny baby hands. Seriously. It's weird. Once I saw him try to pick up a Big Mac, he couldn't do it. Had to eat it layer by layer, teeny tiny wee baby hands."

Will finally spoke up. "That are big enough to knock your teeth out."

"Well, this is awkward. Consider my offer." Dustin swaggered out of the classroom. Shelby quickly drew back just before he saw her, and she contemplated going after him or talking to Holly. Holly was talking to Will though, and her friend could handle herself. She went after Dustin, quickly falling into step with him.

"Justin."

He faltered for a moment, still looking straight ahead as they walked. "Shelby Corcoran. I'd heard you jumped ship over to a new school."

"Yes," Shelby agreed. "I heard Vocal Adrenaline won their Regionals last week. Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"That doesn't explain what you're doing here though."

"Just a little scouting mission."

"Well, that's just BS," Shelby said coolly, causing him to stop and look at her. "You're way too cocky and sure of yourself to even consider a scouting mission, something you might want to fix before Nationals. No, you were trying to seduce Holly Holliday. Now, since I have it on good authority that you play for the other team, that means someone put you up to it."

He flinched almost imperceptibly. "Don't know what you're talking about."

Shelby sighed. "Okay, look. Yes, Vocal Adrenaline won Regionals. Unfortunately, I'm friends with quite a few people, and I've heard whispers that the boosters aren't quite as happy as they should be." She noticed him pale a little at her statement, and she smiled sweetly. "So, unless you want it getting out that you've been flirting with random teachers instead of working on VA's Nationals set list, you're going to tell me who put you up to it."

"Vocal Adrenaline is doing great, thanks." Dustin shrugged. "But since I don't really care what goes on in this little backwater school, it was Sue Sylvester. Something about destroying the glee club. I wasn't really listening."

Of course it was Sue. Shelby nodded. "Thanks." She patted him on the shoulder before turning around and heading back down the hall.

..

"I didn't know you lived in Lima Heights," Ryan commented as he pulled up in front of Mike's house. It was a rather large affair situated in one of the more affluent neighborhoods in Lima. Ryan knew Santana's house was just a few blocks away.

"Yeah, we moved from Michigan when I was in the third grade," Mike answered as they got down from Ryan's car. "I think we were in the same class."

"Right," Ryan nodded. "I remember. Tina was the only other Asian in the class and everyone was staring at you for weeks." He chuckled as he followed Mike into the house, where they were greeted by a short Asian woman.

Mike smiled at her. "Hi Mom. This is Ryan. We're in glee together."

"Ah, yes, I remember," Mrs. Chang nodded at Ryan. "Nice to meet you, Michael's told me quite a bit."

Ryan offered Mike's mother a smile. "Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Chang. You have a very nice home."

Mrs. Chang smiled. "Ah, you finally found a friend with manners, dear," she commented teasingly at her son. "Your football friends leave much to be desired in that respect."

"Mom," Mike groaned. Ryan chuckled. He knew Mike was pretty good friends with Puck and Finn, and Mrs. Chang was probably right. Their manners were probably... different. "We're going to work on our report in my room, okay?"

His mother nodded. "Go ahead."

Ryan followed Mike up the stairs to the second floor, noting the different pictures that were hung on the walls. A lot of them were of Mike, some solo and some with his parents. They got to Mike's room, a large one with quite a bit of open space and a large mirror. Ryan observed that he had quite a few trophies in the room. Not surprisingly, they were dance trophies rather than football ones. There were also several academic contest trophies. "Have you thought about what you're doing for the benefit yet?" He asked.

"Yeah," Mike grinned. "I'm gonna be dancing to Jack Johnson's _Bubble Toes_. No singing, just me and my sweet moves up on that stage. How about you? What are you singing?"

"I'm still deciding, but it'll definitely be something from the Broadway catalogue," Ryan said vaguely. "I was hoping to get the closing spot but it's going to Mercedes."

Mike looked at him curiously. "Really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I would have thought you'd insist on getting the last spot." Mike opened a chemistry book. "You know, you're a little different this year."

Ryan glanced at him. "How so?"

"I don't know, I guess you haven't been trying to get as many solos. You gave the Sectionals one to Sam, right, and you haven't been hogging the spotlight at rehearsals either. Sorry," he added apologetically. "Tina says you're not as crazy as before, too."

Ryan thought about it. It was sort of true, he hadn't been as neurotic as he had been last year, and his desire to spend every moment in glee singing in front had been lessened now that he thought about it. "Huh. I hadn't noticed that, actually. Is that a good thing?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yeah," Mike nodded. "I mean, we know you're still really into glee, but it's nice that you're not as crazy anymore. Makes it easier to talk to you. It's cool."

"I see. Thank you for bringing it to my attention." Mike gave him an amused look. "Now, how about we get back to the report?"

"Sure. You know, I'm not really that into chemistry."

"I actually prefer math," Ryan said easily. "But chemistry's cool."

"I guess I don't really have a particular subject I'm really good at," Mike admitted. "But I guess I like physics."

"But you still have straight A's in everything?"

Mike chuckled. "It's an Asian thing."

The report was finished in a couple of hours, and the two boys packed up their school things. "Do you need to leave already?" Mike asked. "We could play a round of Halo if you want."

"Halo?"

"The video game." Mike stared at him. "You've never played?"

Ryan shook his head. "My adoptive parents didn't really believe in video games," he said offhandedly. "And I didn't really have anyone to invite me over to play."

"Huh. Well then, we have to play," Mike told him, grinning as he fired up the console. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

Soon the two were immersed in a rather competitive round of Halo on Mike's Xbox. After learning the controls, Ryan had proved to be a fast learner, though most of the first few minutes had consisted of him running around and mashing the attack button. "Yes!" He cheered as he managed to blow up Mike with a grenade.

"Nice one, I wasn't even letting you win there," Mike teased.

"You know, this is surprisingly fun," Ryan commented, eating one of the dumplings Mrs. Chang had brought up for them to snack on. They were much better than the ones he'd had from the Chinese takeout place on 3rd street.

"I know, right?" the Asian boy grinned. "You ever tried CoD?"

"What's that?"

"Call of Duty, best FPS ever. Its multiplayer is online though, across consoles. Finn and Puck and I play a lot."

Ryan nodded. "Yes, I've heard of it, but I've never played."

Mike quit their game and switched discs. "You gotta try it."

..

Meanwhile, back at the Corcoran house, Shelby found Holly at her front door. She looked at the blonde in surprise. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be over at Will's or something?"

Holly smiled, the sentiment not reaching her eyes. "He's busy. And I thought I'd catch up with my girlfriend."

Shelby stepped aside, letting her friend in. Holly easily made herself at home at the kitchen counter as Shelby started a pot of coffee. "Guy problems, huh?"

"Ohhh yeah," Holly agreed. Shelby chuckled. The two of them had had quite a bit of those over the years, what with their tumultuous series of one-night stands. She looked closely at Holly though, and she could tell this was something more.

"What's wrong?"

Holly shrugged. "It's kinda silly."

"You're kinda silly."

"I am, aren't I?" Holly nodded knowingly. "Did you see the Wallace Simpson costume? The kids loved it." Shelby waited for her to get to the point. Holly always did go off in tangents. But she eventually came back. "I saw Will and Emma in the lunchroom today."

Ah. "Well, they're friends."

"Looked a lot closer than just friends." Holly let out a soft chuckle. "Do you think he's still in love with Emma?" Shelby hesitated. "That's what I thought," Holly said.

"Well, you sort of knew that going in."

"I guess. He told me he was over her though. Clearly not." She smiled wryly, watching as Shelby poured two mugs of coffee. "I guess maybe long-term just isn't my thing."

"You don't know that," Shelby argued. "I mean look at me. Two year high school relationship, five year split, one week of insanity, a _baby,_ and then fifteen years without partner or said baby. Then I get the kid back, get James back, and then we're living... happily ever after?" She shook her head, not sure if that was the right term. "Can't get any more screwed up than that."

Holly scoffed in amusement as she stirred three spoons of sugar into her drink. "Well, that just made me feel loads better. You're right, you are screwed up, I don't think we can be friends anymore." Shelby gave her an unimpressed glare. "I really wanted it to work with Will."

"I know, sweetie," Shelby said sympathetically. "But maybe it's just not the right time. He's sort of in a transition period, I think, and he's kind of lost."

"There is that," Holly agreed. "Did you hear about the Great Saltwater Taffy Scheme?"

"Yes, I seem to recall something along those lines. What was it, 5,000 pieces of taffy at 25 cents each?" Shelby chuckled, shaking her head. Will really needed to get some better ideas. "How's the benefit going, anyways?"

"It's going great. The usual questions of who gets to sing, who gets the final number, who has to find a Pomeranian to act as a hand towel, that sort of stuff."

"What now?"

Just then the front door opened, and Ryan came into the kitchen. He stopped short when he saw Holly. "Hi Mom. Oh, sorry. I didn't know we had guests," he said. "Hey Miss Holliday."

Holly smiled. "I told you, it's just Holly outside school."

"Right." He smiled, pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"Did you finish your chemistry report with Mike?" Shelby asked. He nodded.

"Yep, all done. Then we played Halo and Call of Duty. I don't suppose there's any chance of you getting me a video game console anytime soon?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, _Mom,_" Holly chimed in, smirking. "Video games are an important part of today's childhood, after all. Personally, I love Mario Kart. Throwing those turtle shells is awesome."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "We'll see."

Ryan smiled. "Okay." He left the kitchen.

"What was that?" Shelby asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend. Holly raised her hands in innocence.

"Nothing, just trying to be the cool aunt. I mean, I like to think that's what I would have been if he'd grown up with you."

Shelby chuckled. "Sure."

"Hey, I would've made a great aunt-like figure."

"Sure you would," Shelby teased, before smiling sincerely. "I know you would have."

"Good. Don't worry, when he comes to me for his first tattoo I'll make sure it's completely tasteful."

"Funny."

The doorbell rang, and the two women heard Ryan call out, "I'll get it!" A minute later James came into the kitchen, pressing a kiss to Shelby's cheek.

"Hi Shelby," he greeted. "Hi Shelby's friend."

Holly smirked. "It's Holly. Holly Holliday." Shelby rolled her eyes as the blonde sent her a mischievous look. "You must be James. I've heard so much about you. True, I did pretty much force it out of Shelby here, but I feel like you're an old friend."

James raised his eyebrows questioningly at Shelby, and she shrugged at him. He could figure this out himself. She'd long ago stopped trying to explain her friend's insanity. He shook Holly's hand. "I feel the same way about you," he said sincerely. "I've heard magnificent tales of your exploits in the sex education classroom after all."

Holly nodded with a broad smile. "You're interesting," she complimented.

"Don't listen to anything she says, she's insane," Shelby said, sending a mock glare at Holly, who shrugged unapologetically.

"A perfect friend for you, then," James quipped, drawing a laugh from Holly and a glare from Shelby.

"So, it's going to be you two teaming up against me, is it?" Shelby asked sarcastically as James and Holly shared a grin, instantly taking a liking to each other. "Lucky me."

* * *

The next evening, the glee club was holding their Night of Neglect benefit. They had been skeptical as to how many people would actually show up, as the glee club was, as always, at the bottom of the totem pole. Sunshine Corazon, their former member who had jumped ship over to Vocal Adrenaline, had shown up a couple of days ago, promising to sing a number and pull in her 600 Twitter followers.

It had proved to be a ploy by VA though, and Sunshine had pulled out at the last minute. The only people in the auditorium were Kurt and Blaine, and several people who had made it their life goal to heckle the performers. It had gotten so bad that Tina had rushed off the stage crying after the first chorus.

"That's the worst I've felt in my entire life," she cried as Mike knelt next to her trying to comfort his girlfriend.

Artie shook his head. "I didn't think it was possible for people to hate us more. We're calling this off."

Mr. Schue spoke up. "Guys, I hate to say this, but I think we have to buck up. Tina, I'm really sorry you had to go through that, but it was a really good lesson for all of us. I mean, that's a part of show business guys, sometimes people can be really mean. Think about what's going to happen if we have an unfriendly crowd at Nationals in New York. And I'm sure there are going to be some Vocal Adrenaline hecklers there too. We just have to find the strength and barrel through this. And I think I may know a way to shut those hecklers up for number two."

Ryan sighed as Mr. Schue and a few of the glee clubbers went out to hand free taffy out to the hecklers. "Okay, I get that tonight really sucks, and I guess it wasn't really a brilliant idea in the first place. But Mr. Schue's right about one thing. We need to work through this. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the heckling's a good thing, but we need to use that negative energy and – and use it to fuel our performances." A round of nods followed his speech. "Okay, so let's get going. Mike, you're up next."

Mike's performance went well. The hecklers were too busy chomping on their taffy to heckle too much. Mike came back to the choir room to rousing cheers. "Good job, Mike," Mr. Schue congratulated him. "And it looks like the Heckling Club loved the refreshments."

"Yeah, but we're out of saltwater taffy," Quinn said. "How are we gonna stop them from going after us again after intermission?"

"By being so god that they can't heckle us," the teacher said determinedly. "And I know just the person for the job." He looked around. "Where's Mercedes? She's up.

Lauren entered the room, arms folded across her chest. "Miss Jones does not appreciate the way she's been treated and is refusing to go on."

Mr. Schue sighed, getting up. "Lemme go talk to her."

Lauren shook her head. "Don't bother. Mercedes has left the building."

"Well, that's it, we're screwed," Puck said. "Let's just blow this thing and hit the arcade."

"Wait, wait, wait." Ryan held a hand up. "What do you mean, she doesn't appreciate the way she's been treated? We met all of her demands other than the one about her performing the final act and being carried in in a giant egg like Gaga at the Grammys." He and Quinn had told Mercedes that Sunshine would get the final spot and she had countered with the request that her feet never touch the ground. Needless to say, that had been squelched.

"That's right, there's a Shih Tzu puppy waiting in the other room for her," Quinn added, frowning.

"Unfortunately, the closing number was kind of a dealbreaker."

"Excuse me?" Ryan asked incredulously. "That is completely unacceptable. We have tried to be as accommodating as possible. I understand being a diva, but I also understand that she made a commitment to perform at this event. But you know what, fine." He stepped up to Lauren. "You can go tell her that we can finish this show just fine without her. She may be good, but she's not Beyonce just yet."

"I'm liking the new balls, Midget," Santana said approvingly as Lauren left the room. "But new problem. Now that Sunshine and Wheezy bailed, we don't have a closing act."

"Leave that to me."

Holly clapped her hands together. "Great. Now, how about we all get ready for the next act, and I will go deal with the haters."

The group broke up, and Ryan found himself looking over some sheet music when Quinn came up to him. She smiled lightly at him. "That was interesting."

"You don't think it was too much, do you?" Ryan asked anxiously. "Maybe we should go try to find Mercedes, talk some sense into her…"

"No," Quinn assured him. "You were right. I never wanted to go along with all those demands in the first place. I'm just curious, what made you change your mind? I thought you were all about meeting diva needs."

"Yes, but I also think there should be a line. Performers can't just back out of commitments at the last minute just like that, it's not professional and it's unfair to the audience." He shuffled his papers. "Besides, no one comes to try to mollify me when I storm out, and I usually have a good reason. Why should we do it for someone who throws a tantrum over something so small?"

Quinn studied him for a moment. "You know, you've changed a lot since last year."

"Is it bad?"

She shook her head. "No, it's good. It's like… you have more self-respect now. Last year we were horrible to you. Don't deny it, it's true," she added, when he started to protest. "And you still came back and did everything to help us. Now you still help us, but you're also standing up for yourself more. I like it." She put her arms around his shoulders. "It's hot."

Ryan's lips curved into a smile. "Really?"

"Mm-hmm." She pulled him into a kiss, before pulling back and patting his chest. "Maybe later…"

"I'll hold you to that."

* * *

_The next day_

Sue sat in her office, contemplating her plans for the Legion of Doom - wait, it was _League _of Doom. Even she was getting confused. She had selected the worst henchmen ever, but it had been slim pickings. There hadn't really been anyone else. The Pink Dagger was supposed to destroy Will Schuester and the glee club, but last night's heckling scheme had failed spectacularly, and even Captain Handsome had failed at causing an explosive breakup between Butt-Chin and Holly Holliday. The two had had an amicable split, and the glee club had come out of the experience even more determined than ever. And now they were immune to heckling.

Just then Shelby Corcoran sauntered into her office. This was going to be fun. The brunette came up to her desk, dropping a piece of paper and a pen in front of Sue.

"And what is this? Would you like me to write you a love letter?" Sue inquired. "Sorry, Your Grace, but Sue Sylvester doesn't roll that way."

Shelby ignored her. "Account number for the Cheerios budget in the Caymans. Write it down."

"And why would I do that?"

"Out of the goodness of your heart."

"Nice try, but I don't have a heart, had it taken out a while back, along with my tear ducts."

"Then because the Cheerios booster club will receive an anonymous tip that their donations were somehow misappropriated," Shelby countered. "Word just might reach the School Board and the Cheerleading Board too, do you really want that to happen?"

Sue pondered her for a moment. "You know, for someone who's not actually in that sad excuse for a glee club, you seem very up in their business."

Shelby smirked. "I do love a good meddle."

"Clearly. I have an idea, how about you just take over that pitiful group of losers and head up the glee club yourself?" Then she wouldn't have to keep up this charade of hating the glee club anymore and she could continue to harass Will Schuester in peace.

"I'm not really looking to get involved right now."

"Ah." Sue nodded. "You don't want to compete against your old team."

"Maybe next year. Wouldn't want to demoralize my old students right away."

"Right." Sue contemplated moving to a different school and coaching a team against her Cheerios. She probably wouldn't want to compete against them either...

No, she'd want to crush them. She was evil after all.

Shelby tapped the sheet of paper. "Account number. At least let them lose fair and square."

"You know, blackmail goes against the very ethics of the glee club you're trying to help."

"Blackmail?" Shelby asked innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about. But there's an email all ready to go on my laptop that will result in a nice, thorough audit of funds."

"I should have known you use underhanded tactics," Sue said grudgingly, albeit with respect.

"Only when I'm up against underhanded tactics myself. I do have some ethics after all. It's not really something I do often, but I have a feeling normal methods aren't going to work with you. And besides, it's nothing you wouldn't do."

She had her there. And she'd known it was a bit of a risk, hiding the funds in an offshore account. "I'll give you the numbers for 10% of the funds."

Shelby folded her arms. "75."

"25."

"60%."

"50 and that's my last offer. The rest of it is going to the Cheerios when I start it up next year."

The brunette nodded, shaking Sue's hand. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Sue wrote down the numbers and passcodes for the Cheerios offshore account. She did still have a soft spot for her Cheerios somewhere. Small as a pinprick, but there it was. "This isn't because of your misguided blackmail attempt. I do like a good underdog story." She had her sister after all. "But even if we give 'em enough cash to drown Bill Gates, they're still gonna lose with Butt-Chin leading the charge."

"That's their problem, not yours."

"This isn't over, I'm still trying to destroy glee club."

Shelby smiled, taking the numbers. "Then I look forward to further competition."

"Let the games begin." Sue watched her leave the office. One point to her then.

She had to talk to the Honeybadger.

* * *

**Hi people, thanks for reading! And thank you for your reviews last time, I was a little worried about how the chapter would be received. Not sure about this one either, hopefully it was okay. Again, any mistakes are mine.**

**Anyways, in response to reviews, I'm not going to inundate you guys with the R rated scenes too much. I will sprinkle some in, but not all the time. Be as happy or disappointed with that as you like. I still find them hard to write. I'm still trying to incorporate Quinn branching out in the friends department. In my head she might have a bit of a hard time with everything that's going on, but you're right, she could use more friends. As always, suggestions are welcome. I'm sure we'll see more of Santana teasing Quinn and Ryan sometime. We might see more things with the glee club, but Ryan's not leaving ND anytime soon, not with Nationals so close. In Season 3 though…**

**Updates may become more sporadic, I'm getting very busy with laboratory work. It's crunch time since graduation's in June. But I will try my best to update. We're up to 60 chapters! To be honest I'm still a little surprised that this has caught on, since I wasn't planning for it to run this long. But I'm very happy that people like it. We're reaching our 1****st**** anniversary in a couple of weeks! In other news, it's my birthday tomorrow, so leave reviews as a present, and I'll see you next time!**


	61. Chapter 60

Late on Friday afternoon, Shelby was sitting in her office, trying to grade a set of senior papers, when a knock sounded on the door. "Come in."

She stretched, putting the papers to the side for now. Seriously, reading high school papers could be like hell on earth. There were a few good writers here and there – Quinn was actually very good with words, she'd have to talk to the girl about applying to a few writing competitions – but for the most part, America's high school population couldn't write an essay to save their lives.

She looked up in time to see Tina Cohen-Chang enter her office a bit nervously. "Yes, Tina, what can I do for you?" Shelby asked pleasantly.

"Um, hi Miss Corcoran, Mr. Schue sent me to get you, there was a little accident in the auditorium…" Tina said. Shelby was immediately all ears. "Finn kind of hit Ryan in the face while we were doing some choreography," the teenager continued. "It was kinda bleeding when I left."

Dear Lord, she probably had one of the most hospital-prone children in the world. "Okay, let's go."

The two of them set off towards the auditorium, where they found the entire glee club and Mr. Schue huddled around Ryan, who was sitting on the piano bench with a bloody handkerchief pressed to his face. Quinn was standing next to him, holding another used handkerchiefs. "Oh my god." Shelby quickly rushed to him.

"Hi, Mom" Ryan said thickly, his voice congested.

Shelby bent down a little to get a closer look. "What exactly happened?"

"Finn's elbow smashed him in the face when we were learning some dance moves," Quinn explained. "We're not sure if it's broken."

"Let's see," Shelby murmured, carefully pulling the handkerchief away from Ryan's face. A slight trickle of blood kept oozing out of Ryan's nose, and Shelby shuddered a little as she saw how swollen the teenager's nose was. She wasn't a stranger to these kind of accidents, she'd dealt with her fair share on Vocal Adrenaline, but there was a reason she hadn't become a doctor. She prodded Ryan's nose gently, drawing back when he yelped in pain. "I think it might be broken."

"Yeah, I think so too," Ryan deadpanned.

"Are you okay?" Shelby asked, pulling her own handkerchief out of her pocket and handing it to her son. "Aside from the broken nose, I mean. Any other damage?"

Ryan's nose twitched a little, and he frowned. "I'm kinda dizzy," he admitted. Might be from the bleeding, Shelby surmised.

"Looks like it's finally happened, Finnept's dancing is so bad it's deadly," Santana snarked.

"Santana," Mr. Schue reprimanded. "It was an accident."

"Yeah, totally," Finn said, nodding vigorously before shrinking back as Shelby glared at him. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to hit him."

Mike came jogging back onto the stage with an ice pack. "Here," he said, offering it to Ryan. "The nurse is gone, so I got this from the locker room. Coach Beiste keeps a bunch in her office."

"Thanks, Mike," Ryan said, smiling, then wincing as the motion caused his nose to shift.

"Tilt your head forward," Shelby instructed, taking the ice pack and pressing it against Ryan's nose gently. "Let's get you to the clinic."

..

"It's broken," Dr. Moritz announced, pinning the x-ray of Ryan's nose up to the illuminator. "Fortunately it's a clean break, so no need for surgery. It looks like you rebroke an old fracture."

"Wait, wait, wait," Shelby said, holding a hand up. "When did you fracture your nose?"

Ryan frowned. "I don't really know…"

"Maybe it was when you got in a fight with Dennis Jensen in freshman year," Quinn suggested.

"Oh. Right." Ryan nodded. "Dennis Jensen was a senior, running back on the football team," he explained to his mom. "He was a bit of a bully." And that was a bit of an understatement.

"This wasn't in your medical records," Shelby frowned.

"That's because the school nurse just iced it and told me not to move it for the next few days," Ryan admitted.

"Well, like I said, it's clean, so no need for surgery. I'll just need to put it back, stick some tape, and you're good to go with a few painkillers," Dr. Moritz explained. "Sit down and we'll be done in a minute." Ryan complied and he sat down on the table. The doctor took his nose carefully. "Ready? On three. One…"

He made a sudden movement and Ryan let out a loud yelp. Dr. Moritz inspected his face before nodding. "I thought you said on three!" Ryan complained, rubbing his nose gingerly.

"I lied," Dr. Moritz said. "It's better when you don't expect it. Now, I'll write you a prescription and off you go." He pulled out his pad, scrawling a few lines onto it. "You know, from this x-ray, I can see you've got a deviated septum. Could be from the same blow that broke your nose the first time. You might want to consider getting that fixed."

"A deviated septum?" Shelby asked, looking at the doctor.

"Don't worry, it's not serious," Dr. Moritz assured them. "Looks like he's breathing fine with it, so we don't really have to do anything about it. Just thought you might want to know."

"I don't want to do anything that'll affect my voice," Ryan said.

"It doesn't affect the voice, that's just a myth," the doctor said. "Fact is, opening up that septa could allow you to take in more air per breath. Might improve your singing."

"Hey, maybe we can get matching nose jobs," Ryan glanced at Quinn with a teasing smile. "Obviously, I wouldn't want one like yours though."

"That's not funny," Quinn scolded him, though there was a small, self-deprecating smile on her lips.

"Well, we'll think about it," Shelby said. The doctor nodded, sending the three of them on their way with his card.

* * *

Quinn opened her locker late on Monday morning, pushing some of her books inside, when she spotted Ryan down the hall, talking and laughing with a couple of sophomore girls. She suppressed the slight jealousy that sprang up even though this had been happening for months now. She knew he wasn't doing anything wrong. She trusted him. He was just a naturally talkative person, and to be honest, she couldn't one hundred percent blame him for enjoying a bit of attention. As long as it didn't go too far, of course.

And speaking of too far…

"Hello, Quinn," Kenzie Larkin said flippantly, appearing next to Quinn. Speak of the devil. The girl had backed off of Ryan after Quinn's threat, but she still talked to him on occasion, minus the blatant flirting. Quinn still didn't like her.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, don't worry, I've been staying away from your boy, as ordered," Kenzie smirked. "But I couldn't help but notice he's been rather friendly with other girls, don't you think?"

"He can talk to whoever he wants, I don't own him," Quinn said shortly.

"Ooh, touchy. Have you two done it yet?"

"That's none of your business."

"You have, haven't you?" Kenzie smiled condescendingly. "Then it's just a matter of time. He'll get tired of you soon. That's just how boys are. They take what they want and then they go to the next best thing."

"You're wrong." Ryan was completely different, she knew that. He wasn't like Puck, or Finn, or any of the other idiot boys in this school. "But you would know all about how boys are, wouldn't you," she bit back. "Seeing as all the guys in this school have already had you and 'gotten tired' of you."

Anger flashed in the brunette girl's eyes for a moment. "Oh, just wait, Fabray. You'll see." She strode off down the hall, and Quinn watched her go, seething. She was wrong. Ryan wasn't going to get tired of her. She marched off toward her boyfriend, hooking an arm through his.

"Ryan, could we talk for a bit?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied, smiling at her. "Bye Alice, Katie." Quinn watched as the two girls nodded and walked off giggling. "What's up?" he asked her expectantly.

"I…" Quinn fumbled for a response. "I guess I just missed you," she said lamely.

He gave her an amused look. "Oh. Okay." He gave her a kiss. They set of for their classes, splitting apart a few minutes later. Quinn went in the opposite direction from him, just in time to see three girls admiring a poster of Lauren Zizes – campaigning for prom queen.

"She's got my vote."

"It's nice to see someone like me on a poster for a change."

Quinn spun around, coincidentally catching sight of Lauren herself a few feet away, putting up another poster. "What are you doing?" Quinn called out tersely.

"Well, hey!" Lauren greeted, smirking at her. "I'm running for prom queen."

Quinn stared at her in disbelief. "That's a joke, right?"

Lauren's face turned serious. "Does it look like I'm joking?"

"Well, when your name's on that ballot, the whole school's gonna think it's a laugh riot, and you may just get enough votes to win," Quinn snapped scathingly. Maybe she wasn't completely obsessed with winning prom queen, but she was still feeling annoyed by Kenzie and she couldn't quite help it.

"That's sort of the idea…"

"And as everybody snickers as they try to squeeze that tiara onto your head, somebody's gonna spill pig's blood or something like that on you and you'll become more of an outcast than you already are."

Lauren blinked, shifting her stance to a more aggressive one. "Okay, I don't know exactly what your problem is, but you best bring it, Fabray, 'cause I'm hot as hell, I keep it real, and the people at this school want a prom queen who's like them."

"No, they want a Prom Queen who's someone they'd like to be," Quinn answered back, standing her ground.

"Well," Lauren answered, moving closer to Quinn. "Not everybody can be born pretty like you. But just so you know, who you are inside and who you pretend to be to the rest of the world, they're two different people."

Her words hit Quinn like a ton of bricks, and she had to force herself not to physically react. _She's not talking about Lucy. She doesn't know._ She drew herself up, glaring at the other girl. Because like hell was she going to lose to Lauren Zizes. "You don't know anything about me, Lauren. Anything. But you know what? You're about to. 'Cause this just got personal."

* * *

The next day the entire glee club was surprised by Dave Karofsky coming in with Principal Figgins, ostensibly to apologize for his past behavior and to try to build bridges. Naturally the entire club had reacted derisively, but were told to keep quiet by Mr. Schue and Principal Figgins. Karofsky also said that he was going to reach out to Kurt to try to get him to transfer back. And lastly, he revealed that it was Santana who had helped him see the light, and that they had recently entered a romantic relationship.

"I'm gonna barf," Tina said, as Puck mimed gagging.

Ryan echoed the sentiment but didn't say anything, sensing that it wouldn't go over too well. But he knew that both Santana and Karofsky were gay, and they were probably acting as each other's beards.

After the meeting he caught up to Santana. "Not that I don't admire your altruistic efforts to get Kurt to transfer back to McKinley… but you're seriously going out with Karofsky?" he asked in mild disgust. "What about Brittany? And what about –"

"Look, Britts decided that she's better off with Artie," Santana cut him off. "And like I told you. We don't know how it happened, it just did. Dave's a great guy."

Ryan looked at her skeptically. "A great guy who used to bully everyone in here."

"Well, he's changed. Because of me. Now go away, I gots to go." Santana sauntered away, and Ryan followed her out of the choir room after a moment. He spotted Dave Karofsky rifling through his locker down the hall, and he quickly strode up to the football player. "Hello, Dave."

Karofsky rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked flatly.

"Weren't you listening?" Karofsky asked irritably. "I'm trying to fix things. Just back off, okay?"

"Santana knows, doesn't she?"

"She doesn't know _anything_," Karofsky hissed, glancing around in panic for anyone listening in. "'Cause there's nothing to know, okay?"

"All right," Ryan nodded. "I would really like to believe that you're sincere about turning over a new leaf, and about making amends with Kurt. But if this is some sort of trick and you're planning to do something to him as soon as he transfers back, I won't hesitate to tell the proper authorities. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

"You know, if I didn't know, I might start thinking Fabray's your big gay beard. Why are you so obsessed with protecting Hummel, anyways?"

"I'd do it for any of my friends."

"He's not your friend, even I know that."

Ryan frowned, before nodding. "You're right. I'd be remiss if I hadn't noticed that Kurt's and my interactions have traditionally bordered on hostility." He paused. "If you must know, I'm not doing it for him exactly. I do have my reasons, but I think I'll keep them to myself." He leveled a glare at Karofsky. "Just be careful. You know I can take you if I have to." He spun on his heel, leaving the football player standing in the hallway.

..

That afternoon found Ryan at Burt Hummel's garage. The rest of the New Directions were rehearsing for Mr. Schue's latest assignment of the week, but his 'no vigorous physical activity' ban was still being enforced by his parents. He'd only been allowed at the garage with the promise that he would not do anything that could hurt his nose.

So there he was, disassembling a Honda's front tires to get to the brake pads. They were worn straight to the metal, and he couldn't help wondering whether people actually thought of safety when they drove their cars. Brakes were important. Duh.

"Hey, Ryan, could I talk to you for a minute?"

Ryan looked up to see Burt standing next to him. "Sure. What's up?"

"I don't know if you've heard, but Dave Karofsky came to talk to me and Kurt about making amends."

"Yes, I did hear that. In fact Karofsky came to the glee club to apologize for his behavior over the past couple of years. Apparently Santana Lopez has helped him to see the light."

"What do you think?" Burt asked. "Is this for real?" He folded his arms across his chest. "I can't send Kurt back if he's not gonna be safe."

Ryan stayed quiet for a moment, focusing on his work. "I… I don't know, to be perfectly honest. He seems to be sincere," he said slowly. "However it's rather hard to look past some of his past transgressions."

"What did he do to you?"

"Aside from the near-daily slushie facials and almost-weekly trips to the dumpsters in freshman and sophomore year?" Ryan scoffed. "He also went crazy when I tried to talk to him about what happened with Kurt, and then he retaliated by beating me up with one of his friends and calling my mom a cash whore."

"So you don't think this is real."

"I'm saying he's done a lot in the past," Ryan said carefully. "But I do believe he's capable of changing. I have good reason to believe that he might really be sorry about how he treated Kurt in the past."

Burt nodded slowly. "Kurt seems to think so too. I just can't figure if it's because he just wants to go back."

"No, Karofsky does have a reason to be sorry about bullying Kurt the way that he has." He and Kurt were more alike than anyone would expect, after all.

"You have something on him," Burt stated. Ryan looked down. Technically he did. But it was something he'd never use. "Would you give him a chance?"

"… Yes."

Burt nodded again. "Okay." He hesitated. "Do you think you could keep an eye on him? I asked Finn, but after last time… I dunno."

"Yes, of course."

The older man clapped him on the arm. "Thanks."

* * *

The next day Kurt had transferred back to McKinley as of 12 noon. The New Direction had been in the school courtyard to welcome him back, and Blaine and the rest of the Warblers had shown up to sing him a goodbye song. After the song, Kurt went into the school with the rest of the New Directions, but Ryan stayed back to talk to Blaine. "Nice song," Ryan complimented.

"Thanks," Blaine tilted his head in acknowledgement. A small smile came to his face. "But I guess we both know who's the better lead now, huh?"

"No hard feelings, right?" Ryan asked a bit anxiously. He was happy about their win at Regionals, but he didn't want to lose Blaine as a friend.

"Nah, of course not," Blaine grinned at him, pushing him in the shoulder playfully. "We were kind of bummed out, but that's the game. I didn't get to congratulate you after the competition. I was going to, but you disappeared."

"I had some personal stuff to do," Ryan said vaguely, remembering Quinn's reunion with Beth. "But you and the Warblers were amazing up there too."

"Thank you." Blaine nodded in the direction Kurt had disappeared in. "Do me a favor? Could you watch him for me please?"

Ryan smiled faintly. "I was going to anyways, but sure. You're together now, right?"

"Yeah. He can be really sweet when he wants to be."

"I'll take your word for it," Ryan said.

Blaine grimaced. "I know he's not exactly nice to you. I'm sorry about that. I'll talk to him about it."

"I'm used to it. I'll see you around?"

"You bet."

..

"So, how is it?" Ryan asked Quinn. They were in his room – door open – sprawled out on his bed with Quinn using Ryan's arm as a pillow as she looked over his history paper. They had taken to helping each other study lately. Ryan was fantastic at mathematics and the science subjects, while Quinn excelled at the more liberal subjects such as history and English. They'd managed to pull each other's grades up a little by cooperating. When they didn't get distracted by making out, of course.

"It's okay," she answered, putting the paper down on his chest. "You might want to change the introduction a little, it could be better. But it's good."

"Thanks," Ryan smiled, kissing her hair as she snuggled into him. "Do you have anything else?"

"Just Mr. Schue's Spanish homework."

"You're on your own there," Ryan smirked. He wasn't taking that particular class. "How is Spanish with Mr. Schue, anyways?"

"Boring," Quinn grumbled. "Santana says she speaks it loads better than he does, I'd be better off learning from her. But Santana being Santana the most I've learned are swear words." She tilted her head, looking up at him. "Why did you take French instead of Spanish, anyways?"

"Are you kidding? Two words – _Les Mis_."

"I probably should have guessed that."

"You should have," Ryan agreed. They fell into a comfortable silence.

"What are you thinking about?" Quinn asked curiously a minute later.

"Just Kurt's performance today in glee," he answered. He was quiet for another moment. "Do you think if I left and came back, they'd react like that?"

Quinn frowned uncertainly. "What do you mean?"

"If I had transferred out, I mean," he clarified. "If I had left under the same circumstances and returned, do you think the entire glee club would have been waiting with open arms? And do you think a performance by me would have been met with that kind of enthusiasm? If I left, would they have come to sing me farewell like the Warblers did?"

Quinn was silent, contemplating the questions. No, probably not. Most of them took him for granted, looked down on him whatever he did. She couldn't tell him that though. But he already knew, and if he hadn't he could tell from her silence.

"That's what I thought."

"Ryan…"

"I'm just… confused," he said sadly. "I don't understand why they react to other people differently than they do to me."

Her heart broke for him. "I – I don't know."

"It's just colossally unfair," he said, almost to himself. "Ever since day one I've been trying to hold the glee club together. I'm the one who wants this the most, and yet I'm the one deemed as the least important."

He was right, and they both knew it. "Ryan, don't take this the wrong way… but why do you stay? They – _we_ – were horrible to you. A lot of them are still horrible to you. I don't understand how you can take it."

He was quiet for the longest time, and she was starting to think he wasn't going to answer. Then he did. "I think before this year it was because I was used to it. I was used to people thinking I was… disposable… even at home… so it didn't matter if you all thought I was, because at least I got to perform. And when I sing, that's the only time I ever got any respect. Meeting my mom changed everything, I think. And then you did too. And my dad. I think I figured out that I wasn't disposable." He paused. "To be honest, I've found myself with less and less reason to stay."

Quinn was surprised as his answer, guilt niggling at her for her part in what he had been feeling last year. "I thought maybe it was about college applications or something."

"It is, to some extent," Ryan agreed. "But… sometimes it's not worth it. It's just exhausting to keep fighting. Winning Nationals would be an amazing thing to have on my applications, but it's not completely the deciding factor. Just making it to Nationals this year will be a plus. And Mom's got all sorts of connections at colleges, she's pretty well-known," he said proudly. "Just having her as a vocal teacher is a plus, even if she's my mother. And it helps that she's got several Off-Broadway credits too, pedigree can be a factor when it comes to the arts. She's offered to get me into a theater arts program over the summer. So I guess… there's not too much reason for me to stay on the New Directions."

"I've noticed you haven't been singing as much at glee."

"I've been thinking about that. Last year, the glee club was pretty much all I had. But now… I have you. I have my family. I have people who like me for me, not just for my voice, and I don't have to fight constantly for attention."

"That's good."

"I know I'm talented. It's just that I don't feel the need to impress that fact on everybody else as much anymore. It's because I already feel validated," he surmised. "Don't get me wrong, I still love performing. If there were any other musical groups at McKinley I'd probably leave the New Directions. But there aren't, so I'll stick it out for the rest of the year, at least."

Quinn moved her head up to place a kiss on his cheek. "You know you're the best one in there, right? If you had sung the song Kurt did today you would've blown it out of the water." Not that the rest of the club would have admitted it out loud. "And who knows? Maybe next year you could start up another glee club."

"We can hardly get anyone to join now."

"If we win Nationals, maybe we can get more people to join," Quinn reasoned. "And don't underestimate your popularity either. You're actually pretty high up on the pyramid right now." She still knew how to read the Peking order of the school, and ever since Ryan had joined the basketball team, and especially after his altercations with Karofsky and Azimio, the school was looking at him differently.

His lips curved into a smile. "You think so?"

"Yeah."

He turned onto his side, wrapping his arms around her and giving her kiss, taking his time. She closed her eyes, sighing softly as she relished the feeling. He pulled away almost too soon. "Thank you," he breathed. "You always make me feel better."

"Well, you do it for me too."

..

Later, Quinn headed down to the kitchen to get a drink, and found Shelby already inside. "Hi Quinn, are you staying for dinner?"

"No, my mom's expecting me, but thanks." She hesitated, before walking up and giving Shelby a hug. The older woman was surprised, but returned it after a second. "Thank you."

Shelby gave a quick laugh. "For offering dinner?"

Quinn shook her head. "No, for… everything. I don't think you really know how much of a difference you've made in Ryan's life. In mine too. So, thanks."

The brunette smiled faintly. "You're… you're welcome." She paused. "Are you two okay?"

"Yes," Quinn nodded. "We're okay."

"All right, then."

* * *

The next day Quinn walked down the hallway before glee. By herself, because Ryan had a doctor's appointment for his nose, and Shelby had refused to let him sing for the time being, telling him that he needed to let his nose heal and she didn't want him to damage anything else.

She passed Lauren, not giving her a second glance, until –

"Hey Lucy."

Quinn froze in her tracks. "What did you just call me?"

"Well, that certainly got your attention. Can we speak privately?" Lauren sauntered into an empty classroom, and Quinn followed her after a moment's hesitation. She had no desire to talk to Lauren, but she had to know. Lauren turned to face her. "Well, you may want to have a seat." She waited until Quinn had taken a seat at one of the desks before continuing. "My dad's college roommate was G. Gordon Liddy, and he taught my pop a valuable lesson. He said the key to any campaign is digging up dirt on your opponent. So I did a little digging. You moved to Lima after eight grade, right?"

"I transferred from Fairbrook, that's not a secret." She hadn't, actually, but that's what she'd told everyone.

"Well, you must have had a pretty lousy attendance record, because I called Fairbrook Middle School, and they didn't have a record of anyone named Fabray. Which makes sense, as you actually lived in an incorporated part of Fairbrook Township, which would have meant you would have gone to Belleville Middle School, not Fairbrook. So I took a little field trip."

Quinn's stomach lurched horribly. "You didn't."

"I did. And you now what? They didn't have a record of anyone named Quinn Fabray either. They did, however, have someone named Lucy Fabray. Lucy Q. Fabray, to be exact, and she looked like this." Lauren slapped down an enlarged yearbook photo on the desk. "You can kind of see the resemblance, if you look past the nose job and subtract, eh, 70 pounds –"

"Stop, okay?" Quinn stared down at the painfully familiar picture, a mixture of rage, frustration, and humiliation welling up inside her. "That's me," she let out in a whisper. "My middle name is Quinn, I stopped going by Lucy because kids made up a mean nickname."

"Juicy Lucy?"

Quinn pushed the photo away, before staring Lauren in the eye. "Lucy Caboosey." Lauren nodded. "I hated the way I looked. I had zits, I was chubby, I felt terrible about myself. I didn't have friends, nobody would talk to me. I was the only kid at school who had to dissect their own frog because nobody would be my lab partner." She looked back down at the picture, lost in her memories for a moment before looking back up. "And then I joined ballet, lost a little bit of weight. Found out I was athletic, joined gymnastics, then cheerleading. Went on Proactiv for my acne. And when my dad got transferred and got a raise, I asked him if I could get a nose job. And he said yes. Then I asked them to call me Quinn."

"So you hate yourself."

Quinn came to her senses at the matter-of-fact statement that came out of Lauren's mouth. A reflexive denial floated to the tip of her tongue, but then she caught herself. She looked at the large girl, not completely seeing her. _Did_ she hate herself? Truth be told… yes. Yes she did. But like hell was she going to admit that to Lauren Zizes. "No. I love myself. And that's why I did all those things. I've been that girl, and I'm never going back. I was a miserable little girl. And now I'm going to be prom queen."

"Yeah, see, I wouldn't be so sure about that. You think everyone's going to vote for you because they want to be like you. Well, I don't know if they're going to want to be like you when they find out that you're a complete fraud. I bet even your boyfriend would be pissed when he finds out."

Quinn bristled at that. Ryan already knew, and he didn't care. Lauren didn't know anything. "What are you going to do?"

Lauren looked at her for a moment. "If I were you, I'd check the bulletin boards."

..

A few minutes later Tina Cohen-Chang found herself in the auditorium. The news was all over the school. Lauren had printed up a large poster-sized copy of Quinn's middle school yearbook photo from Belleville, emblazoned with the slogan "VOTE FOR LUCY CABOOSEY!" and posted it onto the school bulletin board. Judging by the snickers and whispers, everyone had already seen it.

Tina had seen the blonde rush into the auditorium, and after a moment's consideration, decided to check on her. She knew she was alone. Mike had mentioned Ryan had a doctor's appointment for his nose – Finn was such a klutz – and wasn't in school. "Quinn? Are you okay up there?" she asked, before coming onto the stage.

Quinn sighed tiredly. "Did you want something, Tina? I'm not really in the mood to talk."

She understood that. "I get that. If someone unearthed my old photos like that I'd be furious. And mine aren't even as bad as that. Sorry," she added hurriedly. She had a tendency to say the wrong things sometimes. Her fake stutter last year had helped her a little, giving her extra time to think about what she was saying. "I just wanted to check on you. Are you going home soon?"

"My mom's supposed to pick me up at four." That was half an hour away.

Tina looked at her hesitantly. "How about I give you a ride home? It's on my way anyways."

Quinn thought for a moment, hesitating. "Okay. Thanks." She gave a grateful smile to the younger girl.

The Asian smiled back at her. "Come on. Let's get you home."

..

Later that afternoon, Ryan was at home after his doctor's appointment. Dr. Moritz had assured him that his nose was healing and that he could take the tape off. He just needed to avoid vigorous activity for the next few days while it healed more. He'd talked about the optional surgery to fix his deviated septum with his parents and they had decided to hold off on it. Maybe in the summer, or not at all, since it wasn't giving him any particular trouble.

He stood in front of his mirror, inspecting his face before carefully peeling the medical tape off of his nose. He winced slightly as he prodded the bridge gently. It was still sore. Oh well. Accidents happen, after all. And he supposed it wouldn't hurt to give his voice a bit of a break. Not that he'd tell his mom that after the fuss he'd kicked up after she banned him from glee rehearsals.

Sitting down at his desk, he picked up his phone, surprised to see a text message from Mike. Reception at Dr. Moritz's office had sucked.

_4:35 From: Mike Chang – Hey man, just thought I'd give you a heads up. Someone put up an old photo of Quinn on the billboard. And it's labeled Lucy Caboosey. Don't know who did it. Quinn ran out a few minutes ago._

_4:57 From: Mike Chang – Tina took Quinn home. She said you should go over to see her. Picture's in everyone's email, too._

Ryan's eyes widened. He quickly turned on his laptop and checked his email, his heart sinking as he saw a picture of Quinn – Lucy – in his inbox, captioned with the legend _Vote for Lucy Caboosey!_

He needed to get to Quinn now. He quickly typed out a thank you text to Mike for telling him, before heading out of the house. He was at the Fabray house in short order, and Judy answered his knock. "Hi Ryan," she smiled worriedly. "Did something happen at school? I got home and Quinn was here and she won't talk to me."

Ryan nodded. "Someone put up a picture of Quinn. Or rather, a picture of Lucy. At school, in public. With that mean nickname on it."

Judy's face fell. "Oh. Oh no."

"Can I go up to see her?"

"Of course, dear. Go right ahead."

"Thanks," Ryan said with a small smile, quickly going up to Quinn's room. He knocked softly before opening the door. He found Quinn sitting at the window seat, curled up on herself looking absolutely miserable, and his heart clenched. He cleared his throat. "Hey."

She didn't look at him. "My life is over."

Ryan sat down next to her. "Hey, I'm supposed to be the dramatic one in this relationship," he chided her teasingly. His smile faded a little. "Quinn…"

"No one was supposed to find out," she murmured. "This was supposed to stay in Fairbrook, that was the whole point of me just about killing myself to change the summer after middle school. I didn't even tell Brittany or Santana."

"You told me."

"And it took me forever to work up to it. And now everyone knows. Just like that."

"Who –"

"It was Lauren. She told me. It was about the prom queen campaign."

Ryan scowled in frustration. Who did Lauren think she was? But that wasn't important right now. "Yeah, everyone knows," he agreed. "But you know it doesn't matter. I already told you, I don't care if you're Lucy, or Quinn, or whoever you want to be. I love you because you're you. Not because of what you look like. And your real friends are going to feel the same. If they don't… then I guess they weren't your real friends to begin with." He moved up closer to her and pulled her snugly against him.

She let out a choked laugh as she leaned into him. "The other day Lauren said something about how who I am on the inside and who I pretend to be are two different people. It's kind of ironic how right she was."

Ryan hummed thoughtfully. "I think that's true of all of us, to some extent. We hide our true selves because we're scared of being vulnerable. So we put up a front so we don't get hurt." He tipped his face towards his gently so that they were eye to eye. "But I'd like to think I know who you really are."

"How can you be sure when I'm not always sure myself?"

"Other people can often see things about us that we ourselves can't. I know you're not just a pretty face, even if I do think your face is absolutely gorgeous," Ryan added teasingly. Quinn smiled reluctantly.

"You've told me that before."

He gave her a quick kiss. "And I'll keep saying it, because it's true. You're more than your looks," he continued. "You're this amazing person who loves reading all those dorky classics, and who likes photography. You're the girl who was strong enough to virtually commit social suicide by leaving the Cheerios earlier this year. You were strong enough to have a baby you never planned for, even if you had the choice to just make it stop, and you're the one who loved that child enough to give her up for adoption even if it killed you inside."

He leaned his forehead on hers. "You're the one who decided to date the school's resident loser, no matter what anyone said." He looked deep into her eyes. "Lauren was right about one thing, who you are on the inside is completely different from who you are on the outside. And you, Lucy Quinn Fabray, are absolutely beautiful, both inside and out."

Quinn gave him a watery smile, and he brushed her cheek with his thumb, wiping away a tear that had trickled down. She let out a small laugh, looking back at him before meeting his lips in a slow, sweet kiss. "I love you so much, you know."

"I love you too."

She started laughing. "I can't believe I told Lauren all that. I even told her I didn't have anyone to dissect a frog with in Science class. That was sort of pathetic."

"Hey, their loss." Ryan bumped her shoulder playfully, making her smile. "I'd totally dissect a frog with you."

"My hero," Quinn deadpanned, before leaning her head on his shoulder.

"At least your frog didn't jump off of the pan mid-dissection and hop halfway across the room with its guts hanging out."

Quinn immediately straightened up in disgust, smacking his arm. "That's disgusting!"

"Yes, but completely true. Apparently my partner at the time hadn't stuck the needle in its head properly, and the frog came alive just when we finished opening it up. You should have seen the chaos, the girls were screaming, and some of the guys too, and everyone was trying not to step on the thing. The teacher was no help at all, either."

They shared another laugh before she flicked her gaze at him. "I told myself I wasn't ever going to be the girl everybody made fun of again."

"Oh, Quinn," Ryan chuckled. "No one's going to make fun of you. You'd probably vaporize them with a glare if they tried."

* * *

"Hey Lucy Caboosey," Kenzie sneered at Quinn the next day. "You know, I can't really blame you for hiding _that._ Now I just feel sorry for you. Has Ryan dumped your fat ass yet? I'm sure he saw the pictures, they were in everybody's emails yesterday. Just tell him I'm right here if he needs someone new."

Quinn just clenched her jaw, blocking out the snickers from the other Cheerios as she slammed her locker shut. She'd been hearing whispers all day speculating about whether or not Ryan was available yet. In a way she was kind of impressed by how much interest he'd generated in the female population, but that was beside the point. She was better than them, she wasn't going to rise to their juvenile taunts…

"Ryan, hello," she heard Kenzie say flirtatiously. "I was just saying what a shame it was that Quinn, I mean Lucy, has been lying for so long. Doesn't it just make you so upset?" Quinn turned around just in time to see the other girl running her fingers along Ryan's arm, and the sight just made her blood boil.

"Hello, Kenzie," Ryan gave the cheerleader a warm smile, and Quinn froze on the spot. What was he doing? He knew how Quinn felt about that girl. "You're right, I am a bit upset," he continued.

Kenzie gave him a warm smile. "Well, if you need someone to talk to –"

"But you know what I'm really upset about?" Ryan said sweetly, talking right over Kenzie's simpering voice. "I'm upset that you think that you, a conniving, arrogant, selfish bitch, have the right to talk to my girlfriend that way."

The whole corridor seemed to fall silent at Ryan's statement, everyone suddenly listening. It was as if it had pinged on everyone's radar that something was going down. Jacob Ben Israel could be seen in a corner recording the whole thing. Quinn simply stared at her boyfriend, whose face had hardened into a cold mask.

"I'm also upset," Ryan continued, "That you actually think you have any sort of a chance with me. I thought Quinn and I had made it clear, but it looks like that head of yours really is full of air. So I will make it completely clear." He put his arm around Quinn and glanced around at the gathered students. "I'm sure you've all seen the posters put up by one Lauren Zizes, yes?" He looked around. "Well, I am dating her. I'm dating Lucy Quinn Fabray," he announced, his voice carrying over the crowd. "Not only that, but I am completely, irrevocably in love with her. She is the most amazing, kindest, compassionate, most beautiful person that I have ever met, and I am so honored to be with her."

The hallway starting buzzing with whispers, and Ryan turned his focus back to Kenzie. "So I don't want to hear anything from you anymore, understand?" he said icily. For a moment, Quinn was reminded of Shelby. "And please stop trying to flirt with me, I'm a firm believer in the concept of monogamy and you have no chance whatsoever with me."

His voice hardened even more, lowering so that only Kenzie and Quinn could hear him. "I know what you've been trying to do," he informed Kenzie, who paled and shrank back under his glare. "Quinn is ten times the person you are, and I would never cheat on her, and especially not with a shallow, self-centered person like you."

"Okay, let's move it people!" Sue Sylvester's voice barked out over the crowd. The sound quickly galvanized the students into returning hastily to their business, moving along quickly. Quinn was still in shock over what had just happened, Ryan's arm wrapped loosely around her. Kenzie had disappeared with the crowd, a terrified look on her face. Quinn couldn't really blame her.

"Mozart, Juno," Coach Sylvester nodded. "Good speech. Took a real leaf out of your mom's book. And here I was doubting that you were related. Congratulations, you have finally grown a pair of balls." She looked at Ryan with a hint of respect. "Now get to class."

"Yes, Coach Sylvester," Ryan smiled, taking Quinn's hand and pulling her towards their next class. As they rounded the corner, Quinn pulled to a stop, and Ryan turned around, looking at her expectantly.

"What was that?" she asked, eyes wide.

Ryan's eyes hardened again. "I heard what she said to you," he said quietly. "She had no right to speak to you that way. And I know her flirting with me bothers you. Hopefully this puts an end to it." He shrugged self-consciously. "Was it too much?"

Quinn just shook her head, pulling him into a tight hug. "No. It was perfect." His arms tightened around her. No one had ever stood up for her like that, not as Quinn, and definitely not as Lucy. "You are never going to know how much that meant to me," she whispered. "Thank you."

"I'd do anything for you, you know that."

Yes, she knew that. "I'd do the same."

Ryan pulled out of the hug, kissing her on the lips. "Let's go to class."

..

"Lauren? Can I speak with you please?"

Lauren Zizes turned around, eyeing the glee club star. She knew what this was about, and maybe she had taken things a bit too far. She didn't really want to talk to him. "I'm kinda busy with my prom queen campaign, Berry, so if you don't mind…"

"It won't take long."

"I said I'm busy."

Ryan's face hardened. "It's not really a request."

To Lauren's surprise, she found herself complying, following him into an empty classroom. "I know what you want to say, so can we just get this over with?"

"Do you have any idea what you did?" Ryan asked in an icy voice that made Lauren freeze in surprise. This was a whole new version of Ryan Berry. "What you did was way past the line, Lauren. That was completely below the belt, and you did it for what? To win a plastic two-dollar crown?"

"I –"

"You have no idea who Lucy Quinn Fabray is, you have no idea what she went through to get to where she is now. You had absolutely no right to go digging around in her past like that, and you definitely had no right to festoon it about the school the way you and Puckerman did. How would you feel if someone had done that to you?"

Lauren considered it, before shrugging. "I don't have anything to hide."

He nodded after a moment. "You're right, I suppose. The sad part about this situation is that you don't even understand the magnitude of what you did. You have no idea what it's like to have to overcome something that nearly destroyed you, so you couldn't possibly understand. You have no clue what it feels like to have curveball after curveball thrown at you, one after the other, and be expected to come out of it whole. And there's no way I can possibly make you understand." He gazed at her evenly. "Quinn would never on her worst day pull something like that. Now I know she just wants this to blow over. So I'm going to leave this up to you. Apologize or not, you decide. Just know that if you ever hurt her again, I will be very upset. You heard what I said to Kenzie Larkin this morning. I can say a million times worse. I've just never found the need to."

The whole time he was talking, Lauren listened. He was right, she didn't understand. She knew on some level that what she had done was wrong. But she had just meant this as a way to further her campaign, not to hurt anyone. Oh, she knew it would sting, but not that badly. But if Ryan was right about the type of damage she'd caused…

The bell rang suddenly, signaling their next class. "Berry. I'm sorry."

"Don't call me that," he said stiffly. "And it's not me you should be apologizing to." He turned around and quickly left the room, leaving Lauren alone with her thoughts.

..

That afternoon Quinn headed to glee. They were about to do their _Born This Way_ number, and she was wearing her shirt printed with _Lucy Caboosey _under her jacket. Mr. Schue's assignment of the week, lost underneath all of their recent issues, had been to think of something they didn't like about themselves, print it on a shirt, and wear it while they performed Lady Gaga's _Born This Way._ Quinn was pretty sure the assignment had been born from Mr. Schue trying to help Miss Pillsbury with her OCD. The man was all over the place this year.

Things had actually ended up… okay on the whole Lucy problem. Lauren had come up to apologize for what she had done, and the two girls had struck up a bit of a truce. Quinn was still a bit upset, but she just wanted to get the whole thing over with. Besides, everything that had happened had made her and Ryan even stronger. Plus what he'd had said that morning had her swooning whenever she thought about it. On the way to the auditorium she spotted Tina. She quickly caught up to the girl. "Tina, hey."

The Asian girl looked up at Quinn, smiling. "Hi Quinn. Are you better now? I heard about what Ryan said this morning."

"Yeah," Quinn nodded, smiling faintly. "He was great. Listen, I just wanted to say thanks. You know, for yesterday."

"It's fine."

"Why did you do it?" Quinn asked curiously. "I've not been particularly nice to you," she added shamefully. "You didn't have to help me."

Tina shrugged. "I guess not," she conceded. "But I think you changed, after last year. You were sort of a bitch last year, no offense –"

"– None taken –"

"– But after Beth you became, more like a real person, I guess. Sometimes you were like this ice statue, you know?" Quinn flushed a little, because that was pretty much what she'd been trying to project. "But when you joined glee, you started to, you know, thaw out a little," Tina continued. "Especially when you got together with Ryan."

Quinn shrugged. "I guess he brings out the best in me."

"I think you're good for each other. Balance out each other's crazy," Tina decided. "And besides, it looked like you could use a friend yesterday. Nobody deserves what Lauren did."

The blonde ducked her head. "Thanks," she said sincerely, surprised at how forgiving the younger girl was. She was pretty sure she slushied Tina at some point early last year, but she was getting another chance. If she'd learned anything in the past couple of years it was that she couldn't waste any chances she was given. "You're a good person, Tina," she said genuinely.

"I was thinking, since Mike and Ryan are friends now, maybe we could go on a double date sometime," Tina offered.

"I think I'd like that," Quinn smiled.

"Cool." She glanced at Quinn's shirt. "Does that say _Lucy Caboosey_?"

"Yeah," Quinn said self-consciously. "What does yours say?"

"_Brown Eyes._"

"I like brown eyes," the blonde said absently, thoughts drifting to a well-loved pair of chocolate-coloured ones.

Tina smirked. "I'll bet you do."

..

While the glee club was performing, Ryan went into the auditorium, in the audience section. He'd already informed Mr. Schue that he wasn't allowed to do any dancing while his nose healed, and the teacher had excused him from the performance. Ryan spotted two familiar figures sitting side by side near the back. He quickly took a seat behind them. "Why aren't you dancing with them?"

He smiled as Santana and Karofsky jumped in surprise. "What the – don't do that!" she hissed.

"And why would I be dancing up there?" Karofsky asked defensively. "I'm not in the glee club, that's totally gay."

"Why aren't _you_ up there?" Santana asked grumpily.

"Broken nose, remember?" He snuck at glance at her shirt. "_Lebanese_? Aren't you Hispanic?"

"Britts made it for me," Santana mumbled. Ryan's eyes widened as he realized what the shirt had been meant to say.

"Oh." He was quiet for a moment. "Why aren't you dancing up there?"

"Because I can't, okay?" Santana deflated. "I just can't."

Ryan nodded slowly. "Okay. I respect that. You have the right to come out in your own time. I know what you two are doing, I'm familiar with the concept of beards." He sighed at the defensive looks that appeared on both Santana's and Karofsky's faces. "I just hope one day you'll be comfortable enough to wear that shirt with pride," he said sincerely. "Both of you."

* * *

**Hi guys! Thank you for the birthday greetings, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. This one took a little longer than I wanted, but that's because I've been pretty busy with real life. Lab work is fun, but it takes forever. Also, I've got a couple of new plot bunnies clamoring for attention, and I've been playing with them for a bit. They're a bit of a ways away from being ready for posting though.**

**Anyways, I hope you liked my take on Born This Way. There was a lot of stuff going on in that episode, and I had a bit of a hard time going through everything. Hopefully it turned out well. Again, I don't own Glee, and any mistakes are mine since I'm beta'ing myself.**

**It's our anniversary in a couple of days, and we're past 400,000 words! Thank you to all of you who helped us get to this point, I wouldn't be as invested in this story without all of you guys. **


	62. Chapter 61

"We're here!" Shelby called out, as she entered a private hospital room followed by Ryan and James.

The four people in the room looked up, all of them with wide smiles on their faces. "Come in," Sarah said, beaming, giving each of them a hug. Josh grinned happily as Paige watched them with a tired smile from the hospital bed. "Hello sweetheart." She gave Ryan an excited hug. Ryan quickly returned it with one arm, the other busy holding a bouquet of pink balloons.

"So, where is she?" Shelby asked. Josh turned around, holding a small pink bundle in his arms.

"Guys," Josh beamed proudly. "I would like to introduce our new baby. Alexis Joanna Corcoran. Alex."

"Oh Josh, she's adorable," Shelby crooned, leaning over to take a look at the new arrival. "Congratulations. Both of you," she added, squeezing Paige's hand with a smile.

"Yeah," James added, smiling. "Congratulations."

Ryan peered over at the baby in his uncle's arms. He smiled at the tiny wrinkled face, topped with downy reddish hair. She was cute. Similar to Beth when he'd seen her in the hospital nursery just after she'd been born.

"You wanna hold her?" Josh asked.

"Me?" Ryan asked in surprise. "Okay." He hadn't held a baby since Hiram's cousin Leon's baby, but he remembered how. He held out his arms, and Josh placed the tiny infant in his arms. Ryan carefully shifted a little to support her head, and Alex yawned sleepily. "She's cute."

They had gotten a call at three in the morning from an excited Tom that Paige had gone into labor. Since it was a Friday, it had been decided that Shelby, James, and Ryan would head out to Akron after school and work. The baby had beaten them there though.

Alex was adorable, Ryan thought. It might be nice to have a younger cousin. All of his cousins from Hiram and Leroy had been way older than him – Leon had even been old enough to have his own baby – and having one younger than him would be an interesting change. Tom snapped a quick picture of the two cousins just as the baby started to wave her arms, and Josh took her back.

"Hi, sweetheart," he crooned softly, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "You're okay."

"Are your parents here yet?" Shelby asked Paige.

"They're on their way, they're in Seattle for the weekend and their flight's getting in tonight."

"How was the labor?" James asked.

Josh winced. "Fifteen hours. I swear I thought she was going to squeeze my hand off. And I was starting to fear for my life at the things she was saying."

"You try pushing a small human out of your penis, then we'll talk," Paige said sweetly.

"Yes dear."

Ryan smirked. His uncle was whipped. Although he couldn't really talk, seeing as he was completely gone for Quinn. "You know, when Quinn had her baby I think they barely had an hour between the time her water broke and the time Beth came out."

"Lucky girl," his aunt said dryly.

"It was a rather dramatic birth." He actually regretted staying at the competition instead of going to the hospital, but Quinn had told him to stay, and they needed at least one representative to stay behind anyway. And they weren't actually together then yet.

"May I?" Shelby asked.

Josh smiled. "Sure." He offered the baby to Shelby.

Ryan watched as his mother cradled the newborn, and his smile faded a bit before he fixed it back into place. He felt a touch of irrational jealousy flare at the sight of his mom with that other baby. It was almost… unfair. No, it _was_ unfair. His cousin was going to grow up with a loving set of parents. And he… hadn't gotten that. He frowned a little. Because why was _his _mom going to be a part of another person's childhood, when she hadn't been in his?

He was happy for his aunt and uncle, but he couldn't help it. Especially as his father moved closer to his mother, smiling at his new cousin. A lump formed in his throat as he looked at them.

"I'm just going to go get some air, okay?" he muttered to the nearest person, his grandfather, who nodded.

He left the room, finding a set of chairs just down the corridor. He sat down, fighting the urge to rub his hand across his face. His nose wouldn't particularly thank him for that. He pulled his keychain out from his pocket, needing something to keep his hands occupied, turning the star-shaped charm over in his fingers. He hadn't been expecting to feel this way at all.

It wasn't fair. He hated sounding like a whiny child, even in his head, but it just wasn't. He knew it wasn't anybody's fault, not his, not his mom's, definitely not the new baby's fault. But he couldn't help the frustration and resentment that bubbled up. Because Alex had her whole childhood ahead of her with amazing parents. But Ryan wasn't ever going to have the memories of his mom or his dad singing him to sleep, taking him to his first day of school, all the things that other kids took for granted.

His cousin would have the chance to be part of the family from the start.

But he couldn't talk about this with anyone, he decided. He couldn't, wouldn't, ruin the arrival of their newest family member for any of the Corcorans. He'd get over it. He could deal with this by himself. He pulled out his phone, biting his lip before putting in a call.

"_Hey Ry."_

He smiled at the sound of his girlfriend's voice. "Hi Quinn."

"_What's up?"_

"… Nothing, really. I just missed you." He didn't want to talk about with Quinn either. He didn't want to talk about it, period.

"_Oh. I miss you too. Santana's here, by the way."_

"_Heeeey Frodo!"_ Santana's voice came through the line, and Ryan chuckled.

"Hello Santana. Where are you two?"

"_Oh, we're at Blondie's house,"_ Santana said offhandedly. Ryan assumed he'd been put on speaker. _"We're watching a movie. It's girls' night and you're actually bothering us."_

"_Shut up, Santana," _Quinn said_. "You're not bothering us at all, Ryan."_

"_Speak for yourself."_

Ryan just smiled, listening to the exchange. It was nice, having friends. He couldn't help but compare how different it was from last year, when he'd barely had anyone to talk to. Now he had quite a few friends. "What are you watching?" he asked curiously. Two answers came at the same time.

"_Fifty First Dates."_

"_Porn."_

"I'm going to go with Quinn's answer."

"_Good call,"_ the blonde deadpanned. _"When are you going to be back?"_

"Late tonight, I guess," Ryan answered. "I should let you get back to your movie."

"_Finally." _

"_Shut up Santana. Bye Ryan, I'll see you tomorrow?"_

"Of course. I love you."

"_Wanky."_

"_Santana!"_ Quinn huffed in exasperation. _"I love you too, Ry."_

Ryan ended the call, feeling a little better. He looked up and saw his father walking toward him down the hall. "Hey buddy. You okay?" James asked, sitting down next to him. Ryan noticed he looked a little down himself.

"Mmhmm." Ryan nodded, straightening up. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Ah." James studied him for a moment. "Listen, I'm starving," he said lightly. "And they're going to be in there for a while. So I'll tell you what. We're going to go downstairs. Then we're going out to that restaurant I spotted across the street for a burger. And then we are going to talk about very, very superficial things. Sound good?"

Ryan gave him a grateful smile. It sounded like just what he needed right now. "Yeah. That sounds good."

..

Later that evening Shelby, James, and Ryan were back in Lima. James had been dropped off at his apartment, Ryan had fallen asleep, and Shelby was alone in her study when a figure came into the room. She jumped in fright before recognizing it. "God, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days!"

"I'm not God," James deadpanned. "Why are you still up?"

"Why are you here?" Shelby countered. "It's past eleven."

James just sat down on the other side of Shelby's desk. "Look what I have," he said with a smile.

"You have… a bottle of Scotch."

"And it's very nice Scotch, too. Do you want some?"

She hesitated. She could use a drink right now. "Sure. What the hell." She disappeared into the kitchen, returning with two glasses before sitting down on an armchair. James quickly poured a good amount of the amber liquid into both glasses.

"Cheers." James clinked his glass against hers before taking a sip. They sat there silently, sipping at their Scotch. "Josh's little girl is adorable," James commented idly.

Shelby nodded, draining the glass. "Yeah, she is, isn't she?"

James wordlessly poured her more of the Glenfiddich, "Do you ever think about it?" he asked. "You know…"

"All the time." Shelby settled her arm on the armrest, resting her head in her hand. "You're mad again, aren't you."

He shook his head. "No. I'm over being mad… well, not completely… but I'm not mad right now. Right now I'm just… sad." He took a swallow of his whiskey, refilling his glass. "We never got to see Ryan as a baby. Well, you did," he amended. "But you know what I mean."

"I know."

"We don't even have pictures."

Shelby's glance flicked down to the photo album she'd been perusing when James had shown up. "We do have pictures. I showed you, remember?"

He shook his head looking down as well. "Yeah, I remember. But no. They're… the wrong kind. They're… _we _should have been in those pictures. Not – not _them._ We were supposed to be with our son. He was supposed to grow up with us." Shelby didn't have anything to say to that, so she just took a sip of her drink. "He was kinda messed up about it too, you know. At the hospital. Ryan, I mean."

No, she didn't know. "Is that why you took him out?"

James nodded. "I don't think he's mad or anything, and he seems to like the new baby. He didn't really want to talk about it. But I could tell."

"Oh." Shelby hadn't noticed. She'd been too wrapped up in her own regrets, because it had kicked in while she was holding Alex that she'd lost that with Ryan. It didn't matter what they did. They could say all they liked that they were making up for lost time, but at the end of the day they'd never get back what they'd lost. And it was her fault. She was going to get to watch her brother's child grow up, when she hadn't been able to watch her own. She drained the rest of her glass.

"Do you think we would have been good parents?" James asked morosely. "If we'd gotten the chance?"

"I…" Shelby looked down. "I don't know. Maybe. I'd like to think so."

James downed the rest of his drink, topping it up again. "Maybe we would have sucked."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Or maybe we would have been the best. Maybe I would have come home, and I would have stayed with you and we could have kept baby Ryan. And we would have been happy." He smiled crookedly. "I think you're a good mom. Not like mine."

Shelby let the compliment pass. She wasn't sure she deserved it after what she'd done all those years ago. "Can't say that, you never met her. Maybe she had a good reason to give you up," she said, thinking of Quinn.

James shook his head, frowning as his eyes lost focus for a moment. "No," he disagreed. "I found her, you know? My mom, I mean."

Shelby glanced at him, surprised. No, she didn't know. "Really? When?"

"Uh… eleven… twelve… long time ago," James said, giving up on the actual time. "The hospital had her name. Simone Walker. One of my friends found her." He laughed, taking another sip. "He's really good at finding stuff, like he found this dead rat in the barracks once."

Shelby wrinkled her nose in disgust. That was not something she wanted to think about. She finished her… her… she'd lost count of how many refills she'd had.

"And this other time he found these two guys in the broom closet… but anyways…" He took a swallow of whiskey. "Anyways, I went up to her address in Cali, and it was this big beach house thing," he continued, throwing his arms wide apart, a splash of whiskey escaping his glass. "So I knocked on the door, and this lady comes out. My mom."

He stopped, and Shelby leaned forward. "Then what happened?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"I told her who I was…" he said. "And she told me to get the fuck off her husband's property. Apparently she was a prossi – ports – pro – hooker when she was younger." His face screwed up as he gave up trying to find the right word. "She did admit I was hers, said she remembered leaving me at the hospital," he said thoughtfully. "But then she told me not to show up again 'cause she had a nice life for herself." He snorted derisively, refilling his glass. "I asked around, and turns out she found a sugar daddy. She thought he'd kick the bucket soon, so she married him, but joke's on her," he giggled. "Fucker's still kickin' around at 88."

Shelby let out her own giggle, before sighing. "I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as she is, she's probably gonna die before he does."

"Not about that," Shelby laughed. "About… the other part."

James shrugged carelessly. "I don't really care. Bitch abandoned me at a hospital. 'Sides, it was a long time ago. Kinda annoys me that I have her name though."

"You could change it."

"Don't have one to change into," he said dismissively. "And I'm glad Ryan doesn't have it." They sat there silently sipping at their alcohol. "Did you ever think about having more?"

Shelby turned the bottle over. "Doesn't matter, we're all out."

James cleared his throat. "I mean, more kids. You know, after Ryan."

She stayed silent for a few moments. "I guess," she admitted. "I thought for a while maybe another one could… replace… Ryan, but no." She paused again. "I was on the adoption list up until last year."

"Would you still want more?" he asked.

"I…" she swallowed thickly, the burning in her eyes matching the burning in her throat. "I can't. I had some… issues, a few years ago, and, well, that was that." She smiled a bit tremulously. "Ryan's the only kid I'll ever have."

"Oh." James was quiet. "I still like you anyways."

Shelby leaned over to kiss him, and soon the kiss led into more, finally culminating in a drunken stumble to the bedroom.

* * *

_A few days later_

"You know, we should really stop," Ryan panted out, his voice muffled against Quinn's neck.

"Yeah, we probably should," she agreed, before dragging his lips back up to meet hers, sending his dizzy, oxygen-deprived brain spinning again. The two of them had started out studying for a Social Studies test coming up that Wednesday, but as usually happened with their study sessions, it had devolved into making out. The only reason it hadn't turned into more was because Shelby was just downstairs, and neither of them were brave enough to risk it yet.

Still, they couldn't quite resist the occasional kiss and the brush of a hand, which was how they had ended up tangled around each other on Ryan's bed. And he knew they should stop but he couldn't help himself. Having Quinn anywhere near him made him temporarily stupid, and right now he almost literally couldn't breathe because she had her tongue stuffed down his throat.

"I thought – ohh – oh god – Quinn – I thought we were going to stop?" he gasped out a minute later, unable to keep his coherence.

She nodded, tilting her head to the side with a moan as he left wet kisses on her neck. "Yes – y – r-right there – we need to stop –"

Ryan groaned, leaning his head into the crook of her neck. "Then why is your hand still in my pants?"

"Why is yours still under my bra?"

_It was a good question_, Ryan's hazy mind told him. He squeezed a little, drawing a moan from his girlfriend. "Okay, you have a point," his voice hitched as Quinn's hand squeezed around his dick. "But seriously, my mom could walk in here any second, you know she's like psychic when it comes to these things."

It was true, they had had too many close calls with Shelby to count. She seemed to have an uncanny knack of knowing just when any funny business was going on in her house. Quinn nodded reluctantly, and after a moment the two hormonal teenagers managed to disentangle themselves.

"I'm just gonna – yeah," Quinn said, running a hand through disheveled hair before disappearing into the bathroom. Ryan just let himself fall back on the bed, eyes shutting for a few moments before he managed to drag himself up, just in time for his mom to pass by the door. Seriously, it was like she had cameras in his room. This was exactly why they only had sex in Quinn's house.

While Quinn went to the bathroom, Ryan decided to boot up his computer, trying to calm himself down after getting so incredibly worked up. Quinn came back a few minutes later, and Ryan glanced up at her. "Hey, did you know Brittany has a web show?"

Quinn came over, looking over his shoulder at the laptop. "No," she said curiously. "Let's see it."

Ryan pressed the play button and the couple watched the very first episode of _Fondue for Two_, featuring Mercedes and Tina. "Well, it's certainly very… Brittany," he said with a smile as they watched. Quinn hid a snort behind a cough as Tina assured all viewers that the rumors about Asian men were not true.

"… _Also, I heard a rumor that Santana plays for the other team. And I can confirm that rumor, it's a hundred percent true."_

Ryan and Quinn stared at the screen in shock, while Mercedes and Tina gaped at Brittany. Ryan opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. "Did she just –"

Quinn nodded, gawking at the screen as Brittany let her cat eat the cheese straight from the fondue pot. "I think she just did." The show ended a minute later, Brittany promising to dip raw meat in boiling chocolate in the next installment. "That was informative."

"Well, we already knew about Santana…" Ryan said, closing the laptop.

"She can handle it," Quinn said dubiously, taking Ryan's wrist to check his watch. "I have to go."

"Go? Go where?"

"I just have some stuff to do," the blonde said vaguely, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?"

"Okay, then." He walked his girlfriend to the front door, watching as she drove off before going into the kitchen. Shelby glanced up at him from where she was peeking into the refrigerator.

"Hi Ryan. Is Quinn staying for dinner?" It had become a regular enough event that she had started cooking extra portions for both Quinn and James.

"No, actually. I think I just got ditched," he answered humorously, perching himself on one of the bar stools. "She said she had some things to do. And I suppose we can't be together 24/7, as much as we'd like to be."

"No, you can't. Trust me, you'll implode," Shelby answered dryly. "Well. Your dad has the night shift, so it looks like we're on our own. And we have no food. So. How about we just order some Chinese and watch a movie?"

Ryan smiled. "Switch that to pizza and make it a Streisand movie and I'm in."

Shelby grinned, ruffling his hair. "You are definitely my kid."

* * *

A few days later Ryan exited his Chemistry class to be met by Becky Jackson wearing a newsboy cap and hawking copies of the school newspaper. "Extra, extra! Read all about it! Get your Muckraker here!" She waved a sheaf of papers in Ryan's face and he took it lest she hit him in the face with it.

He pushed his bag into his locker, glancing through the newly resurrected school paper. It had been discontinued a couple of years ago, but it was apparently back. And sure enough, there in the blind items column was something about a prom queen candidate spending her time in the closet. Santana was going to be so pissed.

Suddenly Finn Hudson was standing next to him. "Hey, dude," he said in a sort of sympathetic voice. "Did you see the blind item column? That must suck, huh?"

Ryan looked at him in confusion. "About the prom queen candidate in the closet? Why would that suck?"

"No, the other part."

Ryan looked back down at the newspaper, reading the second blind-item. Oh. "Excuse me," he told Finn. "I need to go talk to someone." He left the tall quarterback in the hall and headed toward the choir room to find his girlfriend. She was there, with some of the other glee clubbers, talking to Sam. Ryan tapped her on the shoulder, shooting a pointed glare at the blonde boy. "Quinn, can we talk for a second? In private?"

Quinn looked at him strangely. "Uh, yeah. Sure. Hang on." She followed him outside the choir room. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you about this." He held up the Muckraker. Quinn took it, frowning.

"_What prom queen candidate is spending –"_

"No, the second one."

She raised her eyebrow, before reading it. "_What blondie former cheerleader is having a secret Moonlight Motel rendezvous with another big-lipped blondie?_" Her eyes widened for a second before looking up at him. "You don't seriously believe this, do you?"

Ryan looked at her. "No, that's why I wanted to talk to you about it." He took a breath. "It's not true, right?"

"No, of course it's not true! I wouldn't cheat on you!"

He nodded, relieved. He hadn't believed it when he'd read it anyway. "Okay. I believe you."

"Good." She started to say more, only to be stopped by Santana storming past them and into the choir room. Ryan and Quinn exchanged a look before hurrying in after her.

"This is your fault! You told everyone I play for another team in your ridiculous melted cheese show!" Santana fumed, waving a copy of the Muckraker in front of Brittany.

"Wait, are you mad?" Brittany asked, confused. "You do play for another team. You were on the Cheerios, and now you're only on the New Directions."

Santana stared at her in frustration. "And you couldn't think of any other way to say that?"

"Hey Quinn," Finn called from his seat next to Puck. "So are you cheating with Ryan?"

Quinn glared at him. "First of all, this is none of your business. Second, I am not cheating on Ryan with Sam!"

"Well, you did it to me, why wouldn't you do it to him?"

"Whoa, hey, I'm not cheating with anyone," Sam argued.

"Okay, hey!" Mr. Schue finally arrived. "What's going on in here?" He looked around the room. Santana just gave Brittany a disgusted glare, Artie gave Brittany and Santana a suspicious look, Quinn shot daggers at Finn, and Sam just sat down, looking lost. "We need to get to rehearsals."

..

After glee Ryan sat outside the front entrance of the school, waiting for his mom to come out. He'd decided to hitch a ride with her that morning, and she'd told him she'd be out momentarily. Mr. Schue had just assigned the new project of the week – they had to pick a song from the Fleetwood Mac album _Rumors _and do their own rendition. While the album was quite iconic, it had a rather limited selection of songs and he didn't know which to pick yet. Also, he'd tried pushing for them to get together a set list for Nationals – which was in _three weeks_ – but obviously no one listened. He heard someone come out and he turned around, only to be disappointed with who he found.

"Well, hello there, Mr. Berry," April Rhodes called out merrily. She was back in Lima, needing to borrow the auditorium while she wrote her original musical. She had paid for the building last year, so she did in fact have the right to use it. Still, Ryan made a face at the moniker. He hated people calling him that.

"It's Corcoran, actually," he corrected her, as the older woman plopped down next to him on the steps. Surprisingly, he didn't smell any alcohol.

"Huh. Funny, I could have sworn it was Berry last time I was here," April mused, before shrugging. "But then, you were in that production of Chicago when I was here." She hummed thoughtfully. "Corcoran… y'know, that sounds familiar…"

"My mom used to be coach of Vocal Adrenaline," Ryan offered. April just looked at him blankly. "She was in a few Off-Broadway productions." Another blank stare, and he shrugged. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Shelby come out of the school.

"Sorry, someone stopped by the office," she apologized to Ryan. "Ready to go?" She flicked her gaze over to April, then did a double-take. "April Rhodes?"

"Ahh. I thought you sounded familiar," the blonde said, tapping her nose. "Shelby Corcoran."

"Wait, you two know each other?" Ryan asked, curiosity piqued.

"Know each other? We used to be rivals on the show choir circuit back in the day," April said broadly. "Went head to head at Regionals in senior year."

"We were the leads of our respective glee clubs," Shelby explained, smiling in amusement.

April turned her gaze back to Ryan. "So this is your boy, huh?" she asked slowly, a strange look appearing on her face as Shelby nodded, her hand on Ryan's back. "Well," April said, lips curving into a smirk again. "I better get going, wouldn't wanna keep Will and the band waitin'." She stood up, wobbling a little on her high heels, before leaving in the direction of the auditorium.

"I didn't know you knew April Rhodes," Ryan commented as they got into Shelby's car.

"I didn't know you knew her either," Shelby returned as they drove off. "What's she doing here?"

"Apparently she's here doing the libretto for her original Broadway musical. Mr. Schue is allegedly helping her. That's what the Muckraker says anyways."

"You do know you shouldn't believe everything that paper says, right?"

Ryan grimaced, remembering that blind item. "I know. But anyways, what's her story? April's, I mean. I Googled her last year when Mr. Schue got her to join the glee club, but there were very limited results aside from her personal webpage."

"Oh. Uh, well, we were in the same year," Shelby said slowly. "She went here, to McKinley, while I went to school in Akron. We were usually in direct competition during Regionals, so we were acquainted with each other. You know, they'd TP our choir room, we'd release crickets in theirs, that kind of thing…"

"Wait, crickets?"

"That's a long story," Shelby covered hastily. "Anyways, after Regionals in senior year, she disappeared with her high school boyfriend and we never heard anything about her since. That's pretty much it."

"I see." Ryan thought for a moment. "She's actually very talented, if a little unpredictable."

Shelby smirked. "She showed up drunk at her Sectionals competition in junior year. Fortunately we weren't competing, otherwise she would have lost."

"Interesting." He paused for a moment. "You did beat her at Regionals, right?"

Shelby smirked. "We won Nationals that year, what do you think?"

* * *

Sue breezed into the teacher's room the next morning, quickly spotting her favorite pseudonemesis reading a paper. A real one, not the Muckraker. Even Sue knew the school paper was crap only fit to line hamster cages. "Good morning, Wicked Witch of the West."

"Good morning, Tin Woodsman," Shelby nodded as Sue sat down in front of her.

Oh, very good. "I see what you did there."

Shelby ignored her. "I have to admit, your latest maneuver is quite interesting. Think of it yourself?"

"Actually my minion Honeybadger thought it up," Sue admitted. "Nature's most ferocious animal, look it up on YouTube. She said that I keep trying to destroy glee club from the inside, when I should be doing it from the outside. Ingenious, actually, don't know why I never thought of it."

"Then maybe the Brainless Scarecrow would be a more appropriate nickname for you. But anyways, I do admire your two-pronged approach this time around."

"And the best part is you can't do a thing about it," Sue said, cracking open a bag of chips. It had become a sort of unspoken rule that they would be conducting their ploys in the background without direct interference.

"True," Shelby answered, flicking through her paper. This stage of the game was all up to Will Schuester and how he handled the situation. "I concede this round. But I still don't think it will work. Will is too loyal to his glee club to leave just like that. Even for a part on Broadway."

"And there is the uncanny ability of those mouth-breathers to rally around times of upheaval and dissent," Sue nodded, looking strangely at the other woman. It wasn't like her to concede that quickly. "But hopefully, further rumors will eventually drive enough of a wedge that the entire group will implode."

Shelby glanced over at her. "Those rumors are completely untrue."

"That's where you're wrong, all those rumors have a pinch of truth mixed with heaping doses of wild conjecture and a smattering of suggestion." Sue popped a chip into her mouth. "Besides, there's a magical thing called freedom of the press that lets us say anything we want, it's fantastic."

"I wanted to talk to you about the blind item section, by the way."

"Well, after that webcast everyone knows Boobs McGee has a thing for –"

"The second one."

"Ah." Sue nodded. "That does involve you a little bit, doesn't it? Don't worry, I have full confidence that Prego and Corcoran Jr. will make it through with no problems."

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Confident, aren't we?"

"As much as it makes me want to barf, their love is straight out of one of those smarmy rom-coms." She did have a soft spot for Q, and, inexplicably, Yentl's spawn as well. "They'll make it."

"You better hope so," Shelby said casually, not looking up. "Cause if my kid gets hurt from your little manipulations, the game's over and I will be coming after you." She smiled benignly at Sue as she folded up her paper and took a handful of chips from Sue's bag. "Thanks."

Sue sat there at the table for a few moments after Shelby left. Huh. Chills.

..

Meanwhile, Ryan was standing next to Sam as the blonde opened his locker. "Sam, what are you doing?"

"Uh, getting my books for English class?"

Ryan frowned. "You know what I mean. You were seen with Kurt at the motel last night." The Muckraker had had quite a few photographs of the two boys in front of a motel room. "Now, I believe Quinn when she says that you were not doing anything untoward with her, but you'll have to admit that your behavior is highly suspicious."

Sam shut his locker with a bang. "I'm not messing around with Quinn or Kurt, okay?"

"Then what were you doing?"

"Look, it's none of your business what I'm doing, okay?" He started to walk away from Ryan, but he wasn't going to let him get away that easily.

"It's none of my business what _you're _doing, true. But Quinn's my girlfriend, and I would like to know what's going on. I'm also friends with Blaine, Kurt's _boyfriend,_ and I would really rather not have him hurt by any acts of infidelity on Kurt's part. So if you'd just clear everything out, maybe we could all stop this wild mess of gossip that's going around."

"I can't tell you."

Ryan sighed. "Obviously I can't force you to divulge anything. But you should know that this will probably come out eventually, and you should really just come clean."

"I told you, none of your business, dude. Just back off." Sam walked away.

Ryan turned around, only to be faced by Finn Hudson. "What do you want, Finn?" Ryan asked huffily. "I'm not exactly in the best of moods right now."

"Relax, man, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go with me on a stakeout later," Finn said. "I saw Kurt last night, and I wanted to check if he was gonna go again, or if Sam's got someone else. Maybe Quinn will be there again."

Ryan stared at Finn for a moment, considering the offer. Maybe he should go, find out what was happening with his own two eyes. He trusted Quinn, if she said she wasn't doing anything, then she wasn't. But then, what was going on at that motel? "I'll think about it."

"Cool."

..

That evening, Quinn was headed to her car, ready for another trip, when she spotted Ryan pulling up outside. "Hi Quinn," he greeted, smiling. "Where are you going?"

Quinn smiled back at him a bit hesitantly. "Uh, I've just got some stuff to do tonight. Errands to run," she said vaguely. Hopefully she could get him to leave quickly.

Ryan's smile faded. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Don't hide things from me. Quinn, I trust you, but you're not making it easy. It's obvious you're about to go somewhere again, and I think it's highly likely that it's with Sam."

She flushed slightly, because he was right about her going to meet with Sam. "Ryan, I promise it's not what you think, okay?" she told him pleadingly.

"Then what is it?"

"I can't tell you."

"Then I want to come with you."

"What?" Quinn stared at him. "No, you can't."

"Why not?" Ryan asked, frustrated. "If you're just running errands, I'd like to come with you. I'll even help you with whatever you're doing."

Quinn started to get annoyed. "Look, this isn't a big deal. There is nothing going on between Sam and I! You're supposed to trust me when I say that! This isn't my secret to tell, and I can't leave it alone, okay?"

"I can't do this if you're going to keep secrets from me."

"So I have to tell you every single little thing I do now?" Quinn bristled.

"You know that's not what I mean!" Ryan said angrily.

Quinn deflated. Yes, she did know what he meant, and she understood how he felt. She knew he was right, she wasn't being fair to him. He'd been nothing but the perfect boyfriend, especially during last week's shitfest. She bit her lip. She hadn't wanted to keep this secret in the first place, least of all from him. She'd had more than enough secrets to last for the next decade, thank you very much. "Fine."

"And furthermore – wait, fine?" Ryan asked in surprise, obviously just getting geared up for a long rant. "Fine, as in –"

"Fine, as in you can come with me." If Sam didn't like it, well then too bad. She needed to put her relationship first. And besides, it wasn't as if she was telling Finn or Mercedes. Ryan wouldn't spread this to the four corners of McKinley by breakfast tomorrow like they would. "Let's go, I'm already late. You can drive."

Wordlessly Ryan unlocked his car, opening the door for Quinn before getting into the driver's seat. If the situation were different Quinn would be amused that she'd finally rendered him speechless outside sex. "Where to?" he asked.

She sighed. "The Moonlight Motel."

"Quinn –"

"You'll get your explanation when we get there, okay?" Quinn cut him off. "Just trust me a little longer, okay?"

"… Okay."

..

The ride to the motel was made in relative silence, and Ryan could practically feel the tension in the air. But this was good, right? He reasoned to himself. He really did trust her, but there were all these rumors going around and he just needed to be sure. He'd decided not to go with Finn on his stakeout. Staking out the place would only make Quinn mad, so he'd decided to compromise by going with her.

He wasn't sure what to expect, but he just knew in his heart that Quinn wasn't cheating on him. Fifteen minutes later he parked the car in the motel parking lot, looking at Quinn expectantly. "Well?"

She opened the car door, quickly walking to one of the doors with Ryan hurrying after her. She knocked quickly, and soon enough, the door burst open.

"Quinn!" A little blonde girl squealed, clamping onto Quinn's legs. Ryan stared at her for a moment.

"Hi Stacy," Quinn smiled. Recognition clicked in Ryan's mind, and he knew that the little girl was one of Sam's younger siblings. He had met her almost a year ago at McKinley. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on though, or why they were in a motel. The little girl turned to Ryan inquisitively.

"Who are you?"

Before Ryan could answer, another voice came out of the room. "Stacy, you can't just open the door like that, you need to check who it is first." Sam came out of the suite's bathroom. "Hey Quinn, thanks for –" He stopped short when he saw Ryan. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought him," Quinn interrupted. "You can tell him. Or I will."

Ryan glanced at her again, before fixing his gaze back on Sam. "Tell me what? Why are you in this motel?"

Sam stared at Quinn before looking at Ryan. Then he looked down. "My dad lost his job, and the bank kicked us out of our house, okay? We moved here 'cause my dad got offered a better job. But the company went down, and it was last ones in, first ones out. We used up all our savings in the move, and the downpayment on the house… and the bank kicked us out."

Ryan was speechless. This wasn't what he had been expecting at all. "I'm sorry." He glanced around the disorganized room, taking in the packed-together beds, the clothes strewn on the floor, the children's toys lying around. "Where are your parents?"

"They've been pounding the pavement everyday looking for a job, but so far… nothing. They're late most nights."

Ryan looked at Quinn, who was watching him hesitantly. "How –"

"We go to the same church," she forestalled his question. "We –" she looked down as Stacy tugged on her arm. "Yes?"

"Can you help me do my hair?" the little girl asked. "Sammy tried, but he didn't do it very well." Ryan hid a smile at her hair, which was indeed a bit of a mess.

"Sure," Quinn smiled, sitting her down on the bed. The other kid, Stevie, was in an armchair in the corner, silently reading a book.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Stacy asked Quinn curiously, looking at Ryan. Quinn looked up, smiling briefly as she brushed out the little girl's blonde hair.

"Yeah, he is," she said. "His name's Ryan."

"Hi Stacy," Ryan offered her a smile, as Sam perched on the chair his brother was sitting on.

"Hi," Stacy said shyly. "Do you sing as nice as Quinn does? She's really good."

Ryan flicked his eyes up at Quinn mischievously. "I don't know, maybe you should ask Quinn that," he said innocently. Quinn rolled her eyes playfully at him behind Stacy's back.

"Yes, Stacy, Ryan sings very nicely. He's going to sing up on a stage in New York someday."

"Wow," Stacy smiled. Ryan smiled as well. This was a very interesting evening.

..

A couple of hours later, Ryan opened the door to his car, allowing Quinn to enter the passenger's side. Then he went around the driver's side, getting in and turning on the engine. Once again, the drive was silent, each one in their own thoughts, and soon Ryan was pulling up to Quinn's house. He shut of the engine and looked at his girlfriend. "I'm sorry."

Quinn shook her head. "No, I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have gotten annoyed at you. I wanted to tell you, but I promised Sam that I wouldn't. I know it looked really bad."

"Still, I should have trusted that you weren't doing anything wrong."

"I don't blame you," Quinn said with a small laugh. "I get it. If I was in your place, and I had a girlfriend with a history of cheating on her boyfriend and lying about her baby's father…"

Ryan shook his head. "You've changed, I know that. It's not fair to hold past crimes against you." He took her hand, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you. And that means I accept everything about you, even… even what happened before. Just… no more secrets, okay?"

"Okay." Quinn pulled him closer, kissing him roughly on the lips, pressing them close together before pulling back. "Thank you."

"I didn't know you were comfortable with kids already," Ryan said lightly. "When you saw them last year you kind of –"

"Freaked out?" Quinn filled in dryly. "Yeah. But I figured I'm going to be around kids at some point in the future. And Sam's siblings are kind of cute."

Ryan nodded. "Yes, they are." His thoughts drifted to his new cousin. She was cute too. And he'd quickly managed to get over his pique of jealousy back at the hospital. "I should let you go, we've got school tomorrow."

"Okay." Quinn leaned over to kiss him again, and his eyes fluttered closed. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

"Dude, did you see that picture in the Muckraker?" Finn asked Ryan that afternoon on the way to glee. Ryan gave an annoyed huff. Yes, he had. Sam and Quinn had gone out of the motel room for a minute, leaving him with the kids. Apparently some shutterbug – Jacob Ben Israel – had been snooping for photos and had gotten a couple.

"Yes, Finn, I did see it," he clipped out. "But it's actually none of your business, therefore I'll pass on discussing it with you."

"Hey, look man, I'm just saying. She's already cheated once, who's to say she's not gonna do it again?"

Later at glee, Finn stood up to sing his rendition of a Fleetwood Mac song. Mr. Schue nodded at him with a smile. "So Finn, what are you singing for us today?"

He looked directly at Quinn. "_Gold Dust Woman._"

Ryan immediately glanced at Quinn, whose eyes were wide with disbelief, before looking back at Finn as the quarterback started to sing, sending every syllable pointedly at his ex-girlfriend.

_Well, did she make you cry,_  
_Make you break down,_  
_Shatter your illusions of love?_  
_And is it over now?_  
_Do you know how?_  
_Pick up the pieces and go home_

_Rock on, ancient queen_  
_Follow those who pale in your shadow_  
_Rulers make bad lovers_  
_You better put your kingdom up for sale, up for sale_

Ryan glanced at Quinn again as the song progressed. She had a very unimpressed look on her face, her eyes that icy cold he remembered from her Bitch Quinn days. He quickly took her hand in his, giving it a tight squeeze. Ryan glared angrily at Finn. What the hell did he think he was doing?

_Well, did she make you cry,_  
_Make you break down,_  
_Shatter your illusions of love?_  
_And is it over now?_  
_Do you know how?_  
_Pick up the pieces and go home_

_Ooh, pale shadow of a woman,_  
_Black widow,_  
_Ooh, pale shadow, she's a dragon,_  
_Gold dust woman_

The room faded to an awkward silence as the song ended, most people too uncomfortable at the song and its intended purpose to applaud. Quinn sat back in her chair, arms folded across her chest. "Don't you think singing that song so pointedly to me was wildly inappropriate?"

Finn looked at her defiantly. "You cheated on me with Puck, lied about who the father of your baby was, and now you're cheating on Ryan with Sam. Ryan's really annoying, but you should really stop doing that. I don't think it's inappropriate at all."

"Hudson, you need to stop," Ryan said, glaring at Finn. "You have no idea what's going on –"

"Oh, and you do?" Finn challenged. "I saw them at the motel. What did she tell you was going on, huh?"

"You know what, I've had enough of this," Ryan snarled. "She's told you already, this is none of your business, you're just trying to drive a wedge between us so you can try to get her back, but it's not going to work because _she is not cheating on me!"_

"Okay, enough, guys," Mr. Schue said, raising his hand. Ryan turned his glare on the teacher. Seriously, that's all he was going to say on the matter?

"You know, I blame Sam for all this," Santana said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I'm with Santana," Lauren agreed. "I mean, why hasn't Sam said anything about this?"

"Seriously, dude, what you're doing is not cool," Puck scolded. "They both have boyfriends!"

Ryan tried to defuse the situation that was getting out of control. "Guys –"

"Shut up!" Sam finally burst out. "Look, I'm not messing around with Quinn, or Kurt, or any one of those guys! They're just helping me!"

"Oh, is that we're calling it now?" Mercedes asked snidely.

"Hold on," Mr. Schue interjected. "How were they helping you out?" Ryan rolled his eyes. He was supposed to be stopping this farce of a glee club meeting, not egging this gossip along.

"Kurt was bringing me some clothes, and Quinn was helping me babysit my little brother and sister."

"Then why were you in that motel?" Finn asked accusingly.

"Because that's where I live now," Sam said angrily. "My dad lost his job a few months ago, then we lost our house, so now we live in that motel in one room." The room fell deathly silent. He stood up. "Are you all happy? The truth's finally out." He stormed out of the choir room, leaving the rest of the New Directions in a shocked, guilty silence.

The rest of the students started slowly trickling out, and finally the only ones in the room were Quinn and Ryan. "Are you okay?" Ryan asked a few minutes later.

She nodded. "Come on, let's go home." They left the choir room, passing by Finn on the way.

"Hey, Quinn, wait," he called.

Ryan frowned at the quarterback. "I highly doubt she wants to talk to you after that performance –"

"Ryan, it's okay."

He glanced over at his girlfriend, before nodding. Finn stepped forward. "Listen, I –"

Quinn shook her head, holding a hand up. "No, Finn, you listen." She took a deep breath. "I get that I was wrong. I get that I hurt you. And you are never going to know how completely sorry I am for that. But I can't change what happened, and I just can't believe that you would drag all that up more than a year later." She let out a laugh. "No, actually, I can. Because even after everything that happened, you're still the immature man-child who would rather play video games than actually think of his future, the one who still throws tantrums and kicks chairs when he doesn't get his way." He had his constipated look on his face, and she smiled. "So thank you. I already knew I was never going to go back to you, and now this makes me even surer than ever."

Finn scowled. "But –"

"You heard her, Finn," Ryan cut in. "She's done with you. You need to back off." He took Quinn's hand, and they left the tall boy in the hallway, watching them go.

* * *

_The next day_

"Any comment on the vicious rumor left on the Muckraker website about you and Karofsky doing it in the backseat of a parked car in the Holier Than Thou Cemetery?"

Santana huffed at Jacob Ben Israel in annoyance, trying to get away from the microphone being shoved in her face without shoving him down the stairs. Seriously, if he didn't stop… "No comment."

She was already mad enough. She loved Britt so much, she wanted to be with her. But she couldn't. She could barely even admit it to herself. She'd told Brittany that, she wouldn't be able to handle what people would say behind her back if they ever found out. It wasn't fair that Brittany wanted her to come out. It wasn't fair that Santana couldn't be with Brittany, just because they were both girls.

After Artie had called Britt's stupid the other day, Santana had sung _Songbird _to Brittany. In private. And then the blonde had asked her to sing it in public, in glee, and then had asked her to go on her talk show so that Brittany could ask her to prom. And for a moment, she'd thought that maybe, maybe she could do it.

But she couldn't. Because she had heard someone whispering about that _stupid_ blind item on the Muckraker again.

So she'd stood up Brittany on her web show, and she'd been so pissed at the entire situation that she'd posted the rumor about herself and Karofsky online to throw everyone off.

And now this little fizzy-haired pervert wouldn't leave her alone about it. "Any comment on the fact when I looked up the IP address of the person who posted the rumor, I found out it was you?" Jacob pressed.

Santana stiffened. "My computer was stolen." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Brittany at her locker, listening avidly to the interview, and Santana faltered at the hurt look on her face. Just as she opened her mouth to confirm that she and Karofsky were still going strong, Ryan suddenly appeared behind Jacob.

"Hello, Jacob," he said brightly. "I saw Azimio Adams a few minutes ago, he looked extremely irate after reading that item in the paper about the football player who wet his bed until he was thirteen."

The reporter paled. "That wasn't me!"

"Adams doesn't seem to think so, so if I were you I'd make myself scarce," Ryan said wisely. Jacob gave a fearful squeak before vanishing in a cloud of cheap cologne. "Hello, Santana."

Santana stared at him for a moment before looking away. "Midget." She looked back at Brittany, who had also disappeared. "Thanks for the bailout, but go away." She tried to get away from him, but he followed her. Dammit, he was fast.

"What happened between you and Britt?"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Santana –"

Finally the Latina had had it. She grabbed Ryan by the arm, dragging him into a convenient empty classroom before closing the door behind them. "Look, I did what you said, and she asked me to go on that melted cheese show so she could ask me to prom and I could say yes. And I didn't want to, but she looked all hopeful and crap that I said okay. Then I couldn't so I stood her up, and I started that stupid rumor about me and Karofsky, and now I'm gonna lose her again because I'm a fucking coward, so I don't want to talk about it, okay?!"

Ryan's eyes were wide as he listened to her rant. "I, um, okay."

Santana let out a harsh laugh. "That's it? Okay? God, you really are useless, aren't you?"

"No I'm not!" Ryan rolled his eyes. "Look, obviously she likes you too, since she wants to ask you out to prom. Right?"

Santana folded her arms, still scowling. "I guess so."

"You just need her to understand that you love her, but you're just not ready for everyone else yet. She'll understand."

"She won't."

"The only reason things didn't work out when you told her how you felt was because she was with Artie," Ryan insisted. "Now she isn't, and this is your chance. Fight for her. You're Santana Lopez from Lima Heights Adjacent, you can do anything, remember?"

Santana stared at him, conflicted. She knew that, she was the most badass bitch in this joint. Hell, the entire football team was scared of her and her vicious, vicious words, as Britts had put it once. Could she really do this?

Maybe. Maybe she could.

..

That afternoon, Shelby was walking past the auditorium when she heard a high, clear, soprano voice vocalizing inside. Curious, she peeked inside to find April Rhodes standing at the piano with what looked like a martini in her hand. For a moment Shelby stood there, before going in. She was curious to know what had happened to the talented singer she'd known in high school.

And in a small way, curious to ask about someone who also had unfulfilled dreams of the stage. "You really shouldn't be drinking that in the school auditorium."

April looked up with a small smirk. "Well I paid for the place, I'm thinkin' we can bend the rules a little bit." The blonde took a sip of her drink. "So what happened to you? Thought you were gonna make it on the Broad Way."

"I could ask you the same thing," Shelby countered, sitting down on the edge of the stage next to April. "Weren't you behind the all-white production of _The Wiz_ last fall?"

"You know it," April said proudly.

"It was universally panned."

"True. But I made it to Broadway."

Shelby couldn't help her smirk. She was exactly the same as she was in high school. They'd had limited interaction, but she'd been just like this. "You know, you caused quite the scandal when you ran off with what's-his-name a month after Regionals. Where did you go?"

"Vinnie and I hitched or way up to New York. Ended up in Cleveland serving burgers." April smiled carelessly. "We thought we were gonna be big stars, but didn't turn out exactly like we hoped."

Ah. That was unfortunate. That was exactly why Shelby was infinitely grateful her parents had pushed her to go to college. "I heard you want to take Will to New York for your show."

"You heard correctly," April grinned. "He had the same dreams as us once. Maybe now we can both have 'em. 'Sides, doesn't really matter if he stays here for that club, none of those kids are gonna make it. Look at us."

Shelby nodded slowly. "I guess we didn't really make it like we'd thought. But I think I like my life now."

April snorted into her drink. "Please. You're telling me if you had the chance to make it up there on the big stage that you wouldn't go flying after it?"

"Not right now. I've got other things going on."

"Right. That kid of yours," April nodded. "Had me a couple of mixed-race twins back in the good ol' days. Gave 'em up for adoption. Guess they're about Ryan's age. I have no idea where they are now."

Shelby looked at her in surprise, both at the revelation and at her attitude. "You're not curious?"

"Nah. Figure they had it better without me. 'Sides, can you imagine me with kids? Train wreck!"

"Huh." She would have never been happy if she hadn't found Ryan. She looked at the blonde sideways, curious. "And are you happy?"

April smirked. "Well, as long as I got a bottle of bubbly, I'm good." She raised her drink, taking a sip before looking down. "But I think if I can get _CrossRhodes_ off the ground, I'll be even better." She eyed Shelby curiously. "We're really different, huh? Can't imagine I'd be happy teachin' high school in Lima with a teenaged kid. You know me, gotta have it big, or not at all."

Shelby nodded. April had always had that flair, even back then. She stood up, looking at the blonde again, wondering idly if she could have ever turned out like her. No, probably not. They had been similar once, with the same wild talent, the same big dreams and ambitions. But Shelby had grown up, and now… now there were bigger dreams. "Well, I hope it works out for you and Will."

"Oh, he's not gonna come."

"Is that right?" Shelby asked interestedly. Looks like she'd been right. Sue was wrong.

"He can't leave those kids. It's a shame, but there ya go."

"I see." Shelby nodded. "Break a leg in New York then."

April raised her martini in a toast. "You know it."

Shelby left the auditorium to go back to her office. Then she stopped, making a quick detour. She caught Ryan in front of his locker, and he flashed her a smile. "Hi Mom."

Warmth spread through her at the simple greeting, and she knew, she'd always known, that it didn't matter that she hadn't made it, didn't matter that she hadn't gotten her childhood dreams. Because, this, right now, was infinitely better. "Hi sweetie." She gave him a hug, right there in the middle of the hallway.

"Oh." Ryan sounded surprised, but quickly wrapped his arms around her. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head. She'd been a little out of sorts this whole week, ever since they had gone to visit Josh and his new baby that weekend. She was so incredibly happy for him, but it still underlined the fact that she'd never experience that with Ryan. Or with any other child, for that matter. But this… this was enough.

She pulled back, smiling fondly at him. "Nothing. Everything's great."

* * *

**Hello again! Hope you liked this latest update. Sorry if it's a bit all over the place. I tried to organize it in a way that sort of made sense, but if it didn't, chalk it up to my fried brain. Errors too. This is kind of my only creative outlet, so it might be a bit random at times.**

**I was wondering, do you guys want me to fix Sam? I could probably work on making him sort-of friends with Ryan somehow. Not sure about that yet. Also, prom's coming up next! Anything in particular you guys want to see? We're coming up on the last three episodes of season 2! Whee! **

**Anyways, comments, suggestions, leave 'em in the review box. Reviews have been going down lately, so I'll just assume you're all okay with the way things are going. See you next time!**


	63. Chapter 62

A few days before prom, Ryan ended up at James' apartment, having a quick snack after school as he told his dad all about what was going on. James just smiled, happy to listen to Ryan chatter. "… So we're going to be taking turns singing at the prom, so that each of us has ample time to dance as well. Which is good, because I'm looking forward to actually having a partner for the dance. We had a couple of dances in middle school, and I wasn't exactly Mr. Popular," the teenager said wryly.

"I wasn't either," James admitted. "I was the weird kid who bounced between schools. I enjoyed my junior prom though," he said reminiscently.

"Did you go with mom?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "She was in this red number for my junior prom, and she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Still is, actually." Ryan smiled, nudging him playfully.

"All right, all right, don't need to hear all that mushy stuff," he teased. James pushed him back, smiling. "But that's great. What about your senior prom? Did you go with mom again?"

"I sure did. She was beautiful then, too." His smile faded.

"What?"

James smiled sadly. "That was kind of our last real party," he said. "My enlistment was already being processed at the time. She knew, of course. I told her. We knew we were running out of time." His smile turned genuine. "But we had a fantastic time."

Ryan chuckled. "80's music?"

"It was all new back then," James defended. "What are you guys singing, anyways?"

"We're still thinking up our set list. It's this Friday, so we have a few days. Quinn's actually out at Columbus with a few of the other girls, shopping for dresses." His smile turned dreamy. "She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen, and I'm sure she'll be incredible at prom."

James hid a smile at his son's obvious infatuation. He was happy for Ryan, Quinn was a great girl, and the young couple seemed to have a very strong relationship. "So what's the plan?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I'm going to pick her up at her house," Ryan explained. "I thought I'd get her a wrist corsage. Gardenias are sort of our thing. Then we're having dinner at Breadstix with Mike and Tina. Blaine and Kurt might be there too, we're not sure yet. Then we'll all go to prom together."

"What's the plan for after prom?"

"After prom?"

James smirked. "Well, after our prom, your mom and I –"

"Okay, okay! I don't think I want to hear the end of that sentence," Ryan said hastily. "But, yeah, I don't know. Quinn's mom will probably be home, but we might be able to sneak in. I don't know why I'm telling you this," he grumbled.

"Because," James said amusedly, "I was thinking that your mom and I would have our own night out. We'd be back late, so if someone were to be in the house for some rather illicit activities, she'd be none the wiser. Hypothetically speaking, of course."

"Oh," Ryan said, nodding as he caught on. "Got it."

"Just throwing it out there," James said, standing up. "Come on, we should get going. I have work in an hour."

..

Half an hour later, Ryan opened the front door of his house after James dropped him off. He took off his jacket, hanging it up on the rack, when he heard voices from the living room. Curious, he went inside, only to stop short at the sight of his mom and her guest. Shelby smiled at him. "Hi Ryan."

"Mom," he said tightly. "St. James. What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you again too." Jesse St. James waved a hand at him from his seat on the couch. "You look very different."

"What can I say, living with my mom agrees with me," Ryan bit out. "What are you doing back in Ohio? I thought you were supposed to be off at UCLA." He didn't care where Jesse was, as long as it wasn't here.

"Like I told Shelby, classes at UCLA aren't quite what I'd hoped they would be."

Ah, so he was flunking out. "Who would have guessed?" Ryan snarked, earning himself a glare from Shelby. "That's too bad, I'm sure it'll get better with time," he corrected himself. "Perhaps you simply need time to adjust."

"That's exactly it. I mean, how was I supposed to know I was actually supposed to show up for all those other classes?" Jesse asked rhetorically. "I'm majoring in theatre, I just assumed it would be like at Carmel and someone would pay some Asian kid to take all those math and science classes for me."

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, that's awful," he said sarcastically, shooting a nasty glance at Shelby. Seriously? The VA kids had people to take their classes for them?

Shelby rolled her eyes. "And like I told you, you should have gone to all those classes yourself. I was against the whole setup from the start, but the principal and the booster club insisted."

"Yeah, I guess so," Jesse conceded. "Shelby, you mind if I use your bathroom?" She nodded, and he left the kitchen. As soon as he left Ryan whirled on Shelby.

"What on earth is he doing here?" he fumed. "You know I don't like him, and frankly I don't understand why you do!"

"He just showed up on the porch, was I supposed to leave him there?" Shelby countered, raising an eyebrow. That didn't sound like such a bad idea to Ryan, but she went on. "I still reserve the right to let anyone I want into the house, Ryan."

He scoffed. "Of course you do. I just don't quite understand why you'd let a smarmy, arrogant, egg-smashing jerk like him in here. Did you forget what he did?" he asked, hurt that his mother would let his _mortal enemy _into their house. Jesse St. James ranked just below Hiram and Leroy on his _people-who-piss-me-off _list.

Shelby sighed. "I get how you feel about him, but he was my student for four years, I don't want to just cut ties with him. And he apologized for what happened."

"Did he now?" Ryan scowled. He didn't remember hearing an apology. Ryan's shoulder's fell for a nanosecond before he managed to straighten himself. It felt like his mom was siding with Jesse instead of with him. "Well, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree," he said with dignity, covering up the hurt he felt. Not a second too late, because Jesse chose that moment to come back.

"I'm back," he said unnecessarily. "So, I was thinking of staying in town for a while, before I get back into things. It's tough out there. I couldn't even get a job as one of those singing waiters at Johnny Rocket's. But I've got an idea. They say that the best time to start any business is during a recession. I don't know why, or even what a recession is, but it's my understanding that we're in one."

Ryan stared at him disbelievingly. "Wow," he commented, voice heavy with irony. "You're so smart. I can't believe you flunked out of college."

"Well, what kind of business did you have in mind?" Shelby asked, sending Ryan a warning look. "Business startups aren't exactly all that common here in Lima. And your recession theory would probably depend on what field you're going into."

"Look, there are two things I'm great at – show choir, and destroying the competition." Jesse smiled slyly. "You taught me both. So, I want to open up a dance studio, where I could act as a consultant for show choirs looking to get that extra edge."

"That would certainly be a good fit for you," Shelby allowed. "That's a very small niche though, and if you're thinking of doing that in Lima I'm going to tell you right now, I don't think there aren't enough show choirs to make that sustainable."

"That's true," Ryan agreed. "While I'll admit the prospect is intriguing – Mr. Schue could definitely use some help in running the New Directions – not every school has a show choir, and not every show choir would avail themselves of your services."

"Vocal Adrenaline won't," Shelby smirked, thinking of the arrogant Dustin Goolsby who was running the show now.

"Well, we'll just have to see about that. I think after having you as a teacher for all those years was good preparation, right?"

Ryan stood up abruptly, his carefully constructed mask of indifference still in place. "I'm sure," he said evenly, pushing down his frustration. "I'm going out, I just remembered I had to talk to someone." The lie slipped out easily. "I'll leave you to catch up." He quickly left the house, not meeting Shelby's eyes as he vacated the room.

..

Soon Ryan found himself at Burt Hummel's garage, moodily working on an engine repair for an old Toyota. He wasn't jealous of St. James, he just didn't like the smarmy, arrogant, curly-haired –

"Ryan?"

He looked up when someone called his name, quickly smoothening out his features when he spotted Blaine coming into the garage. "Hey," Ryan smiled at him. "What are you doing here? Are you looking for Kurt?"

"Yeah, actually, he said he'd be here soon," Blaine nodded. "So what's up with you?"

Ryan glanced up at him. "What do you mean?"

Blaine shrugged. "You just seemed kind of out of it. I thought there was something bothering you."

"It's nothing," Ryan said, grumbling a little. "One of my mother's old students stopped by at home. Let's just say we're not on the friendliest of terms." He leaned back over the engine he was working on. "Have you heard of Jesse St. James?"

"Vocal Adrenaline's lead last year? Of course," Blaine replied. "VA cleaned our clocks at Sectionals last year. St. James was amazing."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Of course he was. And he was one of my mom's students, obviously, since she coached Vocal Adrenaline. They're a little closer than most students and teachers, I suppose they had a mentor thing going on. Anyways, there were a few pranking incidents last year before Regionals and he and a group of his teammates egged me in the McKinley parking lot."

"That sucks."

"Yeah. Then I spotted him at McKinley this afternoon. In my mom's office."

"Ah," Blaine nodded. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"What are you doing here, anyways?" Blaine asked. "Aren't you guys supposed to be getting ready for Nationals? They're just a couple of weeks away, right?"

Ryan huffed. "Mr. Schue seems to think that we don't need practice, we just need to believe in ourselves. Like Tinkerbell. If we believe, then we can fly. And I'm all for that, but we need to be practical, and we need to rehearse. We don't even have a set list."

"Going for a photo finish?"

"You have no idea."

Blaine nodded, smiling. "Kurt and I were going to go pick out my tux. He says he doesn't want us clashing." He chuckled lightly.

Ryan nodded. "Yes, I heard that you're accompanying him to prom." He straightened up. "Are you really okay with that?" he asked gently, thinking back to what had happened a little over two years ago at Blaine's Sadie Hawkins dance in middle school.

Blaine let out a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah. I mean, it's important to Kurt, so I want to do it. It should be fun, right?"

"Right," Ryan agreed, smiling lightly. "You know, the glee club's going to be doing the music. You should join in for a song or two. We could use more singers. The more the merrier, right?"

"That would be awesome," Blaine grinned. "Count me in." He leaned against the wall. "What are you going to wear?"

"Basic tux, I'm still thinking if my tie should match Quinn's dress or if I should go with basic black," Ryan answered readily. "She'll probably have final say. Definitely, she'll definitely have final say," he said wryly. "She said something about prom being like the girls' Oscars, so I guess clothes are a big deal. How about you? I'm sure you've got something already lined up."

"Burt got Finn and me half-off at the rental shop. I was just going to go with basic black, standard collar. Nice and discreet, don't want to draw too much attention to myself."

"Good choice."

"Kurt's going to wear this homemade suit though, with these flashy silver buttons… and a kilt."

Ryan looked up incredulously. "A what now?"

Blaine nodded. "Yeah. We tried to talk him out of it, but you know Kurt. He says he wants to stand out, like the girls and their prom dresses."

"But he's not a girl," Ryan murmured, turning back to his work. "He's already a big enough target at school, why does he want to make himself even flashier?"

"I know. That's why it's kind of stressing me out," Blaine admitted.

"Did you tell him?"

"Yeah, but he's insisting."

Ryan sighed. "Look, I'm not going to talk to him. If I tried to convince him not to do it he'd probably just kick in his heels even more. But I've got your back, okay?" He smiled at Blaine reassuringly. "If something goes down you're not going to be alone like last time."

Blaine gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Ryan."

"Not a problem."

..

Ryan went home that evening, and thankfully Jesse St. James was nowhere to be found. He sat down to dinner with his mom, determinedly not making eye contact. Shelby sighed. "Ryan –"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" he cut her off. "I've already expressed my feelings on this matter, and you know why I don't like him."

"Yes, I know, and you're right, he can be arrogant sometimes, but he can be a good kid when he wants to be. And let's not forget, you have your own streak of self-centeredness at times."

He scowled, not liking the comparison. "Look, you're right. I can't dictate who you talk to or let into the house. As I said earlier, we'll just have to agree to disagree on the topic of Jesse St. James, all right?"

Dinner was a quiet affair after that.

* * *

The night before prom, Quinn found herself alone at home for the evening. Her mom had a work function to attend, and Ryan was busy practicing for the prom and Nationals while simultaneously avoiding Shelby. He had told her all about Jesse St. James visiting and she was very sympathetic. She'd seen him in the aftermath of the egging after all. The doorbell drew her out of her thoughts a few moments later.

"What do you want, Santana?" Quinn asked archly as soon as she opened the door, before letting her friend in.

Santana shrugged. "I'm bored. I want a movie, and some of that popcorn you have here."

"Uh-huh." A few minutes later, the two girls were set up in the living room with a bowl of popcorn, watching a crappy thriller movie on one of the basic cable channels. "What's really going on?" Quinn asked a few fifteen minutes into the movie.

"I told you, I wants me some popcorn. Now shush, I'm watching the movie." There was silence for a few more minutes. Then… "I don't know what to do with B."

Quinn glanced over at Santana. "What do you mean, what to do with B?"

"That fondue web show thing she's got going on. Did you see the one where she interviewed her cat?"

"Yeah…"

"I was supposed to be up there. But I stood her up."

Quinn stared at her. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because."

"Because…?"

"Because I don't know how to tell her about all these shitty feelings I'm having, okay?" Santana finally said. "And I need you to tell me how to tell her… you know… because somehow you and the Hobbit have a relationship that doesn't suck." _And I want that too._

Quinn gave a half-smile. "The great Santana Lopez is asking for my help? Call the Muckraker," she teased lightly.

Santana scowled. "Shut up, Q."

"You're the one asking for help here," Quinn scoffed. "But seriously, just tell her how you feel."

"I already did but she stayed with Professor X."

"But now Artie's out of the way."

"That makes it harder because this time she might say yes."

Quinn tilted her head, confused. "I thought that's what you wanted." Santana gave a shrug. "Britts doesn't want Artie anymore. So things should be different." Artie had tried serenading Brittany into going with him to prom, but the blonde had turned him down. "Are you two going to prom together?"

Santana shook her head immediately. "Nah, I have to go with Karofsky."

Quinn looked at her knowingly. "But you want to."

"I can't."

"I get it." Quinn watched as Santana quietly played with a throw pillow. She knew this was serious, Santana never asked to talk or got quiet like this. And she knew what the real issue was. "I think Britts would be okay if you wanted to keep it to yourselves."

"Yeah, I guess. But she wants to tell people. I mean, it's Britts. She lives in a world with rainbows and unicorns and shit like that, and it's okay for… you know." She looked down. "She wanted to ask me to prom on that cheese show, in front of everybody. And I can't… I can't stand how people will talk behind my back about… that."

"You mean like how everyone talked about me behind my back when I was pregnant?"

Santana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, exactly like that. I mean, I did it to you, why wouldn't everybody else do it to me?"

"They probably would."

"Wow, thanks a lot."

Now it was Quinn's turn to roll her eyes. "Look, we live in Lima. Being different makes everyone hate you. But you need to figure out what's more important – Brittany, or what all those douchebags at school say."

"You sound like an afternoon special."

"Yeah, but I'm right. That's what I figured out since…" Quinn trailed off. "And Britts likes you back," she said eventually. She saw a hint of a smile cross the Latina's face. "She'll keep it a secret, if you ask her to." She was quiet for a moment. "Remember in 8th grade, you beat up Larry Beale for saying Brittany was dumb? You need to find that version of Santana again, because that's the one who was brave enough to fight for Brittany."

Santana was quiet again, and Quinn knew she was thinking it over. "You know, I guess it doesn't totally suck that we're cool again," she said eventually.

Quinn rolled her eyes again. "I love you too, Satan," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yeah, whatever. Don't get all emotional on me, Tubbers." Santana smirked. "Besides, you totally know I'm gonna win that prom crown."

"In your dreams, Lopez."

* * *

"Jesse, what are you doing here?" Shelby asked the next evening as she opened the front door and found her former student. Ryan was still upstairs getting ready for his prom. "Shouldn't you be spending some time with your parents while you're here?" Yes, they had gotten close during their time on VA, but you'd think the kid would have better things to do than visit an old teacher.

"Oh, they're off at some business function or other," Jesse said dismissively. "I just thought I'd go over some of my business ideas with you."

Shelby stepped aside, letting him in. "Let's make it quick. I do have a life, you know," she said sardonically. "You can't just show up here and expect me not to be busy."

"I can't?" Jesse asked, in genuine surprise. "That's how it was the whole time I was in Vocal Adrenaline."

Shelby rolled her eyes, even as she hid a wince at the statement. It was true, while she'd been working at Carmel she had had virtually no life outside of VA. Her students knew they could call her pretty much anytime and she'd answer. Jesse in particular had taken advantage of this, coming over to her house several times to discuss performance ideas. "As a matter of fact, I have plans tonight."

"Oh? With whom?"

"That's not really any of your business." She had a date with James while Ryan was out at his prom, but she didn't need to share that information with her former student.

"Mom, I –" Ryan came down the stairs dressed for prom, only to stop short at the sight of Jesse in the hallway. "Oh. I didn't realize we had company," he said tightly. "I going to go pick Quinn up, okay?"

Shelby sighed. She had wanted to talk to him before he left for the night, but she could hardly do that with Jesse here. "You look really good," she offered instead, smiling slightly as she went up to him to straighten his tie. Ryan held still as she flicked her hand through his hair, straightening a few wayward strands.

"Thanks." He offered her a smile, but she could see it didn't completely reach his eyes.

"Ryan –"

"I should get going, I don't want to be late picking Quinn up."

"Have fun at prom," Jesse inserted. "My prom last year was quite enjoyable. The prom committee did a good job, don't you think, Shelby?"

"I think the thirty-minute firework show was a little over-the-top," Shelby answered dryly. She had been one of the unlucky teachers chosen to chaperone the event last year.

"I'll just go," Ryan said as he turned. "Wouldn't want to get in the middle of your reminiscing," he muttered, just low enough for Shelby to catch. She watched him go helplessly. She really needed to do something about this.

..

Fifteen minutes, Judy Fabray heard three quick knocks on the front door. Their doorbell was busted again, she really needed to get that fixed. She hurried to answer the door, knowing who it was. She wasn't disappointed when she saw Ryan, dressed to the nines in a classy tux, carrying a small white box in his hands. "Hi Judy," he smiled at her.

She returned his smile. "Hello, Ryan! Come on in." She let him into the house enthusiastically. "You look so handsome!" she complimented.

"Thanks," Ryan smiled.

"Quinn, Ryan's here!" Judy called up the stairs, before facing Ryan again. "How have you been, Ryan? Nervous for the prom?"

"Just a little," he said lightly. "I would hate to do something silly, like step on Quinn's dress or spill something by accident. But I'm sure we'll have a lovely time."

"Of course you will," Judy agreed, before hesitating. "I'm so glad you're the one going with her," she said tremulously. "I think you're amazing for her. I've never seen her this happy. And I know you'll take care of her." She was certain of it.

Ryan smiled at her warmly. "I promise I'll take the best care of her, Judy. You have my word."

She patted him on the arm, and suddenly, he glanced away from her, an awestruck look appearing in his eyes. Judy looked up as well, her own eyes tearing up at the sight of her baby girl coming down the stairs, all dressed up for her junior prom. Quinn was absolutely beautiful. Her little girl was all grown up.

Judy glanced over at Ryan, smiling faintly at the adoring look in his eyes. It was obvious he thought the world of her, and that was all she ever wanted for her little Lucy. And she knew Quinn was safe with him. Judy could never express how grateful she was to this boy for what he had done for her daughter.

Quinn finally reached the bottom of the stairs, stopping at the first step so her eyes were level with Ryan. She wore that shy smile that Judy had rarely seen on Quinn. Only on Lucy.

"I'll go get the camera."

..

Ryan was absolutely breathless as he took in the sight of the gorgeous girl who was coming down the stairs toward him. She was wearing a baby blue dress that seemed to float with every step she took, her golden hair piled up with loose locks framing her face. He had never seen anyone as beautiful as Quinn in his life. And she was going out with him.

She stopped on the last step, looking at him with a soft, shy smile. "Hi."

"H-hi," Ryan said back, unable to keep the smile from his face. "You look exquisite," he breathed out, stepping closer, his irritation with Jesse St. James all but gone from his mind.

Quinn's smile widened. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"I have something for you," he said, looking down to open the box. She smiled at the wrist corsage he showed her, with its light green ribbon that matched her eyes. "I thought you'd like something simple. After all, you don't need anything to distract from your beauty, you're amazing enough as it is."

She blushed lightly as he attached it gently to her wrist. "Thank you. It's perfect." She raised her other hand, running her fingers lightly on the matching white flower on his chest.

"I got you something else, too." Ryan reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a smaller box. He handed it to Quinn, and she opened it. Ryan watched her face carefully for her reaction.

"Ryan, it's beautiful." Quinn drew out the delicate gold necklace, a simple golden star on the end. Ryan relaxed, smiling as she held it out. "Here, put it on me."

He quickly complied, locking the clasp into place just as Judy bustled back into the foyer with her camera.

"Picture time," she said excitedly. "Oh, you look like Cinderella," she gushed at Quinn. Ryan just smiled as Quinn took her place beside him. She wrapped her arm around his waist and his arm fell instinctively around her shoulders. "Okay, prom pose."

Ryan flashed his best smile for the camera, moving obligingly into the poses Judy requested. "She's right," he whispered into Quinn's ear. "You look like Cinderella."

She smirked back. "Don't worry, this'll last well past midnight."

..

About a million pictures later, Ryan and Quinn headed to Breadstix for a quick dinner before going to the prom. They quickly spotted Mike and Tina already at a booth. Tina waved them over. "Hi guys, come on, we're starving."

"Perfect, so are we," Ryan grinned, letting Quinn sit down first. "You look great, Tina."

"Yeah, that dress really suits you," Quinn agreed. "You look good too, Mike." The Asian boy just smiled in response. Quinn leaned towards Ryan, whispering in his ear. "Don't worry, I still like you better."

He kissed her cheek in response, just as the waitress handed them some menus and glasses of water. A minute later Kurt and Blaine came into the restaurant, quickly heading over to their group. "Hi guys," Blaine greeted. Ryan smiled at him, nodding before looking at Kurt.

"Hey Blaine. You look really… unique, Kurt," he said, looking at Kurt's flamboyant suit jacket coupled with an equally flamboyant tartan kilt.

"Why, thank you, Ryan," Kurt nodded, giving a twirl. "I must say, you girls look gorgeous," he coyly complimented Quinn and Tina as he and Blaine slid into the both. "Your dresses are fabulous."

"Thanks, Kurt," Tina grinned. "So, you guys ready for prom?"

"Definitely ready," Kurt beamed. The group laughed, bringing their drinks forward for a toast.

..

An hour later, everyone was at prom, and Quinn collapsed into one of the seats at a table Tina was occupying with Mercedes. Tina smirked. "Heels killing you?"

"You have no idea." Quinn watched as the other students milled around on the dance floor. It was Ryan's turn to sing in a few minutes, which was good because she didn't think she could take anymore dancing without a break. Her gaze drifted over to the ballot boxes for prom king and queen.

"Still worried about the campaign?" Mercedes asked. "You got this in the bag. Ain't no way Lauren's gonna win. Santana _might_ win, but that's just 'cause everybody's afraid of her."

"Yeah, you got this, Quinn," Tina agreed.

"Thanks, guys," Quinn answered, smiling. Truthfully though, she didn't feel all that worried. Yes, she wanted to win, but she'd had a fantastic night so far, and it had been better than anything she'd imagined. She was head over heels in love with her date, who was a perfect gentleman and thought she was amazing. She watched as Ryan went up on stage, music starting to play as he started singing.

_Ocean's apart day after day_

_And I slowly go insane_

_I hear your voice on the line_

_But it doesn't stop the pain_

_If I see you next to never_

_How can we say forever_

_Wherever you go_

_Whatever you do_

_I will be right here waiting for you_

_Whatever it takes_

_Or how my heart breaks_

_I will be right here waiting for you_

"If you'll excuse us, I think I'm going to go dance with Mike," Tina said, smiling as she left with her date. A second later, Sam asked Mercedes for a dance, and Quinn was left by herself at the table. She smiled softly as she listened to Ryan sing. It would be great if he could dance with her, but just listening to him was wonderful too. He looked right at her at that moment, and she knew he was singing to her.

_Wherever you go_

_Whatever you do_

_I will be right here waiting for you_

_Whatever it takes_

_Or how my heart breaks_

_I will be right here waiting for you_

_Oh, can't you see it baby_

_You've got me going crazy_

Ryan stepped away from the mic, the crowd clapping as he closed his song. He smiled broadly, taking a bow before leaving the stage. He quickly made his way over to Quinn, giving her a kiss after he sat down next to her. "How was it?"

"You were perfect," Quinn assured him, flicking her hand through his hair. "As always."

"Are you up for another dance?"

"Maybe in a little while," Quinn answered. "Maybe you could go get us some punch?"

"Coming right up," he smiled, getting up. As soon as he was out of earshot, Finn appeared. Quinn rolled her eyes. She did not want to deal with him.

"Hi Quinn. Where's Ryan? Shouldn't he be dancing with you?" Finn asked. "Not a very good date if he just left you alone like this."

Quinn rolled her eyes at his less-than-subtle attempts to paint Ryan in a bad light. "For your information, I asked him to get us some punch. And I like being alone, but you're interfering with that right now," she snarked. Finn blushed.

"I just –"

"Finn, what are you doing here?" Ryan asked, coming back with two glasses of punch. He handed one to Quinn, before looking at Finn with a glare. "Is he bothering you, Quinn?"

"No he wasn't, because he was just leaving." Quinn leveled a pointed look at Finn, and he stood up and left, grumbling slightly. Ryan watched him go before sitting down next to Quinn again.

"Are you having a good time?" he asked. She smiled at him.

"I'm having a wonderful time," she told him, putting a hand on his cheek. "Let's just sit this one out, and we can get back up for the next song."

Ryan smiled. "Okay."

..

The next singer up was Blaine, backed up by Tina and Brittany. Sure enough, Ryan and Quinn were back on the dance floor, dancing to Blaine's upbeat song.

_You are the girl that I've been dreaming of_

_Ever since I was a little girl_

_You are the girl that I've been dreaming of_

_Ever since I was a little girl_

_One, I'm biting my tongue_

_Two, he's kissin' on you_

_Three, oh why can't you see?_

_One, two, three, four_

_The word's on the streets and it's on the news_

_I'm not gonna teach him how to dance with you_

_He's got two left feet and he bites my moves_

_I'm not gonna teach him how to dance, dance, dance, dance_

The song was a big hit with the crowd, everyone dancing along. Blaine was quite the showman. Ryan wasn't paying attention though. The high of the party was getting to him, his incredibly hot girlfriend was rocking against him and it was all he could do not to overheat.

Quinn wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a kiss as she pressed hard against him. Ryan opened his mouth and their tongues met. Soon they broke apart and he moved his lips down to her neck, all the while dancing to the beat.

_The word's on the streets and it's on the news_

_I'm not gonna teach him how to dance with you_

_He's got two left feet and he bites my moves_

_I'm not gonna teach him how to dance, dance, dance, dance_

_The second I do I know we're gonna be through_

_I'm not gonna teach him how to dance with you_

_He don't suspect a thing, I wish he'd get a clue_

_I'm not gonna teach him how to dance, dance, dance, dance_

He stared at Quinn, the arousal raging in his eyes reflected in hers, before pulling her in for a rough kiss, lips mashing against each other as they rocked to the music. Quinn forced his mouth open, devouring him, and he shut his eyes, meeting her just as intensely. She ground her body hard against him and he gasped at the contact, making her smirk.

Suddenly he felt a hand pushing his shoulder. It was Finn, his eyes sparking in anger. "Hey dude, keep it PG!"

Ryan glared at the taller boy. "This isn't any of your business, Finn, she's _my _girlfriend, not yours –"

"We don't need to see you getting it on on the dance floor!"

"We –"

"Okay, time out!" Quinn cut in. "Ryan, let it go, okay?"

He looked at her mutinously before nodding. "I don't want to cause trouble, Hudson, but you should leave us alone." Quinn tugged on his hand, and he looked at his girlfriend, who had a pointed look on her face. "Bye, Finn."

He let Quinn pull him off the dance floor, muttering under his breath. Quinn silenced him with a soft kiss. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not retaliating to that moron."

"Oh." Ryan nodded. "He _is _a moron. But you're right, there wasn't any reason to pay attention to him. Besides," he smiled, drawing her closer. "I have you and he doesn't. So I win."

She rolled her eyes, letting out a chuckle. "Yes you do."

..

Another hour into the party, Figgins called up the prom king and queen candidates to the stage. "The votes are in," he announced. "This is the moment we've all been waiting for, when we announce our Junior Prom King, and also Prom Queen. Roll the drums, please?" After a drum roll, he continued. "This year's Junior Prom King is…" Principal Figgins opened the envelope, before smiling widely. "David Karofsky!" The crowd cheered as Karofsky stepped forward with a smile.

"Now, for the 2011 Prom Queen, with an overwhelming number of write-in votes…" The smile faded from the principal's face, hesitating for a moment. "Kurt Hummel."

No cheers greeted this proclamation. Instead the gym was filled with complete quiet. The silence was broken by a single cheer and a wolf whistle, before one or two people started clapping.

The thick tension in the gym was broken by Kurt rushing out of the room, followed quickly by Blaine.

..

Quinn glanced at Santana, dumbfounded, before walking off the stage with the rest of the candidates. What had just happened? "Santana –"

"Don't." The Latina quickly exited the gym in the direction of the bathroom, Brittany following on her heels. Quinn watched her go helplessly, before turning around and taking another exit. She stepped into the nearest bathroom and headed to one of the sinks, leaning her hands on the cool porcelain. Suddenly she looked up to see Ryan hesitantly entering the bathroom.

"Hey," he said, giving her a concerned smile.

"Hi," Quinn quirked her lips at him before pulling him completely inside and locking the door.

"Are you okay?"

Quinn looked at him speculatively. "I wanted to win prom queen because… I thought this was all I had. I thought I wasn't going to get anywhere after high school. This was it for me." She smiled softly at him. "You changed that. There's a future for me, for us, after all this. Outside this stupid town."

"I'm glad," Ryan answered gently. "So you're not upset?"

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning back a little to keep looking at him. "I thought I would be," she admitted. "But when he announced that Karofsky won prom king, I sort of… didn't care about whose name Figgins said next. I don't want to be prom queen without you. It's just a plastic crown, anyways. Besides, if I won then I'd have to dance with Karofsky." She shuddered.

Ryan let out a laugh. "True." He put his arms around her waist, drawing her close. "So you're really not disappointed?"

She shook her head, giving him a kiss. "It's not important. I got my perfect night with my perfect guy. I don't need anything else." He smiled widely at that. "Besides, there's always Senior prom." She looked at the doors. "I'm actually more worried about Santana and Kurt right now."

"I think Kurt and Blaine will be just fine," Ryan said. "And I saw Brittany go after Santana. I think she's close to letting herself be with Brittany. Maybe this will help them."

"I hope so."

Ryan smiled. "And that's why I know you've changed. Last year you probably wouldn't have cared about any of them as long as you won prom queen." Quinn laughed wryly, knowing it was probably true. "Further proving that you're much more than a pretty face." He bent his head to give her a kiss, before smirking. "But just so you know, you are by far the most beautiful girl at this prom."

Quinn's lips curved into a sly smile. "Is that so?"

"Mmhmm," he whispered, pressing his lips to hers again. Quinn chuckled softly, his breath washing over her and causing her to shiver.

"You know, you're not supposed to be in the girls' bathroom," she reminded him.

He moved his lips to the space behind her ear, pressing light butterfly kisses on her skin. "And yet."

"Ryan – ohh," she moaned as he started to trail kisses all along her neck, setting her on fire. He suddenly wrapped his arm around her waist, pressing her against him and making her clutch at his shoulders for balance. "Ryan!"

"Yes?" he asked innocently, his tongue tracing a pattern against her neck.

"I – ah…" Quinn's words trailed off as he started sucking lightly on her pulse point, and she let her head fall to the side, giving him more room. Her breath started coming shorter and her head was spinning and they were still in the bathroom – "Okay, okay, wait," she panted out, giggling breathlessly. "Maybe we should go back inside."

"Nooo," Ryan moaned, keeping up his assault on her neck. She shuddered slightly, her clit throbbing as Ryan pressed against her. She didn't want to stop either… they could crown prom queen without them there, right? A whimper escaped her lips as Ryan nipped at the skin just above the neckline of her dress.

"Ry –"

Suddenly three knocks resounded on the bathroom door, followed by a muffled voice. "Hey, who's in there? We need to use the toilets!"

Quinn sighed breathily, before pushing Ryan's head away gently. "Fine," he said with a sigh. "But maybe we can continue this at home?" he asked hopefully.

"That sounds like an excellent idea."

..

_Meanwhile_

Santana rushed out of the gym and pushed blindly into an empty office, tears starting to blur her vision. "How could my running mate win and I didn't?" she asked Brittany, who she knew had followed her. "I mean, just because I hate everybody doesn't mean they have to hate me too."

"It's just a stupid crown, you can buy it at a party store."

Yeah, she knew that, but that wasn't the point. "I'm gonna be an outsider all my life. Can't I just have one night where I'm queen? Where I'm accepted?" She was always in second place – second to Quinn at the Cheerios, second to Mercedes at glee, second to Artie with Brittany. It wasn't fair. "As soon as we get to New York I'm bailing to live in a lesbian colony. Or Tribeca."

She stopped short as soon as the words left her mouth. That that was the first time she'd actually admitted she was a lesbian. Brittany stayed quiet behind her, and Santana was grateful because she didn't know how to deal with that. But it felt… almost good, to say it out loud. Freeing or some shit like that. So she went on with her rant, turning to face Brittany as she paced. "They must have sensed that I was a lesbian, I mean they must have. Do I smell like a golf course?"

Brittany shook her head, looking at her. "They didn't vote for you because they wanted to hurt Kurt," she said certainly. "So they voted him as queen and not you. They don't know what you're hiding, they just know that you're not being yourself. If you embraced all the awesomeness that you are, you would have won."

"How do you know?"

Brittany straightened, walking slowly towards Santana. "Because I voted for you." She reached out, rubbing Santana's arms, and the Latina felt herself calming down, smiling slightly at the revelation. "And because I believe in you, Santana."

_I believe in you._ Santana could practically feel her heart swell up at those words. She looked straight into those beautiful blue eyes. Ryan was right. She could do this. She leaned forward, placing a tentative kiss on Britt's lips, trying to tell her what she didn't have the words to. Never hesitating, Brittany kissed her back, tilting her head slightly as she smiled. And Santana lost herself, because she could taste bubblegum and punch and everything that made Brittany Brittany.

They pulled apart a moment later, Santana's eyes still closed. _ She could do this._ "I love you, Britts." _Please, say you love me too._

"I love you too, San."

..

Ryan and Quinn walked back into the gym just a minute before Santana and Brittany slipped in. Quinn nudged Ryan gently, nodding at the other pair. Ryan looked over, smiling when he noticed the pair with linked pinkies hidden behind their skirts. "Looks like we're not the only ones who had a meaningful conversation."

Just then, Blaine appeared next to Ryan. "Hey."

Ryan started a little. "Blaine, hi. How's Kurt? Is he coming back up?"

Blaine nodded, his arms folded across his chest. "Yeah." Right on cue, Kurt walked up onstage, and another hush settled over the crowd as he walked up to Principal Figgins, a somber look on his face. Blaine let out a breath. "He's a lot braver than I am."

Ryan put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it'll be fine. I've got your back, remember?"

"Thanks," Blaine gave him a small smile.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Principal Figgins announced. "Your 2011 prom queen, Kurt Hummel." He placed the golden crown on Kurt's head and handed him the matching scepter. Ryan could practically feel Blaine tensing next to him, already anticipating what might happen. And he couldn't blame Blaine, either. Ryan had seen how badly Blaine had gotten messed up at that dance during middle school.

Kurt looked at the scepter for a moment, before mustering up a smile for the crowd. "Eat your heart out, Kate Middleton."

A smattering of applause rang out, led mostly by the glee club, before the other students started to join in. Finally, the principal announced, "And now behold the tradition of our 2011 prom king and queen here in their first dance."

Soon, Santana and some of the other girls were up on the stage, the music to Abba's _Dancing Queen_ playing. Kurt stepped down onto the dance floor trailed by Dave Karofsky. Ryan and Blaine watched carefully, worried that Karofsky might do something. But Kurt said a few words to him, and for a second a conflicted look appeared on his face. Then the football player shook his head, walking out of the gym and leaving Kurt alone in the middle of the crowd of students.

Ryan gave Blaine a nudge. "Get over there." Blaine hesitated for a moment. "You regret running away from all those idiots back then, right? This is your chance. You can do this." After a deep breath, Blaine nodded, and Ryan gave him a gentle push onto the dance floor.

"Excuse me," he called out, making Kurt turn to face him. "May I have this dance?"

Kurt's face broke into a relieved smile. "Why, yes," he said. "Yes you may."

Blaine grinned, stepping close and pulling Kurt into a dancing hold. Santana, Brittany and Tina started singing, and the two boys started to dance, tentatively at first, then faster as they relaxed and started getting into the music. Ryan grinned happily, turning back to Quinn. She raised an eyebrow playfully. "Remembered me, have you?"

He rolled his eyes. "As if I could ever forget," he smiled, grabbing her hand. "Let's dance."

..

Later that night Ryan and Quinn headed out to the parking lot arm in arm, laughing merrily, still high over the events of the evening. A set of prom pictures was in Ryan's jacket and Quinn was holding a floral centerpiece Santana had snagged from one of the tables. "So, was it everything you ever dreamed?" Ryan asked as he unlocked his car.

"No, actually, my dreams included floating home with that tiara," Quinn answered flippantly. She wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss that sent him spinning. "This was way better."

He smiled dreamily. "I'm glad. I –" He looked behind him, spotting three large boys heading across the parking lot. He had a bad feeling, and he pulled away from his girlfriend. "Wait here, I need to go check on something." He went after the small group. Of course, Quinn didn't stay by the car, instead following him.

Ryan caught up to the three guys just as they came up to Blaine and Kurt, who were backed up against a chain-link fence. Azimio Adams was leading two other guys from the football team, and Ryan scowled when he saw the fear that Blaine was trying to hide.

"Hey," he called out sharply. "Back off."

Azimio hesitated, before gathering up his bravado. "I think we can take you and a couple of queers," he sneered. "Don't need 'em stinkin' up the school with their fairy dust."

"Lay off, Azimio," Quinn said icily. "I might be tempted to smash this flowerpot on your head, but I'm afraid your thick skull wouldn't feel the impact."

"You got no juice here, Fabray," Azimio growled back, thought it was obvious that his confidence was falling. "I can take all of you."

"Yeah, but you think you can take me, Numb Nuts?" Santana's voice sneered as she came over next to Ryan and Quinn, Brittany just behind her. "You know it's not gonna be pretty if you make me go all Lima Heights on you. So use that peanut you call a brain and just walk away. Okay?"

The group of jocks fidgeted uncomfortably before Azimio shook his head in disgust. "Whatever, losers," he grumbled, as the group dispersed. "Bunch of pansies." He trundled off in the direction of the school with his friends.

"Thanks," Blaine said softly. Ryan turned around, looking down to see Blaine clutching Kurt's hand tightly.

"I told you I'd be here for you, remember?" Ryan smiled a little. "Though I think it was Santana who had the biggest effect in this little altercation."

The Latina smirked. "Well, everyone knows I'm the baddest bitch in this place," she bragged as Brittany grabbed her hand. "Those idiots didn't stand a chance."

Blaine and Kurt laughed a little. "Well, you do cut a scary figure in that red dress, Satan," Kurt said, his laugh a bit nervous. "I mean, Santana. Seriously, though," he continued. "Thank you. Both of you."

"Of course." Ryan smiled reassuringly at Blaine, who smiled back softly. Then he looked at Santana and Brittany, who were leaning against each other. He gave Santana a knowing smile, and she rolled her eyes before sending a small smile back. He wrapped an arm around Quinn. "Let's get out of here."

..

A few minutes later Quinn followed Ryan into his house. He'd told her Shelby would be out for the night, and they had the house all to themselves. As soon as they were inside Ryan swept her up into a hungry kiss, lips mashing against hers as she gasped. He tugged her hair tie off, sending her hair cascading down around her neck. He smiled, running his fingers through the golden locks. "I really like your hair like this."

Quinn quirked a smile at him. "I'll keep that it mind." She pulled him into another kiss, moaning as their tongues connected, arousal roaring to life inside her. She wanted him, right now. Their eyes met, and she could see he wanted this just as bad.

Their lips crashed together again, a frenzied duel of tongues and teeth, inhibitions removed by the high of the evening and the fact that they were finally alone. They stumbled into Ryan's bedroom, knocking against the desk and sending a pencil holder to the floor. Neither of them paid attention though, and Quinn let out a breathless laugh as Ryan pressed her back against the closed door, his lips still working at her neck. "Excited, are we?"

"You did say we could continue our activities from the bathroom," Ryan answered as he planted hot kisses against her throat, making her moan. "Why, are you complaining?"

"N-no…" She started fumbling at the buttons on his dress shirt, her fingers jerking as his erection pressed hard against her aching core. "H-hold still –"

Ryan didn't do that though, instead thrusting harder against her and making her gasp as electric heat flooded through her. Somehow she managed to get through all the buttons and she tugged the shirt off of him just as he managed to undo the zipper on her dress. Soon the dress was pooled on the floor along with Ryan's shirt, and Ryan's arms were braced around her trapping her against the door.

They broke apart for a moment, gasping for air as their blood burned and screamed for oxygen. Ryan stared into her eyes, and she almost cried at the pure adoration in them. "You are so beautiful," he said in awe.

She smiled, pulling him back into a kiss. "You don't look too bad yourself." A deep chuckle rumbled through his chest, and he pressed himself even closer to her. She could feel his skin on hers and it was driving her insane. "Ryan…" Her body felt like it was overheating, she needed him so badly. Finally he slid his hand down to her wet patch on her underwear, and he smiled into their kiss.

"You're soaking…"

"You think?" Quinn asked, the sarcasm lost in her breathless voice. Even that light touch had her head spinning. He slid his hand under the edge of her panties, pulling them down her legs before slipping his hand back up to touch her. Quinn arched up into the teasing touch, drawing a smile from him. She tried to muster up a glare, but it failed when he suddenly thrust two fingers into her. "Oh – oh god –"

Ryan slammed his lips back onto hers, swallowing every whimper as he continued to thrust his fingers into her tight channel. He curled his fingers up against her walls, and Quinn gasped loudly as he dragged them out slowly before pushing in again. "Does that feel good?" he murmured, moving his lips to the space just behind her ear.

She shuddered in response, her head falling back against the door. Ryan took the opportunity to press his lips against her throat again. "I –" her voice rose in pitch as he did it again, reducing her to incoherence as his thumb brushed firmly over her clit. She wasn't sure how she was still upright, Ryan was holding up half her weight by now, pinning her against the door. "Ryan – I –"

He drew back, his eyes locking with hers. "Come for me, Quinn," he coaxed. He thrust in one more time, and she came undone, her world exploding into white as she clenched around his fingers. She could vaguely feel him continuing to stroke her as she shook, her head falling back against the door.

He looked at her with a smug smile as she opened her eyes blearily when her body started to relax. She tried to stand up, but Ryan had to catch her as her knees buckled. "That good, hmm?" he teased, kissing her neck again.

"Shut up," she said, no heat to her voice. "I – Ryan!" she squealed as he picked her up bridal style, depositing her onto his bed.

He gave her a devious smile as he moved up between her legs, pressing tingling kisses to her stomach, her chest, her neck, then finally on her lips as his fingers continued to wander all over her body. He fumbled with her bra strap, unclasping it and leaving her naked on the bed. His eyes raked over her hungrily for a moment, and she almost flushed under his scrutiny. It was always incredible and a turn-on to see how much he wanted her. His hand slid down to swipe through her wet folds, and she practically convulsed, her skin oversensitive.

Ryan's gaze flicked up at her. "Are you okay? Do you want to stop?"

She shook her head. No, this felt too good to stop. The thought of having him inside her completely made her arousal rush to life again. "No," she said, pulling him down into a kiss, slipping her hand down quickly undo his belt and cupping his hard dick through his pants. "Don't stop."

"O-okay –" he moaned as Quinn slipped her hand into his boxers and pumped his length. She smirked as his hips jumped forward, and she tugged his pants and boxers off until he managed to kick them to the floor. Then she pushed him off her, rolling them over so she was on top of him now. He blinked up at her, and she leaned down to kiss him, as she continued to stroke him firmly. "Oh god more please Quinn –"

She bit her lip, pulling her hand away, and he let out a strangled whimper, his eyes flying open. She reached out to his bedside table, pulling a condom from the drawer. She quickly ripped it open, and rolled it onto Ryan as his hands fisted into the sheets. Then she took him in her hand and guided him inside, dropping down onto him in one smooth move, letting out a high-pitched moan as he rubbed up against her still sensitive core.

Ryan quickly sat up, settling his hands on her waist as she tried to adjust to his size. They had done it a lot since their first time, but he was just _really big..._

He kissed her again. "I love you so much." She let out a gasp as he suddenly rolled them over again, the new angle overwhelming her all over again. He pulled out and thrust back into her, sending her reeling. "You feel so good," he whispered, lips moving down her neck as their chests rubbed together.

"Oh, god," Quinn whimpered out as he moved in and out of her, pushing her higher and higher. She was so close… Then Ryan's lips were on her breast, sucking on the nipple and she writhed upwards, trying to get more. "God, Ryan –"

Finally she was coming hard all over again, her body convulsing with another more powerful orgasm. Ryan slammed hard into her a few more times before he came, pulsing and twitching inside her as he let out a low moan. He melted on top of her, pressing soft kisses to her jaw as he pulled out, making her whimper softly, rolling onto his side.

After a couple of minutes catching their breaths, Quinn snuggled into her boyfriend's side, and he wrapped his arm around her. She let out a shuddering sigh, her body vibrating with pleasure. "So, was that good?" Ryan panted out.

Quinn let out a tired laugh. "So much better than getting that stupid tiara."

* * *

**Hello everyone! It's been a while, almost three weeks, I think. Sorry about that, life got very busy. But I hope this chapter makes up for it.**

**Thank you very much for your reviews last chapter, they made my day as always. I'm glad I'm getting the voicings right, since you guys are right, I've read a lot of fics with OOC voices and it can ruin the story even if the plot is good. I try to put effort into this and it's nice to know that you guys appreciate it ;) And I'm glad I've redeemed Shelby somehow, since as I've said before, the show really messed up there and in other areas as well.**

**To respond to questions, yes the Troubletones will be here next year, we'll see what'll happen with them. I've got a general idea, but I'm open to suggestions as always. As to Ryan's friends, yes, Blaine and Mike are great. I've got a mini-headcanon about Ryan and Blaine before this fic, I might write it out as a oneshot sometime. Jesse's back in this chapter, we'll be dealing more with that next chapter. With regards to Sam, we'll see.**

**I promise I'll see this story to the end, but you guys need to be patient. I only have five weeks until my thesis defense, so my time is tight. But I'll update when I can. See you next time!**


	64. Chapter 63

The Sunday after prom found Ryan and Quinn on a double-date with Mike and Tina. They met up at Pizza Hut after checking out the movies that were playing. Lima didn't have too much in the 'things to do' category, so they had defaulted to movie-watching. By a stroke of luck, they found that Pizza Hut was having an all-you-can-eat promo, quickly settling the decision of where to have lunch.

Half an hour into the meal, Quinn and Tina watched as the two boys devoured slice after slice of pizza in an attempt to outdo the other. Tina's mouth was hanging agape, and Quinn had a mildly repulsed expression on her face. "Where do they put it all?" Tina asked in wonder. The girls had been done for a few minutes already and had simply sat back to watch their boyfriends.

"I have no idea," Quinn answered. "But for the record, it's unfair how they can do that and not gain a pound."

"Amen to that."

Ryan swallowed enormously. "It's been shown that boys have a faster metabolism than girls," he explained. "That's why we eat more, especially as teenagers. There are studies on the topic." He picked up another slice of pizza. "What's my count?"

"How should I know?"

"Nine," Tina said in an awed voice. "Do you think Pizza Hut is going to go out of business with customers like these?"

"I'd say it's a possibility," Quinn answered dryly. "Boys are disgusting. Guys, seriously, if you don't wrap it up we're going to miss the movie."

Mike nodded, swallowing. "Have we decided what we're going to watch yet?"

"Hmm, not yet," Ryan said. "So far, we've narrowed it down to _Limitless_, _Prom_, and _Scream 4_."

"I think we had enough of Prom on Friday," Tina commented. "I'm good with Scream."

"Limitless is supposed to be pretty cool though," Mike said.

"I'm not much for horror movies either," Ryan admitted.

"Oh, it'll be fine," Quinn said, smirking at him. "Unless you're scared, of course."

"Not scared, I just don't completely see the merit of frightening several years off of one's lifespan by watching people getting picked off one by one!"

Scream 4 won out in the end though, and while several screams had been uttered – nobody was admitting to them – they couldn't complain, especially since the suspense had both sets of couples clinging to each other.

..

Quinn and Ryan walked out of the mall early that evening, having spent the entire afternoon out. "I had a good time," Ryan commented.

"Me too," Quinn agreed. She'd been a little surprised by how much she'd enjoyed herself, actually. She hadn't been sure what to expect on a double-date with Mike and Tina, but it had been fun. After the movie, the four of them had gone roaming around the mall, going into whatever stores happened to catch their eye. Ryan had dragged them into the music store at one point, Mike to the video game store, and then Tina and Quinn had discovered a shared passion for art.

"Are you going home?" Quinn asked. He frowned for an instant before it disappeared. "Are you and Shelby still fighting?" Ryan was still very much at odds with his mother over the reappearance of one Jesse St. James. He hadn't admitted it outright, but Quinn had picked up from his rants that he was jealous of the older boy.

"We're not fighting," Ryan answered with dignity. "We're having a disagreement over her taste in the students she keeps relationships with."

"No, you're being a little childish," Quinn said. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "I know why you don't like Jesse St. James, I don't like him either after what he did to you. But not talking to your mom probably isn't going to make things any better."

Ryan scowled. "Maybe not, but I still don't want to talk to her."

Quinn sighed. "Okay." She wouldn't force him, he hadn't forced her to talk to her mom when she wasn't ready. "I just think you should clear the air soon."

"Noted. Can we go to your house now?"

"Sure."

* * *

"New Directions," Mr. Schue announced a few days later at glee. "I would like to introduce you to our new show choir consultant, Jesse St. James."

"Wait, what?" Ryan stared at the newcomer in surprise. He scowled. Great, now he had to deal with this prick at school, too. His life was just fantastic sometimes. He felt Quinn rubbing his arm gently and he smoothened his face out, giving her a small smile of thanks.

"I don't trust this guy," Finn was saying. "How do we know he's not just gonna trick us into doing something stupid so his alma mater wins?" Ryan was suddenly torn. It was hard to figure out who he disliked more – Finn or Jesse. He didn't want to agree with Finn though, so he stayed quiet.

Jesse raised his eyebrows at Finn. "I don't think I need to do much tricking to get you to do something stupid, Finn." Finn was just about to say something in return when Mr. Schue intervened.

"Guys, Jesse is just the consultant. I still make all the calls," he placated. "Now, I have all the confidence in the world in you guys. I just think we could use the extra help. Because this is it." He gestured at the whiteboard, with the word NATIONALS printed on it. "We've been working so hard for two years for this moment, and this moment is finally here. Now I was talking with Jesse, and he agreed that we should continue with our successful trend of doing original songs for the competition. I was thinking of doing one group number and one duet."

"I think I should do the duet," Finn said immediately. "I mean, I was supposed to do the solo at Regionals, but it didn't work out."

"Yeah, Finnept, you go do the _duet_ all by yourself," Santana threw in, sneering.

"Finn, I think it's best if you sit this one out," Jesse said smoothly. "Fact is, most of the other guys in here are better singers, and Mike Chang who can't even sing can at least dance. You kind of sing and dance like a zombie that has to poop."

Ryan was hard-pressed to keep his laugh in. He knew Finn was a little lacking in talent. He felt a moment of grudging respect for Jesse. Ryan couldn't have put it any better himself. Of course, if he'd said anything like that, half the club probably would have risen against him. And he still hated Jesse's guts.

Finn quickly stood up, his face contorting in anger. "Mr. Schue, you see that? He –"

Mr. Schue turned to his consultant. "Jesse, maybe you could be a little gentler with your advice."

"Gentle?" Jesse asked innocently. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were going for the 'Good Try' ribbon, I thought we were in it to win the whole damn thing. And there's only one way we can do that."

"Poison darts?" Brittany wondered.

"Vocal Adrenaline's strategy is simple," Jesse explained. "Identify your best performer, and build the entire performance around them."

"So what does everyone else do?" Mercedes asked.

Puck nodded. "And who's our star performer?"

Ryan rolled his eyes. He knew he was the best performer if it came down to it. It wasn't ego, it was just plain fact. He wasn't going to say it though. He raised his hand. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Ryan, you're not automatically getting the duet, get over yourself."

"There are going to be auditions or something, right?" Mercedes added.

Ryan leveled a glare at Kurt. "I was just going to say that while I think that's a sound strategy, I would like to question the necessity of Jesse's presence. If we're going to mimic Vocal Adrenaline's strategies, don't you think it might better to go to the actual coach of the team?"

"Midget's kind of got a point," Santana commented. "We could go straight to the source."

"I'm sure Ms. Corcoran's busy with her own work," Mr. Schue deflected. Ryan wondered if he had even thought of asking Shelby. "And as to our star performer, we're gonna have auditions to find out. I'll post a sign-up sheet this afternoon."

Finn balked. "Mr. Schue, don't you think this is kind of not our style?"

"Normally I'd agree with you, Finn, but this time I agree with Jesse," Sam said. A mumble of assent was heard through the team, and the course was set.

..

An hour later, Shelby was doing some paperwork in her office when she heard a tap on the door. She rubbed her head, trying to ward off the headache that was building. Ryan came in a second later. "Mom, are you going home yet?"

Shelby sighed. They were still on rocky terms ever since Jesse had shown up last week, and he'd been avoiding the whole weekend. She had tried to talk to him that morning but hadn't been feeling too well. She looked up at him from her seat at the desk, and shook her head. "Not yet," she replied a bit quietly. "Have some stuff to do here."

Ryan looked at her, a touch of concern in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"No, no, I'm okay," Shelby said slowly, taking a deep breath. She had been feeling a bit under the weather the whole day, and she'd been having a little difficulty catching her breath, but it wasn't anything serious. "Are you heading home?"

Ryan's brow furrowed a little. "I was just going to go to the garage for a bit."

"Okay. I –" She stopped again, her breath hitching for a second. Just then, the two of them heard a knock, and the door opened to reveal no one else but Jesse St. James. She sighed, irritated at the boy's timing. She really needed to talk to Ryan about this issue, but with him avoiding her and Jesse bursting in at inopportune moments, she hadn't gotten a chance.

"Hello, Shelby," Jesse greeted easily, before offering Ryan a nod. "Ryan." He turned back to Shelby, before looking her over. "Are you okay?"

"Like I told Ryan, I'm fine," Shelby said, brushing him off. "Did you need something, Jesse?"

Jesse ignored the question. "Is your asthma flaring up? Do you have your inhaler?"

Shelby sighed again. She was too tired for this. "Jesse, what do you want?"

"I just wanted to run some ideas past you, but obviously, if you're not feeling well, I'll hold off." He nodded. "I'll talk to you some other time." He turned around, leaving her office.

Shelby grudgingly opened her desk drawer, pulling out the inhaler she had stocked there before taking a dose. She hated having to use it, but Jesse was right. She didn't want to end up having a massive attack later. She looked up, a bit startled to see Ryan still there with an unreadable expression on his face. "Sweetie, I really think we need to talk."

"Not now. I should go, you look busy." He turned, following Jesse out of her office.

..

Sometime later Ryan quietly opened a container of car oil in Burt's garage. Quinn sat nearby, reading some homework as he did some routine maintenance on her car.

"Okay, what's up with you?" Quinn asked.

Ryan looked over at her. "Sorry?"

"You're quieter than usual. What's the matter? Is this about Jesse again?" Quinn asked. He'd been upset all last week about Jesse St. James showing up at his house, and she knew having him in glee would just make Ryan even angrier. Not to mention the glee meeting had been spent fruitlessly trying to come up with a set list for Nationals. Even she had been frustrated, and Ryan was probably feeling that ten times over.

Ryan scowled at the mention of the name. "Jesse? Why would I be upset about Jesse?" he said sarcastically. "Other than the fact that he seems to be pretty much everywhere nowadays. I mean, he's in my school, he's in glee, hell he's even at my house. Why on Earth would I be annoyed with him?" He laughed bitterly. "And of course, let's not forget that my mom seems to have forgotten what he did last year and has welcomed him back with open arms."

Quinn just let him rant for a while. "Did you talk to Shelby about it yet?"

"I don't want to talk to her about it," Ryan answered stiffly, returning to the engine. "She already knows I don't like him, but it doesn't matter. Besides, she's so busy with Jesse all the time I can't get a word in edgewise."

Quinn refrained from rolling her eyes. Her boyfriend could be dramatic at times. "Maybe you can't talk to her because you're always avoiding her," she suggested, a bit of snark in her voice.

He scowled again. "Whose side are you on here?"

"Yours, but you're being kind of an idiot right now. Just go talk to Shelby, I'm sure she'll do something about this." Ryan seemed to slump for a moment.

"I just don't get why he has to be around all the time," he said. "And I don't get why it seems like he has to go to my mom for every single little thing. It's ridiculous! I mean, doesn't he have a life or something?"

Quinn nodded, her suspicions confirmed. "I don't think you have to be jealous."

He looked away. "He's known her for longer than I have. And it just makes me so mad that he knows her better than I do sometimes." He let out a huff. "I'm not even mad at her, not really. I guess I'm kind of mad at him, but mostly I'm just mad because of the unfairness of it all. She's _my_ mom."

Quinn sighed, reaching out to rub his arm. "I get it." She probably wouldn't react well to anyone trying to cozy up to her mom either. "But you told me it helps to talk, right? So you should just go talk to her." She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and his face softened.

"I love you, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," she smiled, rubbing a bit of grease away from his chin. "I love you too. So are you going to go talk to Shelby?"

Ryan nodded, smiling reluctantly. "Okay. I'll talk to her when I get home."

"Good."

"And I'm done with your car."

She smiled. "Thanks, Ry."

..

Meanwhile, Shelby was at home, feeling a little better after another dose of her medication. She was just looking through the fridge for dinner when she heard a knock on the front door. Opening it, she saw Jesse St. James in front of her. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you stalking me? Should I be worried?" she asked suspiciously.

"Of course not," Jesse answered, miffed. "I just wanted to tell you that I've taken your advice to assist the New Directions with their bid for the Nationals title. I wanted to run a few ideas past you."

Shelby glanced at her watch. It was almost six, Ryan would be home soon and having Jesse here would not go over well. "Now's not really a good time."

"It'll just take a second," he promised, and she rolled her eyes before relenting, letting him into the house. "There are just a few ideas I'd like some input on, because I would really like this business to work out."

"Well, that's great for you," Shelby said in amusement. She had suggested to Jesse that he try his idea out with the New Directions by offering Will his services. She'd tried helping Will out but he wasn't exactly receptive to her anymore. And watching their rehearsals – covertly – just made her annoyed, because they all took Ryan for granted. And it wasn't like she could do anything about it. Jesse might, though.

"Yes, it is," Jesse agreed. "Although I have to admit, I'm surprised Mr. Schuester hasn't asked you for help yet. If I were coaching a relatively new glee club and I had the coach of the four-time National champions down the hall I'd like to think that I'd be asking for advice."

"No you wouldn't." The boy had an enormous ego, she highly doubted he'd be asking anyone for advice.

"No, I probably wouldn't. I'd ask you, though."

Shelby narrowed her eyes. "I'm not your coach anymore, you can quit trying to flatter me."

"Force of habit," he conceded. "But regarding the glee club, I was thinking –"

The conversation stopped when they heard the front door opened. Shelby shut her eyes, knowing that it was Ryan. Sure enough, he walked into the living room, stopping dead in his tracks as he took in the sight of Shelby and Jesse sitting there talking. Silence reigned for several moments before he spun around, heading right back out the front door. Shelby lost no time in getting up and going after him.

"Ryan, wait." She just barely caught up to him, her breathing a bit labored, and grabbed his arm, only to have him shake it off with an angry glare.

"No, you should go back inside, you seem to be having a wonderful time with Jesse, anyways," he told her. "Far be it from me to break up such a cozy session, so by all means, get back in there and leave me alone, since you obviously love him so very much!"

He stalked away from her as she stood there in shock, getting into his car and roaring off down the driveway.

"That was dramatic."

Shelby looked towards the porch where Jesse was standing, having apparently heard the entire exchange. She sighed tiredly. "Jesse, you should go home, okay?"

Her former student studied her for a moment. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" She shot him a hard glare, and he raised his hands in surrender. "Okay. Bye, Shelby."

She just nodded, before heading back into the house, wondering how she was going to fix this.

..

Ryan was absolutely fuming as he drove, angry at Jesse for encroaching on his space _again_, at his mom for letting him, at Mr. Schue for being so utterly incompetent right now, and at the universe in general. Yes, he'd told Quinn he'd talk to Shelby, but seeing that cocky douche-bag in his living room again just made him so mad.

Soon he found himself parked outside his dad's apartment building, and he made his way up, knocking on the door. James opened the door quickly.

"Ryan?" James regarded him curiously as he let him in. "What are you doing here?"

"Mom and I are having some difficulties with certain people, and I thought we could use some space," Ryan answered. He hesitated. "Is it not okay for me to be here? I can leave if you want…"

"No, of course it's fine for you to be here," James assured him. "You're welcome here anytime you want." Ryan relaxed a little at this, but he was still upset. "What happened with you and your mom?"

He frowned. "Jesse's at the house again."

"Again?" James asked, confused. "Why?"

"I don't know!" Ryan burst out in frustration. "I have no idea why he keeps coming to the house, and I don't understand why she likes him so much. He's an egocentric, annoying bastard, and I wish he'd just stay away! But she just keeps letting him come and it's like – it's like –" he stopped suddenly, all the wind leaving his sails as he sat down on the couch. "It's like Jesse was a stand-in for me while I wasn't there," he said quietly. "And now that she's back she's remembering that she likes him better than she likes me."

"Whoa, that's not true," James told him. "Your mom loves you. A lot. And she does not like this Jesse kid more than you, okay?"

"How do you know? She's known him for longer, maybe I did something wrong –"

"No, no, no," his father said firmly. "Stop. You did not do anything wrong. This is natural?"

"How is this natural?" Ryan asked in disbelief. "Other kids don't go into a jealous rage when they see their parents interacting with anyone else."

"Other kids haven't had their parents drop them like a hot potato as soon as they saw an exit sign." That made Ryan stop short. James sighed. "Look, it's okay to – to have feelings like that. Especially after what happened with your adoptive parents. Parents aren't supposed to leave you like that, and when it happens, it shakes you. Makes you think you're worth less than you are." He looked Ryan square in the eye. "But take it from someone who's been there, you're worth more than you think. And your mom knows that."

Ryan stared at him for a moment, trying to process. "I…" He thought about what his dad had said, and about what his mom had told him last year when Jesse had shown up. Maybe it was true, and Shelby wasn't replacing him with Jesse, but it was hard to believe. "Then why does she keep having him over?" he asked, scowling. "If he's not – if – why is he around all the time?"

"Look, I can tell you and your mom need a bit of time apart," James said. "How about you stay over for the night, and you and your mom can talk tomorrow. Okay?"

Ryan nodded, grudgingly grateful for the place to stay. He'd been planning to sneak back into the house later that night, or maybe go over to Quinn's. He still didn't want to talk to his mom. "Okay."

* * *

The next day Shelby tapped lightly on the open door to Sue's office. She hadn't resolved things with Ryan yet, and the teenager had practically flown out of her classroom the second the bell rang, so she hadn't talked to him yet. She had someone else she wanted to check on though. She had heard that Sue was being bitchier than usual, and that it was because her sister had passed away. She stepped in, and was met with the Cheerios coach sitting at her desk, looking pensively out the window. "Sue," Shelby greeted.

"Barbra," Sue inclined her head, still staring out the window.

Shelby went over to the table that held a bunch of flower and balloon arrangements. "I heard you were allergic to pansies. Both flowers and people, I'm assuming."

Sue nodded. "True."

Shelby studied the coach for a few moments. This was the most subdued she had ever seen Sue Sylvester, and she couldn't blame her. Losing her sister had to be terrible. She couldn't imagine ever losing Josh like that. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know." Sue finally turned to look at her. "She was so much better than me. And she made me better. We were supposed to grow old together. What happens when the one ray of light in your life is snuffed out, just like that?"

"I don't know," Shelby admitted. "But think about this. Would your sister have wanted you to be miserable? Or would she have wanted you to be happy? And you do have other things to live for." Shelby looked out the window as well. "When's the funeral?"

"Tomorrow at four."

Shelby nodded. "I'll see you there. I'm sorry for your loss." She turned to leave.

"Thank you," Sue said quietly. Then a little louder, "Tell Butt-Chin not to have his kids sing something too sappy."

Shelby smiled faintly, glad to know that Sue wasn't completely broken. "Got it." She shut the door on her way out, before heading to her own office. She sighed as her mind drifted back to her son. Ryan had spent the night at James' apartment, which was good, in a way. Maybe some time apart would do them some good. On the other hand, it meant he was angry enough to not want to stay in the same house as her. She turned the corner then stopped in surprise when she spotted James in the corridor. "Hi. What are you doing here?"

James shifted a little. "I just got off work. And… I wanted to talk to you about Ryan."

"Oh." Shelby sighed, before nodding and gesturing him into her office. "Did he tell you about what's going on?"

"Yeah," he nodded as they sat down side by side on the black couch in her office. "He told me about Jesse."

Shelby sighed again. "I wanted to talk to him about it, but Jesse showed up yesterday, and then Ryan came home, and when he saw Jesse he just took off. I've been trying to talk to him about it, but he's been avoiding me."

"Can you blame him?"

"Look, I get that Jesse wasn't exactly great to him, I was pissed at him too, but it's not exactly good for Ryan to be holding grudges. I mean, it was a year ago for heaven's sake!"

"Yeah, I'm kind of confused about that. Why exactly is your former high school student coming over to your house at night a year after graduating? Should I be worried?"

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Ugh. No. We were closer than most students and teachers because of VA, but just no." She sighed again. "He came around last year too, just after Ryan moved in. Ryan was… jealous… of Jesse. I think he thought I had replaced him or something."

"Did you?"

"No, of course not!" Shelby exclaimed, stung. "I could never… Jesse was a talented student, but that was it. He talked to me about his home life sometimes. His parents are workaholics, you know the type. But it was strictly a student-teacher relationship. I explained that to Ryan, that Jesse was never a replacement. And I thought he got it, but he was really upset when Jesse showed up a few days ago, and he's been avoiding me ever since."

James nodded, looking down. "I think he gets it, mentally, but it's hard to really get it in your head sometimes."

Shelby frowned in consternation. "Why? We've been working on it, and he knows I'm not going to leave him."

"He knows that. But… you don't understand. It's…" James struggled for a moment. "You never had anyone abandon you. And I'm glad about that. But it also means you're not ever going to understand completely. It hurts a lot to think that you're disposable, that you can be replaced. And it's – it's scary to see someone that could actually replace you."

"He doesn't have to worry about that. I could never replace him."

"I know," James soothed. "But he's happy here now, and I think maybe that's why he's lashing out at Jesse. Because as irrational as it is, you've known Jesse for longer than you've had Ryan. It's not completely stupid to be jealous. I used to get mad whenever the Burtons would pick up another foster. Because I was happy there, and I didn't want them to replace me with someone else. And as it turns out, they did. After that I tried not to get attached to anyplace else, because… well."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Shelby asked defeatedly.

"Just… talk to him, I guess. Show him that he comes first. I'm not saying cut off Jesse completely, I guess that's unreasonable too. But… I don't know." He sighed. "You know, Ryan's kind of mature for his age, sometimes I forget he's just sixteen. It's a confusing time."

"I know." Shelby nodded. "Okay." She sighed. "I wish you hadn't had to go through that. Either of you."

"Me too. But, I guess, if it helps me help Ryan, maybe it makes it a little better."

"Maybe." She checked her watch. "He's supposed to be having an audition in the auditorium right about now. We can go watch, if you wanted to."

James lit up at the idea, and she smiled a little. It was nice to see how invested he was in Ryan. He would have made a great dad before, if only… she shook her head. No use thinking about that. James stood up, offering her a hand to help her up. "Lead the way."

..

About half an hour later, Shelby and James sat in the back of the auditorium, hidden in the shadows. "Your former protégé is a little bit brutal," James commented. "Although I can't really expect anything else, since he learned from you."

"Hey," Shelby said, pushing him in the arm. "I'm not that bad."

"You told Jemma Ortiz that her lack of practice caused her to sound just one step higher than a Donald Duck cartoon in junior year."

"She was basically squawking because she got mono the week before Regionals!" Shelby huffed. "Whatever. And Jesse's right, mostly, if you get past the bluntness."

"I suppose so."

Up on the coach's desk, Jesse was just telling Mercedes Jones that she needed to work more on her choreography and that she was 'lazy'. Needless to say, the diva was not taking it well. Jesse had also summarily dismissed the first two performers, Santana Lopez and Kurt Hummel. All of them were talented, Shelby thought. Santana had a good smoky edge to her voice, and Will had actually used her as a soloist at Sectionals. Kurt was a very good countertenor, though Shelby hadn't had much experience working with that kind of male range. Mercedes was a powerhouse, although Jesse may have had a point. The girl had just admitted that she didn't practice. The next performer had Shelby and James sitting up to pay more attention.

"Hi, I'm Ryan Corcoran, and I'll be singing _One Song Glory _from RENT."

Shelby hummed thoughtfully. "I haven't heard him practice that." He must have been working on it on his own. She wasn't sure it would suit his voice though. Adam Pascal was a rocker, and Ryan had a more lyrical tone. The music started up, and Ryan started to sing.

_One song glory, one song before I go_  
_Glory, one song to leave behind_  
_Find one song, one last refrain_  
_Glory, from the pretty boy front man_  
_Who wasted opportunity_

_One song, he had the world at his feet_  
_Glory, in the eyes of a young girl_  
_A young girl, find glory_  
_Beyond the cheap colored lights_  
_One song, before the sun sets_  
_Glory, on another empty life_

_Time flies, time dies_  
_Glory, one blaze of glory_  
_One blaze of glory, glory_

"Wow," James breathed, as Ryan effortlessly released the extended note. Shelby just nodded, impressed by the talent onstage. True, his version was different from the original, but it didn't detract from the power of the song. And as always, Ryan gave the full performance, every emotion spot on.

_Find glory in a song that rings true_  
_Truth like a blazing fire, an eternal flame_  
_Find, one song, a song about love_  
_Glory, from the soul of a young man_  
_A young man, find the one song_  
_Before the virus takes hold_  
_Glory, like a sunset_  
_One song to redeem this empty life_

_Time flies and then_  
_No need to endure anymore_  
_Time dies_

..

After the auditions, Shelby made her way onto the stage. James had left soon after Ryan's performance, saying that she needed to talk to Ryan on her own. He was still on the stage, shuffling through his sheet music. "Hi," she ventured.

He flicked her eyes up at her, before looking back down. "Hello."

She sighed. "Can we talk now?" He stayed quiet, but nodded slightly as he sat down at the piano. "I need you to tell me what's wrong. I'm not omniscient. I think I know what it is, but just say it so that we're on the same page."

Ryan bristled. "You know what's wrong. I don't understand why Jesse's everywhere now. I don't like him, and I don't like having him at home."

"Ryan, the egging incident was over a year ago. I know it was bad, but you need to let it go. It's not healthy."

"I have!" he protested defensively. "I'm not even mad about that anymore!"

"So you're still jealous of Jesse?" Shelby asked, not liking that James had been right about this. "I told you, you don't have anything to worry about."

"I know!" he burst out. "I just – I don't –" He took a deep breath and folded his arms, staring studiously at the ground. "I didn't know you had asthma."

Shelby blinked at the sudden topic change. "What?"

"Yesterday, when you were having trouble breathing. I knew there was something wrong, and I didn't know what it was. But Jesse did."

"That's –"

"You were his teacher for four years," Ryan said, still not meeting her eyes. "That's so much longer than you've known me. We've barely known each other for a year. He knows stuff about you that I don't. And you two are comfortable with each other, I can see it." Ryan was quiet for a moment. "It's like he was a stand-in for me while I wasn't around, and… I don't know, maybe you like him better because he's been playing the role longer."

Shelby stayed silent as he finally told her exactly what was bothering him, and it was breaking her heart. He wasn't supposed to be feeling this way, he wasn't supposed to feel like she could ever replace him, because she couldn't, and it was making her feel like she'd done something wrong along the way. Even if James had explained some of what was probably going on in his head. She leaned down on the piano, folding her hands.

"Ryan… I need you to listen to me carefully." She paused for a second, trying to compose what she wanted to say. "I missed you. So much. Even if I never really got the chance to meet you. It was like… like there was this big gaping hole in my life that I didn't know how to fill. And maybe… maybe you're right, maybe Jesse filled a little of the space. He's talented, smart, in a way everything I imagined you would be. Maybe without the arrogance, but still."

"So you did replace me with him."

She looked down, wringing her hands together. "If I did, I didn't mean to," she said quietly. "It just hurt so badly that I couldn't have you, I didn't even notice that maybe Jesse was starting to become a replacement." Ryan nodded stiffly, looking away, but she touched his face, tilting it so he was looking at her. "But please, you have to know. When I found you, it was like that hole had been completely filled. Before, it was still there. Even with Jesse. The love I have for you… how I feel about Jesse doesn't even begin to compare. He's just my student. You're my son."

Ryan took in a shaky breath. "I know that, I do… but sometimes it just scares me that you'll change your mind… especially now, because there's someone like Jesse who can take my place if he wanted to."

Shelby shook her head vehemently. "No. He can't. No matter how hard he tries he'll never be able to replace you. I promise." She looked at him intently, pushing as much emotion into her words as possible, needing him to understand.

"…Okay." Ryan nodded. "Okay." He let out a short laugh. "God, I feel so stupid," he said self-deprecatingly. "You've been amazing this year and I still can't stop thinking that this is going to end somehow."

Shelby just reached out, pulling him into a hug. "I'm so sorry I made you feel like Jesse was taking over," she whispered, her breath ruffling his hair. "He's just been a part of my life for so long now. Plus to be honest he's got a way of barging in without invitation." She felt him shake with a small laugh. She pulled away, meeting his eyes. "But you… even if we haven't known each other for long, you are the most important person in my life. I just hope you'll believe me when I say that."

Ryan closed his eyes before nodding. "I believe you."

She smiled softly, kissing him on the cheek. "Do you still have rehearsals?" she asked. He snorted derisively.

"Mr. Schue's taking a couple of days to decide who our star performer is. We're singing at the funeral for Coach Sylvester's sister, but that's easy enough. Apparently we don't have enough on our plates with Nationals this weekend," he added sarcastically.

"Oh," Shelby said. "Okay then. Since you don't have anything going on… Let's go out, do something. Just us. You're right, I've been spending way too much time with Jesse." She was rewarded with a wide smile from her son. "We can talk some more. I'll tell you anything you want to know about me, if you want." Ryan's smile turned mischievous. "Within reason, of course," she added hastily.

"Okay." They started to leave the stage.

"Your performance was excellent, by the way," Shelby complimented him. "Jesse's right, there wasn't anything left to say."

"Thanks."

* * *

The funeral for Sue Sylvester's sister, Jean, was held the next afternoon, a Saturday. After the service Quinn slid into the front seat of Ryan's car after Sue's funeral. "Sorry, there was a line at the ladies' room."

Ryan gave her a half-smile. "It's okay." They fell silent for a moment. The funeral had been an emotional affair, Coach Sylvester had broken down at the podium during the eulogy, and Shelby and Mr. Schue had gone up to help her out. Mr. Schue had ended up reading the rest of Coach Sylvester's eulogy while the coach herself had ended up getting comforted by Shelby. Quinn was pretty sure she'd seen a tear track down Coach Sylvester's cheek while they had sung _Pure Imagination,_ one of her sister's favorite songs. "What are you thinking about?" Ryan asked a while later.

"Hm?" Quinn glanced at him before looking back down. "Oh. I was just thinking about what Coach Sylvester said. About being tethered to someone. I can't imagine losing that." The cheerleading coach had looked so lost, almost like a shell of herself. "Do you feel like that?" she asked curiously. "Like you're tethered to someone?"

He nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose so." He reached out, holding her hand reassuringly across the console. "With you." She gave him a small smile. "I don't think it's limited to one person though," he continued. "I think there are different kinds of tethers, depending on our relationships with other people. Like, I feel it with my parents, but it's different from what I feel with you." He laughed a bit embarrassedly. "I guess that's kind of weird."

"No," Quinn said slowly. "No, I get it. I guess it's like that with my mom, too. And… and Beth." She still felt a connection to the daughter she'd only seen twice, and she suspected it would never go away. She squeezed his hand in hers. "I feel it with you too, though."

"That's good," Ryan smiled.

"Finn and Kurt did really well with the service," Quinn commented.

"I'd say Kurt more than Finn, but yes they did," Ryan agreed. "They do have their moments, don't they? When they're not acting like jerks."

Quinn laughed. "Yes, they do." He chuckled as he started the car, driving them out of the parking lot. "Did you talk to Shelby yet?"

He nodded. "Yes," he said. "It went well. You were right."

"Of course I was," she said in amusement. She knew Shelby would never be able to replace Ryan, just like she'd never be able to replace Beth. "But this is good," she added teasingly. "The sooner you know that I'm always right, the better."

Ryan rolled his eyes with a slight smile. "Noted."

* * *

On Monday, Ryan sat at the piano in the auditorium, brainstorming songs to suggest when he got the solo for Nationals. Mr. Schue was still taking his sweet time, when the competition was _this Saturday. _He glanced up, frowning a little when he saw Jesse St. James heading toward him. "What are you doing here?" Ryan asked disinterestedly.

Jesse came to a stop in front of the piano. "I came to apologize."

That got Ryan's attention. He didn't let on though. "For what, beating us at Regionals last year?"

"No, your team lacked rehearsal and the appropriate vocal prowess needed to beat Vocal Adrenaline's extensively polished routine," Jesse said matter-of-factly. "While you had the heart, we put in the blood, sweat and tears that a Regionals-level performance deserved. Not to mention we had Shelby coaching us. Your Mr. Schuester is nowhere near her league. We deserved to win."

Ryan couldn't hold back a noise of agreement. Mr. Schue, while an able performer, had loads to learn about running a glee club. "So what are you apologizing for, then?"

Jesse leaned down on the piano. "I came to apologize for what happened in the parking lot before Regionals."

"You mean when you and the rest of your club egged me?" Ryan asked acerbically.

"That wasn't our full complement of members, but yes. It was my idea, but I didn't want to do it to you."

"So you would have happily egged any other member of the New Directions? You know, this isn't much of an apology."

"I'm out of practice. My parents' motto is never apologize, it makes you look weak," Jesse answered conversationally. "But I am sorry for what happened. For what it's worth, I tried to stop them when I recognized you, but I was too late."

"Why would you make them stop for me?"

"Out of respect for Shelby, of course."

"Huh." Ryan fixed his gaze on the older boy. "You two are really close," he said.

Jesse nodded. "She's an amazing teacher. Sure, she busted our balls more often than not, but we all became better performers for it. And we always won. And yes, we were close because we worked together the most, which is why I have nothing but the utmost respect for her, which quite frankly says saying something, since I only respect a very small number of people. You're lucky to have her as a mom."

He smiled faintly. "I know."

"And you're good for her too. She's different now, as compared to how she was when she was teaching at Carmel. Happier, I think."

Ryan's lips twitched up in a smile. "Is that so?"

"Very much. She always seemed a little sad, and I suppose it was because she was missing you. She told me about you, you know. After she saw you at your Sectionals competition. Your solo was technically good, by the way, and your emotion was excellent," Jesse added.

"Thank you." Ryan tilted his head. "She told you about me?"

The older boy nodded. "Granted, I did heckle her into it, but yes she did. I even offered to help her contact you, but she declined."

Ryan stared at him. "Why would you do that?"

"Because she was my coach. She opened a lot of opportunities for me, and I thought it would be good to return the favor in some way. Any of us would probably have done anything she asked. Mostly out of fear, but also because she's a great teacher. I expect you would do the same."

Yes, he would. He'd probably do anything his mom asked of him. He stared at Jesse for a long moment, deciding whether or not he was sincere. "Alright," he decided. "Apology accepted."

"Excellent." Jesse straightened up. "Now, I enjoyed your version of _One Song Glory,_ though it didn't quite have that rock quality from the original. Not completely your fault, as Adam Pascal's voice is pretty unique."

Ryan nodded. "True." He could accept a critique, if it was nicely delivered and thought-out. He did need them to learn, after all. He just didn't appreciate them when they were made to be intentionally hurtful, like the ones from the glee club sometimes. "Any other comments?"

"Not really. However, I'll say this now, I think that Mr. Schuester would be a fool not to use you to highlight the Nationals performance. You're good, even if you're not quite up to my caliber of expertise yet."

Ryan held back a derisive snort. There was that ego again. "Well, thank you for your opinion." Maybe they could work this out after all. He was finding out that having friends was nice, and he could use one as well-versed in music as himself. After a moment, he held out his hand. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Restart?"

Jesse smiled, happy to get along with the son of the coach he respected so much. He shook Ryan's hand. "Restart."

* * *

The next afternoon, it was Jesse sitting at the piano in the auditorium, looking through several music arrangements that he thought would fit Ryan. He knew that Shelby's son deserved the solo, he was pretty talented and he was the only one putting in the effort. He and Ryan had talked a little more yesterday, and they had discovered quite a bit in common. Jesse had been quite impressed with the younger boy's knowledge on music, but considering it was Shelby's kid, he wasn't surprised. He was pulled out of his work by a voice.

"It's not going to work."

Jesse looked up to see his former coach coming towards him. "What's not?"

"What you're doing," Shelby said, leaning down on the piano as she studied him. "Pitting them against each other isn't going to work."

"Of course it will, it's how Vocal Adrenaline has worked for years," Jesse said easily. "Everyone aims to be the best, and they take the initiative to rehearse. If these kids want to win, they'll need to do the same. And the spirit of competitiveness will drive them to succeed. You taught me that."

"This isn't VA though. The kids are different. There are a lot of divas."

"We had a lot of divas too. They were just too scared of you to make any noise."

Shelby nodded in amusement. "Will isn't the type who'll scare them into submission though. He's more of the type to inspire them to do their best rather than push them to their limits."

"You did both, and look where it got us," Jesse argued. "Four time National champions."

"Will isn't me, though," she answered, a touch of arrogance showing through.

"True." Jesse shuffled his sheet music. "Right now the only one taking this seriously is Ryan. To the others, it's like play time. They're not going to win with that attitude. They don't even have a set list. Mr. Schuester is insisting on original songs. While it worked for Regionals, that won't be the case here." The competition would be much stiffer than Regionals.

"You're right."

"It's a moot point though, no matter what they do they're not going to be able to win," Jesse said offhandedly. Shelby looked at him calculatingly. "Who are we kidding here? They have the minimum number of members, Vocal Adrenaline outnumbers them two to one. VA has been doing rehearsals from 4 to 10 at night, every weekday."

"Okay, hold on there," Shelby cut in. "I've got an issue with you. Did you tell the kids that we used dead team members as props like _Weekend at Bernie's_?"

"I was simply trying to motivate them into a higher sense of urgency."

She raised an eyebrow at him, and he fought the urge to shrink back. "It was one time as an experiment for the pulley system, and Andrew wasn't dead." She was secretly amused that the New Directions kids had believed Jesse. It spoke volumes about her reputation. It was nice. "Don't spread lies, it's wrong."

"Understood. Getting back on topic, New Directions has a few talented kids, sure, but these guys can't even stop arguing for ten minutes. Do you think they're going to win?"

"Sometimes I think I taught you a little too well," Shelby told him wryly, and he smiled a bit smugly. "They could place within the top five though, if they play it right."

"Perhaps. If you helped them, and if they could come up with a set list and start rehearsing right this second." Jesse glanced over at her. "You know, they're already competitive. Unfortunately, they compete with each other instead of as a team. Do you know how they treat Ryan? You should, I've been here a week and I've seen it. You've been here for almost a year. Why haven't you done anything?" He could practically feel the lack of respect Mr. Schuester and some of the kids had for him.

Shelby sighed. "This isn't my team, they already had a coach," she explained. "And I did try to offer Will some advice at the start, but he won't listen to any of my suggestions."

"Is that why you _suggested_ I offer him my services?"

Shelby rolled her eyes at him. "Well, since he wouldn't listen to me, maybe he'd listen to you. And I was right, he did. Unfortunately, VA's tactics probably won't work here. I'm halfway sure that Will's going to lose his stomach for your suggestions soon, that's why he's stalling."

"You're probably right," Jesse admitted. "It's clear who the winner was, though. Ryan's really talented, I suppose."

"Well, it's in his blood," Shelby smirked proudly.

"And he's really important to you."

"Yeah, he is."

"And speak of the devil," Jesse noted, as Ryan appeared on stage left.

"Hi Mom," he said. "Jesse." He gave the Jesse a friendly nod that he quickly returned. Shelby looked between the two, surprised at the cordiality.

"Well, this is a new development," she commented probingly.

"While we're not exactly the best of friends yet, we've decided it would be counterproductive for us to remain at odds while he's here," Ryan explained. Shelby gave them a curious look.

"It's true," Jesse assured her. "We decided that perhaps we haven't given each other enough of a chance, and we're finding that we have quite a bit in common."

Shelby looked appraisingly between the two boys again, before nodding with a small smile. "Well, that's great for you," she said sincerely. "I'm glad you two are getting along."

"Mr. Schue's looking for you," Ryan told Jesse.

Jesse nodded. "Duty calls," he said lightly. "I'll see you later."

..

Later that afternoon, Shelby was in her office, listening to Ryan rant. "I can't believe Mr. Schue's doing this again," he said heatedly, pacing around. "He wants us to write two original songs, practice them, make choreography, and polish the entire performance by the time we get to New York!"

Shelby just made an agreeing noise, knowing she wasn't about to get a word in edgewise. She marked out B minus on a senior paper. She had no idea what Will was doing. She'd tried talking to him the other day, but as always he was unreceptive. She felt bad for Ryan but she couldn't exactly do anything.

Ryan was still going. "Fighting over who gets the solos alone will take two days! This is unbelievable, how are we supposed to win with a set list made up on the fly?"

"Well, maybe if you stopped railing for a moment you could try writing a song," Shelby suggested. "Look, sweetie, I feel for you, I do, but unless you can convince Mr. Schue against this Course Oblivion, there's not much you can do."

"Can't you talk to him?"

"I already tried, and after Jesse, I don't think I can do much more." Shelby stopped as Ryan looked at her suspiciously.

"What was that?" he asked, before his mouth fell open in realization. "You sent Jesse to do that consulting thing with Mr. Schue, didn't you?" he accused.

"Well, I thought if Will wasn't going to take my advice, maybe he'd take Jesse's," she defended herself. Now that she thought about it, maybe it hadn't been such a good idea. It had almost backfired on her relationship with Ryan. Ryan sat down in the chair, glaring at her.

"I can't tell whether to feel thankful or manipulated!"

She smiled at him hopefully. "Let's go for the first." She looked up as someone tapped on her door, and Sue leaned in. "Yes?"

"Figgins wants you," the coach said easily. Shelby sighed, standing up. She was never going to finish grading.

"Fine. Ryan, go to class." She followed Sue out of her office. "What's this about?"

"No clue, Yentl, but it's probably something to do with that farce of a glee club. It usually is. I hear Butt-Chin kicked St. James to the curb. Not the best decision, since he can barely wipe the excess hair gel off his face by himself, let alone get that glee club to win."

Shelby sighed. "Yeah."

They walked in silence for a minute. "Thanks."

"For what?" Shelby asked.

Sue gave an exasperated sigh, and Shelby smirked. "You really want me to say it? Fine. Thank you for coming to the funeral, and for standing up during the eulogy."

Shelby's face softened. "You're welcome." She had seen Sue practically falling apart at the funeral, and had gone up to support her friend-slash-enemy. Their relationship was a confusing one, but it made it all the more interesting.

"Now we are never going to speak of this again."

"Speak of what?" Shelby asked innocently as she opened the door to Figgins' office. Sue just nodded at her as they went inside. They saw Will already inside. "Hello Will, Mr. Figgins," she said lightly.

"Ah, Sue, Shelby," the principal greeted warmly. "Sit down. Now, we're here to talk about the glee club's competition in New York this weekend."

"Of course," Sue commented. "Because it's always about the glee club. Seriously, are there any other clubs in this school?"

Figgins ignored her. "As you know, the club will be spending three days in in New York. As such, I have decided that it would be better for another teacher to accompany Mr. Schuester in chaperoning the kids."

"Wait, what?" Mr. Schue asked. "I don't need anyone else to chaperone, we'll be fine."

"Will, half of your team is made up of girls. If you have problems at the hotel, you may want another female to help you," Figgins explained. That sort of made sense. "So, I have decided that either Sue or Shelby will accompany you to New York."

"I don't suppose we get a say," Sue snarked.

"Shelby, I'll take Shelby," Will said quickly. The two women smirked at the speed with which he answered.

"I'm flattered," Shelby deadpanned. "All right, I'll go." Ryan was going to love this.

Figgins smiled. "Excellent."

* * *

**Hey everyone, we're almost done with Season 2! Just Nationals next chapter. Any ideas for that one? I've got a few, but I'm open to suggestions. Maybe song choices for them to sing. I don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter up, I'm crazy busy writing my thesis. I just wrote this because I couldn't take my thesis anymore, I had to do something else. Not sure how it turned out though, so tell me your thoughts. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter. To answer some questions, yes, I'm leaning towards Ryan leaving ND next school year, so we'll see how that plays out. I hope I got the Jesse/Ryan/Shelby stuff all right. So again, leave me some reviews, and I'll see you next time.**


	65. Chapter 64

"Ryan, do you have all your things packed yet?" Shelby wandered around the house, trying to find her missing offspring. It was early in the evening, and their flight to Nationals was tomorrow morning. They were scheduled to be in New York by early afternoon. She stopped short in the doorway to the music room, eyebrows rising at the sight of her son and his girlfriend sitting on the floor in the middle of a mess of sheet music. "What did you do to my collection?"

Ryan looked up at her, a slightly manic gleam in his eyes. "We're trying to put together a proper set list for Nationals, because Mr. Schue insists on doing original songs. We haven't been able to come up with anything, and he wants us to write it tomorrow at the hotel, so we absolutely need a backup plan in case we don't come up with anything," he said, barely taking a breath between sentences. Quinn looked up at Shelby with a desperate look that almost made the brunette laugh.

"Sweetie, I think maybe you two could use a break," she suggested. "Maybe go get your things packed for tomorrow."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Please, Mom, I've been packed since last week. It's _New York_," he said, his excitement shining in his eyes. Shelby smiled in amusement.

"Okay then." She probably should have expected that. "Quinn, are you staying for dinner?"

"No, I should get going," Quinn answered, standing up. Shelby hid a smirk at the hint of relief in the blonde's face. She knew how persistent Ryan could be. "I'm having dinner with my mom."

Shelby nodded. "All right." Quinn left the room, and Shelby walked over to Ryan, her arms folded. "I don't suppose you asked Quinn if she wanted to help you in your mad quest for the ultimate set list?" she asked dryly.

"This is absolutely necessary," he argued. "Mr. Schue is being completely irrational. Who goes to the competition without a set list? It's a miracle we even have costumes."

"Oh, I completely agree with you," Shelby assured him. She had had words about this very topic with Will, but all she had gotten in response was that he believed in his kids, and that they'd be able to pull a song from thin air, or something along those lines. She had fired back with a retort that she'd believed in her VA kids too, _because_ she'd still put them through hell and back to get them ready. These kids weren't ready. Unfortunately the comment hadn't particularly endeared her to the New Directions coach. "I was just pointing out that maybe you shouldn't have dragged your poor girlfriend into your insanity."

"I didn't – never mind." He huffed, turning back to the sheets. "I don't suppose you'd like to help me?"

Shelby rolled her eyes before holding out her hand. "Let's see what you've got." A set of music was promptly handed over. "I can't help but notice these are all suited to your voice."

"Well, if anyone can pull off a solo with minimal rehearsal, it's me," Ryan answered frankly.

"How modest."

"It's true, even the other glee members said so last year at Sectionals!"

"I don't doubt it," Shelby answered. "But how about you take a break like I said, and I'll help you after dinner." The teenager looked a little too intense. "Anything in particular you're looking forward to in New York?"

Ryan lit up again, quickly distracted by the thought of their trip. "I can't wait to see everything," he said excitedly. "Times Square is going to be awesome. It's too bad we won't have time to see any shows, but just being there… wow." He looked off into the distance dreamily.

"Okay, okay," Shelby teased. "Come on, let's go have dinner."

* * *

The next day, the flight to New York City carrying the New Directions took off after a flurry of seating arrangements. Quinn was pretty sure it was harder to find a seating arrangement that pleased everyone than it was to set up the seating arrangement for a wedding reception. Fortunately she had managed to grab an aisle seat next to Ryan, who was seated at the window. "First time on a plane, right?" she teased her boyfriend, who was clutching her hand.

"Huh?" Ryan started, jerking his gaze toward her. "Oh, yeah," he laughed a bit nervously, and Quinn smiled in amusement.

"Seriously, are you okay?" she questioned. "You're squeezing pretty hard there. And I think you're hot, but you're going to lose points if you throw up on me."

Ryan immediately released his grip on her hand. "Sorry."

Quinn looked at him curiously. "Are you scared of heights?"

He shook his head. "No." He shifted a little. "It's just really cramped, and I'm a little…"

"Claustrophobic?"

"Mmhmm."

"Do you want to switch seats?" she asked, thinking that he might feel a little trapped up against the bulkhead. He shook his head though.

"I'm okay," he said quickly, fidgeting a little. He quirked a smile at her. "Besides, the clouds are nice."

"Okay." She took his hand again, reaching over with her other hand to card through his hair. "Don't worry, we'll be fine." She kissed him on the cheek, and his smile widened. Quinn smiled too as he relaxed.

"Okay."

..

A few hours later the glee club spilled through the doors of the Intercontinental New York Times Square, shepherded by a rather harassed Mr. Schue and an amused Shelby. Quinn suspected her amusement was because Mr. Schue was rather out of his depth. Check-in was done quickly, and they all headed up to the seventh floor.

"Times Square was amazing, wasn't it?" Ryan gushed to Quinn as they assembled in one of the rooms. The group had stopped for a quick lunch in the iconic area, and they had gotten their first good look at NYC. "Everything's just so much larger than life."

"Yeah, that homeless dude sure was larger than life, wasn't he?" Santana said mockingly.

Ryan rolled his eyes as Quinn chuckled. In his excitement Ryan had almost bought a bunch of tickets to _Cats_ from a homeless man in Times Square, only to be reminded by Quinn that that particular show had closed eleven years ago. "As I've said, Santana, it's not a crime to be carried away by excitement," he said with dignity.

Quinn linked her arm through his. "That's why you've got me," she said in amusement.

"My hero," Ryan deadpanned. "What would I do without you?"

"Get your card swiped through the homeless guy's butt-crack, probably," Santana piped up.

"Shut up, Santana."

"You can charge a credit card in a butt-crack?" Brittany asked from next to Santana.

"No, Britts, I was just kidding."

Kurt was flipping through the room order menu. "Do you know that I can get ahi tartare and a steak sandwich at 3 in the morning from their all-night dining menu? I feel like Eloise," he said excitedly.

"I have pills for that," Brittany said.

Mr. Schue clapped his hands as he came into the room. "All right, guys, this is your time. Now, you are all on lockdown until you finish writing our songs for Nationals. I want at least two solid verses by the time I get back."

Looks were exchanged all around the room. "Aren't you going to help us?" Tina asked in confusion, voicing everyone's thoughts. The teacher fidgeted a little. "Uh, I will be back and read your amazing creations and give notes, but right now, I have to head to the theater to… uh… fill out some paperwork."

He backed out of the room, leaving the club in surprised silence. Shelby quietly excused herself and followed Mr. Schue out. Quinn glanced at Ryan, who glanced back at her. "Now what?"

..

Shelby watched as Will told his kids to get to writing – for the competition in _two days – _before leaving the room. She stood there in shock for a second. What the hell was he doing? He wasn't supposed to leave his kids unsupervised. Though she had figured out early on that he didn't know how to chaperone a trip. Fortunately she'd had enough experience and foresight to bring motion-sickness medication just in case, and she'd managed to help him corral the kids across New York and into the hotel without losing anyone. This was insane though. "Excuse me," she said to the kids, the door closing behind her as she went after Will. "Hey, wait a second."

"Shelby –"

"I know there isn't any more paperwork to fill out, I've been doing this for four years and the only thing I needed to fill out was registration on the day of the competition itself," Shelby told him, calling his bluff. "Where are you going?"

Will sighed in defeat. "I need to go to April's show and meet with the director, okay?"

She stared at him. Dammit, Sue had been right. "You're going to leave your kids without a set list and without their advisor so you can go rub elbows with your next job prospect? What were you going to do if Figgins hadn't pushed me to come along?"

"I'll be back later tonight," Will defended as he backed off down the corridor. "Just let them write their songs, and I'll be back."

Shelby shook her head as he left. "Unbelievable." She went back into the hotel room, where the glee kids had split into little groups, discussing God knows what. She went over to Ryan, who was talking to Quinn and Tina, pulling him over to the side.

"Yes?" he asked.

"How are you guys planning to do this?" she asked. "You have less than two days to write, study, choreograph, and polish your set list for Nationals." She glanced around the room. Puck and Lauren were about to start making out, Sam and Finn were doing dinosaur impressions, and Brittany was waving a bathroom cup around with Artie. "Somehow, I don't think you're going to make it," she said dryly.

Ryan snorted. "Yes, well, our director seems to have abandoned us for a part in a Broadway play. While I can't say I completely blame him, it's rather demoralizing."

"Wait, you know?"

"Yes, there was one blog dedicated to Broadway that announced his presence in _CrossRhodes._ Not to mention those rumors in the Muckraker."

"Right…" Shelby nodded. "Well, how about you get the rest of your teammates into line? You're co-captain, right?"

"Right." He turned to the rest of the room, clapping twice. "Everyone! Everyone listen up!" The noise lessened a little. "Guys, in light of the fact that we have a minimal amount of time in which to prepare a list of songs for the Nationals competition –"

"Just get to the point," someone called out boredly.

Ryan pressed on even as Shelby frowned in displeasure. "I've put together several song options for us to choose from, as a backup plan in case we are unable to come up with two original songs in time. I propose that we select two of these songs and start rehearsing them immediately, rather than trying to write new songs from scratch."

"But Mr. Schue told us to write original songs," Finn argued. "We can't just go against him like that."

"That's right," Kurt nodded. "Not to brag, but you guys only beat us at Regionals because your songs were fresh. We need that competitive edge this time around too." Finn and a few of the others nodded in agreement. "Let's put it to a vote. Who thinks we should pick out some old songs?"

Ryan's hand went up, along with Quinn's, Brittany's, Mike's, and Tina's. Brittany nudged her unofficial girlfriend, and Santana huffed in annoyance before putting hers up as well, muttering that she would have voted for him anyways.

"And who thinks we should go ahead and write original songs?" The rest of the club's hands went up, making the vote seven to six in favor of writing their own songs.

"So, I guess that settles it," Finn said, smiling. "We're going ahead with original songs."

Shelby cleared her throat. "If I may?" Finn shrugged, and she went on. "That's a bad move. You should go with what Ryan's suggested." A burst of protest erupted from the kids. Shelby whistled sharply. "Listen up," she barked. Everyone immediately quieted down. "I may not be your coach, but I know what I'm talking about. Bear with me for a moment. What happened at Regionals?"

"We wrote our songs four days before the competition."

Finn nodded. "So we know we can do it again."

Shelby nodded. "All right. Assume we can write your songs by 8pm tonight. Highly unlikely, but let's be optimistic. How long did it take you to distribute the parts and get the vocals down?"

A lot of heads were scratched. "A couple of days, I guess."

"And the choreography?" Shelby prompted.

"A day?"

"More for Finn."

"Shut up Santana."

"Enough!" Shelby commanded. "All right. So two days for the vocals, two days for choreography. Then you sang at Regionals the next day."

"And we won."

"Yes," Shelby nodded. "You won against two show choirs with four days of preparation. You are up against 49 other show choirs, the best in America. This includes Vocal Adrenaline, who have been preparing for this since January. Or at least they would if I were still coaching," she added under her breath. "The competition is in two days and you have absolutely nothing in terms of lyrics or tune, let alone arrangement and choreography. Tell me, do you think you can win?"

The room was silent under the sobering weight of the truth. She eyed the students as they came to the realization that they weren't going to be able to write a decent song and perform it perfectly in two days.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Finn asked.

"You should listen to your co-captain," Shelby answered. "But I would suggest that you decide right now whether you can come up with your two songs in two hours. That's the only way I can see this working out. Otherwise, you need to pick two songs that you can start working on immediately."

"Guys, we can do this," Finn argued persuasively. "Mr. Schue believes in us, we can't let him down."

Ryan shook his head. "We need to be realistic about this, there is no way we're going to be able to put together a decent performance in less than 48 hours." The two boys glared at each other for a moment. Shelby watched them warily, ready to step in. Finally, Finn backed down.

"Fine. We'll try writing today, then if we don't come up with anything good, we'll pick something out tomorrow morning," he suggested, glancing at Shelby.

Shelby nodded slowly. "As I said, I'm not your adviser. I still think that's a bad decision but it's up to you."

"Then that's what we're doing."

Ryan bristled when his opinion wasn't even asked. "We will be wasting our time," he said in frustration. He shook his head as though clearing it, before straightening his posture. "But seeing as you won't listen to reason, I concede. We'll try your compromise."

..

An hour later, Ryan barged into Shelby's room after a quick knock, flopping face down on the bed. "Hello, Ryan, how's it going?" Shelby asked dryly, from where she was propped up against the headboard.

"Our best efforts have yielded the original song _My Cup_ by Brittany, which is, unsurprisingly, about a bathroom cup." He rolled onto his side, looking up at his mom. "There's not exactly a lot of inspiration in the hotel rooms," he hinted.

"Is this you trying to get me to let you guys out?"

"Maybe…"

Shelby rolled her eyes, debating for a moment. Letting the kids loose in NYC seemed to just be asking for disaster, but she couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for them after Will had practically ditched them. She stood up, tugging on the back of Ryan's collar. "Come on, get off my bed."

She headed out of the room and into the one the glee kids were occupying, Ryan scrambling behind her. "Okay, listen up," she commanded, all the teenagers immediately shutting up. Ah, power. "I've been informed of the lack of inspiration in this room. I will allow you to leave as long as all of you adhere to the buddy system." She looked every student in the eye. "All of you will keep your phones on you at all times, and you will answer them when I call. If I find anyone unaccounted for at any point during this expedition, or if I am contacted by the police, so help me God I will make your lives very, very unpleasant. Do I make myself clear?"

A chorus of 'yes's was heard all over the room. "All right," Shelby nodded. "No one is to go any further than Central Park, understand?" Another set of agreements. "Okay. Everyone needs to be back at five o'clock on the dot. You can leave now."

There was a sudden mass exodus of students from the room, and Shelby was left standing there with Ryan, who was staring at her with shock. "I didn't think you'd let us leave."

"I'm not heartless," she quipped. She usually let VA have an afternoon off to explore the venue anyways. Of course, they knew their routines forward and backward by then. "I know you all want to see New York. Go on."

"I kind of wanted to ask you something…"

"Oh?"

"I wanted to take Quinn out to dinner tonight, if that's okay," Ryan said in a rush. Shelby stared at him for a moment, making him fidget.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to refuse?"

"No," Ryan backtracked hastily. "Just… surprised. I was expecting you to be… stricter."

"Ah." Shelby nodded. "Well, I'm not your director here, or your mom. I'm just another teacher for now. And at least you asked instead of sneaking off. I'd probably let the others out too if they think of asking, I'm not a complete bitch." She smiled wickedly. "But rest assured, if you do anything untoward while we're here, life is going to be very interesting when we get back home."

He swallowed. "Noted."

..

A couple of hours later Quinn ended up in Central Park with the rest of the glee club after exploring most of Times Square. She looked around, aiming her camera at Mike and Tina, who were lying on the grass looking at the clouds. She took a shot of them before smiling in amusement as she took one of Brittany and Santana sharing a hotdog on a nearby bench. Good for them. Maybe now Santana wouldn't be such a bitch.

Suddenly Finn appeared next to her, matching her stride. "Hey Quinn."

She sighed as she looked at him sideways, his hands in the pockets of his quilted vest. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing," he said casually. "Just thought you might be kinda bored."

"I'm having the time of my life, actually."

"I was just thinking of maybe get a hotdog or something. Want to come with me?"

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Aw, come on," Finn wheedled. "Just for old times' sake." He stepped a little closer. "We were good together before, weren't we?" he asked, giving her what he probably thought was a charming grin. Quinn folded her arms across her chest, turning to face him with a glare.

"I thought you said I was a cheater and a liar?" she asked archly. He shrugged.

"Yeah, you kinda lied to me about Beth, but I forgive you. And we were together for over a year, remember? Besides, we're in New York. Time for new beginnings and whatever."

She barely refrained from rolling her eyes. "I remember. And it's great that you forgive me, but get it into your head. I do not want to get back together with you, okay?"

Finn just gave her that half-smirk he had. "If you say so." He walked off, chasing after Puck and Sam. Quinn sighed again, sitting down on the grass against a tree to look over her photos. Suddenly her boyfriend dropped gracefully onto the grass next to her, and she grinned as she aimed the camera at him, all thoughts of Finn banished from her mind. Ryan immediately smiled widely, and Quinn laughed. "Is that smile always ready in case there are paparazzi lurking to take your picture?" she teased.

Ryan laughed as well. "Can you blame me? There's one shutterbug right here." He kissed her on her nose. "You know, there's something wrong with this picture," he commented. Quinn frowned, looking back at her shot.

"What?"

"Not that one," Ryan informed her. "You've been taking photos of us. No one's been taking them of you. You won't be in any of the photos."

"Ah." Quinn smiled lightly. "Photographer's curse." Ryan shook her head, tugging the camera away from her as he pulled the strap from around her neck. "What are you doing?"

"Breaking the curse," he said innocently, directing the camera at her. "I may not be able to take shots as well as you, but I'll do what I can." He quickly snapped a photo as she shook her head in amusement, then another as she grinned. "Tina!"

"Yeah?" Tina came over to them, Mike trailing after her.

"Take a picture of us," Ryan directed, giving her the camera as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend.

"Got it," Tina smiled, setting up the camera. "Big smiles, guys. One, two, three." The shutter snapped, and Tina smiled at the photo before taking another one.

"Thanks," Quinn told her, smiling as she took the camera back, putting it down on the grass next to her. Tina nodded, wandering away with Mike. "You know, it's really nice here," Quinn said idly, leaning against Ryan as they admired the nice day.

"I know, right?" Ryan said, closing his eyes as he smiled contentedly. "I can't wait until we're here for good."

Quinn chuckled. "We, huh?"

Ryan opened his eyes, leaning away to look at her. "Well, yeah," he said. "I mean, if you want to, I suppose. I guess we haven't really talked about that yet."

"No. But it would be nice." She let herself imagine what it would be like to move here with him sometime soon. Maybe go to school here, to NYU or Columbia, spending afternoons and weekends like this, with him. She wasn't opposed to the idea at all. She gave him a spontaneous kiss.

"I just remembered," he said, lighting up. "I asked my mom if we could go out later, just the two of us, and she said yes. So I got us some reservations at Sardi's. It's an iconic restaurant. It's been open since 1927 and it's a known Broadway hangout. Plus it's where the Tony Awards were invented."

"Exciting," Quinn teased. "I can't wait."

"Me either." He stood up, offering Quinn a hand. "Come on, we still have tons of the theater district to explore," he said eagerly.

..

"These are awesome," Quinn commented that evening as she examined the small multitude of caricatures lining the walls of Sardi's. She'd been fascinated by the drawings as soon as Ryan had opened the door of the restaurant for her.

"Yes, they are," Ryan answered, pleased. He grinned widely. "I still can't believe we're actually here! Someday, they're going to put up a cartoon likeness of me on these very walls."

Quinn had no doubt about it, and she said so, smiling affectionately at her boyfriend. He was so adorable, so extremely happy about being in NYC. And he belonged here, she could see it. He was perfectly comfortable in the city, and it wasn't a stretch to imagine that he'd make it big here someday soon. She tilted her head a little. "Hey, Ry?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it just me, or does that lady look exactly like this caricature of Patti LuPone?"

Ryan's head immediately whipped around. "Ohmygod, that's Patti LuPone!" He put his head in his hands. "Oh no, oh no, oh my God, I can't do this…"

"Do what?" Quinn asked, confused. She was aware that the woman was a Broadway star – heck, she had a caricature on the wall to prove it – but she wasn't sure why Ryan was so nervous. He probably wanted an autograph or something. "Ry, you should just go talk to her."

"I – I –"

"You can do it," she said encouragingly, just as Patti LuPone got up with her escort to leave. "Now or never."

Finally Ryan got himself together and stood up. "Excuse me, uh, Miss LuPone?" he said nervously. The Broadway star stopped, turning to look at him curiously. "Um, I just have to say, I'm a big fan," he said, pushing on. "You're one of the best."

"Why thank you," the woman said, smiling slightly. "That's very sweet of you. It's not often that I meet young men your age interested in Broadway. Are you an actor?"

Ryan nodded eagerly. "Yes. I-I'm in high school."

"We're here for the National Show Choir competition," Quinn said, moving to stand next to Ryan, who gave her a quick smile. Patti LuPone smiled as well.

"I was in choir in high school," she said fondly. "It was my favorite class. What's your name?"

"Ryan Corcoran."

"Well, Mr. Corcoran, promise me one thing – that you'll never give up."

Ryan smiled. "Yes ma'am, I promise."

She chuckled slightly. "Good luck at your competition."

"Thank you."

Patti LuPone started to walk past them. "And you make a very cute couple." She left the restaurant, and Quinn tugged Ryan back to their table. As soon as they sat down he began to laugh, letting out his nerves. "I can't believe we just talked to _Patti LuPone_. And she thinks we're cute!"

"I know, I heard," Quinn said, amused, as their orders arrived. "Now let's eat."

..

"That was perfect," Quinn said, smiling as she leaned against Ryan. They were taking a leisurely walk back to the hotel. They still had a few minutes before they had to be back, and it was a beautiful night.

"All we need is a bunch of street singers for a serenade," Ryan teased, kissing the top of her head as he squeezed her hand. "But you're right. This is perfect. New York is like… falling in love over and over again," he said dreamily. They stopped in front of the hotel. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." She wrapped her hand around the tie he was wearing, tugging him down to her level for a heated kiss. She smirked a little when he moaned as she slipped her tongue into his mouth. It was fun when he took control, but she still loved being able to turn him into a squirming mess when she wanted to. She pulled away, smiling at the dazed look on his face. "You know, I've always wondered if it would be fun to do it in a hotel…" she whispered in his ear.

He swallowed, his Adam's apple jumping as his breath quickened. "I… uh…"

She smirked again, taking his hand and pulling him into the hotel, quickly heading into the elevator. Fortunately, they were the only occupants. As soon as the doors slid shut she pulled Ryan into another kiss, their tongues brushing against each other as she pressed him against the wall, rubbing against him seductively. His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer into him as the kiss deepened. She pulled away, making him huff in exasperation before kissing along his jawline. "I bet the rooms are still empty," Quinn whispered innocently, smiling as her breath hit the space behind his ear, making him shiver. They had stopped by the hotel dining room and had found the entire club still down there.

"Oh god," he moaned as she pressed her lips to the spot, brushing her tongue tantalizingly over the skin in the way she knew drove him crazy. Sure enough, he squirmed a little, his grip tightening on her waist. She deliberately ground her hips against him, making him drop his head back against the wall of the elevator with a strangled groan. "Q-Quinn –"

_Ding_.

Quinn quickly backed away, straightening her clothes into a more presentable condition before she walked out of the elevator. Ryan was still leaning against the wall, a very confused, unfocused expression on his face. She looked at him, smirking. "Are you coming?"

His eyes darkened at the question, and he quickly moved forward, only to get hit as the doors started to close. "Dammit!" She giggled at him as he hurried out of the elevator. "You're evil," he informed her. "And mean."

She laughed at him. "But you love me."

"Clearly I'm insane," he claimed. He was smiling a little though as he pulled her close.

"Yeah, you are," she agreed, still smiling. She gave him another kiss, letting herself get lost for a moment. This time he started to take control of the kiss, swiping his tongue against her lips before sliding inside. She let out a breathy sigh as her hands moved to start undoing his necktie. She vaguely registered him pressing her against a door. Suddenly his lips were on her neck and she let out a whimper as he sucked particularly hard on her pulse point. "Ryan…"

"You know, this is the girls' room," he whispered. "And no one's in there." He tried the handle. The door opened, and Quinn yelped a little as she stumbled backwards. Ryan quickly caught her though, smiling mischievously. "Seems a shame to waste the room…" he said innocently. She matched his smile.

"We are paying for it," she agreed. "Might as well make the most of it…"

Ryan laughed, kissing her on the neck again. "You read my mind." He pulled her inside, locking the door behind them.

* * *

"Mom. Mom. Mom. Wake up."

Shelby hazily opened her eyes, blinking at her annoyingly alert offspring, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, shaking her awake. "Why?" This hotel bed was rather comfortable, she hadn't been planning on leaving it at… she glanced at the clock… 6:25?! She rubbed her eyes. "Is someone dying?" Her VA kids knew better than to wake her up unless the police or the hospital were involved.

"No," Ryan answered. "We need to go eat breakfast."

"Breakfast?" she asked stupidly.

"Yes, it's a meal normally taken in the beginning of the day, dubbed by parents around the world to be 'most important,'" Ryan explained patiently. "C'mon, there's a bagel shop right across the hotel, and we're wasting our time in _New York_."

Shelby rolled her eyes, amused at the teenager's enthusiasm even while she resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn't be getting any more sleep. "Fine," she yawned. She got it, she loved New York too, and she liked the prospect of being able to share it with him. "Wait, how did you get into my room?"

"Oh, I told the front desk I had locked myself out of my mom's room, and that I really didn't want to wake her up seeing as she has an awful temper when woken up before due time." He smiled at her cheekily.

"How flattering," Shelby said flatly. "Fine. Go away, I need to get dressed."

Ryan beamed, hopping up off the bed. "I'll meet you in the lobby."

..

Soon the pair were happily ensconced in a table in front of the bagel shop, munching on their breakfasts. "This is amazing," Ryan gushed. "The bagels in Lima don't taste like this. The food last night was great too, it's like there's something in the water here."

Shelby just let him chatter on happily, a fond smile on her face. She remembered when she had first arrived in the city when she was thirteen on a family vacation, she'd been a lot like him. "Did you guys have fun on your inspiration trip yesterday?"

"Yeah," he answered, grinning. "New York's amazing. I'm definitely coming back here for college, and then straight into Broadway."

"I have no doubt." She shook off the mild sadness at the thought that he'd be leaving her so soon. "I saw you guys prancing around from the hotel window," she said mischievously.

"Oh, that," he said a bit sheepishly. "Yes, I can imagine quite a few people were looking at us strangely." They sat there in quietly for a moment before Shelby decided to bring up another topic.

"I didn't know you were claustrophobic." She had been sitting right behind Ryan and Quinn on the flight.

Ryan flushed a little. "Oh. You heard." He laughed a little nervously. "Yeah. I guess it never came up with the two of us. It's kind of stupid, I guess."

"No it's not," Shelby assured him. "I was just wondering if there was any particular reason."

He shrugged, taking a bite of his bagel. "I wasn't locked in dark closets as a child, if that's what you're wondering." Shelby couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She hadn't really though he had, but it was nice to know for sure. He was quiet for a second. "I got locked into a locker when I was in fourth grade," he muttered. "The janitor let me out after two hours."

Shelby's eyes widened at the revelation. "What – two hours?!" she exclaimed, horrified. "Why didn't anyone find you?"

"It was at the end of the day, people went home."

"Who did it?" she asked, scowling. "Did they get punished?"

Ryan fidgeted a bit before sighing. "It was Noah Puckerman and Dave Karofsky. And no, because the principal was this really conservative guy who didn't like Hiram and Leroy." He looked down uncomfortably. "Can we talk about something else now?"

Shelby clenched her jaw, fighting down her fury at the injustice. It wasn't fair, teachers weren't supposed to behave like that, and kids should know that that kind of behavior was unacceptable. But mostly she was furious with herself for not being there. She shut her eyes, trying to keep her cool, because… there wasn't anything she could do about it now. "Okay." She took a breath, opening her eyes again. "Okay." She received a small, sad smile from her son in response. "How was your date last night?"

He immediately lit up, and she had to smile at how quickly he could bounce between moods. "It went perfectly, Mom, Sardi's was fantastic, and guess what?" he said excitedly. "_Patti Lupone _was there! As in _the _Patti Lupone! And I was too nervous to go up and talk to her, but Quinn talked me into it, and she was so nice!"

"Wow," Shelby said in surprise. "I have to say, I'm kind of jealous."

"It was surreal," Ryan proclaimed. "And she was so great, when we told her we were here for the competition she told us choir was her favorite when she was in school," he grinned. "And she said Quinn and I were a very cute couple."

"Did she now?"

"Yes, we are rather photogenic," Ryan preened. Shelby laughed.

"Okay, little peacock," she teased. "So how's your progress coming along on your songs?"

Once more, Ryan's mood switched from one extreme to the other. "It's not coming at all," he grumbled. "You're right, inspiration apparently doesn't strike on command, and everyone's coming up dry. Not to mention Finn's probably the only one taking this seriously, and God knows he's not much of a songwriter."

"I'd imagine not," Shelby commented dryly. The Hudson boy didn't show any particular writing talent in his essays either. "Quinn hasn't come up with anything?"

"Not really." He sighed. "And Mr. Schue's still MIA, did he show up last night?"

Shelby nodded. He had shown up at around eleven after a cast dinner with April Rhodes. "I assume he's still asleep." She refrained from rolling her eyes, not wanting to disrespect her fellow teacher in front of his student, but honestly. She had no words. She was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not doing anything about your glee club this year. I know you wanted me to."

Ryan shrugged. "Nothing to be done about it now."

"I feel like I need to explain," Shelby admitted. "I didn't want to compete with Vocal Adrenaline right after leaving. I built that club to what it is. Sentimentality is a thing, I suppose." Ryan gave her a half-smile. "And I told you, I wanted a break from the show choir world. Mr. Schue is an exception, the rest of the competitive clubs out there, then ones you'll be competing with tomorrow, they're all cutthroat, no-holds-barred kind of competitors. Like I was. I needed a break."

"I understand. And it's okay," Ryan assured her. "Like I told Quinn, just making it to Nationals will be a plus in college applications." He sighed again. "Besides, I'm not all that happy with glee anyways."

"You know you don't have to stay, right?" Shelby asked. Sometimes she was tempted to go in and smack some sense into those kids. But that was probably illegal, and she wasn't the glee advisor anyway. But after a year of observation she had to conclude that maybe Sue did have a point and Will didn't have any clue what he was doing.

"I know." He shrugged. "I joined because I love performing, and I thought it would be something special, and it has been. They just… don't seem to appreciate my contributions." He smiled deviously. "Maybe next year, someone would be willing to start up a second glee club…"

She smirked at him. "I wonder who you could get to take on that doomed project," she quipped.

"It wouldn't be doomed," he argued. "Not if you had me on the team."

"Confident, are we?" she laughed. She shook her head, smiling. "Find yourself a booster club and a few more members, and maybe we'll be in business," she teased. Only to find her son grinning at her triumphantly.

"Challenge accepted," he said gleefully.

Dear Lord, what had she gotten herself into? "You know it's not going to be that easy, right?"

"Maybe," Ryan shrugged. "But next year's my senior year, last chance to impress the colleges. I'll find a way to make it work."

..

Soon they were back at the Intercontinental, and Shelby told Ryan to go upstairs. She made her way over to the bar, where she had spotted two familiar figures. She heard the tail end of a comment as she approached.

"My kids are at least attractive, yours look like they haven't been baked properly."

Shelby held back a snort of amusement at the comment as she came up behind an emotional-looking Will Schuester and a smug Dustin Goolsby. "Gentlemen," she greeted, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. She held back a grin as both of them flinched in surprise. "A little early to be hitting the bar, don't you think?"

"Never too early for a good whiskey, Shelby," Goolsby recovered quickly. "Besides, I was just congratulating Willie here on his upcoming Broadway debut. Sadly, he doesn't seem too happy."

"Well, congratulations to you too," Shelby said sincerely. "After all, you should have this in the bag, right, Dustin? You wouldn't want to disappoint Mr. O'Hara, he does pay most of your salary," she added easily, referring to VA's biggest booster. "I heard a little rumor last week that he's a little disappointed by the lack of inspiration this year, so I'm sure you've got something quite special for tomorrow." She took vindictive pleasure as his face paled slightly. "I'll be watching too, I'm sure you won't let my legacy go to waste, right?"

Goolsby stood up, pulling his jacket over his shoulder. "Oh, we'll – we'll do you proud. Well, good luck tomorrow, Schuester. And stop tearing up. People are looking at us. I bet they think I just broke up with you for Shelby here." He walked away, and Shelby looked expectantly at Will.

"What?"

"What do you mean, what?" she asked incredulously. "You just left your kids high and dry yesterday, now you're having a whiskey at 10 in the morning? Right now they're probably floundering because their director's abandoned them for a Broadway show."

"I haven't told them yet," Will defended. "And I won't, not until the competition's over."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I'm sure they know by now. In fact, I bet Goolsby told them." Will was way out of his league, this was the time the choir directors tried to psyche each other out in addition to the kids. So now, you need to go up there and get it together, otherwise they're going to go up on that stage tomorrow with no set list and no rehearsal."

..

Sure enough, by one o'clock that afternoon eight pizzas had been consumed and zero songs had been written. Ryan let his head fall back against the headboard in frustration. Inspiration was not striking at all. Fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on how one looked at it – Mr. Schue had finally gotten his head out of his ass and decided to be their director. He had used his reestablished position to push them into writing their songs, inspiring – or perhaps deluding – everyone into thinking they could make it. But so far they were coming up blank.

Suddenly Finn exclaimed, "I think I've got it!"

"Great," Mr. Schue said. Ryan tried to hide his irritation at the man's relieved tone. If Mr. Schue had any sense at all he would have listened when Ryan had reiterated his suggestion of just choosing some preexisting songs. "Let's hear it."

After Finn sang it, Ryan admitted that it was an okay song. He didn't think it was Nationals material, but he supposed it could do. "I was thinking we could do it as a duet," Finn concluded.

"That could work," Ryan said, working through arrangements in his head. "Who would sing it with me?"

Mr. Schue nodded decisively. "Ryan, you got the solo at Regionals, so I think it's only fair that Finn gets lead on this one."

Ryan stared at the teacher for a moment. "You're kidding me, right? Please tell me you're joking right now, because I know you're not about to risk our shot at Nationals with a lead singer who can't get past A-flat without his voice breaking."

"You're not the only good singer in here, you know," Kurt interjected boredly. "Although I think Mr. Schue is being a little unfair as well, after all, Finn didn't even audition for the lead last week."

"And who gets the female lead?" Mercedes asked.

"At this rate, we should have just brought the Hat of Fate and let it decide who sings," Ryan bit out. "Since talent obviously isn't factoring into the equation."

"I was thinking Quinn could duet with me," Finn interjected. "I mean, she did a pretty good job with Sam at Sectionals, right?"

Ryan and Quinn both stared at him. "I'm sorry, what?" Quinn asked testily. "Why would I sing a duet with you? Besides, we've got tons of better singers, hell even Santana would probably be a better choice."

"Wow, thanks, Tubbers."

"Okay, okay guys," Mr. Schue cut in. "Finn, I think that's a fine idea. Quinn, your vocals should balance out Finn's just fine. You two will nail it."

"Are you serious?" Ryan exclaimed. "The only reason they'll balance each other out is because using Mercedes or Santana would practically drown Finn's voice out, because he's not powerful enough to keep up! Sorry, Quinn," he added apologetically.

The blonde raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh-huh."

"Mr. Schuester, if you do this, you're throwing away all our chances at that Nationals trophy," Ryan tried to persuade the teacher. "I understand the need for everyone to feel special, I do, but this is not the time."

Mercedes snorted. "Please. You're just trying to hog the spotlight again."

"This isn't about me!" Ryan said angrily.

"Yeah, as much as I'd love to see Finnessa bumbling around that giant stage tripping over his giant-ass feet, I kinda wanna win this thing so we should probably have the midget sing," Santana said. "Plus, I'm the best lady-singer in here. Even Tubbers said so."

"Mr. Schue, I kinda have to agree with Santana," Tina said, shooting Santana a strange look. "Ryan's our star." Mike nodded in support of his girlfriend.

"I don't really care," Lauren interjected.

"Okay, enough!" Mr. Schue said. "It's Finn's song, so I think he should decide who gets to sing it. So we'll be doing the duet with Finn and Quinn. End of discussion. We still need to write our group number."

..

Shelby met Will outside the room a few minutes later as he headed to his own room. She stopped him. "I know we talked about how you have final say –"

"I do have final say."

"– but in my professional opinion, you are making a huge mistake," she informed him.

Will shook his head. "You're wrong. I believe in my kids, they'll pull through. They wrote great songs, and we've got this in the bag."

"Have you ever seen a Nationals competition, Will?" Shelby asked testily. "Things have changed since we competed back in the 80's. Kids are more competitive now, they're more trained. Coaches are more intense. Tomorrow, you're going to be up against 49 of the best teams in the country. You need to be at your absolute best."

"We are!"

Shelby scoffed. "Please. The competition starts in 18 hours. You just came up with a song. You have no arrangements, no choreography, no practice. And you've just sidelined your best singer."

"Look, we won Regionals the same way. And Finn's a great performer, he just needs a chance."

"We both know Ryan's the best one in there, you're ruining all of their chances by putting Finn Hudson in the lead!"

Will shot her a glare. "You're biased. Finn's just as talented as Ryan, and I told you, he just needs a chance. I started the glee club so everybody could feel special, and part of that is letting all of them have their chance to shine!"

Shelby narrowed her eyes. "_I'm_ biased? Maybe I am. But you know what I think? I think you're the one who's biased. I think Finn Hudson reminds you of yourself back when you were in high school." She stepped closer to him. "I think you regret not being able to make it out of Lima back then, so now you're doing everything you can to make sure he does. I suppose it's good in some ways, since you're trying to do what's best for him." She folded her arms across her chest, studying the other teacher. "What I don't understand is why you insist on putting down my son to do it."

"I'm not –"

"I've seen what happens in your glee meetings," Shelby cut him off. "You barely pay attention to his opinions. You let the other members of the club belittle him without even trying to stop them. You disregard his ideas but when the same idea comes from someone else you're immediately receptive. It's just wrong."

"He needs to learn that not everything revolves around him," Will shot back. "He may be talented but that doesn't automatically mean he should get every solo."

"It's not just the solos!" she exclaimed. "You blame him for the things that go wrong, and refuse to acknowledge him for the things he does right! I know you blamed him after that misguided _Push It _performance last year. You blamed him for the alcohol incident a few months ago, even though all of them got drunk. But when he does something right, you don't say a word of thanks! He got you through Sectionals last year practically by himself, he came up with your original song at Regionals, and you barely said anything to him!"

"We're a team, everyone contributes when we win," Will said angrily. "And you know what, this conversation is moot anyways, because I've already given the solo to Finn. He'll do great, and it's unfair not to give him a chance just because there's someone that's a bit more talented in the group."

Shelby raised her hands in defeat. There was no reasoning with this guy. "Fine. Your team, your choice." Her eyes hardened. "But I'm warning you, if you don't change your treatment of those kids, you're going to find yourself one student short next year."

"Are you threatening to pull Ryan out of glee?"

"I don't have to," she fired back icily. "You're pushing him out all by yourself."

"We've lost people before, I think we'll manage."

Shelby shook her head. "We'll see. Just do not come crying to me when – not if, when – you guys lose tomorrow."

* * *

The next day Quinn found herself pacing back and forth backstage as the rest of the glee club got ready. She so wasn't ready for this, she wasn't even that good of a singer. She liked singing, but she wasn't an idiot, she knew she was nowhere near as good as Ryan or Mercedes or even Santana. She wanted to throttle Finn for suggesting this and then Mr. Schue for going along with it.

She turned around, striding over to her boyfriend, who was trying to fix his tie in front of the mirror. She reached over, putting her hands on his shoulders to turn him around. "Here, let me do that for you."

Ryan obediently put his hands down, letting Quinn adjust the tie. She started doing the knot as he stood there with that upset expression on his face. After Mr. Schue had put his foot down about giving Finn the duet, Ryan had been completely silent, only participating in the group number when he was needed. She suspected he had done the musical arrangements with Shelby though.

"It's just really unfair."

Quinn sighed. "I know."

"I think I'm done," he said quietly. "I don't think I can do this for another year, it's… it hurts too much."

He cleared his throat and assembled his show face. Quinn was always impressed at how well he could school his expression. And a little saddened as well, because the face she now knew he used to cover his hurt was the one she had seen him wear every day until last year.

"I'm sorry. Here I am wallowing in my self-pity when you're about to go do the duet for Nationals." He smiled at her. "Are you nervous? You don't have to be, you're going to be great."

She chuckled, the butterflies in her stomach coming alive. "Hmm. That's sweet, but we both know I'm not that good. I should have given the duet to Santana or Mercedes." She'd actually tried but Finn had put up a fuss and Mr. Schue had told her to just suck it up. "You're the one who should be up there." She fiddled with his tie, trying to release some of her nervous energy.

"I know, I'm incredibly jealous," he said with a straight face, before his expression morphed into a sad smile that made Quinn pull him into a hug.

"I love you."

Ryan's arms tightened around her. "I love you too," he whispered. "Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine. You just go out there and rock everyone's world."

Quinn smiled at his – misplaced – confidence in her. "Okay."

..

Shelby slid into a seat in the auditorium in between the 34th and 35th performances. She looked to the side as someone sat down next to her. "Jesse, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just couldn't stay away," he said breezily. "As heartless as it may sound, I want to see how flat they fall with no rehearsal and no set list. I have a feeling it's going to be like a massive train crash. We won't be able to look away."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "You may be right." The group had managed to cobble together their group number a little before four the previous afternoon, and they had all gone to bed at around three in the morning.

"And now, our returning champions, from Carmel High in Ohio, Vocal Adrenaline!"

Vocal Adrenaline's new talent, Sunshine Corazon – Shelby vaguely remembered being accused of poaching her from Will for VA earlier that year – started them off, surprisingly, with an original song. Two songs later, Shelby shook her head.

"They're not good enough." Jesse apparently shared her judgement. "They were good but they weren't outstanding."

"Hmm." Two performances later, the New Directions were up next, and Will sat down in the seat next to Shelby. "The kids ready?" she asked neutrally.

"Yeah," Will nodded, just as flatly. "They'll do great. Fingers crossed."

"And now, from William McKinley High School, the New Directions!"

The music started up, and Finn and Quinn walked out from the wings, starting to sing. Jesse's eyebrows climbed up. "Quinn Fabray and Finn Hudson?" he asked incredulously. Shelby sighed.

"Don't ask."

_Will we ever say the words we're feeling_  
_Reach down underneath and tear down all the walls_  
_Will we ever have our happy ending?_  
_Or will we forever only be pretending?_  
_Will we always, always, always be pretending_

_How long do I fantasize_  
_Make believe that it's still alive_  
_Imagine that I am good enough_  
_And we can choose the ones we love_  
_But I hold on, I stay strong_  
_Wondering if we still belong_

The rest of the glee club came out, singing backup on the next chorus. Shelby sighed again. It was good, if they were singing at Sectionals. This was Nationals, and they weren't going to cut it. The emotion was falling flat, Finn was trying too hard, and while Quinn was doing a decent job Shelby knew her well enough to know she wasn't feeling it. And their vocals just weren't powerful enough to sell it.

_Will we ever say the words we're feeling_  
_Reach down underneath and tear down all the walls_  
_Will we ever have our happy ending?_  
_Or will we forever only be pretending?_  
_Will we always, always, always be_  
_Will we always, always, always be_  
_Will we always, always, always be pretending?_

The song came to a close with Finn and Quinn practically in each faces, and Shelby had a very bad feeling that came to fruition a second later. The entire theater fell silent as Finn leaned forward, kissing Quinn full on the lips right there on the stage. Shelby's jaw dropped along with those of the entire audience.

"Oh my God."

* * *

**Hello everyone! Yes, I'm still alive, and yes, I'm still continuing this fic. I (successfully) defended my thesis last Monday, and I will be graduating, so yay for me! Unfortunately for you guys, it meant no updates for almost a month. But I'm back now, hopefully with more time for writing. So here's the next installment, go easy on me because I'm a bit rusty; I actually had to read some of the previous chapters as I've forgotten what happened. Hopefully this made up for my absence.**

**So, we're almost done with Season 2, and any ideas on what should happen are welcome. Especially with Punk!Quinn, I have an idea of why it'll happen, but as one reviewer pointed out, she's in a much more stable place than she was in canon, so we probably won't be going down the whole insanity route. Basketball!Ryan will be back eventually. As for the reviewer who was wondering about Mr. Schue, I have some idea why he prefers Finn to Ryan. It was tackled a little between him and Shelby in this chapter, but we might see more of it in the future.**

**This chapter was actually inspired by a guest reviewer, I had something along these lines in mind, but she helped clarify how things were going to go. She's a guest, so if she's reading this, thanks. As I've reiterated many times, I'm very open to suggestions.**

**One more chapter to wrap up Season 2, and then a little bit of summer before diving into Season 3. Hope you liked this chapter. As always, typos/errors are mine as I don't have a beta. Leave me a line or two in the review box, and I'll see you guys soon!**


	66. Chapter 65

Ryan was the first one off the stage after the second number. Well, almost. He was narrowly beaten by Quinn, who rushed off the stage as soon as it was humanly possible. Ryan caught up to her backstage, not even listening to the applause as their number came to a close. "Are you okay?" he demanded of his girlfriend. "What – what the hell was that?"

"I don't know, he just – oh my God…" Quinn looked absolutely revolted. "Ryan, I didn't –"

"I know, I know," Ryan wrapped her into a tight hug. The rest of the club started to file in from the stage, and as soon as they were out of the audience's line of sight they were talking about The Kiss. Santana was swearing in Spanish with Brittany rubbing her arm, Mercedes was huddled with Kurt, no doubt already preparing what they would feed to the McKinley gossip mill.

Finn was the last one off the stage, and as soon as Ryan saw him his vision clouded over. He pushed Quinn away from with a growl, stalking forward with every intention of pounding the other boy into the ground. "Hudson –"

But Quinn beat him to the punch, quite literally. She whirled around, striding up to Finn and –

_SMACK!_

Ryan gawked with the rest of the New Directions – and the Vocal Chordz, who were competing next – as Finn stared at Quinn in disbelief, clutching at his reddening cheek. "Quinn –"

"Stop," the blonde hissed venomously. "What on God's green earth made you think that it would be even the tiniest bit okay for you to kiss me, Finn Hudson?" Her voice rose. "And not only that, you thought it would be a good idea to do it front of a million goddamn people!"

"It was a grand romantic gesture, like in those romantic movies," Finn argued. "It was epic!"

"You're even more of an idiot than I thought if you believed that," Ryan snarled.

Finn glared at him. "You just can't handle the fact that it was me up there with her and that I had the guts to go for her in front of all those people!"

"I'm right here, Finn," Quinn seethed. "Don't you think that maybe, just maybe it might have been nice to ask me what I thought of being practically assaulted with no warning onstage? And don't you think that just maybe all those times I told you to get lost, I meant that I _did not want anything to do with you at all?_"

"Besides, you just grossed out the entire theater," Santana interjected. "No one wants to see the Pillsbury Doughboy making out, Finnessa."

"Shut up, Santana," Finn said angrily before turning back to Quinn. "I know we broke up, but we were happy before! We could be awesome together again!"

"Are you deaf or just simply stupid?" Ryan demanded, getting up in the taller boy's face. "_She doesn't want you! _She wasn't happy with you, she never was! It's not her fault you're a deluded little boy who can't get over her!" he threw out, shoving Finn in the chest.

Finn shot him a nasty scowl, shoving him back roughly. "It's better than being a friendless, arrogant ass who thinks the whole world spins around him! As if anyone could want you!"

Okay, that was it. Ryan lunged forward, his fist connecting solidly with Finn's face. Finn let out a yelp, stumbling back as Ryan hit him again. He tried to throw out a haphazard punch, but Ryan deflected it easily before countering with another solid hit to Finn's jaw. The last hit sent Finn reeling backwards, and Ryan tackled him to the ground, driving a fist into his smug face. He reared back again, smashing his fist again and again into the quarterback's face in a cathartic release. It felt so damn good to finally release his frustrations and –

"Ryan, _stop."_

..

Santana watched in fascination as Ryan absolutely whaled on Finn. She was impressed, she hadn't thought the midget had it in him. Flubber had it coming of course, kissing Q up there on the stage. She would have laughed at the horrified, disgusted expression on the blonde's face after The Kiss, but the situation was serious. She looked up as the cavalry arrived. Mr. Schue, Miss Corcoran, and – WTF – Jesse St. James came rushing into the room. Mr. Schue, useless as he was, just froze at the sight. Miss Corcoran took a second to take everything in, before cutting out a single command. "Ryan, _stop._"

Ryan immediately froze, and a second later Mike and Sam were pulling him off of Finn. Jesse simply leaned against the wall. "How dramatic," he commented drolly.

"Shut up, Jesse," Miss Corcoran snapped, as Will rushed over to help Finn up. "Okay, everyone outside," she commanded, glaring at the kids from the other glee clubs, who quickly scurried away. The New Directions plus Jesse quickly obeyed, shuffling into a nearby empty office.

"What happened?" Mr. Schue demanded. Miss Corcoran rolled her eyes, mirrored by Santana. Wasn't it obvious? "Finn, are you okay?"

"Mr. Schue, did you see that?" Finn exclaimed, hand cupped around his bleeding nose. "He attacked me!"

_Oh, hell no._ Finnept was not going to pin this on the midget. Apparently other people agreed, since immediately a whole bunch of voices started clamoring with their own versions of the story. Ryan started forward again, only to be held back by Mike. "You deserved it, you –"

"Okay, enough!" Miss Corcoran called out sharply. All babbling instantly ceased. She quickly made her selection. "Brittany, what happened?"

Santana nodded, satisfied. Brittany would tell things the way it happened. The blonde dancer looked at the teacher. "Well, after we got off the stage Quinn went over and slapped Finn, 'cause he was being a jerk. Then she started yelling at him. Then Finn and Ryan started to call each other some mean names, and Ryan jumped on Finn. But not in the fun way."

"See, they started it," Finn said petulantly.

Quinn scowled. "Excuse me?" she hissed sharply. "If anyone started this whole mess, it's you!"

"If I recall correctly, _you kissed my girlfriend,_ then you called me a self-centered, friendless, arrogant ass! I hardly think it was unprovoked!" Ryan fired back.

"Okay, enough!" Mr. Schue shook his head. "Ryan, that was very disappointing. Violence is never the answer."

"He had it coming!" Ryan retorted. "He kissed my girlfriend without her consent, probably costing us the competition. And I seem to recall that you have no problem with violence when it comes to infidelity," he added nastily. "When Finn was using Puck's face as a punching bag before Sectionals last year I don't remember you ever doling out any disciplinary action."

"He's kinda got a point," Puck mumbled.

"And," Ryan continued. "he needs to get it through that thick head of his that Quinn told him to back off! No means no, Hudson, and you need to fucking stop!"

"We're not talking about last year, we're talking about now," Mr. Schue said sternly. "Apologize to Finn right now."

Okay, this was getting to be too much. Was he really not going to address the idiocy committed by Hudson the sack of lard? Santana opened her mouth, ready to start swearing at the curly-haired teacher in Spanish. It looked like Quinn and Miss Corcoran were gearing up for a rant too, but all of them were preempted by a single word.

"No."

The entire assembled audience stared at Ryan. "No?"

"No," Ryan said simply. "I will not apologize for what just happened. He was asking for it."

Teacher and student glared at each other, the rest of the room watching in apprehension. Even Santana was in shock. Mr. Schue tried again. "You need to apologize to Finn right now or I'm going to have to suspend you from glee."

Ryan barked out a laugh. "You're going to suspend me?" he asked rhetorically. "Then where would you be? You need me."

Mercedes scowled. "We've got loads of great singers here, we'd do just fine without you."

"Oh really? Because I just spent two hours last night arranging your rather simplistic songs," Ryan shot back. "Or did you think the harmonized voice parts magically appeared in our room this morning? I've been arranging half our music for the past two years, but you never noticed that, did you?"

Several surprised looks appeared, and Santana had to keep from uttering an _ohhh. _So that was where all their arrangements came from. And here she thought there was some kind of Keebler elf doing it for them when they all went home after school.

"That doesn't mean you automatically get all the solos," Finn bit out. "Let's face it, you do think everything around here revolves around you."

"Oh, I do, do I?" Ryan said menacingly. "Maybe you're right, I do tend to fight for the solos. Solos that I deserve, I might add, since I'm the one who puts in the most practice out of any of us. How often do you rehearse at home? An hour a day?" He scoffed. "And you're right, maybe I'm self-centered. I'm so self-centered that I try to help you improve your voices, even if I am lacking in tact sometimes. God forbid I actually try to help you people," he said sarcastically. "And let's not forget how my selfishness extends outside of glee. In fact, I'm so self-centered that I came up with an idea to help out the football club to keep them from forfeiting the State Championship."

"Well, technically the girls saved the football club," Kurt inserted. Ryan whirled on him.

"Don't even get me started on you," he snarled, before laughing bitterly. "But obviously you've forgotten who it was that interceded when Karofsky was bullying you. Do you think Karofsky backed down from bullying you just because he decided to become nice overnight?"

_Well, now that he put it that way_, Santana mused. Yeah, the hobbit was annoying, but he really came through sometimes. Scratch that, most of the time. Hell, he'd even helped her with Brittany.

"All right, enough!" Mr. Schue declared. "Ryan, just apologize to Finn, and we can all go back outside and watch the competition. If not, then I'll have to suspend you."

Ryan was silent for a moment. "You don't have to do that. I quit."

Wait, what? Mr. Schue – and the rest of the club – looked at him in disbelief. "You what?"

"I believe you heard me," Ryan said decisively. "I will no longer be participating with the New Directions. I have no desire to be a part of a group that favors certain students over others. For two years I have been constantly doing everything to improve our chances at winning, but apparently my input is undesired. When I try to give constructive criticism, I'm called arrogant. When I push for more rehearsals so we can be more prepared, I'm called obsessed. And those are two of the nicer terms. I've been called so many derogatory names _under your nose_, I've been slushied and thrown into dumpsters right in front of you, and you never once did anything to stop it!"

Mr. Schue's face flushed at being called out like this, and Santana felt a strange feeling rush through her. Was this what guilt felt like? It was weird. And not pleasant. Now she was thinking back to all those slushies she'd tossed in the midget's face in freshman year, and all those times she'd called him rude names. Yeah, she still did, but now it was different.

"Everyone had it bad," Kurt pointed out.

A twisted smile appeared on Ryan's face. "You're right, you especially had it bad, didn't you?" he asked almost mockingly. "Got shoved up against the lockers a few times, and everyone just rallied around you, making you feel so special. Try getting stuffed inside a locker for two fucking hours without anyone coming to help you, and let's see how you feel! Or try getting trapped inside a dumpster, knowing nobody's about to open it!"

Ryan turned back to Mr. Schue. "You talk a good game about how we're a family, but that's not completely true, is it? You want everyone to feel special. Except for me, of course. You constantly take away my solos even though I've worked hard for them. Do you have any idea how badly I want to win this? How well we do in these competitions affects my future, which is why I'm constantly trying to push us to be better. But you ignore my ideas, then happily accept them when they come from one of your favored students. The original songs were my idea, and you shot me down until Finn suggested it. You even poach my smaller ideas, like the entrance from the back of the auditorium that you used at Sectionals this year. I know you got that from my entrance last year. You constantly praise everyone in this glee club when they do a good job, and yet you barely say anything when I do an exceptional one."

"It can't have been that bad. If we've treated you so badly, why did you stay?" Finn challenged.

Ryan looked down before looking at him defiantly. "I joined because I love to perform, and I stayed because it used to be the closest thing I could get to being accepted, even though I wasn't. Not really."

"You could have said something," Puck pointed out.

Ryan shook his head. "And would you have listened?" he questioned. "Do you think if I had ever said anything, you would have stopped? I think you would have laughed, and carried on as usual. After all, I was just the son of two fags, aren't I?" He threw back the words Puck had used barely two years ago, just before tossing him into the dumpsters. "I thought maybe if I gave you time, maybe you'd come around. Maybe if I helped you woo Lauren, maybe if I let Sam win a contest, maybe if I gave Mercedes all that crap she asked for at the benefit concert… But you people never accepted me the way you did Artie, or Mercedes, or Kurt. Kurt even defected to another team, and still you welcomed him back with open arms. Ask yourselves, if I had done that, what would you have done?" He laughed humorlessly. "I have helped out each and every one of you when you needed it, and you all threw it back in my face! I'll bet VA's egging would have seemed tame compared to what you would have done.

"So you know what? I'm done. You obviously have no respect for me, or my talent, and I've figured out that I don't deserve this. I'm done with you and your double standards. You may think you don't need me, and you may be right. But I know for certain I don't need you. I'm confident enough in my own abilities for that. So I thank you for your derision and your lack of respect, but as of now, I am no longer a part of the New Directions. I realize that means I won't be a part of your placement at Nationals, but after that spectacle onstage, I highly doubt you'll get anything above fifteenth place."

He gave Mr. Schue one last scathing look, before spinning on his heel and storming out of the room. Quinn leveled an icy glare at Mr. Schue. "He's right," she said coldly. "You should be ashamed of yourselves."

"Weren't you the one leading the slushy charges before?" Mercedes asked.

"Exactly. And he's forgiven me for that, which means he's obviously willing to hand out chances like free candy," Quinn returned. "He's too forgiving, actually. And for him to say all that, he's serious. After what we all did to him I can't blame him." She turned to Finn. "So this is the last time, Hudson. Stay the hell away from me." She turned and followed Ryan out of the room. Santana thought Finnocence might be frostbitten from Quinn's parting shot.

Miss Corcoran cleared her throat as she surveyed the remaining students before settling her eyes on Will. "Well. I hope you enjoyed that."

"He's right, you know," Jesse chimed in. "That kiss was completely unprofessional, and obviously one-sided. I'm pretty sure the only reason Quinn didn't slap Finn here onstage was shock. I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan was being optimistic. You'd be lucky to get twentieth place with that stunt."

"Where are you going?" Mr. Schue asked as Miss Corcoran went for the door.

"Have a guess," she answered dryly. "Besides, you don't need me here. I don't have a say, after all, and I think Ryan covered everything important." She gestured at Finn's bleeding nose and rapidly bruising face. "I'd get some ice for that, if I were you."

..

Quinn found Ryan on one of the benches in the building's lobby, scowling angrily at the floor. She made a quick detour at the nearby concession stand for a Ziploc bag and a cupful of ice before heading over to him. "Here," she said, dumping the ice in the bag and handing it to him. "For your hand."

Ryan looked at the bag for a moment before taking it and pushing it against his slightly bruised right hand. "Thanks," he said quietly. Quinn sat down beside him, and he immediately shuffled closer and leaned his head on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"No."

They sat there silently for a little while. "It's just, who the hell does he think he is?" Ryan asked. "How come he thinks he can just kiss you like that in front of a billion people? I mean, even if we weren't together, that's completely disrespectful to you and insanely unprofessional. I wouldn't be surprised if we dropped ten rankings because of that stupid stunt."

Quinn had to hold back a small laugh, because of course he was more concerned about the performance. "I know." She patted his hand. "But I'm proud of you."

"You are? Why?"

"Because you really stood up for yourself against Finn, and Mr. Schue, and even Kurt and Puck." She gave him a kiss. "I think you're awesome, but I think you're too nice sometimes. I'm glad you finally let those idiots have it."

Ryan gave her a small smile. "It did feel good," he admitted. "It wasn't too brutal, was it?"

"If it was, they deserved it," Quinn said dismissively. "Even Santana was surprised. Seriously, she was speechless. I thought she was going to go all crazy and start swearing in Spanish or something." Ryan gave a small chuckled. "Did you really mean that? About quitting glee?"

He nodded firmly. "Yes. Yes, I did. I've been thinking about it for a while," Ryan told her. She nodded, remembering that he had in fact told her that he didn't really see any reason to stay anymore. "I'll just find other things to occupy my time. Senior year's coming up, and I don't want to spend it with a bunch of people who don't appreciate me."

Quinn smiled, leaning against him. "That's good. You know you're meant for so much better than Lima. And I know you'll be awesome, even without the glee club."

He gave her a mischievous smile. "I know."

"Modest."

"I am that, aren't I?" Ryan agreed. She pushed him playfully in the arm. His smile faded a little. "I… that kiss… it didn't really mean anything, right?" he asked hesitantly. Quinn drew back a little, frowning.

"You know it didn't. I can't believe you'd even ask me that," she said with a twinge of hurt.

"I know," he said softly. "I just really need to hear you say it."

Quinn sighed, taking his face in her hands. "That kiss meant absolutely nothing. I promise." She kissed him on the lips, closing her eyes as he responded, kissing her almost roughly, possessively. She pulled back a moment later, meeting his slightly dazed eyes. "I love you. You're the only one I want to kiss, okay?" She smirked a little. "All Finn made me want was to brush my teeth. A lot."

Ryan let out a reluctant huff of amusement at that as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Huh. Maybe you're right. You should go brush your teeth before I kiss you again, you're getting his cooties all over me." Quinn rolled her eyes, letting him go. He looked at her, love and adoration shining in his brown eyes, and she felt herself melt. "I love you too."

Just then they spotted Shelby walking over. "You two okay?" She glanced down at the partially-melted ice bag. "Where did you get that?"

"Quinn got it for me," Ryan answered. Shelby nodded, smiling approvingly at Quinn.

"Good." She studied the blonde for a moment. "Are you okay?"

Quinn considered for a moment. Mostly she felt disgusted, and not just a little bit violated. "I'm still kind of grossed out," she admitted. Not to mention embarrassed, who wanted to be blitzed like that in front of an audience? There were probably recordings going up online as they spoke. She didn't even want to think about that right now.

"Uh-huh." Shelby looked between them again. "How about we get out of here?" she suggested. "I know a pretty good diner not far from here. Unless you want to go back in and watch the rest of the competition."

The two teenagers glanced at each other. "I think we've had enough of that for now," Ryan admitted. Quinn nodded.

"Okay, let's go."

..

Soon the three of them had taken over a small booth in a hole-in-the-wall dinner a five-minute walk away. Shelby had gotten them a large order of churros to split, along with a round of drinks. "These are great," Ryan said appreciatively, munching on one of the snacks. "How did you find this place?"

Shelby thought for a moment. "Holly and I stumbled across it one night when she was visiting. We were out late, and it started pouring outside. Of course, neither of us had umbrellas, so we dashed into the closest door we could find, which turned out to be this place."

"So did you become a regular here?"

"Not really, I couldn't find the place when I tried afterwards," Shelby admitted. No need to admit that she and Holly had been slightly inebriated that night and had gotten partially lost. "But one of my castmates brought me back a few months later. Then it became a sort of once-a-month thing or so."

"I wonder what kind of adventures we'll be having when we move here," Ryan said thoughtfully.

"What shows were you in?" Quinn asked curiously.

"Hmm." Shelby swallowed thoughtfully. "Quite a few actually, spread out over eight years. I did _West Side Story, Chess_… I was in some lesser known ones. None of them ever made it to Broadway though, and as you know, I never got the parts for the Broadway shows." She paused. "I auditioned for _Wicked_, you know."

The kids' eyes widened. "Really?"

Shelby smiled nostalgically. "Yep. They narrowed it down to three of us. I didn't make the cut though."

"That's too bad," Quinn said.

"It was a long time ago." Shelby smiled at the memories, before turning back to the present. "So, how do you feel about quitting the glee club?"

Ryan chewed thoughtfully on his churro before swallowing. "I feel… liberated," he said. "Obviously they feel they don't need me, and I don't need them. It's like a weight is off and I'm free."

"Glad to know we were such a ball and chain," Quinn said sarcastically.

"You know I don't mean you."

"Uh-huh."

Shelby just smiled as she sipped her coffee. The two of them made a cute couple. Heck, even Patti LuPone had thought so, apparently.

"Wonder when the results are coming out," Ryan mused.

Just then, Shelby's phone chimed, signalling a text from Jesse. "Right now, actually."

"So what did we place?"

"21st." Shelby looked at Quinn apologetically. The blonde just shrugged.

"I sort of expected that."

"VA placed second, if you're interested," Shelby offered. It was a little disappointing, but gratifying as well. It was nice to know that her coaching was part of the winning formula. They hadn't won without her after all.

"I suppose the vindictive part of me is doing a wild victory dance inside," Ryan admitted. "But I still wish we could have at least placed."

Shelby sighed. "I'm sorry, Ryan." She thought they might have at least placed in the top ten if Will hadn't been se obstinate about having Finn as lead. Plus Ryan would never have pulled any sort of idiotic stunt onstage. Honestly, who would think that ambushing someone onstage with a kiss would be a good idea? The boy was lucky Quinn hadn't slapped him.

"I did enjoy finally slapping the big oaf though."

Oh. All right, he was lucky Quinn hadn't slapped him onstage.

Ryan chuckled. "Yes, I will admit that finally getting to hit him was incredibly cathartic. I've been wanting to do that since Valentine's Day and that stupid kissing booth. I'm not an advocate of violence but that was incredibly fun."

Shelby shook her head. "As a responsible adult teacher and parent, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear any of this."

A few minutes later Ryan headed for the restroom, leaving Shelby with Quinn. She looked at the blonde appraisingly. "Are you okay?"

Quinn shrugged. "I kind of expected to be dead last, so 21st is actually pretty good."

"Not about that."

"Oh." She was quiet, twisting a paper napkin in her hands. "I don't know." They were quiet for a second. "I just…" She let out an exasperated laugh. "I just feel so stupid. I mean, I froze. On the stage. I didn't slap him, I didn't push him away, I just… froze."

"Understandable," Shelby said. "I'm sure it was shocking. It sure shocked the rest of us into silence."

Quinn shut her eyes. "I just feel so embarrassed… and ashamed… I should have stopped him…"

"It's not your fault," Shelby told her firmly. "It's Finn's. He shouldn't have done that. And you stood up for yourself. I'm glad you slapped him. He should know that what he did wasn't okay. And don't tell Ryan, but I'm glad he got in a few hits too."

Quinn let out a ghost of a smile. "I guess."

Shelby contemplated her for a moment. "I'm not going to tell you what to do," she said carefully. "But with that many witnesses, you have grounds to charge him for sexual assault." Quinn stared at her. "Again, I won't tell you what to do, but if you do, you need to consider it seriously. It would have extensive repercussions for him, and his future."

"I… okay." Quinn nodded. "Thank you for telling me."

Ryan chose that moment to slide back into the booth. "What did I miss?"

Shelby gave Quinn another look before smiling at her son. "Just discussing who should get the final churro."

..

Soon the three of them were back at the hotel. Will and the rest of the glee club had beaten them there, and Ryan had just moved his things into Shelby's room with Mike's help, claiming that he couldn't stomach spending the rest of the stay in the same room with Finn. Shelby had agreed, wanting to avoid any further conflict, and had gotten management to set up an extra cot in the room.

"Are you really not mad?" Ryan asked nervously.

"About the room? I don't mind sharing for a night," Shelby told him.

"Not about that," he said quietly. "About the fight."

Shelby sighed, sitting down next to him on the sofa that came with the room. "While I understand why you did it, I'm not happy that you decided to use violence to resolve the issue," she said slowly. She couldn't blame him at all, actually, especially since she also wanted to punch Finn, and Will too for good measure. She had no idea how that man managed to become a teacher at this point.

"So am I in trouble?" he wanted to know. "Technically, you're not my parent on this excursion, so it would be unfair of you to dole out any disciplinary action. I mean, Finn is hardly getting grounded, is he? Also, it wasn't completely my fault, since I think my anger was highly warranted. And we're in _New York_."

She smiled in amusement as he rambled. He was right, technically she was just a teacher here. At times like these it was difficult to delineate between her role as a teacher and her role as a parent. "I won't be handing out any sentences here," she decided. It would probably be cruel to keep him in the hotel for the rest of the stay in the city. "But when we get home, you're in charge of cleaning the bathrooms and the kitchen for a week, got it?"

A mutinous look appeared on his face as he mulled it over for a moment. She arched an eyebrow at him. "Fine," he said a bit grudgingly.

"Good. So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?" Shelby asked. Ryan thought for a moment. Quinn had opted to catch up on sleep in the girls' room, while the other kids were off God knows where moping. He didn't particularly care right now.

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "There are quite a few sights I still want to see. It's too bad we don't have time to watch a show." He was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry."

Shelby stopped walking. "For what?"

"About…" Ryan hesitated. "That New York didn't work out back then."

She gave him a small smile. "Don't be. It was a long time ago."

Ryan was quiet for a moment. "Actually... I'm not," he confessed. "Because… if you had gotten that part, then you'd be here, not in Ohio. And if you were here we never would have found each other. I'm kind of glad you didn't get it." He looked at her guiltily. "Does that make me a bad person?"

"No, of course not," she assured him. "Yes, it was disappointing that I never got where I thought I wanted to be. But I am so happy that I got my chance with you. I'm happy with how things are. Granted, it's not where I thought I'd be when I was your age," she admitted. "I like my life now. And you're a big part of that." She tapped his chin with a smile, getting one back in return. "Besides, that just means you'll have to be the one to get both of our dreams. And I have no doubt you will."

He smiled lopsidedly. "Oh, I will. And you'll be the first one I thank when I go up to accept the Tony for Best Actor."

"I better be."

..

"Can't believe that stupid moron got us bumped to _fucking 21st place_," Santana groused as she chomped on a breadstick in the hotel restaurant at dinner that evening. The New Directions had split up, with Ryan, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Tina, and Mike rounding out their table.

"Well, I think you let plenty of your feelings out upstairs," Tina said dryly. Quinn smirked. Apparently, upon returning to the hotel, Santana had gone crazy on Finn, raging at him in Spanish. It had taken the three other boys to hold her back and keep her from finishing Ryan's beatdown on the quarterback.

"Yeah, I'm kind of sorry to have missed that," Ryan commented.

"You should have seen it, dude, it was epic," Mike grinned.

"Of course it was," Brittany said. "Santana's hot."

Quinn smirked again as Santana blushed. The Latina cleared her throat. "Yeah, whatever." She had a pleased smile on her face though. She raised her soda. "Let's all have a toast to Q and the Hobs, for finally doing what everyone in this club has felt like doing for ages."

"I'll drink to that," Ryan smirked.

An hour later the club had dispersed again, and Quinn ended up on the balcony of Shelby's room with Ryan, looking out over Times Square. "You're really okay, right?" she blurted out suddenly. Ryan frowned uncomprehendingly. "With what happened," she tried to clarify. "I mean… you're really not mad?"

Ryan's face softened as he understood. "No, Quinn, of course not. I'm not mad. Well, I'm still kind of mad at Finn, but not at you. It wasn't your fault."

"I just thought, after what happened with Sam –"

"That was different," he said abruptly. "I told you, I wasn't mad that he tried to kiss you, I was mad that you didn't tell me." He frowned. "Now that I think about it, you do seem to attract a lot of unwarranted kisses." He gave her a mischievous smile. "I totally get it though. I mean, I want to kiss you all day too." He leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers and drawing a smile from the blonde.

"Mmm, me too," she agreed, moving forward for another kiss. "Among other things," she added with a smirk as she traced her hand down his chest. Ryan caught her hand, shivering a little.

"You do remember that my mom could show up at any time, right?" he asked, nodding at the hotel room.

"Hmm, you're right, you are pretty loud," she said innocently. His jaw dropped in indignation.

"Excuse me, I don't think I was the loud one two nights ago," he scoffed. "_Oh god, oh god Ry, right there_," he mimicked in a high pitched voice. Quinn slapped him on the arm, flushing.

"Shut up," she scolded. "I do not sound like that!"

Ryan laughed. "You're right, you sound way sexier than that," he chuckled, getting another slap on the arm. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. "I love it."

Quinn rolled her eyes but let him kiss her again. He slid his tongue teasingly against her lips before pushing in. His eyes fluttered shut as he took his time, before she pushed him back gently. She did not particularly want Shelby to catch them making out on the balcony. After a moment she spoke again. "You know I'm leaving glee too, right?"

Ryan glanced at her. "You don't have to do that," he said. "I know you love it too. Granted, maybe not as much as I did, but I know you enjoy it. I wouldn't want you to give it up on my account."

She shook her head firmly. "No. You're right, I loved it, but after what happened… I can't stay. Besides, it won't be as much fun without you there."

He smiled a little, unable to help it. "I'm sure some of the others would disagree." They were probably ecstatic to be rid of him.

"Well, they're idiots. I think you're awesome." She poked him in the side, and he grinned.

"I think you're awesome too." He grinned mischievously. "Want to see if the girls' room is still empty?"

She smirked back. "You read my mind."

* * *

Principal Figgins sighed tiredly as he saw the small parade of people marching into his office. The glee club had gotten back from their ill-fated trip to New York after placing 21st out of fifty. The principal had had a token banner printed up and hung in one of the corridors – after all the drama regarding glee over the years he was rather invested – and had been looking forward to his upcoming vacation with his twin sister next week. Unfortunately, Will Schuester couldn't seem to resist one last piece of drama before the year ended.

He watched Ryan Corcoran and Finn Hudson with their respective parents settling in the seats around his office, the trail ending with Will Schuester and Shelby Corcoran.

"All right," Burt Hummel spoke from his seat beside his wife. "What's this all about?"

Figgins cleared his throat. "Will has brought it to my attention that an altercation occurred at the Nationals competition in New York, and has urged for quick disciplinary action."

"Against who, exactly?" Figgins recognized the speaker as Ryan Corcoran's father whom he had met at a similar meeting a few months ago.

"Against Ryan, Mr. Walker." Figgins could see quite plainly that Finn Hudson's face was the one that was messed up, sporting a nice motley of bruises. "Apparently he instigated the fight backstage, as Mr. Schuester says."

"Excuse me?" Shelby said disbelievingly. "Did Mr. Schuester also say that Finn Hudson kissed Quinn Fabray on the stage of the competition during their performance, and then went backstage and continued to disrespect her and my son?" She shot Will a nasty look.

Figgins fought the urge to facepalm. Uh-oh, this wasn't going to be pretty, was it? He didn't regret hiring Shelby Corcoran – English grades were up all around this year – but the woman was as dangerous as Sue Sylvester. "William only brought up the issue of the backstage fist fight, Miss Corcoran."

"That's the important part," Will argued, standing next to Figgins' desk. "Look at Finn's face!"

"Yeah, he's the one who started it," Finn burst out. "He tackled me!"

"Finn," Carole Hudson-Hummel snapped.

"All right, so maybe I did tackle you," Ryan said. "But I did not start it, you started it by kissing Quinn when she didn't want you to, and I actually remember that you shoved me first!"

"Ryan." Now Shelby gave her son a warning look.

"This is totally unfair," Ryan complained rebelliously. "I'm already getting punished at home, and now I have to deal with this. I mean, no one went to the principal's office last time!"

"Well, maybe that was a mistake on my part," Will said.

"Oh, _now_ you admit it was a mistake," Ryan said snarkily.

"Ryan," Shelby repeated warningly, before standing and turning to her fellow teacher. "But he does have a point. Other students have confirmed that when Finn here jumped Noah Puckerman last year, the school neglected to act. Also, where's Quinn Fabray?"

"What?" Will asked, confused. "Why would we call her here?"

James Walker rolled his eyes, and Shelby scowled before answering. "Well, she did slap Finn," she said slowly. "Plus, after that onstage debacle, she's a wronged party here too. Finn's not exactly innocent in the whole affair."

"It was just a schoolboy crush, it's not important!"

"Not important?" Shelby asked incredulously, anger rising. "Finn kissed her without her permission, if we wanted to we could classify it as sexual assault! And besides, by that logic, what happened backstage was just a schoolboy fight, so no need for this three-ring circus!"

Everyone else in the room just watched in apprehension as the two teachers glared at each other venomously. Figgins just hid behind his desk, fearful of the angry sparks practically flying off the two. Finally James cleared his throat, standing up. "Alright, maybe we should just take a step back," he said, his voice soothing but with a bite of command. He put a hand on Shelby's arm, tugging her back a little. She backed down after a second, still glaring at Will. James glanced at the glee director. "Mr. Schuester, I'm sure you're not insinuating that forcing a kiss on an unsuspecting person is good behavior," he said evenly, piercing the man with a steely look.

William flinched a little at the cold tone, shaking his head. "Well, no, but it's a minor issue compared to the actual physical assault, isn't it?"

"Actually, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one," Burt Hummel cut in. "Should they have just talked it out? Yeah, I guess. But boys will be boys, and stuff like this happens. The fight isn't what we're concerned about." He shot Finn a look. "We're more concerned about why Finn thinks it's okay to kiss people without their permission."

"We've already talked, and I'm sure this won't happen again, right Finn?" Carole gave Finn a look, and the football player looked down. "Besides, they've only got three days of school left, it doesn't really make sense to do anything now."

"That's right," Shelby nodded. "I think we can handle this at home. I think Ryan's gotten the message that fisticuffs are not the correct way to deal with things, correct?" She looked down at Ryan who quickly nodded. "I trust you'll deal with this as well?" she looked at Carole expectantly.

"Oh, we'll be dealing with this for sure," the other woman said grimly, looking at her son.

"Excellent," James said. "Now since that's all cleared up, how about we all get out of the principal's hair?"

Figgins was more than a little relieved at this resolution, but Will didn't seem to like it. "But –"

"William, this solution is pleasing to all," Figgins said firmly. "The year is about to end, and we would prefer to do so without this latest scandal on our hands. The issue can be dealt with privately." He nodded at the two sets of parents, who nodded back with a thank you. Will sighed angrily before following them out, and finally Figgins was able to relax.

Twelve more years until retirement.

..

James followed Shelby and Ryan out of the principal's office, along with Burt, Carole, and Finn. Finn quickly left after a quick goodbye to his mom and Burt. Ryan looked guiltily at Carole and Burt. "I'm sorry."

Carole gave him a small smile. "No lasting harm done," she assured him.

"You should be getting to class too," Shelby spoke up, touching him lightly on the arm. Ryan glanced at James, who nodded.

"Go on, we'll see you later, buddy," he said reassuringly, patting him on the back. Ryan nodded slowly before heading off to his locker.

"I just wanted to apologize for the damage too, to Finn's face," Shelby told Carole and Burt. "Ryan got a little carried away before we got there."

Carole nodded. "It's fine. Finn's been in his share of scrapes too. No permanent damage."

"Do you need any help with hospital bills or anything?" James offered.

"Thank you, but no," she smiled slightly. "I'm a nurse, I've had him checked over and he's fine." She hesitated. "I actually wanted to apologize too." She sighed. "Finn has some problems with understanding… when to stop. I'm not making any excuses for him, but he's had a hard time, without his dad… Burt and I just got together last year."

Shelby sighed. "I can't say it's okay, because it's not. Quinn was pretty upset after it happened."

"Well, I can't say I understand why my son is still after that girl after what happened last year," Carole said, a touch of ire in her voice. "But regardless, what he did was wrong, and I've spoken to him about it." She glanced at her husband. "I was thinking of finding him a therapist as well."

Burt nodded. "Kid seems to have a slight attitude problem."

"That could do him some good," Shelby said. She checked her watch. "I have to go, I have a class in five minutes."

"Yeah, us too, I gotta go open up the shop," Burt added. "Tell Ryan if he wants more hours over the summer he can just show up whenever he likes." He and Carole headed for the school's exit, and Shelby turned to James.

"That went well," he said thoughtfully.

"I guess so." Shelby reached up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you at home?"

"Yeah." He gave her a quick hug before letting her leave for her class. He stood there for a moment before asking a student to direct him to the Spanish classroom. Heading over, he spotted Will Schuester coming down the hall. "Mr. Schuester? A word, if you please?"

The man sighed before gesturing him into a nearby empty classroom. "What is it?"

James stared him down, unimpressed. "I just wanted to make things clear. Your bullying of my son is going to stop, right now."

Will puffed up angrily. "I am not –"

"Cut the crap, Schuester," James said sharply. "I know what's been going on, he's told us. You don't support him, and you favor the other students over him." He let his lip curl a little. "I've known loads of teachers like you. You have your favorite students and you ignore the rest of them. And you have one student that you make it your mission to put down." He had met plenty of Will Schuester's kind when he had moved from school to school growing up, teachers who had looked down on him for falling behind year after year. Ones who hadn't thought he was worth their time for something he couldn't control. "I won't let you do that to my kid. Not anymore."

"I haven't done anything wrong."

"Haven't you? You just tried to have him disciplined for something that wasn't completely his fault, while sugarcoating your pet student's role in the whole damn mess." James moved closer, smirking inside when Will moved back nervously. "If this happens again the school board is going to hear quite a bit about you."

He saw a bit of fear in the teacher's eyes as he tried to regain his bravado. "Are you blackmailing me?"

"Of course not. Feel free to tell everyone what I just said. I'm telling you to do your fucking job," James growled. "You're supposed to take care of your students. Fortunately Ryan's not taking your class, and he's out of glee now. But if I hear about you giving him shit next year, you just might be out on your ass looking for a new job. Understand?"

Will swallowed before nodding. "Yes."

"Good."

* * *

The next day Quinn headed to her locker, intent on pulling out her stuff for the summer. She was just stuffing a set of notebooks in her bag when she sensed someone beside her. She looked up, her face darkening at her companion. "What do you want?"

Finn stared at her, watching her taking her things. "I just wanted to talk."

"Well, I don't," she bit out. "So you need to back the hell off. I am sick of saying it, Hudson, so leave me alone!"

"Just tell me, why him?"

Quinn blinked. "What?"

"I know you're doing it," Finn said angrily. "Why are you letting him have sex with you when you never even let me get to second base? Hell, why did you let Puck do it? What, is there something wrong with me?"

"Of course you'd make it about you," she hissed. "I don't owe you any explanations. Puck was a mistake. Everyone knows that. I chose Ryan because I love him, and he loves me back. He respects me, and my limits, which is something I can't say for you. And I never let you do anything because I never felt anything for you."

"But you do with him?" he asked, a note of challenge in his voice.

"Yes." She studied him, arms folded. "What you did on that stage was not okay," she said coldly. "I made it perfectly clear that I don't want anything to do with you, but obviously your brain has been scrambled by one too many tackles on the football field. So I'll make this quick. What you did can be classified as sexual assault. I could go to the police for it."

"You can't do that!"

"Can't I?" Quinn arched an eyebrow. "The video of _The Kiss that Missed_ is already on YouTube. There are probably a dozen other recordings, and each of them will show that you're the one who instigated it. Everyone in this school knows I've told you to back off. So do you really think charges of sexual assault won't stick?"

"I –"

"Actually, you know what? It doesn't even matter if it sticks or not. Because even just a charge will be attached to your name forever. So here's what's going to happen. You're going to stay away from me, and Ryan. You touch me again without my permission and we'll be at the police station faster than Coach Beiste can eat a roast chicken. Do we understand each other?"

Finn stood there for a moment with a constipated look on his face before nodding grudgingly. Quinn nodded back, satisfied. "The only reason I'm not pressing charges right now is because I don't want it on my conscience when you turn into a Lima Loser," she informed him. She had talked it over with her mom, and while Judy Fabray had been furious with Finn, they had decided that the final decision of pressing charges would be up to Quinn. "This way, when you do, it won't be completely my fault."

"You're being a real bitch right now, you know that?" Finn said angrily.

"Oh, I know," Quinn nodded nonchalantly. "You seem to bring it out in me. I'll see you next year, Finn." She turned around, leaving him in the hallway. Hopefully the message finally got through his thick head. She headed for her locker, passing by Sue Sylvester on the way. Of course, it would be too much for the woman to let her pass unhindered.

"Q," she said easily, stopping Quinn. "Spectacular performance in New York. Hard to believe that the same girl who was won the National Cheerleading Competition just two short years ago is now winning 21st place. How the mighty have fallen."

"I could say the same about you," Quinn replied frostily. "At least _we_ made it to Nationals."

"You wound me."

"I learned it all from you, Coach."

Sue nodded approvingly. "Good, give credit where it's due." The blonde turned to leave, only to stop again. "Q. I heard what you said to the freakishly tall man-child."

Quinn froze. Was Sue about to call her on her blackmailing?

"Good job. Will Schuester's pet has been getting away with far too much around here. Sometimes I really think I see a young Sue Sylvester in you. I'm proud."

Huh. Apparently not. "Thank you?"

Sue rolled her eyes. "Just go to class."

..

"Hey," Ryan grinned, wrapping his arms around Quinn's waist from behind. "Ready to head home?"

"God, yes," Quinn sighed. "I cannot wait for summer vacation." Tomorrow was the last day of class, and the entire student body was just about ready to be free. "Why are you so happy?"

"Oh, just happy that the year's almost over."

Suddenly they heard a loud bang from the parking lot. Quinn frowned, heading outside as Ryan trailed after her. She frowned as they saw a small commotion in the parking lot.

She waved Santana over as the girl headed back to the building, looking positively gleeful. "Q, Midget! You're gonna love this," she said happily. Quinn raised an eyebrow. When Santana was cheerful it usually boded ill for somebody.

"What happened?" Quinn asked.

"Finnept just turned his truck on, and then BAM! Car backfires, smoke's coming out the engine, the whole nine yards." Santana snickered. "Serves the moron right."

Quinn's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Wow. Anyone hurt?"

"Just the Flubber's ego. Bet it's gonna cost a fortune to fix," Santana said, her evil smile still on her face. "I gotsta go, Britts is waiting on me."

She went back into the school, still snickering occasionally. Quinn turned to her boyfriend, who had been suspiciously silent throughout the conversation. "Kind of weird that this happened to Finn today, isn't it?" she asked probingly.

Ryan smirked slightly. "Yes, it is, isn't it?"

"Okay, what did you do?"

"I can't tell you. Plausible deniability."

"Ryan."

"Fine. I might have rewired his ignition," he answered lightly. "And I may have tinkered with some of his engine parts. Being a mechanic does have its uses." He shrugged. "I may have also topped his gas tank up with water."

Quinn stared at him, caught between laughter and disbelief. "You really didn't hold back, did you?"

He shook his head. "He's a prick, so no. And he messed with my girlfriend, so of course I wasn't going to hold back. I need to defend my lady's honor, after all," he said with a straight face.

This time she laughed, reaching up to give him a kiss. "My hero. You really are awesome."

He smiled, pleased. "Why thank you very much."

* * *

**Hello guys, less than a week since last chapter! I thought I'd make it up to you guys for disappearing for almost a month. Anyways, I hope you liked the way I handled the after math of the kiss. A number of you expressed that Quinn should press charges, and you're right, she could. But I think as she is now, she might give Finn another chance. Also, maybe subconsciously, after she lied to him about Beth, I think she might still feel a little guilty. And I thought the way she went about talking to Finn fit more with her character. Besides, I still need Finn around next season.**

**Anyways, thank you very much for all your reviews, I've noticed that when I vanish for a while I get more reviews. Do you want me to update less, or…? :)**

**About Punk!Quinn, I think it'll happen, but it'll be a minor thing. I'll try not to disappoint you guys. And as for the Troubletones, they'll be happening, so give me your thoughts on that. I think I'll be following the events of season 3 a lot more loosely than I did season 2. A lot of season 3's plots revolved around Beth in the first half, and then that mess that was Finn/Rachel. So we'll see. I've actually been thinking of including some of the season 4 characters to fill out the Troubletones, so if you've got comments on that too, I'd like to hear them.**

**So, as always, Glee is not mine, typos are mine, leave reviews, and I'll see you next time!**


	67. Chapter 66

"Not that I'm not happy to be here, but this is a little bit early," Quinn said dryly as Ryan let her into the house early on Friday morning.

"Good morning to you too," Ryan teased, swooping down to give her a kiss. He had asked her over early today to help him make breakfast for his mom. He was hopeless in the kitchen after all. "Thanks for coming over."

"Not a problem. Besides, Sue's practices were way earlier than this." She followed him into the kitchen. "So, what are we making?"

"Blueberry pancakes," Ryan answered promptly. "Mom and Dad are still asleep, and Mom doesn't wake up until seven, so we've got time."

"Oh, your dad's here?"

"Yeah, he stays over a lot nowadays." He should probably move in at some point, but they'd deal with that later.

"Okay," Quinn nodded. "Where's the ingredients?"

"Right over there," Ryan pointed out. "I'll help, but I have to warn you, I have no idea what I'm doing."

A few minutes later, that fact was very clear. "Seriously, Ry, how did you get past chem lab?" Quinn wondered, as they threw out a batch of batter after Ryan had accidentally spilled half of a bottle of vanilla into it. Both of them also had flour in their hair from his dumping half a sackful into the bowl.

"My partner usually does the actual pouring of dangerous substances," he admitted ruefully.

Later Quinn sighed in exasperation as they started picking small bits of eggshell out of the bowl. "Well, at least I finally found something you're not good at," she commented. Ryan gave her an injured look.

"That's mean."

She smirked, flicking hazel eyes up at him. "Don't worry, I still love you." She flicked at his hair, which had taken on a greyish tinge from the flour. "Even if you look like an old man."

"Hey!"

Soon the pancakes were being cooked by Quinn, after Ryan had attempted to flip one which ended up on the floor. He'd then been relegated to spreading butter on the final products, a job that put him in the perfect position to sneak a taste. "Hey!"

"Oh my God, that's so good," Ryan moaned as the flavor spread across his taste buds. "Seriously, this is amazing! And so fluffy!"

Quinn shrugged, smiling a little at his reaction. "It's the baking powder."

"I didn't know you could cook so well. Did your mom teach you?"

"Yeah." Quinn's face took on a pensive look. "One of the things you need to know so you can be a good little WASP wife. Pretty sure one of the requirements is that you need to be able to feed your husband."

Ryan winced a little. "I didn't mean to upset you."

She shrugged again. "It's fine. I'm over it." She smiled a little. "Besides, looks like it's useful for something."

"Most definitely," Ryan said, relaxing. "But don't feel like you have to cook for me. Not that I'm implying I'm going to be your husband," he added hastily. "I mean, we're still young and things can still happen. Not that I don't want to be, you know, of course I want to be your – I mean, in the future, I…" Ryan gave up, trailing off in embarrassment as Quinn's smile widened in amusement. "I'll just stop now."

"It's okay," she told him, reaching up to place a kiss on his cheek. She leaned in to whisper, "I wouldn't be opposed to the idea anyways."

..

Upstairs, Shelby woke up, snuggling into James. He placed a kiss on her neck as she chuckled. "Hey."

James grinned at her. "Hey." He pressed another kiss to her neck. "You awake yet?"

"Getting there," she breathed.

"Happy birthday," he said softly. Her eyes widened. Right, it was her birthday. She smiled at him as she sat up.

"Thank you." She leaned in for a kiss, smiling happily as her world lit up. This was going to be a great day. It would be the first birthday she'd spend with Ryan – she'd been leading VA to a fourth Nationals victory in Denver last year – and James was here too. "Been awake for long?"

"Not really." James wrapped an arm around her as she settled back against him. "I really like your bed, it's loads better than mine. Landlady sort of skimped on the furnishings."

"You should move in." Shelby froze as she unthinkingly blurted out the offer.

James' eyes widened as well at the unexpected sentence. "What?"

Shelby shrugged a little self-consciously, but took the plunge and went on. "You're over here all the time anyways. And I know your lease is up again in a few weeks. I've been thinking of it for a while, and I just thought maybe we should just make it official and have you move in. I mean, if you don't want to, I –"

"No, no," James interrupted, smiling a little. "I'd – I'd like that." Shelby smiled in relief, leaning in for another kiss. "Wait, what about Ryan? Is he going to be okay with it?"

"I think so." Shelby hesitated. "I'll talk to him. But I think he'll be fine with it."

James' smile widened, and he leaned forward. "Then I would most definitely," he pressed a kiss to her lips. "Love to take you up on that offer." He kissed her again, and she closed her eyes, sighing contentedly. Her breath hitched as he slipped his hand into her shirt, before pulling back. She opened her eyes in surprise, only to see him smirk at her.

"That's just the preview," he said lightly. "The full performance is later tonight. We should go downstairs, I'm sure breakfast is ready."

"Tease," she whined.

"I know," he answered, smiling as he gave her another quick kiss. "Come on, let's go. You still have one more day of school to get through."

Soon the pair were dressed and heading downstairs. Shelby smirked a little as she heard voices coming from the kitchen. "Is Quinn here?"

"I think so," James answered. They headed into the kitchen to find the two teenagers chuckling at something on Ryan's phone. "Hi kids."

Ryan glanced up. "Hi Mom, Dad." He stood up, quickly heading over to Shelby. "Happy birthday," he said brightly, giving her a hug that she happily returned.

"Thank you, sweetie."

Quinn gave her a small smile. "Happy birthday, Shelby."

"Thanks, Quinn." Shelby inspected the set table. "My, this looks good. Did you two make this?"

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. Shelby looked at him skeptically. She knew her son was practically useless in the kitchen unless he was given very clear-cut directions. "Well, Quinn did most of the work, but I helped," he defended. Shelby looked at Quinn, who shrugged.

"Well, he did help," the blonde conceded. Shelby reached up, flicking some flour out of Ryan's hair.

"Somehow, I doubt that," she said dryly.

"Har har," Ryan grumbled, waving her hand away. Shelby ruffled his hair lightly, making him smile. "Let's just eat, okay?"

..

The rest of the day went by quickly for everyone. It was the last day of school, and there wasn't anything important going on. So there they were, enduring the last few hours of junior year. Even the teachers knew there wasn't any point in trying to get anyone to listen. Quinn sighed impatiently, propping her elbow onto the table. Just one more class after this one and they were free for the summer. God she couldn't wait. She glanced over at her boyfriend, who was busy writing something in his notebook. A mischievous smile crept onto her face as she started to sidle up next to him on the bench, resting a hand lightly on his thigh. She absently started moving her hand higher. Ryan looked up at her in confusion. "What –"

He cut himself off with a gasp as her hand reached over to cup his dick through his jeans, squeezing lightly. Quinn leaned in, smiling innocently. "You did say I'm the loud one in this relationship," she whispered. "So I'm sure you won't have any trouble keeping quiet, right?"

She started squeezing in earnest now, smirking as he quickly hardened, his breathing growing shallow as his hands clenched on the desk. He opened his mouth to say something, but she pressed down hard, causing him to let out a low moan instead. Fortunately, everyone was too busy with either their own whispered conversations or their phones – Mr. Martins was playing Angry Birds – to pay attention to them.

Ryan's jaw clenched as he squirmed, looking at her pleadingly. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm bored. And don't pretend like you don't like it, I can feel how much you do," Quinn said quietly as she tightened her hand around his dick for emphasis. Her only response was a quiet whimper as she quickly undid his pants, slipping her hand into his boxers and around his dick. His breath hitched as she smeared some of his pre-cum on her fingers. She suddenly stroked him hard, fast, and he practically jumped in his seat.

The teacher looked up from his phone, glancing at the two of them. "Something wrong, Ryan?" Mr. Martin asked. Quinn held in a laugh as her boyfriend's mouth flapped open, searching frantically for something to say as she did her best to distract him by squeezing his balls. Finally she took pity on him.

"Sorry, I was just asking him something about these quadratic formulas," Quinn answered the teacher nicely. Mr. Martin grunted as he turned back to his game. Ryan stared at her wide-eyed as she went back to stroking him.

"Q-Quinn, wait, not fair," Ryan practically squeaked, obviously struggling to stay quiet. She could feel his legs trembling as he tried so hard to keep from bucking against her hand.

"Oh?" she asked innocently. "Okay, maybe I should just stop then…" She eased up on the pressure but kept her hand wrapped around him, inwardly cheering as his jaw dropped. "Is that better?" she asked, slowly stroking lightly over his erection. Ryan groaned softly as he lost his battle, his hips jerking up into her hand involuntarily. Slowly Quinn stopped moving. "You know, you're right," she decided. "Maybe we shouldn't do this here."

She withdrew her hand from his pants, quickly zipping his fly. She patted his crotch lightly before resting her hand on top of the desk. She turned her head to find Ryan staring at her with wild eyes, his mouth hanging open as he tried to catch his breath. She smiled as she saw the incredulous question in his eyes. _Are you serious right now?!_

"Don't worry, baby," Quinn whispered sweetly. "We've just got around ten minutes of class left. Then maybe we can do something about your… problem."

..

Twelve minutes later, Ryan was going crazy in his seat. He had spent the last twelve minutes and thirty-six seconds of the class – yes, was counting! – squirming next to Quinn, trying to ignore his erection as it had strained against his jeans. It just wouldn't go down, and it didn't help that every few minutes Quinn would brush her fingers against his hair, skimming over the spot behind his ear that she _knew_ drove him insane. He was just about to start taking care of it himself when the bell rang, causing him to just about fall over, as wound up as he was. Quinn smirked at him as she collected her things.

Soon they pair found themselves in the nearest broom closet. Ryan had no idea how they'd gotten there, but it didn't matter because Quinn was pressing him up against the door, their lips smashed together as they tried to suck each other's tonsils out.

"You're crazy, you know that?" he panted, moaning as he felt her slip a hand up under his shirt.

"Mmm, but you like it, right?" she asked sultrily before pulling him into another kiss, making him lose his train of thought all over again, because her tongue was in his mouth and her hand was back in his pants and _God that felt so good…_

"Quinn," he moaned. "_Faster._" Her slow, leisurely pace was fantastic, but it was driving him insane at the same time. He bucked forward into her hand, his vision blurring at the sensation. He gripped at her waist with an almost bruising force, trying to anchor himself.

"If you say so." Quinn started stroking him faster, squeezing hard as she moved her lips to his neck. He let out a strangled groan as she bit down lightly, his eyes fluttering shut and his breath coming faster as she sped up her stroking.

"God – Quinn – c-close –" He was close to hyperventilating by now, just a little more and –

His eyes shot open in wild desperation as the suddenly stopped moving. "What are you doing?" he whined, almost delirious from _how fucking close_ he was. He thrust forward, only to have her push him back against the wall. "Quinn, _please_." He shut his eyes in frustration as she removed her hand completely, trying to choke back a desperate sob.

Quinn leaned forward, kissing him. "Okay." Suddenly she was kneeling down, and Ryan lost his breath all over again when he felt her mouth on him, hot and wet and so deliciously tight. She slid her tongue against the underside and Ryan's head fell back against the wall, stars exploding in front of his eyes.

"_Ohgodohgodfuck_ –" He slammed his hand hard against the wall as she sucked hard. He swallowed a gasp of air, and thrust forward shallowly, unable to help it. The motion just made Quinn hum a little, and the vibrations finally sent Ryan over the edge, his balls tightening as he spilled himself into her mouth. "God, Quinn!"

The blonde just kept her mouth on him as he shook through his orgasm, quickly swallowing. Ryan forced his eyes open, meeting her gaze, and the sight just made him shake even harder.

Finally he started to come down, collapsing against the wall as he tried desperately to catch his breath. Quinn watched him with a pleased smile as he stared at her unfocusedly. "That – that was –" He shook his head, unable to organize his thoughts coherently. "Fuck."

Quinn's smile widened, and she reached out to kiss him again, sliding her lips against his languidly. She took his cock again, and Ryan moaned as it twitched in her hand before she pushed it back into his boxers. "You okay?" she asked.

He shook his head tiredly. "Better than okay," he sighed. "What was that?"

"Oh, I guess I just felt like celebrating the last day of school," she answered, smiling crookedly at him. "We should go, we've got one class left." She opened the door of the broom closet, heading outside.

..

Later that afternoon Shelby was wrapping up her work for the school year – thank God it was over – when Quinn came into her office. "Hello," she greeted, smiling at the teenager. "Something up?"

"Oh, I just wanted to give you this," Quinn said, offering her a small package with a smile. "Happy birthday."

Shelby smiled back, accepting the gift. "Thank you, Quinn. You didn't have to get me anything though."

"I know," Quinn sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk. "I wanted to. You really helped me a lot. With Beth, I mean. Among other things." She smiled faintly. "I think I might have gone insane without you and Ryan, I can just imagine myself crazy enough to get pink hair and a nose ring and some kind of stupid tattoo."

The teacher smiled in amusement. "I went with the Sinead O'Connor haircut sixteen years ago," she reminisced. "It was a disaster. And you're welcome, Quinn. I'm glad I could help. May I?" She gestured at the package. Quinn nodded, and Shelby opened the present, breath catching as she took in the framed photograph of herself with James and Ryan. It was a candid shot, none of them knew they were being photographed. And it made it all the more special because it had caught the love and adoration in their expressions as they laughed. "This is beautiful," she breathed. She looked at Quinn. "Did you take this?"

Quinn nodded. "Yes."

Shelby looked back at the photo. "You're very talented. I saw the drawing you did in Ryan's room. And you're a talented writer as well. I wanted to talk to you about that, actually," she added, as Quinn flushed a little in pleasure. "Your essays are very good. Some of the best I've seen in my teaching career, actually. Are you taking Honors English next year?"

"I'm thinking about it."

"You should," Shelby encouraged. "Your writing is very insightful, and you have quite a way with words. I wanted to suggest joining a few writing competitions, if you're interested. There are a few accepting submissions over the summer, and you can mail your work."

Quinn looked taken aback. "You really think my stuff is good?"

Shelby nodded, standing up and going over to one the cabinets. "Yes, I do. You should really think about getting your work out. Are you after a scholarship?"

"I – I was, for cheerleading."

"I see. Well, I have some contacts in Literature Departments of some colleges, as well as music, so if you work on expanding your portfolio, I'll write you some recommendation letters. I really think your work could be something special."

Suddenly she found herself wrapped in a hug from Quinn, who pulled back a second later, looking surprised herself. "Thank you," the blonde said softly. "No one's ever said that to me before. Not about my writing. I… thank you."

Shelby smiled at her, gently rubbing the teen on the back. "Like I said, you're very talented." She reached into one of the cabinet drawers, finding what she was looking for. "Here," she said, handing Quinn a few fliers. "I think these contests would be good for you. Details are on the back, you just write something within the theme and mail them."

Quinn smiled. "Thanks." She checked the clock. "I should really get back to class." Shelby nodded, returning to her desk as Quinn left the office.

"That was revoltingly nice of you."

Shelby looked up just as Sue Sylvester sauntered into her office. "Sue. Nice to see you again." She meant it, too, the woman was amusing when she wasn't out to destroy you.

"I'm glad someone's looking out for Q," the cheerleading coach commented, dropping down in the chair Quinn had been occupying earlier. "God knows she's lost her mind since joining Macaroni-Hair's farce of a glee club, but she's smart." She nodded a little. "Smart enough to get out of here."

"Yes, she is," Shelby agreed, smirking. "I'm sure her potential is why you snapped her up for the Cheerios in her freshman year."

"Got that right."

"So what can I do for you today? Shouldn't you be out terrorizing your Cheerios for the last day of the year?"

"Relax, they're out running suicides as we speak," Sue said easily. "Little birdie told me it's someone's birthday. How young are we now?"

"Young enough," Shelby answered, amused. She was thirty-nine, rather depressingly close to forty, but that was okay. Forty was in now, right? "You know, that's a good question to ask you though. How old _are _you?"

"Just like the Beatles and KFC, I'm timeless."

..

"I am so ready for summer vacation," Shelby sighed as she and Ryan headed home after school.

"Me too," Ryan agreed happily as he parked the car. "This is going to be an amazing summer, I can just feel it." He followed Shelby to the house, opening the door for Shelby. "Ladies first," he said charmingly.

Shelby chuckled as she walked inside. "Cute, Ryan. I –"

"SURPRISE!"

"Oh my God!" Shelby gasped as her family popped up from the living room, all wearing giant grins. "What just happened?"

"You didn't think we were going to let your birthday pass again without doing anything, did you?" Sarah asked her.

"I don't suppose you knew about this," Shelby asked Ryan rhetorically. He smiled at her innocently.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Happy birthday, sweetheart," Sarah greeted as she gave her daughter a hug, Tom joining her a second later.

"Thanks, Mom, Dad," Shelby smiled, returning the hug. "This was a nice surprise. And I don't like surprises in general," she said, arching her eyebrow.

"Oh, you can thank James for that," Josh said breezily, taking baby Alex from Paige.

"Gee, way to throw me under the bus," James grumbled good-naturedly.

"You're welcome," Josh grinned. He looked down at his daughter. "Honey, you wanna go greet Aunt Shelby?" He held Alex out to Shelby, who took the infant with a wide smile.

"Aw, you're so big already," Shelby cooed. She frowned at a small scrape on the little girl's forehead. "Josh, what is that?"

"Oh," Josh said vaguely. "We had a little accident the other day…"

"This genius decided to leave the remote control on the bed with her," Paige said, rolling her eyes. "Somehow she got hold of it, and you see the results. Needless to say, Daddy over here learned his lesson. Right?"

"Yes dear."

James just smiled as Shelby held Alex, rocking her gently. It was sweet, but he still felt a slight twinge as he imagined how she would have been with Ryan. How they would have been, if they'd had the chance. He shook off the thoughts though. Tom looked at Ryan. "Want to tell us what happened at the competition now?"

"This should be good," Josh chuckled. The kid always seemed to get into the most interesting scrapes.

"Oh," Ryan said. "Well, as you know, we went to New York without a set list." James nodded. Ryan had ranted nonstop about it for two weeks before they had left for New York, so he knew all about it. "Well, eventually Finn Hudson managed to write a halfway decent song…" The whole story came out, and soon everyone was bug-eyed at the culmination.

"Wait, so he just up and kissed her?" Sarah asked, shocked. "Right there on the stage?"

"Yes he did. I think Quinn might have used up the hotel's entire stock of toothpaste when we got back," Ryan deadpanned.

"So what did you do?" Tom inquired.

Ryan ran a hand through his hair. "We might have had… words… backstage, after our set," he said vaguely.

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Will and I came into the room and Ryan here was hitting the stuffing out of Finn Hudson," she said dryly.

"Good for you."

"Josh!" Sarah, Paige, and Shelby scolded at the same time.

"The guy kissed his girlfriend," Josh argued. "And I'm pretty sure Quinn wasn't in cahoots with him, right? So this Finn kid did it against her will. That's just a really dick move."

"I'm gonna have to agree," Tom said.

James nodded. "I probably would have done the same thing. But maybe doing it in public wasn't the best decision," he added thoughtfully. "That kid definitely pulled off a dick move though."

Ryan grinned triumphantly. "See, Mom, it's not just me!"

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Boys," she grumbled.

"It's not just boys," Ryan argued. "Quinn slapped him too."

"Wait, so you quit glee?" Sarah asked. "I thought you loved glee."

"I love performing," Ryan corrected. "And no, that's not the only reason I quit. I love singing, but after a lot of thought, I've decided that it's not entirely healthy for me to stay with the group anymore. I'll just have to find other outlets for my talent."

"Well, as long as you're happy."

"Oh, I am," Ryan assured them. He smiled mischievously. "Besides, that just means that my new mission for next year is to persuade Mom to start up another musical group. I have no doubt I'll have her convinced in no time."

Shelby rolled her eyes, smiling indulgently. "Whatever you say, sweetie."

..

"So, did you enjoy your birthday?" James asked Shelby as the two of them finished washing the dishes. The rest of the Corcorans had gone home a little while ago, and Ryan had crashed in his room.

"Oh, it was okay," Shelby said airily, flicking the dishtowel at him. Then she kissed him on the cheek. "It was one of my best in years."

James smiled. "I'm glad." He rinsed the final dish. "So, what really happened in New York, hmm?"

"Oh, it went down pretty much like Ryan said," Shelby answered. "Only he left out the part where he completely reamed out Will and the rest of the glee club for their behavior towards him for the last couple of years. It was quite the dressing down, you would have been proud."

"That's good. I know they weren't treating him right. He never really said anything, but there were all these little hints, you know?" he said ponderingly. "He mentioned he doesn't really have friends, and it's just changed recently. And then there were those stupid Big Gulps. Not to mention those fights with the football players…"

"I know," Shelby sighed. She was quiet for a moment. "He told me something else this weekend. I overheard him and Quinn in the plane to New York, and he told her he's a little claustrophobic. When I asked him about it he said it started when a couple of other boys stuck him in a locker for two hours."

"What?" James exclaimed. "What the hell did those kids think they were doing? What did the teachers do?"

"Nothing, because of… well, because his dads were gay." James sputtered furiously and Shelby put a hand on his arm. "I know, I was pissed too."

James hesitated. "Do you… do you think I talk to him enough?"

"What?" Shelby frowned. "Don't you guys talk all the time?"

"Yeah, but… I mean, he doesn't really tell me stuff like that," he said slowly. "And I don't really know what I'm doing."

"I think you're doing great," Shelby said gently. "I guess you don't really have any experience, but just go with your gut. Spend time with him, he likes that. He's got loads of time now, maybe you can do something, just the two of you. God knows he needs a good father figure." She thought for a moment. "Maybe he's not yet opening up to you because… well, maybe he's not used to talking to a dad that way. Just be patient, maybe open up to him too. You'll get there."

James nodded. "Okay." He knew it could be hard to open up to people, especially at that age, and especially with experiences like Ryan had. He really wanted to be close with his kid though. "The Berry's sure did a number on him."

Shelby nodded. "Yeah, they did." Then she smiled faintly. "But you know, he really stood up for himself yesterday. I am… constantly surprised by him. And he's turned into such a wonderful person. He's so forgiving, and I'm glad, because otherwise we would never have had a chance with him, after what happened. But he's strong, too."

James was silent. "We had a great kid together, didn't we?"

"Yeah, we did."

He sighed. "I can't believe it's almost been a year. Sometimes I feel like it's such a short time, but it feels like he's been part of my life forever." He shook his head, smiling at her a bit slyly. "So, how does it feel to be thirty-nine? That's just one year from forty."

"You should know, you've been thirty-nine for almost a year now," Shelby said tartly.

"True." He leaned down for a quick kiss. "If it helps, you don't look a day over thirty."

Shelby rolled her eyes playfully. "Thanks." She paused. "Do you have any vacation days coming up?"

James glanced at her. "Hmm. I might have a couple. Why, did you have something in mind?"

"Maybe. I was just thinking, maybe we could go on a quick trip somewhere, the three of us. Maybe New York, we didn't really have enough time last week. And you weren't there. Maybe just a weekend stay or something. We haven't really done anything like that as a family."

James contemplated. _As a family. _He liked that. "That would be fun. I'll check at work, see if I can't get a long weekend off or something."

Shelby smiled, bumping against his side. "I love you."

"I love you too." James smiled, giving her a kiss. "Happy birthday, Shelby."

* * *

A few days later Ryan woke up bright and early, as usual. Heading outside for his run, he was surprised to find James coming up to the house. "Hi Dad," he smiled. "I thought you might have spent the night."

James shook his head. "No, I headed straight home last night." He paused. "You mind if I run with you?"

Ryan looked at him, surprised. "No, of course I wouldn't mind." He smiled. "It might be nice to have a running buddy."

"Cool," James grinned. "I think I've been getting out of shape, and besides, it'll give us some time together, huh?"

"Yeah," Ryan agreed, his smile widening. It always cheered him up whenever one of his parents expressed a desire to spend time with him, and actually made an effort. He started doing his stretches. "Is it okay if we follow my usual route?"

"No problem." James started stretching as well. He glanced at Ryan. "Come here. I'll show you a few tricks we used for PT back in the Army." He ran through a quick set of stretches as Ryan watched closely. "Fastest way to get your body warmed up."

"Can you do it again?" Ryan requested, interested. He'd simply looked for stretching exercises in a library book, and of course he wanted to improve. He couldn't believe he'd never asked his dad for tips before, when the man had done this for a living. He resolved to go to his dad for advice more often. He watched carefully as James ran through the exercises again. "Let me try." He started to move his body into position, imitating James' movement. His father stepped forward.

"Here, move your legs a bit further apart, that'll stabilize you more," James instructed, nudging him into the correct pose. "Arms up, then down."

They spent a few minutes getting the exercises down before they took off on Ryan's usual route through the neighborhood. The run went fairly quickly, the pair chatting about random topics as they ran, and soon they were back at the house, cooling down. "Thanks for letting me come," James told Ryan.

"Thanks for coming," Ryan countered. "It's more fun with a companion, the run went by a lot more quickly. I usually just listen to music or get lost in my head. I prefer this."

"Maybe we can make this a regular thing then," James suggested.

Ryan smiled. "Okay."

"Awesome."

They headed into the house after their cooldown stretches Ryan headed to his bathroom for a shower while James went to Shelby's room. Ryan was back downstairs in a few minutes and found Shelby sitting at the kitchen counter reading a paper with a cup of coffee.

"Hi Mom."

"Morning." Shelby ran a hand through his damp hair. "Is your dad still upstairs?"

"Yeah." Ryan sat down after pouring a bowl of cereal. "Any plans for today?"

"Not yet. I wanted to talk to you about a few things though. Would you be okay if I took in some voice students this summer?" she asked. "I've had a few people asking. I usually give lessons three times a week per student."

Ryan shrugged. "Sure. No problem."

Shelby smiled. "Good." She looked up as James came into the kitchen.

"Good morning," he greeted, giving her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down next to her.

"Hi." She looked back at Ryan. "Here's the other thing." She glanced back at James. "I was wondering if you'd be okay if your dad moved in with us."

Ryan stared between his parents. "Huh?"

James cleared his throat. "Well, my lease on the apartment is up next month, so I could just not renew it and move in with you guys. But if you're not okay with it, obviously I'll keep my apartment."

"Oh." Ryan processed for a moment. "Oh. Okay. This is a little unexpected, but okay. This is… this is good." He smiled tentatively. "I mean, you're here all the time anyways, and I suppose this is an important step in your relationship. I'm happy for you." The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He wanted them to be a real family, and he liked his dad. He thought it would be nice to have him around even more.

Shelby smiled happily. "Great!" She took James' hand. "You can start moving in when you're ready."

"Thanks," James grinned. "Both of you."

* * *

"Hey, anyone in here?"

Ryan looked up from his work on a busted tail light in Burt Hummel's garage, quickly spotting the newest customer getting down from a dark blue Toyota. Ryan grinned as he recognized the newcomer. "Hey Mike."

"Hey Ryan," the Asian boy grinned.

Ryan stood up, stretching a little as he glanced at Mike's car. "Need something fixed?"

"Yeah," Mike nodded. "I think there's a leak in the engine. Not sure where, but it's been dripping every time I park."

Ryan hummed, opening up the hood. "What does it drip? Oil, water…?"

Mike hesitated. "It's not water, but I don't think it's oil either."

"Okay." Ryan quickly checked over the car fluids before checking underneath. "I think it's the power steering fluid," he mumbled. "If it is we might have to order some parts…" A few minutes later he found the leak, a growing crack in the container holding the power steering fluid. "It's still holding together, but if it isn't replaced you'll be losing the fluid all the time," Ryan explained. "You're already below minimum level. I can top it up, and it'll hold until we can order the parts, if you want."

"Yeah, that's be great," Mike agreed. Ryan nodded, quickly returning with a canister of the fluid. "Hey, are you almost done here?" Mike asked. "Tina and I were thinking of going over to the arcade later. Maybe you and Quinn could come."

Ryan hesitated. "I don't really know how to play any of the arcade games."

"It'll be fun," Mike persuaded, grinning. "I'll teach you."

"I'd have to check with Quinn, but that sounds cool," Ryan relented, smiling at the invitation. He'd never been to the arcade before. It was mostly a place for groups to hang out at, and he hadn't had a group of friends until now. "I'll text you later."

"Cool."

"So you guys are off to Asian camp again?" Ryan asked as he replaced everything in Mike's engine.

"Yeah," Mike nodded. "The parentals are forcing it. I don't really mind though, it's kind of fun teaching the kids to dance. Tina's not as into it, but she's cool."

"Dance lessons do seem to be right up your area of expertise," Ryan agreed as he closed the hood. "I'll see you later, then."

..

That evening found Ryan and Mike at Howler's Arcade, one of Lima's very few entertainment venues. Tina and Quinn had called to say that they'd be there later than the boys, and Ryan and Mike had quickly cycled through the multitude of games. Their rounds had mainly consisted of Ryan mashing a single attack button as Mike laughed at him. Soon they moved to a large table with a couple of paddles.

"Air hockey?" Ryan questioned doubtfully. He was familiar with the concept, but having had no one to play with previously, he hadn't played before. "All right. I've never played though, so I don't know if I'll be good at it."

"Oh, you'll do fine," Mike said quickly. He poked a set of quarters into the machine, taking one of the paddles. Ryan took up position on the other end of the table. "Ready?"

"Yeah." The small puck was quickly in play, and a few seconds later Mike had scored his first goal. "Okay, this is harder than it looks."

A few minutes later though, he was getting the hang of it. "You've got pretty good reflexes," Mike said, concentrating as he slammed the puck in Ryan's direction, only to have it rebound off of Ryan's paddle. "Are you sure you've never played before?" he asked, barely deflecting Ryan's shot.

"Never. Although I have it on good authority that my reflexes are excellent." He managed to slide the puck past Mike's defenses, tying up their score.

"So how are you and Quinn doing after Finn's stunt in New York?" Mike asked, hitting the puck back into play.

"Oh, we're okay," Ryan answered. "I think so, anyways. She was upset by it for a while." He blocked the puck, sending it flying back towards Mike. "She didn't say so, but I could tell." He had noticed after the performance that Quinn was acting much like she had after Russell had come to their house a couple of months ago. He suspected she was blaming herself, and he'd done his best to let her know that it wasn't her fault.

"Finn was being a real dick." Mike smirked as he shot the puck through Ryan's goal. "You've got a mean right hook, dude. Seriously, you messed up Karofsky, Quinn's dad, and now Finn."

Ryan sighed. "I don't really like violence," he admitted. "I prefer to talk things out. But there are times when words aren't quite enough. I'm just happy my dad taught me a few moves."

"Your dad taught you that?"

"Yeah." Ryan smiled proudly. "He used to be in the Army, he left when… well, when he found out about me, I guess. He said he wanted to be closer to me and my mom."

"Wow. That's cool." Mike winced as the puck sailed through his goal.

"Yeah, it is." James had started packing his apartment up, moving his things into their house bit by bit. "Are you close to your dad?"

Mike shrugged. "He's not really the touchy-feely type," he admitted. "He's supportive most of the time, but he's always on me about school. I need to get into a really good college to make him happy. He's not really arts person."

Ryan nodded understandingly. Hiram and Leroy hadn't been either, but they hadn't really bothered monitoring his schoolwork either. "Well, school is important. At least he cares about your future."

"Yeah." Mike fed another quarter into the machine. "My mom's the more artsy person," he added with a grin. "She's the one who enrolls me for all my dance classes."

"That's cool," Ryan smiled. A couple of rounds later Mike got a text from Tina, telling him that she and Quinn were in the arcade too. The two boys found them at the claw machines. After exchanging a round of greetings, everyone turned to the claw Tina was operating.

"What are you trying to catch?" Ryan asked, peering into the machine, which was filled with small stuffed toys.

"Nothing in particular, just… something… anything…" Tina rolled her eyes as the prize fell out of the metal arm. "I give up."

"I think we've spent more quarters than those toys are actually worth," Quinn smiled in amusement.

Ryan took a shot at the game, only to give up three quarters later. "Almost got it that time," Ryan groaned.

"Let me try." Mike took over the controls, maneuvering the claw into position. The metal arm dipped down, snatching up one of the small stuffed animals. "Got it!"

"How'd you do that?" Tina demanded.

Mike shrugged, smiling slyly. "It's a secret." He took his prize from the slot, presenting it to his girlfriend. "For you."

"Aww, thanks!" Tina beamed, giving him a kiss.

"Wow, way to make me look bad," Ryan grumbled. Mike grinned.

"Wait a sec."

Seven quarters later, Quinn and Tina were holding six assorted stuffed animals between them – the seventh had slipped off the claw at the last minute – and Ryan was shaking his head. "Rigged. This thing is rigged."

* * *

Two days later, Quinn opened her front door as she finished putting on a pair of earrings, quickly glancing through the eyehole that had been installed in the door. She smiled softly and opened the door to admit Ryan, looking absolutely dashing in a coat and tie. "Hi."

"Good evening," he smiled charmingly, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek. She led him inside, and he offered her a long-stemmed red rose. "For you."

A smile spread over her face as she took it. "Thanks." She gave it a sniff before placing it in a conveniently placed vase in the hallway. She turned back to Ryan, who presented her with a small box. "Spoiling me, are we?" she asked slyly. "Not that I mind, of course."

Ryan smiled widely. "Only the best for you." Quinn rolled her eyes at the cheesy line as she opened the box, revealing a small silver charm. Ryan took the box back, lifting it out. "For our first anniversary." Quinn's smile broadened as she remembered last year, when he had suddenly kissed her out of the blue in the garage. Ryan took Quinn's wrist gently, quickly attaching the new piece to the bracelet that resided there. Quinn reached out, touching his face. "What is it?"

"Just checking if you're real," she chuckled. "Sometimes you seem too perfect to be true."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ryan grinned.

"So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

A half-hour drive later, the pair were seated in a small, out-of-the-way restaurant on the other side of Lima. "So, how is it?" Ryan asked as they ate their dinner.

"Perfect," Quinn replied, smiling at him.

Ryan smiled in satisfaction. "So what time's your flight tomorrow?" Quinn had told him that she and Judy were going to visit Frannie in California for a couple of weeks to attend her graduation ceremony. They'd decided to take to take the opportunity for a family vacation, too.

"Eleven in the morning," she sighed. "We have to be up crazy early to get to Columbus in time."

Ryan hummed in understanding. "I'm sure you'll have a great time," he commented. "Do you have any plans yet? You absolutely have to go to the Hollywood Walk of Fame," he gushed. "Take pictures for me." He smiled wryly. "I'm kind of jealous. I'm stuck in Lima, Ohio, while you get to go to California. It's not exactly New York, but it's the next best thing."

Quinn nodded. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to go sometime soon. Maybe you can ask Shelby to take you back to New York this summer."

He shook his head. "I can't do that. I'd love to go back, but plane tickets are expensive. She's already done a lot for me, and besides, she's already paying for my acting workshop this summer. I don't want to put her out too much." He smiled. "It's okay, I can wait another year. I'll be there after graduation for sure, after all."

"Yes, you will."

"Do you know what colleges you're applying to yet?" Ryan asked curiously. Quinn shrugged softly.

"I'm not completely sure yet," she admitted. "You know I'm not yet sure what… what we'll be able to afford." Shelby's suggestions had given her new options, but she was still reluctant to hope for too much yet. But… "Columbia and NYU have great Lit programs."

Ryan lit up. "Either of those would be perfect," he grinned. "I'll be at NYADA, or Julliard, and you'll be at Columbia. You'll have a front row seat to all my shows, and I'll be the first one in line when you do your autograph signings for all the bestsellers you'll write." He smiled happily. "The future is looking bright."

She smiled at him affectionately, his optimism so very endearing. "Yes it is."

..

Soon they were back at the Fabray house, and Quinn took Ryan's hand, leading him to her room. He leaned forward, brushing her lips with his lightly, the contact making a shiver run through her as his hands wrapped around her waist. She moved forward, trying to deepen the kiss, but he moved back with a smirk. She huffed. "Tease."

"Takes one to know one." He reached behind her, quickly pulling her dress zipper down. "Want to take that off?"

"Okay," she said with a sly smile. They could both play the game. She slowly peeled the dress off, taking her time as she put on a show. A shudder ran through her as she saw his pupils dilate, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. "See something you like?"

Ryan seemed to give himself a shake as he moved forward, meeting her lips again. "Maybe." Suddenly he dipped down, picking her up bridal style before depositing her on the bed.

"Ryan!" Suddenly he was on top of her, his arms around her. He dipped down for a kiss, gently easing his tongue into her mouth, slowly exploring as their breaths mingled. He trailed one hand down her chest, between her breasts, and she arched up into him with a moan, each touch sending pulses of electricity straight to her core.

Then his hands were off again, undoing the buttons of his dress shirt until he managed to pull it off. She reached up, her hands smoothing over the planes of his chest as he settled between her legs. She unbuckled his belt, and he eventually kicked his pants off. His head dipped down again, pressing soft kisses to the underside of her jaw. "So beautiful."

She squirmed underneath him as he started moving down, licking along her collarbone. He reached under her, quickly unsnapping her bra, and suddenly his mouth was wrapped around a nipple. She gasped at the sudden heat, arching against him, desperate for more. Then, just as suddenly, his mouth was gone, and he simply stared at her hungrily for a moment. She bucked against him in frustration, shutting her eyes for a moment as she rubbed up against his cock. "Ryan, come on."

"Patience."

Quinn let her head fall back against the pillow, her core throbbing in desire. "Ryan." She was so wet, she could practically feel her underwear getting soaked, and he was just smiling at her like a fucking Cheshire cat. His smile widened.

"Well, since you asked so nicely…" He swooped down, latching onto her other nipple, setting her on fire again as he swirled his tongue around the hardened nub. He sucked harshly, pulling a soft cry from her as her fingers dug hard into his back. He smirked, releasing her with a soft pop. "Better?"

She groaned. "More, keep going." She was going to go crazy if he didn't continue. He chuckled softly, reaching down into his discarded pants for a condom. He put it on quickly before moving his lips down to press wet kisses against her stomach, and she bucked up as his lips reached her underwear.

"Hmm." He moved down, pressing a kiss to the covered, throbbing folds. Quinn let out a moan. "So wet."

"Do something about it already!"

"Soon." Ryan slowly hooked a finger around her panties, dragging them down her legs before tossing them to the side. He pressed a kiss to her mound, and her hands started to thread through his hair. He put his hands on her thighs, slowly spreading her open, and her hand tightened in his hair, her breathing picking up in anticipation. He smirked, meeting her eyes as he ran his fingers lightly up her inner thighs.

"Ryan, I swear to God –"

She cut herself off with a cry as he pressed his tongue to her clit, the sudden heat and pressure sending a jolt through her body. His tongue swiped up and she convulsed, whimpering as he licked up and down her folds. She pushed forward, only to have him press her back with one arm across her stomach. "Hold still. Don't worry, I'll take really good care of you," he promised, before returning to lap at her wetness.

"Oh God, please don't stop…" She writhed underneath him, soft whimpers escaping her as he tongued at her clit, sliding down to tease her entrance before sucking at her clit again. Suddenly she let out a shriek as he thrust his tongue deep into her, before returning to circling her clit. She tugged at his hair, her grip tightening as she finally felt his fingers slipping into her channel. "Fuck… that feels so good…"

"You are so fucking hot, Quinn," he murmured, still sliding his tongue along her folds, leisurely thrusting his fingers in and out her. She writhed helplessly, still held down with his arm as she tried to get him to give her more. Her legs opened wider almost subconsciously and he thrust inside with his fingers hard as he sucked harshly on her clit.

"C-close – so close –"

She was right on the edge when the fingers and tongue disappeared. Her eyes snapped open wildly to meet his brown eyes twinkling mischievously at her. "Ry – what are you doing?" she whined. "I need more."

"I know."

Quinn groaned, unable to squeeze her legs together since he was kneeling between them. She started to reach down, anything to relieve the ache between her legs, but he caught her hands, quickly pinning them to her sides. "Ryan… please…"

"I told you, just be patient," he soothed, moving up to press his lips against hers. Quinn shuddered as she tasted herself on him, squirming in his hold as she desperately tried to find the pressure she needed for her release. She fell back panting after a moment, moaning as she couldn't find it.

Soon her body started to calm down, accepting that release wouldn't come yet, and her breathing started to even out. Then he kissed her again with a smirk, trailing his lips down to her neck, and down to kiss her breasts again. Suddenly the fire was back in full force, and she let out a sob as he kissed lightly at her nipple, arching upwards for more.

"Ryan, please." She didn't care if she sounded pathetic, she just needed more. Ryan smiled, his hands still pinning hers down as he nipped at her breast. He canted his hips forward, his cock rubbing against her dripping core.

"I can't wait to be inside…" he whispered, moving back up to her ear. She squirmed at his breath.

"Then just – please – I need you –" She couldn't even think straight anymore, and she let out another sob as his cock rubbed against her clit. "Ryan, _please._"

She heard him let out a groan, before nodding. Suddenly he was thrusting inside, stretching her wide with his pulsing dick, and she let out a scream that he quickly caught, pressing his mouth against hers. He choked back a moan as he pulled out and thrust back into her. He had released her hands at some point and Quinn was scratching at his back, desperately pulling him closer.

"Fuck, Quinn," he gasped as she wrapped her legs around him, squeezing his cock inside her. "Don't – you're gonna make me –"

She groaned again as he pounded into her. She was so fucking close, she was almost there… she felt him pulsing inside of her, coming with a choked cry, and the sensation was enough to trigger her own climax. She clenched hard around him, her vision flashing white as she came hard.

"Oh my God…" Ryan breathed as they both started to float down from their highs. "That was…"

Quinn shook her head, trying to catch her breath after one of the best orgasms she'd ever had. "That was…"

"I love you so much."

"I love you too."

* * *

The next morning, Ryan was back at the Fabray house at seven. He jogged up the porch, knocking on the front door, which was opened by a rather flustered Judy Fabray. She gave him a tired smile. "Hello Ryan. We're just getting ready to leave for the airport. Quinn's up in her room." She let him in. "Actually, would you be a dear and call a taxi from the service? The number's by the phone."

"That's why I'm here, actually," Ryan answered. "I thought maybe you'd like a lift to the airport. I can drive you."

Judy blinked. "Oh, that's really sweet of you, Ryan, but I couldn't ask you to do that."

Ryan smiled. "That's why you're not asking me. I'd be happy to take you."

The woman hesitated before nodding. "All right," she conceded with a grateful smile. "Thank you. That's one thing off my list. But we'll use my car. I don't want you to spend your gas on us, okay? You can just keep the keys and leave the Escalade in the driveway when you get back."

"Okay," he said. "Where are your bags? I'll put them in the car for you."

Judy smiled sheepishly. "They're still up in my room, as are Quinn's. I'm almost done, I'll bring them down in a bit."

Ryan nodded. "I'll just pop up and see Quinn, okay?" Judy waved him off, and he headed upstairs, knocking on Quinn's door.

"Mom, can you just wait?! I told you I'll be ready in five minutes!"

Ryan grinned as he poked his head into the room. "Not your mom, but good to know."

Quinn quickly looked up from where she was stuffing a few more articles of clothing into a suitcase. "Oh. Hi. Not really a good time, Mom's giving me hell for not being ready, when we both know she's not either." She rolled her eyes. "She hasn't even called a taxi yet."

"Consider it called," Ryan quipped. "I offered to give you ladies a ride to the airport."

"You really don't have to do that."

"I know. I want to." He smiled. "Besides, it gives me an excuse to spend even more time with you before you leave. Plus it got me brownie points from Judy, so win-win all around."

"You don't need brownie points, she loves you already. Probably even more than she does me," Quinn deadpanned as she zipped the bag closed. "But thank you." She reached over to give him a kiss that slowly turned hotter and hotter.

"Quinnie, we can go now – oh," Judy stopped in the doorway as the two teenagers jumped apart. "My, my. All right, I'm ready, so if you two are, ahem, ready to go…" She trailed off before exiting the room. Ryan flushed, trying to calm his racing heart.

"Okay, that was so not how I wanted this to go," he mumbled ruefully. It was, surprisingly, the first time they had actually been caught by one of their parents. Quinn just nodded, still in shock. "Why don't I just get your bags?"

"I – okay…"

Ryan shook his head for a moment, trying to clear it, before picking up the suitcase. "Dear God, what did you put in here? Concrete?"

"No, lead, actually," Quinn answered flippantly, apparently having recovered. "And bricks for good measure."

"Good to know," Ryan grunted as he lugged the heavy suitcase down the stairs. "I think I'm gonna strain something."

Soon the three of them were on the way to Columbus. Judy had opted to stay in the back seat, leaving Quinn up front with Ryan. The older blonde was soon asleep in the back. Ryan glanced at Quinn. I'm confused. Why did you leave your packing until the last minute?"

"We actually had our things ready, but you know how it is," Quinn said vaguely. "We forgot to put stuff, then there was stuff we wanted to take out… plus I was a little busy last night."

Ryan grinned. "Yes you were, weren't you?" He pulled up at a red light, reaching over to take her hand. "You're not going to forget about me and find a random, blonde, tanned surfer dude up in California, right?" he asked semi-anxiously. He trusted his girlfriend, but there were times when he remembered the times when he was a complete loser and she was the untouchable head cheerleader. She could have anyone she wanted.

"Depends on how cute the surfer dude is."

"Quinn!"

"Relax, you're irreplaceable." Quinn leaned across to kiss him on the cheek just before the light turned green. "And I'm not worried about you replacing me."

"Oh?"

"I already told Santana to knee you in the balls if you so much as look at another girl."

Ryan gave her an incredulous look. "You what?"

Quinn smiled angelically. "I love and trust you very much."

He rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh." He made the last turn into Columbus. "I love you too." Soon they were at the airport, and Ryan pulled up at the entrance to the departures area. Judy was awake by then, and got down from the car to get them some trolleys for the suitcases. "I'll miss you, you know that?"

Quinn leaned in to give him another kiss, and he close his eyes, relishing the feeling. "I know. I'll miss you too. Don't worry, I'll call you."

Ryan smiled. "Okay." Judy came back with the trolleys, and Ryan helped the two Fabrays load their baggage. "I'll see you in two weeks." He gave Quinn a chaste peck on the lips – her mother was watching – and a hug. "Bye, Judy."

"Bye, Ryan," Judy smiled, moving in to hug him. Ryan was surprised, but he welcomed the gesture. No one really hugged him outside of his mom and Quinn, so this was new. Not to mention, his girlfriend's mom liked him! Score! "Thank you so much for driving us."

"It's no trouble at all, Judy. Have a safe trip."

Judy and Quinn headed into the airport with a final wave, and Ryan watched them go inside before heading back into Judy's Escalade. He was really going to miss his girlfriend.

* * *

**Hi everyone! Hope you liked this first part of summer vacation. I would have had it out a few days ago, but things happened. Family's visiting, so it's very complicated around here, and people won't leave me alone enough to write. So just a quick note, since it's literally the middle of the night over here.**

**Thank you very much for your thoughts and comments last chapter, I'm happy you liked it. I enjoyed writing Ryan's rant, it's a shame Rachel never really did anything like that in canon. Most of them would have deserved it. Thanks also for your input on future directions for this story, you guys really inspire me to write stuff. ****So, this chapter is the first of three parts of summer vacation. The second part should be up soon, pending free time on my part. Hit me up on things you'd like to see. I've got a few parts already written up, but I'll get new ideas from you guys ;)**

**These chapters are getting very long, aren't they? I try to limit them to 10k words, but I think I go overboard sometimes. I try to shorten them, but I think it detracts from what I'm trying to do, which is basically to show how characters grow in the day-to-day moments. Real life isn't like in TV where there are so many enormous events that force the character to change. I read somewhere that the small events are what shape a person, so that's what I'm going for here. **

**Anyways, I've rambled enough, time for me to get to bed. ****See you soon!**


	68. Chapter 67

It was late afternoon, and Ryan sat down in the Lima Bean by himself with a mug of coffee, absently stirring a packet of sugar in as he looked over a book. Quinn had been gone for over a week now, Mike and Tina were off at Asian camp, and Santana and Brittany were off doing… well, probably each other. Mr. Hummel had gone to Michigan with his family, so the garage was closed. The theater workshop Shelby had gotten him into occupied some of his time, but other than that he'd been at loose ends for a few days.

"Mind if I join you?"

Ryan looked up in surprise. "Blaine, hi," Ryan smiled as the Warbler sat down opposite him. "This is a nice surprise."

"Yeah," Blaine nodded with his own smile. "Hey, I heard about Nationals."

"From Kurt?"

"Yeah. And from that YouTube link. Pretty catch title, too."

"Ah yes," Ryan nodded. "_The Kiss That Missed_. Catchy, actually."

"Kurt seems to think that you were being a total diva and that you overreacted," Blaine commented.

Ryan scoffed. "And you? What do you think?"

"I think… Finn seems like an asshole."

"Oh, he is."

"Are you serious about leaving the New Directions though?" Blaine asked, stirring some cream into his coffee. "I didn't think you'd be able to live without performing."

Ryan chuckled at the teasing tone. "My Tinkerbell-like tendencies notwithstanding, yes, I am serious about leaving. The environment isn't conducive to my talent, and while I will miss performing, I think I'll be able to find another outlet." He took a sip of his coffee. "So, any plans for the summer?"

"Not as of yet," Blaine answered. "We spent last summer visiting my mom's family, so this year my grandmother's in the country for a visit, meaning we'll be taking her on touristy things, but schedule's not set yet. I've got an audition for a show at Six Flags though, so wish me luck on that."

"You'll kill it," Ryan assured him, smiling. "I got a spot at a musical theater clinic, so I do have something to channel my creative energies into."

"Wait, is this the one at Cresswell Theater?" Blaine asked interestedly. "I heard about that, isn't it really hard to join those classes?"

"Yeah, but my mom knows a couple of the teachers, so got me a slot."

"Lucky," Blaine commented.

"I know, the teachers are amazing. And there are surprisingly a good number of talented students in the area. There's this one girl who has an absolutely killer voice. Shame she lives in Columbus, otherwise I'd be trying to get her to come to McKinley and join the new glee club that I'll be forming."

"Ah. So what are you up to today? Meeting Quinn?"

Ryan shook his head. "She and her mom went to California for a couple of weeks to visit her sister. And I've been temporarily kicked out of the house," he said ruefully. "My mom has a couple of voice students today, and after I gave a few less-than-tactful comments last time she banned me from the house during lessons."

"Hey, want to come over to my place?" Blaine offered. "I don't have anything to do either. We could just chill out, play some games or something."

Ryan smiled, happy with the invitation. "Sure."

Soon the two boys were at Blaine's house, which was on the outskirts of Lima. "I don't suppose you'd consider transferring to McKinley?" Ryan said hopefully as they went inside. "After the split I've been trying to get my mom to start up another glee club so that we can actually win. I've managed to extract a loose promise from her that if I could find a backer and a few more members, she'd consider it."

"Poaching me from the Warblers?" Blaine teased. "But you know I can't leave the Warblers. They're my friends. And we've got a really good shot at winning next year, especially if you guys can't get it together."

"Funny."

Right then a woman came into the living room. "Blaine? Who's that?"

Blaine turned around. "Hi Mom. It's Ryan, remember? From Mrs. Stanton's classes a few years back?"

Ryan smiled, holding out his hand. "Hi Mrs. Anderson," he greeted the vaguely Asian-looking woman whom he had met several times while he and Blaine had taken music lessons together. "I'm not sure if you remember me, but it's nice to see you again."

Mrs. Anderson smiled at him, taking his hand. "Of course I remember you. You've grown up quite a bit," she answered. "Blaine told me you two had reconnected this year." She turned to Blaine. "Your grandmother's upstairs taking a nap, so try not to be too loud, okay?"

"Okay," Blaine replied. "We'll just be in the basement."

Ryan followed him down a set of stairs to a nicely furnished den, complete with an entertainment center and a comfortable-looking sofa set. "Cool room."

"Yep." Blaine picked up a small tin, opening it and offering Ryan some kind of candy. "Want one?"

"Sure." Ryan took one of the wrapped candies. "What are they?"

"My grandmother brought a whole bunch of them, they're basically condensed milk and sugar."

"Oh." He put it in his mouth, chewing slightly at the sweet treat. "They're good."

"I know," Blaine grinned as Ryan looked around the room.

"You box now?" he asked curiously, reaching out to touch a punching bag hanging from the ceiling.

"Yeah, just a bit," the Warbler nodded sheepishly, a hand on the back of his neck. "My dad wanted me to learn, after…" He trailed off, and Ryan just nodded. Blaine had been so messed up after what had happened after the Sadie Hawkins dance at his middle school.

"My dad's been teaching me how to fight too," he offered. "We should try sparring sometime. With proper safety precautions and equipment, of course."

"That would be fun," Blaine smiled, the melancholy mood quickly fading. He glanced around the basement, his eyes landing on the TV in the corner. "Ever played Guitar Hero?"

"What?"

Blaine grinned. "You're gonna love it."

..

"So how were your lessons?" Ryan asked Shelby that evening as they had dinner with James. "Has Whitney improved yet? At all?"

"I'll have you know she's been improving in leaps and bounds," Shelby said haughtily. That was a bit of an exaggeration, the student in question had shown marginal improvement, but it was progress nonetheless. "Your comment last week was quite inappropriate."

"I'm just being honest."

"Saying her screeches could shatter glass was a bit brutal, don't you think?"

"I didn't know she was listening!"

"Okay, okay," James interceded, hiding a smile. "I think we can agree neither of you are the most tactful when offering musical critiques –"

"Excuse me?" Shelby said incredulously. "I'm very tactful, I'll have you know!"

"Tact is extremely overrated," Ryan added irately. "If I sound like a wailing air raid siren I'd like someone to tell me!"

James sighed as the two drama queens turned on him. "I just meant – never mind. Guess what I have?" he changed the subject. Shelby rolled her eyes at him, knowing what he was doing. He just smiled cheekily at her, pulling an envelope from his pocket and handing it to Ryan. James and Shelby watched as he opened it.

Ryan tipped the contents out, and then stared at the tickets that fell out, a grin spreading over his face. "We're going back to New York?"

"This weekend," Shelby confirmed. "We'll be leaving Friday morning. Your dad needs to be back by Sunday evening, but we can stay for an extra day. I've also taken the liberty of purchasing tickets for some of the Broadway shows."

"Oh my God, you guys are the best parents ever," Ryan gushed, wrapping both of them in an enthusiastic hug. "Thank you so much!"

"Our pleasure, buddy," James told him, smiling at his exuberance.

"Remember this day when we ground you for holding another illicit alcohol party in the house or something," Shelby quipped dryly, even as she smiled, pleased with his reaction.

* * *

The rest of the week passed by in a flurry of packing on Shelby's part while Ryan continued taking his theater lessons. Shelby was glad he seemed to be having a good time at them, she'd talked to her friends who were running the workshop, and they shared her assessment that Ryan had the potential to be something special. He did have the tendency to be a bit bossy, and he was a bit of a diva sometimes, but all performers had their quirks.

The flight to New York passed relatively smoothly, both Shelby and James had kept an eye on Ryan during the flight, but aside from a bit of nerves he'd been cool about it. She noticed he was in a bit of a rush to get off as soon as they'd landed though. They took a taxi to the Intercontinental, where Shelby had booked a suite with two rooms, and Ryan attempted to rush out as soon as the cab came to a stop.

"Hey, wait!" Shelby managed to catch him by the back of his jacket, keeping the kid from scrambling into the city. James held back a laugh as he helped the driver heft the luggage out of the trunk. "Where do you think you're going? We need to get checked in first."

"But –"

"New York isn't going anywhere, Ryan," Shelby told him. James hid a smile at Ryan's impatient face.

"Oh, come on, Shelby, just let him go around for a bit," he said. "We got this, and he'll be fine. Right, buddy?"

Ryan's face lit up. "Yes, I'll be fine," he chimed in. "I promise I will be just fine, I'll come right back to the hotel, and I won't get into any trouble. Please?" He turned a pout on Shelby.

"Yeah, please?" James added his own pout for good measure. Shelby looked from one to the other before sighing.

"Fine. Go. Be back for lunch, okay?"

"Yes!" Ryan cheered. "Thank you!" He gave his dad a spontaneous hug and his mom a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back by twelve!" He rushed off down the street, leaving James and Shelby watching him in amusement.

"Not fair, you ganging up on me," Shelby told him.

"Maybe not," James agreed. "But it's not my fault you can't resist all our boyish charms." Shelby rolled her eyes. "Besides, gives us a little time for just us. I love the kid, but it's nice to have time on our own, don't you think?"

"Whatever." The pair pulled the luggage into the Intercontinental, quickly checking in and heading up to their room.

* * *

By Saturday evening, the small family had seen _Wicked _and _Phantom of the Opera_, with tickets for Sunday's showing of _Catch Me If You Can_ burning a hole in their pockets. They had ridden the subway, and had only gotten lost twice. They had also been to the Met, the Bronx Zoo, Grand Central Station, Central Park, and FAO Schwartz, taking a whole memory card's worth of pictures while they were at it.

Ryan had allowed Shelby and James out to have dinner on their own while he caught up on a little sleep at the hotel. The two of them had taken advantage of the gracious offer, having dinner at one of New York's many, many restaurants, and had decided to take a stroll before heading back.

It was a nice evening, and Shelby was enjoying their walk. She really did love New York, and she'd always liked walking in the city at night. Not exactly the safest habit, but the city made her feel alive. And she loved being able to be here with both her boys.

She glanced around, feeling a sudden sense of déjà vu. Then she realized that they were roughly in the same place where she had seen James in 2003. It seemed he remembered as well.

"I remember this theater," James smiled, as they passed an Off-Broadway establishment, walking arm in arm. "You were playing Maria in _West Side Story_. First time I'd seen you since '94. I saw your name on the lists and I had to see you. You were amazing in it, as I recall. Blew the roof off the house."

"Naturally," Shelby quipped, reminiscing for a moment before her smile faded. "You know, I nearly panicked when we met that night. I was… shocked to say the least."

"I didn't expect to see you either."

"It hadn't been a very good day," Shelby admitted. "Do you remember what time of the year it was?"

"Winter, right?" James asked, thinking back. "There was some light snow."

"Right. It was December." She smiled sadly. "Just a week before the 18th, actually."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I'd been thinking about Ryan more than usual, and then you were there… and part of me wanted to tell you, but this other part of me told me it wouldn't do any good because… well. And you were there with that California blonde, so I went home and got drunk instead."

"You got drunk?" James sounded faintly amused.

Shelby snorted. "Not the best idea, I'll admit, I had a killer hangover the next day. Singing _Tonight _with a massive migraine is not a fun experience, let me tell you." She reached up, brushing gently at his hair. It had been growing a bit longer than the military cut he'd been sporting back in 2003. "You know, that's when I really saw how you two have the exact same eyes. I saw it in the hospital, when Ryan was born, but seeing you that night…"

James caught her hand, pressing a kiss on the back. "I love you, you know?"

"Even after everything?"

"Yeah." James cocked his head. "I'm probably insane."

Shelby chuckled a little. "You most certainly are." She kissed him on the cheek. "I love you."

They came up to the hotel, and James nudged Shelby. "I see someone who isn't supposed to be here."

Shelby looked in the indicated direction, sighing when she saw Ryan heading back to the hotel with a sandwich from the café down the street. She and James quickened their pace, catching up to their little delinquent. "Ahem."

Ryan froze, before letting his shoulders sag in resignation. He turned around to face his parents. "Hi," he said sheepishly.

"I thought you said you were going to stay in the hotel," Shelby said.

"I got hungry?"

"That's what room service is for."

Ryan smiled hopefully. "I got you some," he said, holding up a paper bag. James coughed, hiding a laugh, and Shelby shot him a glare before rolling her eyes.

"Just go back upstairs."

* * *

The next day, James flopped back on the bed. "I'm tired." They had been to the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Plaza, Radio City Music Hall, and more of Times Square, all of that after the matinee showing of _Catch Me If You Can._ "Your child is _exhausting_."

Shelby rolled her eyes, landing on the bed next to him. "Oh, so now he's my child?"

"When he drags us all over NYC, yeah, he's all yours." James had found it cute how much Shelby and Ryan were alike in their fascination for Broadway and all things New York. Amusing, but again, a bit exhausting.

"You're having a good time though, right?" Shelby checked. "This is your vacation too."

James nodded. "Yeah. I'm just having fun spending time with both of you." He sat up, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "It's nice, having a family vacation like this." She knew he hadn't had very many growing up. "Insane schedule notwithstanding."

"Good," she smiled, snuggling into his side. She tugged on his wrist, checking on his watch. "We should get going soon, we still need to have dinner." They hadn't been able to get tickets for any shows tonight.

"Mmm. How about a nap first?"

Shelby yawned. "That sounds good…"

..

One nap later, Ryan dragged his parents out of the room to have dinner. Shelby led them to a dinner near the hotel, and as they entered the establishment, one of the waitresses burst into song, backed up by a live pianist and some of the other wait staff. Ryan, James, and Shelby quickly sat down, and Ryan watched the performance, which was surprisingly good. Soon they were approached by a waiter.

"Hi guys," the waiter said brightly. "Welcome to the Spotlight Diner. I'm Joey, and I'll be your server tonight."

"Hi," Ryan smiled. "Is it normal for you guys to burst spontaneously into song?"

"Actually, yeah, it is," Joey answered amiably. "That's sort of the diner's thing. The waiters are mostly students at the performing arts schools," Joey explained. "So we work here, and we perform at the same time so our clients don't get bored."

"So if we asked you to sing something you'd do it?" Ryan asked interestedly after they had placed their orders.

"Yep," the waiter answered. "You could go sing something too. It's Open Mic night. Just go tell Tony – that's the piano guy – what you want to play. He knows pretty much any song you can ask for." He smiled at them. "I'll be right back with your orders."

Ryan immediately turned to Shelby, who arched an eyebrow at him. "Don't you want to wait until we eat?"

"Of course not," Ryan said, scandalized. "You know it's detrimental to perform on a full stomach. My performance will be optimal before dinner, and I won't stand for anything less than my best."

Shelby smiled wryly. "Of course not," she agreed. "Go right ahead. Nothing too sad now, okay?"

"Okay!" He quickly skipped off to the piano man, who listened to him, fingers never pausing from playing the background music. Ryan and Tony quickly settled on a piece, and Ryan took the mic confidently. He wasn't nervous at all, he'd been born for this. "Hi everyone, my name's Ryan Corcoran, and I'll just be singing a song for you."

He was met with a round of cheers from fellow customers and the wait staff. His parents' cheers were loudest though, and the most important. He waited for Tony to start, and entered on his cue.

_Somewhere out there_  
_Beneath the pale moonlight_  
_Someone's thinking of me_  
_And loving me tonight_

As the piano segued into a short instrumental, Ryan smiled, beckoning to his mom to come join him. Shelby hesitated for a moment before giving in, the stage's call irresistible. Ryan pulled her to the microphone, and she smiled as she took the next section.

_Somewhere out there_  
_Someone's saying a prayer_  
_That we'll find one another_  
_In that big somewhere out there_

Ryan took over for the next couple of lines before returning the microphone to Shelby.

_And even though I know how very far apart we are_  
_It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star_  
_And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby_  
_It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky_

The two performers smiled at each other as they harmonized on the chorus, lost in the thrill of performing and the message of the song.

_Somewhere out there_  
_If love can see us through_  
_Then we'll be together_  
_Somewhere out there_  
_Out where dreams come true_

The song came to a close, and the audience applauded enthusiastically, with a few whistles thrown in for good measure. Ryan grinned happily, soaking in the praise. He lived for the applause that came after every performance, and every time it happened, he grew more confident that this was where he was supposed to be – performing onstage. After a few moments, he pulled his mom into a quick hug, and then took the mic again, thanking the audience for listening. Shelby ran a hand fondly over his hair as they headed back to the table.

"That was awesome, guys," James congratulated them. Shelby sat down next to him, giving him a kiss.

"Thanks." She glanced up. "Looks like you've got a fan," she told Ryan with a smile, nodding at the manager, who was waving Ryan over. Ryan looked up, and after a moment slowly headed over to the short man.

"Hey kid," the manager nodded. "You looking for a job?"

"A job?" Ryan blinked. "No, I'm just here on vacation. I'm from Ohio."

"Ah. Shame. You're good. Customers pay a lot for a good voice."

"Oh. Well, as flattered as I am by your interest, again, I live in another state. But thank you very much for your offer."

The manager nodded again. "Thinkin' of moving out here anytime soon?"

"Actually, I'm planning to head over for college," Ryan replied.

"Well, if you do, come back. I'm sure we could find a spot for you. The Broadway producers show up here all the time, scouting for new guys. Good opportunity."

Ryan's eyes widened. "Really? Okay, I'll definitely be back when I graduate then." The manager nodded, and Ryan headed back over to his parents. "The manager just offered me a job here."

James looked at him, amused. "Did you tell him you're a highschooler from Ohio?"

"Yes, but he told me to come back if I move out here. He said a lot of Broadway producers come here to scout for talent." Ryan grinned. "Broadway, here I come!"

"That's good," Shelby said encouragingly. "Just, don't get your hopes too high, okay? There are a lot of talented performers in this city. Not everyone makes it."

"I know. But it's a good way to get out there, right? Plus, I'll need to make money to pay tuition somehow, what better way to do it than here? I'll be able to hone my voice and earn cash at the same time." He looked down. "I've looked at college costs at NYADA and Julliard, even NYU and Columbia. It's… expensive, to say the least."

Shelby nodded. "Well, I've looked into it, and I figure we can cover about half of your tuition expenses for your whole education," she said. "And we'll help out with living costs as necessary, but it will be good for you to have a job."

"Wait, what?" Ryan asked, confused. "You don't have to pay for college, I've been saving up, and think I can cover a little over a year, including living expenses. More if I get a job, or a scholarship. And I'll just make it up as I go, you don't have to put yourself out like that."

The two parents exchanged a look. "You already have a college trust fund set up," Shelby admitted.

"What?" Ryan stared at them.

Shelby nodded. "I started it up a few years after I moved here," she said slowly. She glanced at James, then back at Ryan. "I promised myself I'd make up what the Berrys had paid me, somehow. And I did. All my spare cash went into that fund. I wanted to give it to you when you turned eighteen, when… when I found you. And your dad's been adding to it since last year."

Ryan was overwhelmed at the information. He'd been saving up against the knowledge that living in New York was going to be expensive, on top of tuition costs. Hiram and Leroy hadn't set anything up for him, and he'd decided that he could make it on his own. But he'd still been worried that at some point, he'd run out, and he'd have to drop out and put his dreams on hold. And now… "You – you didn't have to do that."

"We wanted to," James told him. "And before you overthink this, it's not… out of some sense of guilt over not being there for you before."

Shelby took Ryan's hand. "We want you to have your best chance at your dreams," she told him intently. "I didn't… I don't want you to be like me, I don't want you to be in the position that I was in… that we were both in."

"I… I don't know what to say," Ryan stammered out.

"Don't say anything," James advised. "Just do your best to get into the school that you want. Don't get me wrong, I liked being in the Army. But if there's one thing I regret about my life path other than missing out on you, it's missing out on a college education. So don't waste it."

Ryan looked at both his parents, who gazed back at him with so much love. "Thank you."

* * *

The next morning James woke early, smiling slightly as he found Shelby clinging around him. He nudged her gently, and she rolled over, letting him out of the bed. He took a quick shower before going out to the suite's shared living room. Ryan was already up as well, flicking through TV channels. James sat down on the couch next to him. "Bored?"

Ryan shrugged. "Maybe. Isn't Mom awake yet? There's still so much left to do, and you're leaving this afternoon," he bemoaned. "And then we're leaving tomorrow. There's not enough time to do everything!"

James chuckled. "Tell you what. Let's go out, just us. We'll leave a note for your mom, she can just follow us or whatever."

Ryan smiled. "Okay. She does like her sleep, doesn't she?"

"Yes she does. You like the beach?"

Some time later the two of them were at Manhattan Beach Park, sitting in the sand facing the ocean. It was just early enough that there weren't many people around. The weather was perfect, too – clear skies with a light breeze coming in, the rising sun shining gently on the shimmering water. James glanced at Ryan, who seemed enamored with the water.

"Cool, huh?" he said, nudging the boy.

"Yeah," Ryan smiled faintly, gazing out at the water. "It's nice. Everything's so peaceful." He was quiet for a few moments. "This is my first time seeing the ocean." He smiled wryly. "Hiram and Leroy weren't big into family vacations. Furthest I ever got out of Ohio before Nationals was Kentucky."

James hummed, smiling a little at the thought of finally being able to share one of his kid's firsts. "First time I saw the ocean, I was nineteen. We got a couple of weeks of leave before shipping over to Iraq for Desert Storm. We were in California, 'cause that's where desert training goes on, so we headed out to the beach at San Diego."

"What did you do there?" Ryan asked curiously.

"Just hung out at the beach, mostly. Made asses of ourselves trying to surf," James chuckled, getting a laugh from Ryan.

"I like how it's so open," Ryan said absently. "The sky's beautiful." He glanced sideways. "Did mom tell you I'm a little claustrophobic?" James nodded. "Did she tell you why?"

"Yes, she did."

"That time in the locker was the worst, I guess," Ryan admitted. "I didn't tell her about the other stuff. Like one time I got stuck in a dumpster because some of the football idiots piled a bench on the lid. Janitor pulled me out again. I sort of made friends with the janitorial staff by the end of middle school." He chuckled sadly. "I guess you think it's stupid."

James pushed down the anger he felt at those stupid kids and the school for letting it happen. "Why would you think that?"

He shrugged self-consciously. "Just… I don't know. I think it's stupid. And you're… you. You're kind of a war hero, you were even in Desert Storm. You've been all over the world and you've done a lot, and you probably think I'm being dumb for being scared of small spaces."

"It's not dumb." James was quiet for a moment. "I'm scared of loud noises," he admitted. "Especially when I'm not expecting it. There was one time, we were in Afghanistan. We were escorting a convoy across the desert in the middle of the night for some fucking reason, and there was an ambush." He thought back for a moment. "The terrorists were all over us, guns were going off everywhere. We couldn't see them, it was too dark. Concussion grenade went of less than ten feet away from me. Killed three guys."

"That's horrible."

"I went home on leave a couple of months later, a car backfired and I panicked. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think properly."

"That's understandable. It was a very traumatic event."

"Do you think I'm weak for being scared?"

Ryan shook his head. "Of course not."

James nodded. "I don't think you're weak for being scared of small spaces either."

"That's –"

"Not different," James cut in. "It was a traumatic event, as you said, and you developed a normal response. That's it. It's not your fault, and it's not stupid."

The teenager seemed to think it over for a moment. "Okay."

"Good."

..

A few hours later they found themselves at Coney Island, wandering through the amusement park. Ryan was munching on a corn dog while he and James waited for Shelby to get there. James stopped for a moment, grinning as a bunch of teenagers tried out a shooting gallery. Ryan peered over. "Is it really that hard to hit the targets?" he asked skeptically.

"Why don't you give it a try?" James suggested as the group left, heading over to the booth. Ryan shrugged, swallowing the last of his snack. It was three dollars for two minutes to shoot as many of the duck targets as possible.

"You gotta hit twenty of them to get one of the prizes," the guy running the stand told him. Ryan soon found that it was in fact harder than it looked. Three tries later the highest he'd gotten was twelve. He looked over at his dad, who was hiding a smile.

"Okay, why don't you try?" he suggested irately.

"Hmm," James looked at the board thoughtfully. He took the gun from Ryan. "Let's do it."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Okay, but I think we're wasting our time." He called the guy running the stand over. "One more try."

The guy smirked. "Your funeral." He took Ryan's cash and gave him another set of ammo. Ryan passed it over to James, who quickly loaded it in.

"Okay," James answered, sighting the BB gun. "When does the time start?"

"First shot," the guy answered. "Anytime you want."

"Okay." James lined up the first shot, taking aim at the middle target. The gun went off with a bang, hitting high. "Calibration's off," he muttered, realigning the weapon. He took another shot, this time hitting the target dead center and sending it spinning.

One minutes and ten seconds later, Ryan stared at the spinning targets, jaw hanging open. "How did you do that?" Ryan asked slowly.

James smiled slyly. "Military elite marksmanship badge."

"Oh." Ryan blinked before scowling. "That's cheating," he accused.

"Is it?" James asked innocently as he was handed a large stuffed panda bear by the guy running the booth. "Here," he said, handing the toy over to Ryan. "You can hold that." He checked his phone. "Your mom's close. Let's go find her."

"Okay," Ryan said grudgingly. A moment later… "Can you teach me how to do that?"

James chuckled. "Sure kid. I'll take you to the shooting range in Lima sometime. Just don't tell your mom, don't need her accusing me of teaching you how to shoot people."

..

Ryan and James met Shelby near the boardwalk, and spent a bit more time wandering around. They were just about to head back to the hotel when Ryan's eyes lit up as he saw the roller coaster. James and Shelby took one look at him and knew what he wanted even before he turned to them with a hopeful expression.

"Oh no. No. I'm not getting on that death trap." Shelby shook her head vehemently.

"Please?"

Shelby scowled. "No. I don't like heights, and I don't like leaving my insides behind as we travel a million miles in ten seconds. You and your dad can go ahead and puke your guts out."

"It's no fun if we don't all do it!" Ryan argued. Shelby just shook her head again. "Come on, please?" he begged. His mom hesitated, and Ryan smiled, knowing he had her. "Come on, it'll be fun."

James grinned, putting his arm around Shelby. "Kid's right, it'll be fantastic. And we'll be right there, so if we crash we'll all do it together," he added brightly.

Shelby sighed, finally letting them drag her to the line. "Somehow that doesn't make me feel better."

Soon they were getting onto the ride, quickly strapping in, and the train chugged up the slope. "Oh God," Ryan heard his mom mumble next in front of him. He grinned, just as the roller coaster shot down the slope, sending everyone screaming as the world rushed past in a blur. He was yelling right along with everyone as the ride roared down the track, exhilarated at the sensation of speed.

A few minutes later they all stumbled off the roller coaster. "Let's do that again!"

"Nope," Shelby shook her head only to wince. "No. We are _not_ doing that again."

..

The three of them took a taxi to LaGuardia later that afternoon so that James could head back to Lima. "I wish you could stay until tomorrow," Ryan sighed.

"I know," James nodded, giving Ryan a quick hug and then turning to Shelby. "I'll see you in a couple of days, yeah?"

Shelby nodded, pulling him into a hug. "Have a good flight."

They watched him get into the taxi, which promptly sped off. "So, where to?" Ryan asked expectantly.

"You don't have an itinerary?" Shelby asked teasingly. I thought you had every minute of our stay planned out to the second."

"We're running early, we still have an hour until we need to visit Central Park again," he informed her.

"I see. Well, if you want, we could go over to NYADA and have a look at the campus."

Ryan grinned. "That would be great!"

Another taxi ride later, Ryan absolutely fell in love with NYADA as soon as they stepped inside. The school was obviously made for performers, and even this early on a Saturday he could hear people rehearsing. "I have to get in here," he said determinedly.

"Oh, I'm sure you have what it takes," Shelby said in amusement as they went around the lobby. "But don't be too disappointed if you don't get in, okay? They only take about 30 students each year, and that's from the whole country. It's highly selective. I'd advise applying to other schools as well."

"Yes, I suppose that would be a wise decision," Ryan admitted. "But I'll get in."

Shelby just smiled at his confidence. "Come on, we should be getting back to the hotel." Ryan nodded, and they headed for the exit, only to be stopped by a woman wearing a turban.

"Miss Corcoran," she greeted. "I wasn't expecting you to visit this year. I know you don't have any students to recommend, since you retired from Carmel."

"Good morning Madame T," Shelby answered easily. "No, this was just a spur of the moment thing. We were just taking a tour of the campus." She gestured at Ryan. "This is my son, Ryan. Ryan, this is Madame Carmen Tibideaux. She's the head of the voice department here at NYADA. And if my sources are correct, perhaps the next dean as well?" she smiled.

"Perhaps," Madame Tibideaux chuckled, shifting her attention to Ryan. "I didn't know you had a son, but I can see the resemblance." She shook Ryan's hand. "Are you interested in applying to NYADA, young man?"

Ryan nodded quickly, putting on a smile. "Most definitely," he answered confidently. "I'm just a junior, but I'll be applying next year."

"Good," the teacher nodded. "If you've inherited your mother's talent I'm sure you'll be someone to watch. Especially if she's been teaching you as well, she has the reputation of turning out some excellent performers." She looked at Shelby. "I was disappointed when you turned down my offer last year. Especially since you've decided to take yourself out of the show choir circuit. It's quite a loss."

Ryan looked at Shelby curiously, but she just smiled. "Well, I think I made the best decision for myself at the time," she answered. "Although I was flattered to receive your letter, I know you only offer positions to the best."

"Yes, I do." Madame Tibideaux looked at her. "But if you were willing to teach again, and perhaps repeat your success at your new school in the future, I may be able to offer you the position again." She nodded at Shelby, then at Ryan. "I look forward to seeing your audition next year, Mr. Corcoran." She turned around and went up the stairs.

"What was she talking about?" Ryan asked. "What letter?"

"Oh, she offered me a job last year," Shelby answered vaguely as they exited the building.

"What do you mean?"

Shelby hesitated. "Remember last year, when we talked at Regionals?" Ryan nodded. "I told you I had planned on returning to New York after leaving VA. If we hadn't found each other. I was actually planning on teaching at NYADA. Madame Tibideaux offered me a position teaching advanced vocal technique."

"That's amazing," Ryan said in awe. "Why didn't you…" His smile faded. "Did you turn it down because of me?"

"Honestly? Yes," Shelby answered. His face fell slightly in guilt. So he'd ruined another one of his mom's chances to end up in New York – first when he'd been born, and now this. She seemed to notice, and she stopped walking, turning to face him. "But I don't regret it," she told him firmly. "I would have taken the job if you hadn't come along. But I couldn't leave you. Not again. You were always my dream. Not New York anymore. I wouldn't have been happy if I'd left you."

That made him feel a little better. "Maybe I could have come with you."

"I did consider that," she admitted. "But you weren't living with me yet when I turned her down. So if I left, then I'd have had to leave you behind. And then afterwards, you were already going through so much, with us and your dads… I didn't think it would be best for you."

"But it's New York…" Ryan said almost longingly.

Shelby smiled at him. "You're here now," she pointed out. "And you'll be here after another year. Besides, you would have missed out on Quinn if we'd moved."

"Right," he conceded. "I suppose that makes staying in Ohio worth it."

"I'm sure she'd be delighted to hear that," Shelby teased. Ryan smiled, relaxing as his insecurities left.

"How does Madame Tibideaux know you?" he asked curiously. "You only coached VA for four years, right?"

"Yes, but I was a vocal coach here in New York for a few years before I left in 2003," Shelby answered. "And I had several voice students in Ohio before I took over VA. I recommended some of them for NYADA."

"Oh."

Shelby nodded. "Madame T also worked on one of the Off-Broadway shows I was in, back in 2001. So you could say we've had a pretty long working relationship."

Ryan smiled. "That's very cool." He smiled slyly. "Do you think that'll help get me into NYADA?" he chuckled, before shaking his head. "No, in all seriousness, I think I'd like to get in on my own merit," he said thoughtfully. "I wouldn't want to get in just because my mother knows the dean."

"Very mature," Shelby said approvingly. He smiled mischievously.

"Still, it couldn't hurt right?" Ryan nodded firmly. "This just makes it even more imperative that you start a new show choir at McKinley. Madame Tibideaux said that she might offer you the position again if you continued your successful streak of coaching winning choirs. If we win this year, you might be able to move to New York when I leave."

"Would you like that? Shelby asked.

"I… yeah, maybe," Ryan said, shrugging. They hadn't had enough time together yet, and he'd be leaving for college in just a year. He wouldn't mind his parents being close. "I mean, you'd have to get your own place, of course."

Shelby smiled, amused. "Of course."

* * *

Several days after their return from New York, Shelby and Ryan headed to Akron to visit Shelby's family for lunch. James hadn't been able to come because he had work, but they promised to bring him leftovers. They ended up getting there early, and Ryan ended up in a round of basketball with Tom.

"You're getting really good," Tom complimented, as he caught the ball after Ryan's three-pointer.

Ryan grinned happily. "Thanks. We went 7-3 last season," he said proudly.

"Any scholarship interest?"

"Not directly, but our coach said she could put me in contact with some scouts, if I wanted," Ryan answered. "I've considered it, but you know I'm more focused on my stage career. Mom knows a lot of people, in fact she knows the dean of the college I really want to get into."

"That's great," Tom said encouragingly. "I'm sure you'll get in. Just keep your options open."

"I know." Ryan shot the ball into the hoop again. "It's good that I have Mom advising me for this, I guess," he admitted. "I probably would have just applied to one college, but she told me to apply to as many as possible, and then just pick from the ones that sent acceptance letters."

"That is the best strategy," Tom acknowledged. "Don't want to go putting all your eggs in one basket." He caught the ball. "So how is your summer going?"

Ryan smiled, happy to have people who actually cared how his summer was going. "It's going great. New York was amazing," he gushed. "Three days still wasn't enough though, I can't wait to go back."

"Having fun with your friends?"

"Yes, actually," Ryan nodded thoughtfully. "It's… new, I guess to have friends to spend the summer with. There wasn't exactly a crowd of people clamoring for my company before this year." This summer was good though. He had Mike, and Blaine, even Santana… "I wish Quinn were here though." His smile brightened. "She's getting home today, from California."

"Family vacation?" Tom asked curiously.

"Of sorts. Her sister's graduating from UC Davis, so Quinn and her mom went to attend her commencement exercises, and do a little sightseeing too."

"I see."

Just then Sarah called over, "Food's ready!"

..

After lunch half the family was congregated in the living room around a squalling baby Alex, whom Josh couldn't get to sleep. Paige had abandoned them an hour ago to catch a much needed nap upstairs. "Okay, sweetheart, just calm down," Josh tried. Alex paid no attention though, her cries intensifying.

Shelby sighed as he passed her the baby. They had been trying to get her to stop for almost half an hour now, but nothing was working. Ryan came into the living room. "Why won't she stop?"

"Well, if we knew that, she wouldn't be crying now, would she?" Shelby snarked. "Here, you try." She pushed the baby into his arms.

"What?"

Ryan stared down nervously at Alex, who miraculously stopped crying. She gazed at him with teary eyes before settling into his arms, hiccupping slightly.

"Oh thank God," Josh breathed. Ryan held back a snort as he cradled Alex, who stared back up at him with wide blue eyes.

Shelby smiled. "She likes you."

"Huh." Ryan glanced back down at the baby. "I guess she's okay." She was really warm, and heavier than he'd expected for someone so small. She gave him a toothless smile, and he felt his heart melt. He smiled goofily at his cousin.

"Okay, sweetie," Josh crooned, starting to take Alex back. "You think you can take your nap for me now?" He was rewarded with a loud scream. "Apparently not." Once she was back in Ryan's arms, Alex quieted down again. "Would you look at that, my kid likes you better than me."

Ryan chuckled a bit nervously. He wasn't too used to being around kids. "I'm sure that's not true."

Josh tried to take her again, only to be deterred by another shriek. "No, I think it's true." He checked his watch. "She should be going down for a nap right about now."

Shelby walked over. "Let me try." She thought for a moment before starting to sing. "_A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain, softly blows o'er lullaby bay…_"

Ryan smiled softly as he started to harmonize with her. "_It fills the sails of boats that are waiting – waiting to sail your worries away_…"

The pair sang the lullaby in perfect harmony as Ryan gently rocked the baby. It wasn't long before Alex's eyes started fluttering shut, and she was asleep by the time they finished the song. Josh quietly directed Ryan to put her down in the crib. "Thank you," he said, smiling.

"No problem," Ryan said in a hushed voice. Josh left the room, and Ryan watched Alex sleep for a moment before following him out. He stopped at the doorway, where his mom was standing.

"You're really good with her," she said softly. "You'll make a good dad someday."

Ryan shrugged. "Maybe." He paused. "You would have made a great mom back then. You do now." He hesitated again. "Why didn't you have more?" he asked, honestly curious. "You could have."

"It felt… wrong. And now I can't anymore."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Shelby smiled, though Ryan could see the sadness underneath. "I'll just wait for grandkids," she said lightly. "Just, not anytime too soon, okay? I'm too young to be a grandma."

"Duly noted."

..

Ryan headed over to the Fabray house that evening after he, Shelby, and James had gotten home from Akron. Ostensibly, it was to return the keys to Judy's Escalade, but he really wanted to see Quinn. He rang the doorbell, and Judy opened the door. "Ryan, hello."

"Hi Judy," Ryan said, flashing her a smile. "Here are the keys to the Escalade."

"Thanks Ryan," Judy smiled back at him. "Did you do something to it? I took it out this afternoon and it's handling beautifully."

"Oh, that," Ryan smiled shyly, running a hand through his hair. "I gave it a tuneup. Your wheels were a little out of alignment, and it was due for an oil change."

"You must let me pay you."

"No, no, it's on me," Ryan assured her. "It's fine, it didn't even take me that long. It was my pleasure."

Judy argued a little, but in the end Ryan won out. Judy sent him up to Quinn's room with a playful eye-roll. He knocked on the door, grinning at the sight of his girlfriend unpacking her things. "Hey."

Quinn looked up quickly, a large smile appearing on her face. "Ryan! Hey." She dropped the set of shirts she was stuffing into the drawers, rushing over to wrap him in a big hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Ryan answered, burying his nose in her hair and breathing her in. She smelled perfect, as always, fitting perfectly into his arms. "So, how was your trip?" he asked eagerly. "What did you see? Did you take pictures?"

"Yeah, I took loads," Quinn nodded, sitting down on the bed and pulling her camera out of her bag. "Here."

Ryan settled down beside her, peering down at the small screen. "Oh wow, I'm so jealous," he moaned as she showed him a picture of herself with Judy and Frannie at the Walk of Fame. Then he gasped as he saw one of Quinn with Barbra Streisand's star.

"I took that one just for you," Quinn told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "We can take another one when you get there yourself."

"Definitely," Ryan agreed. He turned to look at her, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. She was so beautiful. He leaned forward. She met him halfway, and he sighed into the kiss, smiling. He'd missed this. Yeah, it had only been a couple of weeks, but he'd missed her so much. Quinn reached out, placing the camera on her bedside table before curling her fist in Ryan's shirt.

"I missed you a lot," she breathed as she broke back for air. Ryan smiled widely as he pulled her close, kissing her again. Slowly, he pulled them down so they were lying on the bed, his fingers tangled through her hair as he pressed kisses to her jaw.

He was so turned on, it was almost embarrassing, but to be fair, he hadn't had sex in two weeks. Their breathing picked up, and Ryan's hand started to slip up Quinn's shirt, caressing the smooth skin. He groaned, imagining the feeling of being inside her again –

"Wait." Quinn's hand landed on his wrist. "I – I'm kind of tired. Can we…"

Ryan drew back in confusion. "Oh. Oh yeah. Okay." He leaned back, running a hand through his hair as he tried to calm himself down.

"Sorry," Quinn apologized. "I just don't –"

"No, it's fine," Ryan assured her. "I don't want you to feel pressured or anything."

"Thank you."

Ryan nodded, taking a deep breath. It was cool. It wasn't like he was a sex-crazed teenager. He could go without sex. It had only been… two weeks… A very long two weeks… And it wasn't like he was insanely turned on right now. Nope. He swallowed, shaking himself. It was fine. If she didn't want to, then she didn't want to. No questions asked. Even if he felt like he was going to fucking blow soon. Okay.

He rolled off the bed, putting some distance between them, because just having her close to him was getting him hot. He licked his lips as he ran his hand through his hair again. "How about I get going?" he suggested. "So you can, you know, rest…"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess." Quinn smiled a little, not really meeting his eyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah. I'll come over around eight, if that's okay?"

"Yeah. Sure." Ryan took a deep breath, still on edge from their activities. He debated kissing her for a moment, but decided against it. He didn't think it would help his problem. He settled for a smile. "Bye Quinn."

Looks like it was time for a DIY.

* * *

**Hi everyone, here's a filler for you guys. I hope you guys like it. Thank you very much for your feedback last chapter, good to know that long chapters are appreciated. Your ideas are noted, and I may write some of them into the story soon. **

**It's my summer vacation, which is why I'm updating a bit faster than usual. Commencement exercises are this Saturday (yay) and my new job starts in July, so chapters may slow down again. Again, I won't be abandoning this story, I'm just giving you guys a heads up.**

**So probably one more chapter (may be filler-ish again) for the summer, and then on to Season 3. Again, if you recognize it, I don't own it. Typos are all mine, though. Review, guys, they make me write faster :)**


	69. Chapter 68

"Good morning," Ryan greeted Quinn as he let her into the house the next morning. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, not entirely sure where he stood after last night when she'd stopped him.

"Hey," Quinn smiled back at him warmly. Ryan relaxed a little as they went into the living room. Quinn glanced at a stack of boxes sitting off to the side of the room. "Are you guys moving or something?"

"Oh, no," Ryan explained. "My dad's moving in with us, so that's his stuff. They actually went to pick up a few more things from his apartment. I think they might be shopping for other stuff too while they're at it."

"Oh. Wow. That's great," Quinn commented. "I mean about your dad moving in."

"Yeah." He smiled. He was happy to have his dad moving in. "So did you have a good night?"

"I did, thanks."

He gave her a hug. "I really missed you."

"I really missed you too." She reached up, pulling him down to her level to catch his lips in a hot kiss. Ryan responded eagerly, his hands reaching out for her hips, tugging her into him as her hand crept up his abs. Quinn tilted her head, running her tongue lightly along the seam of his lips for a moment before pulling back, leaving him breathless. She smirked a little at his dazed expression before pushing him down onto the couch, losing no time in landing on his lap and crashing their lips back together.

Ryan let out a low moan as Quinn slipped her tongue in his mouth, heat tingling all over his body as their bodies melted together, fitting against each other perfectly. His eyes fluttered shut as he grew lightheaded, giddy from having her all over him.

Suddenly Quinn froze, eyes flying open as she broke away from the kiss. Ryan's eyes opened as well, confused. "Quinn?"

She stared at him for a moment, wide-eyed, before standing up and running a hand through her disheveled hair. "Um…"

His brow furrowed. "Is something wrong?"

"What? No! No, nothing's wrong." She shut her eyes briefly. "Everything's fine. I just… I don't know, I'm not really feeling it right now."

Ryan stared at her, bewildered. Not feeling it? She'd been the one to start, and he knew she was feeling it. He stood up as well, a flash of insecurity running through him. Had he done something wrong? He tried not to let it show though. "Oh." He laughed a little nervously. "Okay. That's okay."

Quinn inhaled, catching her breath, still flushed from their activity. "Uh… how about we go out for a bit? I don't really… want to do it with you right now."

Ryan put on a smile, now very confused. "Way to kill my ego there," he joked, semi-seriously.

She put a hand up. "That came out wrong. Look, it's not you, okay," she said. That didn't sound good.

"Okay…"

She shut her eyes again in frustration. "Okay. Can we just have lunch?" she asked almost pleadingly.

"I… okay." Ryan stepped back completely, utterly bemused. Quinn spun around, heading out the door and into her car. Ryan got into the passenger seat. Quinn started the car, leaving the driveway, and Ryan glanced at her sideways. "Quinn?"

"Hmm?"

"You'd tell me if something was up, right? Like, if something happened while you were in California?" he asked hesitantly. He trusted her, but she was acting very weird. It wasn't as if he minded her not wanting to have sex, it was okay. But it felt like she was keeping something from him.

"Nothing happened," Quinn answered. "I just… I guess I'm just readjusting to Lima or something," she continued lamely.

Ryan wasn't completely convinced, but he nodded. She'd tell him if something was wrong. He just needed to wait.

* * *

The next day Ryan was in the driveway of his house, spraying Shelby's Range Rover with water from the hose. His mom hadn't wanted to take it to the carwash and had contracted Ryan to wash it for her. Ryan hadn't minded much, it was a sunny day, and he was being paid for it, so it was all good. He was almost finished when he saw Quinn's red VW pull up at the curb, his girlfriend coming out a second later. "Hey," he called out, grinning.

"Hello," Quinn answered, smiling almost hungrily. Ryan cocked his head a little as his girlfriend looked him up and down. He looked down self-consciously. He didn't see anything wrong with his clothes. Yes, they were wet, and his shirt was kind of clinging to his front, but he thought it could be excused since he was washing the car. Quinn's lips darted out to wet her lips. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go have lunch, but it looks like you're busy."

"Oh, yeah," Ryan smiled. "I was just wrapping up, so if you could wait a minute…"

Quinn nodded, looking him over again. "Yeah, sure. Why don't you just take it to a car wash?"

Ryan shrugged. "It's fine. Besides, it's summer, and I don't mind." He grinned. "The water's great for cooling off. And my mom's paying me, so." He flicked the hose at her playfully.

"Ryan!" Quinn jumped back, but not in time to avoid the spray of water from dampening her shirt. She glared at him playfully as Ryan just laughed. "Hang on, I'm almost done."

Quinn hummed. "How much would it cost for you to wash mine?" she asked innocently. He grinned as he finally caught her meaning, moving closer to her. She licked her lips again at the sight of his shirt clinging to his body.

"I'm sure we could come to a mutual agreement," he said suggestively. A smile spread slowly across her face.

"Hmm," she hummed. "What did you have in mind?" She let her gaze rove blatantly over his chest.

He smiled, leaning forward slowly before brushing his lips lightly over hers, testing the waters. She let out a small puff of breath, her mouth gaping open a little. Encouraged, Ryan moved in again, lips pressing against hers a little more insistently. Her hands slid up his chest, and his rested on her hips as he deepened the kiss. He bit softly at her lower lip, pulling a whimper from her before breaking for air. Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow. He smiled. "We could start with something like that…"

She swallowed, eyes still shut. She bit her lip. "Then what?"

Ryan smirked happily, pushing her back to press her against the side of the car. "We could do something like this…" He pressed his lips against her neck, honing in on a weak spot, and she shuddered, tilting her head to give him better access. He started to pull back again, only to have her tighten one hand in his shirt and the other around the back of his head, keeping him in place.

"No, no, don't stop, that's good…" She gasped as he bit down lightly at her collarbone before soothing the skin with his tongue. "_Yes_…"

He moved in closer, pressing his body against hers, letting out a hiss at the contact. "You feel so good, Quinn." He nuzzled at her neck, his breath causing her to shiver. She scratched at his scalp, and he leaned his head back into her hand.

Finally she pushed him back. "We should probably stop giving the neighbors a show," she said dazedly.

"Okay." Ryan blew out a breath, stepping away. She was acting really weird, and he didn't get her signals. One moment it was go and then the next it was stop…

Quinn bit her lip. "I should probably get going…" she said.

"You just got here, and I thought we were having lunch," Ryan said, confused. "And besides, I got your shirt wet," he gestured at her top, which was slightly damp after he'd flicked the hose at her earlier and from his pressing against her. "Let's just get changed, and then we can go."

"Right. Okay." She nodded after a moment. Ryan smiled, leading her into the house and into his room.

"Just a second, I'll find you something to wear." He scratched at his shirt that was starting to get itchy before pulling it off.

"I…" Whatever Quinn was going to say was lost as she stared at him.

"Are you o –"

His question was cut off by Quinn suddenly closing the distance between him and smashing her lips against his. Ryan's eyes widened for a moment before he responded enthusiastically, wrapping his arms around her as she devoured his mouth, her hand running over his stomach. He let out a huff as her hand crept lower, bumping against his crotch, white hot heat spreading from every point she was touching him. Their kiss grew hotter and heaver, her tongue gliding against his until they were forced to break apart for air.

"How about I help you with that?" he panted, his fingers playing with the hem of her top. She just nodded, letting him pull it off, and he stared at her for a moment, swallowing at the sight of her in her bra. She smirked now, enjoying seeing him speechless. This time Ryan initiated the kiss, pulling her toward him as their lips crashed together. Quinn moaned breathlessly, lost in the sensory overload.

Oxygen became an issue yet again, and Ryan pulled back, transferring his lips to her neck. "Wait, wait," Quinn gasped. Ryan groaned into her neck, slowing down.

"For what?" he whined.

"For – for… uh…" She seemed to lose her train of thought as Ryan sucked on her pulse point. "Oh god, yes, right there," she moaned, arching into his touch as his fingers danced over her stomach before cupping her breasts over her bra.

"I thought you told me to wait," Ryan said innocently, his lips gliding up to hers, nipping lightly on her bottom lip. He thrust his hips forward lightly, holding back a moan as his dick pressed up against her thigh.

"I did, I –" Quinn gasped raggedly as he squeezed her breast. Slowly he dipped his head back down, peppering her neck with quick, wet kisses before skimming his lips on the tops of her breasts. "Oh God…"

He shot back up to meet her lips with his again as he stepped forward, pushing her back. She bumped against the bed, yelping as she fell back. Ryan grinned, immediately on top of her as he returned to his assault on her chest. He shifted so he was settled comfortably between her legs, tracing her collarbone with his lips. "Do you really want me to stop? I will if you want me to," he said seriously.

He cocked his head back, meeting her eyes. Quinn hurriedly reached up to cup the back of his head, pulling him down on top of her. "No," she panted. "Keep going."

Ryan groaned at the invitation, his hips rocking forward bumping against hers. Somehow he managed to get her pants off, unsnapping her bra, and he took a second to take her in. "So beautiful," he breathed. He slipped his own pants off, sighing in relief as his cock sprang out.

"We need a condom," Quinn rasped. Ryan nodded jerkily, reaching out to his bedside table and managing to procure one from the drawer. He quickly put it on before hovering over Quinn.

"Are you sure –"

He yelped in surprise as she hooked an arm around him, pulling him flush on top of her. "Yes, I'm sure," she gasped out. He ran his cock up against her wet center, biting his lip as she spread open even wider. "Inside, Ry, please," she whined.

Ryan let out another groan, dipping down to kiss her again, gently, softly, as he eased himself into her wet heat, holding his breath as he tried to keep himself together. "God, you're so tight," he managed to gasp as he managed to sheath his length fully inside her. Quinn shifted under him, panting, and he let his head drop down against her shoulder. "Wait, wait, I –"

"Ry, move, please," she moaned, arching herself up to press against him, and his world tilted for a moment as he clenched his eyes shut. He took a deep breath before pulling out a little and thrusting forward, knocking a breath from Quinn. "Yes, more!"

Ryan finally managed to get some control, pulling out almost completely before slamming back inside, drawing a cry from his girlfriend. "Fuck," he gasped, trying to put together some semblance of a rhythm. He bit his lip, trying to hold off his climax until he got Quinn off. He had an idea.

"What are you doing?" she moaned as he pulled out of her, his dick coated with her essence.

He kissed her. "I want to try something." He slid lower, hooking one of her legs on his shoulder. "You're flexible, right?" He moved back up, spreading her even wider than earlier, before slipping back into her with one smooth thrust.

She cried out in surprise, the new position letting Ryan slam into her at a different angle. Ryan dipped his head down, kissing at her breasts as he continued to thrust into her, and it wasn't long until she was screaming out her climax. Ryan let himself go after another thrust, electricity sparking through his brain in waves of pleasure until he finally drifted back down.

"Oh my God, Ryan," Quinn gasped. Ryan just chuckled tiredly as he pulled out of her carefully, taking off the condom. He threw it into the waste bin before collapsing next to her on the bed, his face level with her stomach. "I missed that so much."

Ryan turned to face her, pressing a kiss against her side. She shuddered at the light touch, and he pushed himself up so they were face to face. "Missed it too," he said breathlessly. They lay there for a moment, basking in the afterglow. "Do you want to tell me what's going on with you yet?"

Quinn groaned softly. "I don't even want to think about that right now."

"But –"

"Not now, okay?" She let out an annoyed puff of air. "Besides, I think you'll find out soon enough." She rolled over, snuggling into him. "Later, okay?"

Ryan nodded, pulling her against him. He was too tired to deal with anything big right now anyways. "Okay."

* * *

The next day Quinn parked her car in Burt Hummel's garage, shutting down the engine. She sighed. She really didn't want to be here right now, but her car was making clunking noises, and she had to get this over with sometime. She got down from the car and skulked into the garage. "Ryan?"

"In here!"

She went towards his voice, finding him finishing a paint job on a Toyota. "Hi," she mumbled.

Ryan looked up, smiling at her. "Hey," he greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"My car's making this noise, I wanted you to take a look at it, if that's okay…"

"Oh. Sure." He sounded a little disappointed, and Quinn couldn't really blame him. She knew she'd been acting weird recently.

"Thanks."

Ryan nodded. Then he frowned. "Kind of warm to be wearing a hat," he commented, gesturing at the wooly bonnet Quinn had pulled down over her hair.

Quinn's hand wandered up to the grey hat she was wearing and sighed. Fine, just get it over with. She pulled the hat off, and Ryan's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Oh my –What the hell happened to your hair?!" He stood there gawking at Quinn.

She couldn't really blame him either. Her long blonde hair had been hacked to almost two-thirds of its previous length. The crowning glory however was the lurid shade of candy floss pink that had replaced the golden hues of her original hairstyle.

Ryan's jaw flapped for a few moments before he regained the power of speech. "Is this you going off the deep end? Is your depression getting worse? Why didn't you talk to me? I've been asking you what was wrong for days, oh God, I knew something was wrong! Quinn, you didn't have to resort to something so drastic! I –"

Quinn stepped forward, clamping a hand on his mouth to get him to shut up. "Are you going to let me answer or are you going to keep freaking out?" Ryan nodded, and she huffed in exasperation as she let him go.

"What happened?"

She sighed again. "I lost a bet with Santana, okay?" she grumbled, twisting the hat in her hands, conscious of her brightly colored locks. "And yes, I know it looks stupid. I have to wear it until a week after school starts."

Ryan just kept staring at her. "Can I touch it?" Quinn rolled her eyes, nodding. He reached out, running the strands through the newly-dyed hair. "It's softer than I thought. I thought maybe it would feel like –"

"Cotton candy?" Quinn asked dryly.

"Yes," Ryan admitted. "What was the bet about? And when did you do that? You were blonde just yesterday!"

"She made me do it last night," Quinn sighed. "And I'm not telling you."

"Why not?"

"Just no, okay?"

"Uh-huh." Ryan looked at her anxiously. "You do know that dyes can ruin hair, right? I would hate for you to have to cut it all off after finding out that there's something wrong with your hair…"

"All right, all right, just say it looks dumb, okay? I know I look like that princess on that adventure cartoon thingy," Quinn sighed resignedly.

Ryan tilted his head. "Actually, it looks kind of nice," he admitted. "It's different, but… it suits you. Don't get me wrong, I loved your hair before, but this is… a change of pace."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"I promise, I do like it," Ryan said sincerely. "It's just… going to take some getting used to." He chuckled. "The colored hair might be accentuated by a different wardrobe though."

A thoughtful look came over the former cheerleader's face "Hmm. Maybe."

"Are you sure you can't tell me what the bet was about?" Ryan wheedled.

Quinn bit her lip before finally relenting. "Santana called the other day, while I was still in California. And, you know Santana, she was being…"

"Crude?"

She snorted. "Yeah, among other things. Anyways, we were talking, and, well, long story short… shebetmewecouldn'tgothreedayswithouthavingsexwhenigotbacktoLima," she rushed out.

Ryan stared at her for a moment before his lips quirked up in a smile. "She bet you we couldn't go three days without having sex?"

"Yes, okay?" Quinn huffed out.

He burst out laughing. "And you took her up on it?"

"I didn't think it would be that hard," Quinn complained. "I went sixteen years without having sex, and then I just did it once and then I didn't do it for another year! This is your fault!"

"My fault?" Ryan asked, trying – and failing – to wipe his grin off his face.

"Yes! You, with your kissing and your wet t-shirt and – and –"

"So I'm irresistible?"

Quinn groaned, glaring at the smug look on her boyfriend's face. "Shut up."

He laughed, pulling her into a hug. "It's okay," he said comfortingly. "You got an all new, very hot look, I got an ego boost, and Santana gets her kicks from being right. We all win."

"Not helping." She snuggled into his embrace though. "You're not just saying that, right? You really think it looks okay?"

"I think you look beautiful," he assured her. He pulled back, planting a kiss on her lips.

Quinn smiled reluctantly. "Okay." Maybe the whole pink hair thing wasn't so bad after all.

"Okay, okay, wait," Ryan said, pulling back. "So when you got here from Cali, you weren't really tired?"

She shook her head. "No, not really," she said, disgruntled at the memory. "I stopped you because I didn't want to end up with _this_," she pointed at her pink hair. "I didn't really want to stop you."

"Oh, good," he said, his tone slightly relieved. "I thought maybe I was being kind of a dick by wanting to, you know." He leaned in, but Quinn put a hand on his chest, pulling back with a slight frown.

"Okay, wait. Now that you mention it, you _were_ kind of being a dick," she said slowly. "You didn't even stick around after I stopped you. Were you seriously just there for the sex?"

"You said you were tired!"

"Well, maybe I just wanted to cuddle!"

"Wait, are you mad now?" Ryan asked in bewilderment. "You just said you wanted it too!"

"Yes, but you could have stayed." Quinn was a little annoyed now that she thought of it. Ryan was usually a complete gentleman, but sometimes he was just like any other teenage boy.

"It's not like you tried to stop me from leaving," he argued.

She arched an eyebrow, folding her arms. "So it's my fault you were only there to score?"

Ryan gave her a frustrated look. "I wasn't – okay, okay, time out," he said, holding his hands up. "Let's get things straight. I would like to clarify that I was there to return your mom's keys, okay? That's point one. Point two, I wanted to see my girlfriend, whom I hadn't seen in a week," he reminded her. He gave her a charming smile. "I missed you."

"Uh-huh." Quinn maintained her unimpressed façade, but she smiled inside. She'd missed him too, and that adorable smile of his didn't hurt matters.

He continued. "And I would like to point out that we did talk, before we started, you know… And did I get a little handsy? Maybe, but I point out again, we've been apart for two weeks."

"Mmm." She pursed her lips for a moment. "Tell you what. You take me out for dinner later… and we'll call it even."

Ryan smiled. "I can do that," he agreed. He moved forward again, and this time Quinn accepted the kiss, sighing as he ran his fingers through his hair. He moved his lips to her ear. "And the hair? I think it's super sexy." He pressed a kiss on her neck. "Maybe I can show you how sexy later tonight?"

Quinn chuckled. "Deal." Looks like she may end up having to thank Santana for this.

* * *

"So?" Santana asked Quinn expectantly a few days later. "How did he take it?" She smirked. "Did he flip a lid?"

"He took it very well," Quinn answered haughtily. She flashed Santana a glare that Santana just grinned at. The bet was that Quinn wouldn't be able to keep from jumping the Hobbit's bones as soon as she got off the plane from Cali. Whoever won would get to dictate the other's hairstyle until the first week of senior year. Santana had offered, because she knew it was a sure thing. Quinn could play Chastity Queen all she liked, but she knew what was going down. Sure enough, the – former – blonde hadn't been able to keep it together for three days before getting it on.

"He thought it was hot, didn't he?" she crowed. "I always knew your boytoy was a freak. And you're welcome, by the way!"

"I didn't say thank you!"

"Sure you didn't."

"Bitch," Quinn grumbled.

"Hey, I'm trying to help you out here," Santana argued. "You need a new look, God knows the Icy Nun look is so freshman year. And Ryan thinks you look totally hot, don't deny it." She smirked victoriously at the slight flush that spread across the white girl's cheeks. _Oh yeah, they totally got it on after the dye job_. "So, what's the plan?"

Quinn glared at her. "You're the one who showed up here uninvited."

Santana shrugged unapologetically. "The AC at home is busted. Wanna go to the mall? We can pick up Britts. And your Midget too, I guess," she added. It was just for effect. Ryan had grown on her. Not that she'd ever say it out loud.

"Fine. I'm in."

"Perfect," Santana grinned.

Soon they were on their way to the Corcoran house to pick Ryan up, since his house was closer than Brittany's. Santana turned onto the right street. If someone had told her last year that she'd be at Ryan Berry's – Corcoran's – house this much, she'd have thought they'd been huffing nail polish remover. But here she was, adjusting her sunglasses as she headed over to pick him up. Life was weird.

She pulled up to the house, spotting a guy out in the yard mowing the lawn. At first glance she thought it was Ryan, but second glance told her otherwise. It was Ryan's dad, and fuck if this dude wasn't hot. It was just after noon, and the man was wearing a tight-fitting tan shirt and cargo shorts, showing off a very tight ass. She rolled the car to a stop on the curb, before rolling the window down.

Quinn was also staring. "Hot…"

"… Damn," Santana finished, pushing her sunglasses down for a better look at the guy's ass. She'd only met Ryan's dad once, at that stupid house party, and she'd been too drunk and scared shitless to pay attention. But… _fuck_.

Quinn cleared her throat. "Okay. I'll go get Ryan." She paused. "Wait. You do realize that you now have a crush on both of my boyfriend's parents, right?"

Santana stared at her, mouth gaping open. "No I don't!" Quinn arched an eyebrow at her, and she scowled. "Let's just go get Frodo, alright?" They stepped out of the car. Ryan's dad looked up, smiling at Quinn.

"Hi Quinn," he greeted. "Are you looking for Ryan?"

"Hi James," Quinn smiled back. "Yeah. We were wondering if he wanted to come to the mall with us. This is Santana Lopez. Santana, this is Ryan's dad, James Walker."

James nodded at Santana. "Nice to meet you sober," he smirked.

Santana flushed, both in mortification and because _shit_ that smile was hot. "Nice to meet you too." Ryan had practically hit the genetic jackpot! Now that she thought about it, yeah, he was kind of hot when he wasn't wearing those stupid sweaters, but he wasn't her type. Right on cue, Ryan came out of the house.

"Oh, hello Quinn, Santana," he said, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"We were about to head over to the mall," Quinn explained. "You want to come?"

Ryan lit up. "Sure." He glanced at his dad. "Can I?"

James nodded, smiling. "Sure. I'll tell your mom."

"Thanks!"

After a round of goodbyes the three teenagers got into Santana's car to pick Brittany up. Santana tuned out Ryan's and Quinn's chatter, looking speculatively at the Hobbit, a moderately diabolical plot forming in her head.

* * *

A couple of days later Ryan was in the garage, just finishing up for the morning, when Blaine wandered in, quickly spotting him. "Hey Ryan."

"Hello, Blaine, what can I do for you?" Ryan asked, smiling at his friend. "Are you looking for Kurt?"

"No, we were just together, actually," Blaine admitted. "He's off in a pique about something or other again. I'm not really sure what. My parents are out of town with my grandmother, so there's no one at home."

"Oh." Ryan nodded, putting away a set of tools on the shelf. "If you want, you can come over to my place," he offered. "I've seen yours after all, it's only fair that you should see mine. I'm sure my parents won't mind if you have lunch with us too."

"That would be cool," Blaine smiled. "But only if it's okay with you."

"Of course it's okay," Ryan grinned happily. It was still a novelty to have friends he could invite over to his house – and who would actually accept the invitation. "We could have that sparring session we were talking about if you want. Or something else, we could watch a movie, or something with music –"

"Anything's fine," Blaine assured him. "It'll be great."

"Just give me a few minutes to pack up, then."

A little while later Ryan drove them to his house, letting Blaine inside. They found Shelby in the living room. "Hi Mom."

"Hi sweetie," Shelby greeted. "Oh, I didn't know you had a friend over." She looked at Blaine. "Blaine, right?"

"Right," Blaine smiled, shaking Shelby's hand. "Nice to see you again."

"Likewise."

"Mom, is it okay if Blaine has lunch with us?" Ryan asked. "His parents are out of town."

"Of course," Shelby agreed. "I'll just be in my office, call if you need anything."

"Okay," Ryan said. "So, did you have anything you wanted to do?" he asked Blaine, who shook his head.

"Not really, anything's fine."

"So what's up with you and Kurt?" Ryan asked curiously.

"Oh, he was just trying to get me to transfer to McKinley this year," Blaine answered. "I told him I didn't want to leave my friends, and he got a bit huffy about it. Said something about wanting the perfect senior year. It was sort of sweet, since he wants us to be together, but I like Dalton." He shrugged. "And the zero-tolerance policy is really enforced."

Ryan nodded. "I know, and it's good for you. I'm glad you're happy there."

Blaine quirked his head at him. "Not trying to poach me for your new club then?"

Ryan gave a short laugh. "Oh, I'd be perfectly delighted if you decided to transfer to McKinley and join the next winners of the National Championships," he said playfully. "But you're right, I can't ask you to abandon your team. And you're right about the zero-tolerance policy."

"Actually, Kurt had his friend Mercedes over earlier, the two of them were trying to convince me to hop over to the New Directions."

"Already trying to replace me, are they?" Ryan asked a bit cynically. He knew it would happen. It hurt a little to hear that he was so expendable that they already wanted to replace him, but there it was. There were moments when he'd thought he'd been making some headway into making friends with them, but he was wrong. He shook it off. He didn't need them.

Blaine nodded. "Am I right in assuming they need to replace both you and Quinn?"

Ryan smiled faintly. "Yeah. I told her she didn't need to quit on my account, but she said she wouldn't stay after what happened."

"Well, from what Kurt's told me about recruitment last year, they're not going to have much luck," Blaine commented. Ryan nodded, remembering how hard-pressed they had been to try to find new members. Their efforts last year had only gotten them Sam and Sunshine, the latter of whom had been stolen by Vocal Adrenaline. "How are you planning to get new members, anyways?"

"Oh, I have a plan," Ryan said confidently. "I'm going to be scouring McKinley High's freshman population for new talent. The problem last year was that we tried casting a wide net by singing in the courtyard. I want to try a more personal approach. And obviously I'm going to have to do it before the new students get it into their heads that being in glee is for losers."

"Well, good luck with that," Blaine chuckled. "We never have that problem in Dalton. People go crazy trying to get in."

"Lucky you." Ryan thought for a moment. "How about we go have that spar?" he suggested, grinning. "My dad and I usually just use the front yard. I think it would be fun."

Blaine nodded with a smile. "Yeah, that would be cool." The two boys headed outside onto the lawn in the front yard. Blaine grinned, bouncing up and down a bit as he took up a defensive stance. "Ready when you are."

"Okay." Ryan quickly took up his own stance as Blaine threw a few experimental jabs. He dodged easily, stepping back. They two boys circled each other for a minute.

"Aren't you gonna attack yet?"

"I tend to adopt a more defensive style," Ryan called back. Blaine smiled again.

"Okay then." He stepped forward, rapidly closing the distance between them. Ryan barely managed to deflect Blaine's right hook, hurriedly stepping back to avoid the uppercut that quickly followed. Ryan moved forward, countering with his own series of jabs that Blaine weaved around. "Nice."

"You're fast," Ryan observed as they broke apart again, studying each other.

"You too."

This time Ryan initiated the bout, rushing forward. He decided to see how Blaine would respond to non-boxing attacks, and launched into a combo attack his dad had taught him. Blaine was caught by surprise, managing to dodge the first two strikes before catching Ryan's kick to his side. "You okay?" Ryan asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I'm good," Blaine answered a bit breathlessly. "What style is that?"

"I don't really know," Ryan admitted. "My dad says he picked it up from all over."

"What did I pick up from all over?"

The two boys turned around to see James walking over to them. Ryan grinned. "Hi Dad. We were just sparring. Blaine was asking what style I was using."

"Ah." James nodded. "Nice to see you again, Blaine."

"You too, sir."

"What style do you use?" James asked.

"I box," Blaine answered.

James nodded. "Useful for the ring, and boxing has some good moves." He smiled slyly. "I find it's too polite for street fights though." He glanced between the two boys. "Mind if I watch?"

"No problem with me," Ryan chimed in. "Blaine?"

The other boy nodded. "All right." The pair got back into their stances, clashing again for a moment. Neither of them were able to get the upper hand, both of them dodging and deflecting the other's strikes before they broke apart. James came over to them.

"Good defense on both your parts," he commented, shooting a smile at Ryan. Ryan grinned happily. He'd been practicing after all, and he'd focused on defense. He didn't really like fighting, he just wanted to be able to protect himself if it came right down to it. And of course, having his dad's approval was important.

The three of them looked up as a Volkswagen pulled up outside, and Quinn got out. Ryan smiled broadly, jogging up to her. "Hi." He gave her a quick kiss. "What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to see you," Quinn smiled. She glanced at Blaine and James. "But it looks like you're busy…"

"Oh, no, it's fine," Blaine said, waving a hand with a smile. "Hi Quinn."

Quinn smiled at him. "Hey. Hi James."

"Quinn," James nodded back with a mischievous smirk. "What do we have here? Trying a new look?" He nodded at her pink hair. "When are you getting a nose ring?"

"Dad, stop it," Ryan chided as Quinn blushed. "Mind your own business."

"I think it's awesome," Blaine chimed in.

"Thanks, Blaine," Quinn smiled gratefully. She looked back at James. "I lost a bet, okay?"

Just then Shelby came out of the house. "Anyone want to have lunch?" She did a double take as she took in Quinn's hair. "My, my. Trying a new look, are we?"

"Long story short, I lost a bet with Santana, and now I have pink hair," Quinn sighed, running her hand through her short, pink hair.

"I kind of like it too," James volunteered. He glanced at Shelby. "Did you ever think of getting pink hair?"

"Sure, I'll get right on that," Shelby said sarcastically. "Quinn, would you like to have lunch?"

"I wouldn't want to impose…"

"It's okay, there's more than enough."

Quinn nodded. "Then yes, thanks." The whole group moved into the house, everyone pitching in to help set the table. Quinn glanced at Ryan as they set the table. "Santana invited us over tomorrow."

"Wow, Santana invited me to her house?" Ryan asked ironically. "What an honor."

"I know, she probably has some kind of ulterior motive, but it's hot and she has a pool. She told us to drop by her house tomorrow morning," Quinn informed him. "I won't tell you exactly how she phrased it, since it was rude. But Brittany's going to be there, so she'll be sort of nice."

Ryan smiled. "I'm in. But wait, won't that be weird? Three girls and guy in a pool? It sounds like one of Puck's questionable escapades." James let out an amused snort as he passed behind them.

Quinn shrugged. "Maybe. But considering two of the girls are gay and one is your girlfriend, I think you're good."

"Point." He glanced at Shelby. "Is that okay?"

Shelby nodded. "Go right ahead."

Ryan grinned at Quinn. "What time?"

* * *

The next day Ryan and Quinn showed up at the Lopez house, knocking on the door. Ryan glanced around at the impressive house. The last time he'd been here had been last summer. The door was opened by a rather impatient Santana and an amused Mrs. Lopez. "Hurry up, we need to get our swim on," Santana ordered.

"Santana," Mrs. Lopez scolded. "Come on in, Quinn. And Ryan, right?"

"Yeah," Ryan smiled politely.

"Mom, come on," Santana whined.

Mrs. Lopez rolled her eyes. "Go on, then." Ryan and Quinn followed Santana into the house.

"Here, you can go change in the downstairs bathroom," Santana directed Ryan, shoving him towards a door. "We're going upstairs, you can just go ahead outside when you're done."

"Thanks."

"Whatever," Santana said dismissively.

Ryan just chuckled as he headed into the half-bath. It was fully stocked with all the soaps, lotions, and other bathroom necessities. It was like being in a hotel. "I didn't know Santana's family was this loaded," he muttered. He quickly changed into his swim trunks and headed outside, coming face to face with Santana's mom on the way. "Oh, hello Mrs. Lopez." He smiled at her.

"Hello, Ryan," she said pleasantly. "Where are the girls?"

"Upstairs changing, I think," he answered. "Santana told me to go ahead outside."

"Quinn's with them?"

Ryan looked at her curiously. "I think so."

She nodded. "Good. You go ahead outside, tell Santana I'll have some snacks for you kids later."

"Okay." Ryan headed off to the backyard, putting the short conversation out of his mind. He looked appreciatively at the large yard, nicely landscaped and featuring a nicely sized pool. He didn't have occasion to go swimming much, but he did enjoy it, having taken lessons at the rec center one summer when he was younger.

Then he turned around, and his eyes practically bulged out of his head as he saw arguably the three hottest girls in the school coming out wearing bikinis. Rather skimpy bikinis as well. He swallowed hard, his jaw hanging a bit open. "Uh, hi – ah…" He flushed a little, not sure what to say.

"Hey, Ryan," Brittany chirped happily. "Don't we look way hot?" Santana got me this new bikini yesterday. I modeled a whole bunch before we decided on this one. Then we made out in the fitting room."

Ryan swallowed again, clearing his throat as he ran his hand through his hair. That image did not help at all. He looked helplessly between the three girls. _So much skin._ "Um, yes, Brittany, I think you do look very hot. I like your bikinis. Ah, I mean that those swimsuits are very flattering, they do show off your figures quite well." A little too well, actually. Thank god his shorts were loose.

Santana and Quinn were smirking by now, and he sighed, flushing. "Oh, we know we're three hot bitches, Hobs," she said cockily. "Think you can handle this all day?" She gestured up and down with a wink, and Ryan's eyes automatically followed her hand. He blushed harder as he followed her curves.

"I, uh –"

"Relax, Ry, she's just teasing you," Quinn assured him, sauntering over with a small smirk. Ryan let his eyes rove over her as she went over to a small table and picked up a bottle of sunscreen. _God his girlfriend was hot._ "Mind helping me with this?"

"Yeah, sure," Ryan nodded hard, taking the bottle. He fumbled a little, shaking some of the lotion into his hand. Then he happened to glance up to see Brittany lathering sunscreen all over Santana's front, her hand reaching some rather inappropriate places, and he squeezed the bottle hard accidentally, sending the sunscreen squirting to the floor.

"You okay there?" Quinn asked, a teasing lilt to her voice. Ryan's wide-eyed gaze snapped back to her. "You seem a little… distracted." She raised her arms, twisting her choppy pink hair up and to secure it with a clip. Ryan's brain short-circuited again as her movement seemed to accentuate her chest, drawing his eyes down. "You want to put that lotion on me yet?"

"What?" Ryan glanced down at his hand. Sure enough, there was a nice dollop of white cream there. He'd forgotten what he was doing. "Oh." He took a deep breath, trying to curb his arousal. It would simply not do to pop a boner right now.

Unfortunately, his body disagreed, aided and abetted by his girlfriend, who pressed up against him. "Just rub it on my back, okay?"

Ryan held back a groan as the contact caused his skin to heat up, and soon his partial erection was pressing against Quinn's thigh. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" he whined softly.

"Maybe. Now come on, do my back."

Ryan gulped again as he started spreading the sunscreen on his girlfriend's back. He tried to concentrate, counting backwards in his head from one-hundred. He rubbed the lotion against Quinn's lower back, and she let out a small moan, quickly scattering his thoughts all over the place.

"Midget, are you planning on swimming with that shirt on?" Santana called over. Ryan stared at her wildly for a moment as he tried to gather his thoughts. The fact that her cleavage was threatening to burst out of her skimpy bikini top was not helping at all.

"No," he huffed when he was finally coherent. Quinn gave him a kiss before helping him tug the shirt off. He bit his lip, his breath catching as her hand slid lightly up his chest. _Tease._

Santana whistled. "I knew you were hiding something under all those granny sweaters, Hobs," she commented appreciatively, making him flush even redder than he already was. She slunk over, reaching out to trace a hand on his shoulder. He shuddered a little, backing up to the edge of the pool as he glanced pleadingly at Quinn for help.

"S, hands off," she barked.

Santana smirked, holding her hands up. "Geez, just seeing what all the fuss was about." She smirked slyly. "You know, I saw your dad at your house the other day, and shit, Corcoran, the man's ass is to die for_._"

"Excuse me?" Ryan's jaw fell open. He _so_ did not need to hear that.

"You heard me," Santana smiled happily. "Q here thought so too, didn't you?"

Ryan turned on Quinn with a disbelieving stare. What was going on? "You think my dad is hot too?" He was going to be sick. Yes, he knew his dad was very fit, but that was his _dad._ Not to mention Santana had a crush on his mom too. This was just wrong.

"Well, yeah," Quinn admitted. He shot her an incredulous look, and she gave him a placating kiss. "It's okay. You inherited his ass," she added teasingly.

He stared at her. "I don't even know how to begin to answer that," he said plaintively. This was so confusing, how had a swimming session turned into this? He shuddered. Guys just did not think about other guys' asses, especially not their dads'. God. He shook himself, trying to remove the thought from his brain.

"San, come on, let's get in the pool," Brittany piped up, moving next to Santana.

"Okay, Britts," Santana easily agreed, distracted by the blonde dancer. "But seriously, Ryan's abs feel really nice. For a guy, anyways."

"Wow, thanks, Santana," Ryan commented dryly.

"Really?" Brittany asked curiously. "I want to try." Suddenly she reached out, stroking a hand down Ryan's abs. He let out a yelp and stepped backwards, completely forgetting where he was and falling into the pool. A splash later he was flailing around in the water, sputtering as the three girls giggled at him.

This was going to be a long afternoon.

..

Meanwhile, Maribel Lopez was in the kitchen, watching the teenagers with no small amount of amusement. It was good for Santana to have some friends over. She knew there had been issues between her and Quinn early in the school year, and things between Santana and Brittany were always complicated. She had noticed her daughter becoming happier in the past month or so though. Maybe she was finally dealing with her feelings. She smiled as Santana said something to make Ryan blush, touching him on the chest. The girl was a tease. Then she laughed as Brittany joined in, causing the boy to fall into the pool.

She turned away from the window, heading to the kitchen to make some snacks. A few minutes later, her husband came downstairs, home on one of his rare days off, and she flashed him a smile. "Good nap, sweetheart?"

"Can't complain," Tiago answered. "Is Santana home?"

Mari nodded, pulling some cheese out of the fridge. "Out by the pool with some friends."

"That's good." Tiago wandered over to the window to look at the kids. "Mari, there's a boy out there with the girls."

"Oh, I know," Mari assured him. "That's Ryan, he's Quinn's boyfriend. He came over a couple of times last summer, don't you remember?"

"Ah, yes, I do seem to recall." Tiago popped open a can of soda, coming over to sit at the counter while Mari started cooking. "We don't have anything to worry about with him, right?"

"No," Mari agreed knowingly. "Your daughter won't give him a second look with Brittany there." She let out an amused chuckle. "You should be worried for him, though. Poor boy almost swallowed his tongue when the girls came out, I think the three of them are having fun teasing him."

"Poor bastard," her husband smirked. "We have raised a little devil, mi amor."

"Do you think she'll tell us anytime soon?"

"Hmm." Tiago took a swallow of his drink. "I don't know," he admitted. "I hope so."

Mari just nodded. She wished Santana trusted them enough to come out. They knew, had known for a while now, that their daughter was more interested in the fairer sex. They just wanted her to tell them in her own time. "Brittany's good for her."

"She does seem to tame our diabla's horns, eh?" Tiago chuckled. "Well. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

..

An hour later, Ryan surfaced next to an inflatable raft. Quinn was lounging on top, soaking in the sun. He held on to the side, simply floating as a he gazed appreciatively at his girlfriend. Quinn in a bikini was not a common sight.

"See something you like?" Quinn asked teasingly without opening her eyes.

"Very much," Ryan answered, licking his lips. Quinn chuckled, running a hand through his wet hair. She leaned over.

"Maybe we can do something about that tonight," she whispered into his ear. "My mom's going to be out until late…"

Ryan smiled widely at the thought. "I think I'd like that," he said, his voice deep.

Quinn laughed. "Maybe you can –"

Her words were cut off with a squeal as the raft suddenly tipped over, spilling Quinn into the pool on top of Ryan, who was quickly pulled under the water. The pair resurfaced a second later, sputtering and looking like a pair of drowned rats as Santana laughed at them.

"You looked like you needed a little cooling off," she snickered.

"Santana," Quinn growled. Ryan just smirked before pushing a large wave of water at Santana just as she was in the middle of a deep breath, sending the Latina choking.

"Midget!" she yelled. "Oh, it is so on!" She sent a wave splashing right back at him. Soon Quinn and Brittany were sucked into the water fight, pool noodles were being swung and water guns being fired. Ryan grinned happily. So this was what having friends in the summer was like. He could really get used to this.

* * *

**Hi guys, more fluff! I hope you liked it. Quite a few of you thought something had happened to Quinn in Cali, and I hope you liked how I handled it. I think she's had enough issues for a while, and I wanted to make her pink hair phase a bit lighter than it was in canon.**

**I decided to make this chapter a bit more 'friends' oriented, since last chapter was more family-oriented. Ryan hasn't really had friends that would hang out with him during summers, so I thought it would be fun to show a few scenes. **

**I think I'll extend summer vacation to another chapter, not sure yet whether I'll get into the start of senior year next chapter. So again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Someone asked whether I'll be ending this after graduation, and that was originally my intention. I've got rough ideas for season 4 and later though, so who knows?**

**Leave reviews, and I'll see you next time!**


	70. Chapter 69

The summer days started to meld together into a blur of activity for Ryan. He had his theater lessons, his music lessons, friends to hang out with. And of course, family who wanted to spend time with him as well. James was finalizing his move into the Corcoran house, moving the last of his belongings into the house before the lease on his apartment expired.

"You don't really have a lot of stuff," Ryan observed as he helped his dad carry boxes of clothes into the bedroom James and Shelby were sharing.

"I guess not," James said. He smiled ruefully. "It doesn't seem like much for almost forty years of living, huh?"

"Is it because you moved around a lot?" Ryan asked. "I mean, I suppose the transient lifestyle of military members wouldn't lend itself to the accumulation of too many possessions, since you'd have to drag them around on assignments…"

"Yeah."

Ryan set down a box labelled UNIFORMS. "Can I see these?"

At James' nod he opened the box, pulling out a camouflage jacket. He traced a finger over then name tape on the front, inspecting the American flag on the sleeve. It was strange to think that this uniform had been with his father all over the world, probably even in battle zones in the Middle East. He knew his dad had been in the Army of course, but honestly, it hadn't really kicked in before. He'd never even seen James wearing his uniform in person. Holding this now though made it sink in.

"What do you think?" James asked, pulling him out of his musings.

Ryan glanced up. "It's… impressive." He ran his fingers across the badges decorating the coat. "What's this?" he asked, gesturing at the square, striped patch on the left sleeve.

"3rd Infantry Division." James took the jacket, gesturing to a patch attached below the American flag. "I was in the 7th Infantry Regiment." He reached inside, pulling out a more formal coat. Ryan saw the same striped patch on the sleeve, this one in blue and white. There were also a number of badges attached to the chest. Ryan noted the golden bars on the sleeves.

"What about those?"

"The diagonal ones are for services stripes," James explained. "One for every three years. Six for me, I didn't get up to 21 years. The horizontal ones are for overseas service, one for every six months."

Ryan nodded absently, counting nine horizontal stripes. "That's a long time."

"Yeah." James nodded pensively. "Looking back though, it sort of flew by." He touched a badge that rested above the US Army tape. Ryan gave him a questioning glance. "Combat Medical Badge," he said, pausing thoughtfully. "Do you know why I became a medic?"

"No."

"I wasn't, originally. I started out 11B. Infantry. While I was in Japan I volunteered at the health center, and I got a taste for it. Also, when we were teenagers, your mom had an asthma attack in front of me. I didn't know what to do, we had to call an ambulance. I thought maybe it would be cool to do that." James smiled faintly. "It's funny now, but I nearly had a heart attack back then."

"Wow." Ryan smiled, enjoying the insight into his dad's past. And his mom's too, partially. "So what, did you take more training to become a medic?"

"Not immediately," James allowed. "It took another tour in Iraq to make me decide." He let out a small sigh. "We were transporting a group of refugees across the desert, and we were ambushed. This little kid got out of our group somehow, ran straight into the middle of things. One of the guys on the squad managed to grab him, but the kid got shot. Our medic was down, so they called me. I couldn't save him."

"I'm sorry."

James hummed. "That was in 1996. You would have been a little over a year old, I guess."

"Yeah." Ryan was quiet as he absorbed the story. It was weird to think about. Ryan had never really considered just what his parents might have been doing when he was one. "That's really sad."

"The next time I was back stateside, I went back for the combat medic training."

Ryan nodded, his respect for his father increasing. It took a special kind of person to put his life on the line for his country, and to focus on saving as many lives as he could. He didn't think he'd be able to do that. He watched quietly as James refolded the clothes and laid them in a drawer just as Shelby came in with another box. "Oh good, you found the empty drawers," she mentioned.

"Yes, I went through all the other drawers to find it," James said, face straight. "Including your underwear drawer."

"James!"

"Dad, eww!" Ryan grumbled as he opened the box Shelby brought in. He so did not want to hear that. He rooted through the contents of the box before coming up with a small stack of pictures. Most of them were of his dad and various other soldiers, but the ones at the bottom showed his dad in his teenage years.

James glanced at the photos. "Oh, there they are. I thought they had disappeared or something."

"That's because you're a disorganized slob," Shelby threw out.

"Hey!"

Ryan paid little attention as he perused the photographs, smiling. He loved photos, it was true that pictures spoke a thousand words. They were like glimpses into the past, and in this case, they were glimpses into his father's past, something especially important to Ryan since their relationship was only a year old. "Mom's in a lot of these pictures," he commented as he inspected the older pictures.

Shelby looked over his shoulder, smiling at the pictures. "Oh, I remember those."

"Of course she was," James nodded. "She was my best friend before she was my girlfriend. And it was her parents' camera we were using, after all."

"Oh." Ryan gazed at the photograph with the image of younger versions of his parents. "Huh. You know, it's always strange to think that your parents were once teenagers themselves."

"I would imagine so."

"It's true," Shelby chimed in. "There aren't many photos of your grandparents around, but the ones that I've seen are bizarre."

"Much like this photo of teenaged you with the Farrah Fawcett hair," Ryan smirked. Shelby snatched the offending photo away from him with a groan.

"Dear God, what was I thinking?"

Ryan reached the last photo before looking at his dad. "You don't have any pictures from when you were younger."

James took the stack of pictures back, not meeting his eyes. "No, I don't. Moving between families tends to do that."

"Sorry," Ryan said guiltily.

"It's fine." James gave him a small smile. "I've dealt with that part of my life, and now I'm focusing on this new one. With you and your mom."

Ryan nodded comprehendingly. "We're your family now."

James nodded, wrapping an arm each around him and Shelby briefly. "Right."

..

"Here's to the anniversary of your telling me we had a fifteen-year-old child together," James smiled mischievously, clinking his glass against Shelby's. It was after dinner, the dishes were clean, and Ryan had headed over to Quinn's house. Shelby and James had decided to break out a bottle of wine in honor of the occasion – exactly one year ago had been the day James had arrived in Lima for Shelby to say, _congratulations, it's a boy!_ "No malice meant, of course," he added before taking a sip of the Chardonnay.

"Good to know," Shelby quipped, taking her own sip. "Can't believe it's been a year."

"Me either."

She watched him over the top of her glass, smiling faintly. "You know, I was so scared you were going to run out on us last year," she admitted. "If someone had told me we'd be sitting here a year later, with you moving in, I don't know if I would have laughed like crazy or cried."

James looked down briefly. "I did consider it," he said guiltily. "I mean, it was a shock. But I couldn't have left him. Or you."

"Do you miss it?" Shelby asked curiously. "Your old life."

"I miss it in the sense that it was my life for twenty years," James said slowly. "I miss my friends in my unit, and I worry about them sometimes."

"Do you wish you had stayed?"

"Why all the questions?"

Shelby shrugged. "I don't know. It's been a year, and I suppose I want to make sure you weren't… feeling trapped. I know you always wanted to move around. We broke up way back then because we didn't want to tie each other down."

James smiled thoughtfully. "No, I like my life now. Truthfully, I guess I was ready for a change. Not quite as big a change as finding out I had a teenaged kid, but yeah. I don't regret moving back here." He leaned over to give her a kiss. "I was planning to look you up anyways." He met her eyes. "How about you? Do you ever wish you could have gone back to before?"

She let out a sharp laugh. "God no. I was a neurotic, hard-to-please taskmaster of a coach, a wannabe Broadway performer, and most of all a miserable mother who was missing her kid." She laughed again, sarcastically. "A glamorous life, but not one I should ever like to revisit."

"I like our life now," James mused. "You know I've been looking for a family my whole life, and I kind of got that in the Army." He looked at her lovingly. "This is different though. What we have, you and me and Ryan. Even if it's not really official. He's right, you're my family now."

Shelby smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too."

* * *

Summer passed by relatively quickly for Quinn, most of her time spent with Ryan, some with Santana and Brittany, some with her mom. She and Ryan took advantage of Santana's pool quite often. She was also thankful for the short haircut Santana had made her get, since it was a lot lighter and cooler than her previous mane of golden locks, a huge benefit in the summer.

She headed up the porch of Ryan's house one morning, ringing the doorbell and waiting for her boyfriend to answer. She knew Shelby wasn't home, since her car wasn't in the driveway. The door soon opened, and Quinn was speechless for a moment. "Is that a baby?"

"Uh, yeah," Ryan said sheepishly, as he stood in the doorway, a baby in his arms. "It's a baby."

"Okay… where did you get the baby?"

"Oh, it's not mine," he hastily assured her, not that she'd thought it was, anyways. "I didn't know you were coming over." His face took on an anxious look. "I can't go out today, I'm stuck with babysitting duty," he said nodding at the baby in his arms. "Uncle Josh showed up this morning, Aunt Paige has a work thing and then he and my mom went out to do something for a few minutes. And my dad's at work. So I have to stay home with Alex."

"Oh." Quinn nodded absently, her eyes fixed Ryan's cousin as Ryan rambled on. "That's okay. It's not like anything was happening at home, anyways. How old is she?"

"Three months, almost four," Ryan answered, smiling at Quinn gently. "You don't have to stay if it's too hard for you."

Quinn smiled at him a bit sadly. "No, it's okay." It had been over a year now, and she wanted to be able to be around kids like a normal person. Older kids like Sam's siblings were okay, but babies… babies were different. They reminded her of everything she'd already missed. She let out a breath, and nodded at the towel on Ryan's shoulder. "You look like a pro already," she said lightly.

Ryan made a face. "She already spit up on one of my shirts, can't have her doing that again." He headed into the living room, Quinn trailing after him, and put Alex down in a baby carrier. He gave her a stuffed animal before straightening up and looking at Quinn. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company today? I thought you were hanging out with Santana?"

"Her abuela came for a surprise visit," Quinn explained as she sat down on the sofa. "Mom's out, so there's nothing to do at home."

"Ah." Ryan nodded. "Well, you're always welcome here, as you know." He sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Do you want anything? Water or a snack?"

"Maybe later," she answered, glancing at the baby before focusing back on Ryan. "How are your acting classes going?"

Ryan smiled happily. "They're going great, thanks for asking," he answered. "I'm learning a lot. The teachers are amazing, if a bit temperamental. Mom actually knew a couple of them from New York, they worked together on an show once, and they really know what they're doing. And there are a few really talented students too."

"Oh?" She hadn't thought there were that many acting-inclined kids in Ohio.

"Yeah, there's this girl named Harmony, she's an incoming sophomore. She's on the Unitards, they're the glee club from one of the schools in Columbus, and she's amazing. She absolutely killed _Buenos Aires_ the other day, and that was just in rehearsal," Ryan gushed.

"Hmm," Quinn chuckled. "Should I be jealous?"

"What? No," Ryan said, rolling his eyes. "I appreciate her as a performer, but you're the only one for me." He leaned over to kiss her, making her smile.

"Good," she quipped, kissing him back. "I'm glad you're having a good time."

"Oh, I am," he assured her. "I'm already trying to think of how we can fully convince mom to start another glee club this year. Mr. Schue isn't particularly aggressive about finding new members, so we'll just have to find them first," he said determinedly. "We also have to find someone to fund us, since Figgins is hardly going to give us the cash we need to sustain another group."

"I like how you keep saying 'we' here," Quinn answered, amused.

"Yes, _we,_" Ryan said firmly. "Because you're going to help me."

"Oh, I'm sure. You know, if you really want funds, you need to find someone with loaded parents," she told him. "Then you have to get them to join, and odds are they'll contribute. That's how Coach Sylvester does it."

Ryan nodded thoughtfully. "I wonder if it would be possible to get that information from the administrative office at McKinley…"

Quinn snorted in amusement. He'd be getting this club one way or another, God help anybody who got in his way. Suddenly Alex started fussing from the baby carrier, pulling both teens' attention to her. Ryan stood up, leaning over the carrier. "You okay over there?" he asked brightly. The baby simply fussed louder, waving her arms.

"She must want you to pick her up," Quinn suggested, her gaze once again set on Alex.

"I guess so."

She smiled as Ryan picked up his cousin, settling her against his shoulder as he hummed softly. "You're really good with her."

He flashed her a smile. "Thanks. It's strange, she really hasn't been around me that often, but she does seem to like me."

"She'd be crazy not to." Quinn watched them for a moment. "Do you ever think about having your own kids?"

"Hmm." Ryan rocked Alex for a moment. "I think I would like kids, someday. When I'm set in my career and I'm sure that I can give them the childhood they deserve. Do you think about having a family?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. She had mixed feelings about having kids – more kids. Her therapy sessions were great and all, she'd made her peace with everything that had happened in sophomore year, but there was still a part of her that was scared of having more.

"I think you'd make a good mom," Ryan offered. "You're actually a very nurturing person. I mean, you take care of me all the time. Like when I get into fights, you're always the first one there with a bag of ice. And you're always fixing my clothes and stuff. I think you'll be a really good mom someday."

Quinn gave him a small smile, warming at the compliment. She hadn't noticed it herself, and it felt good to know that he paid attention. "Thanks."

"Here," Ryan offered her the baby. "How about you hold her?"

Quinn looked down at baby Alex for a moment, before hesitantly taking her from Ryan. The small girl looked up at her and cooed softly. Quinn fought down the small ache in her chest as she cuddled the baby close, imagining – _no. Don't go there_. "Hi Alex." She stroked the baby's reddish hair lightly, smiling at the softness, trying to stay here in the moment. She glanced up at Ryan. "Santana wanted to know if we could come over later for a swim."

"Depends on when Mom and Uncle Josh come back, I guess," Ryan replied.

"Want to see Santana in a bathing suit again?" Quinn teased.

"Yes, that's exactly it," he deadpanned. "Seriously though, any opportunity to see you in a bikini." He smirked mischievously. "I wouldn't mind seeing it in a more private setting either…"

Quinn gave him a mock glare before turning her attention back to Alex. Ryan grinned at the baby from behind Quinn, poking the baby on the nose and letting out a beeping noise. Quinn giggled as Alex laughed, shaking in her arms. Ryan was going to be a really good dad someday.

Maybe having kids wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

Several days later Ryan found himself at Mike Chang's house. Mike had just gotten home from Asian camp with Tina, and had quickly invited Ryan over to hang out while Quinn and Tina did some kind of girl outing thing. Ryan had eagerly accepted, delighted at the invitation.

Right now, the two boys were engaged in a co-op game of _Diablo III_ on Mike's Xbox. Mike had been teaching Ryan for a while now, and Ryan was finally getting the hang of it.

"So how was Asian camp?" Ryan asked curiously, as he navigated his character through the labyrinth of passages onscreen.

"Oh, same old," Mike answered. "I've been going since I was like eight, so it kind of gets old. Teaching the kids to dance is sort of fun." He smiled. "And I got to spend it with Tina, so it was good. How about you, how's that acting workshop going?"

"Pretty good," Ryan grinned happily. "I'm learning quite a bit."

"What else have you been up to?"

"Oh, working at the garage, hanging out with Quinn. The usual things, I suppose." Ryan managed to level up his character. "Actually, I've hung out with Santana and Brittany too. And Blaine."

"Your friend from Dalton?"

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. "He's pretty cool to be around too. I was just at his house a few days ago, we see each other sometimes at the garage since he's dating Kurt. Hey, you know what?" he said, a thought occurring to him. "I think he's got this game too. Maybe I should call him and check out if he wants to play online or something."

Mike grinned. "That would be cool. The more the merrier."

Ryan quickly pulled out his phone, sending off a quick text message to Blaine. He replied a moment later, saying that he'd be on as soon as he got his console set up. Sure enough, they were soon playing the game with a user labelled _BWarbler95._

"He's good," Mike said a few minutes later. "He's like ten levels above me already." He winced as his character died, respawning after a moment. "We should get together, it's more fun that way. Think he'd be open to coming over here sometime?"

"I'll ask."

"Did you hear Sam's moving to Kentucky?"

"Really?" Ryan glanced at Mike in surprise. "When?"

"Before school starts. His dad got a job in his old town."

"Oh." Ryan turned his attention back to the game. Honestly he didn't really mind much either way. If he were still in glee he'd probably be going crazy over the fact that they now had yet another member to replace, but since he wasn't, he didn't particularly care. Good for him that his dad had managed to find a job. He was still a little sore at Sam for trying to kiss Quinn though. "How do you think you're going to fill up the New Directions? If I'm not mistaken, there are now three members to replace."

"I don't really know," Mike admitted. "I guess Mr. Schue will come up with something. Maybe we'll sing in the courtyard again."

Ryan nodded. "I was thinking of starting a new group," he mentioned. "My mom agreed to coach if I can find enough members and enough funds. Would you be interested?"

Mike glanced at him, a small smile on his face. "Maybe." He hummed thoughtfully. "It would mean leaving ND though."

"Yes, but you saw how Vocal Adrenaline beat us last year," Ryan said persuasively. "My mom could be a great coach –"

"– a scary coach –"

"– and we'd have a great shot at winning," Ryan continued. "Besides, did you see VA's choreography last year? They're so much more advanced than we were, you'd have even more opportunities to dance!"

Mike chuckled as they wrapped up the game. "I'll think about it."

"Good," Ryan smiled. He was hopeful that Mike would decide to join his new team, if it really came to be. He and Tina would come as a pair, and he hoped that Santana and Brittany would decide to join too. He knew they were his friends, but some part of him was still insecure about it, and maybe they'd decide to stay in the New Directions.

"Are you gonna be back on the basketball team again this year?"

Ryan came back to the present with a start. "Hmm. Yes, I believe so. I find it quite enjoyable, and as long as it doesn't conflict with my other priorities, I'd like to be back on the team. Not to mention the popularity boost. I'm not really one to play into the whole idea of the social hierarchy, but I can't deny that it's useful. What about you? Are you looking forward to football again?"

Mike shrugged. "I don't know. It's okay. I mean, it's fun, but I like dancing better. I'm really more into football 'cause my dad thinks it'll boost my chances at getting a scholarship."

"You could try to get a dance scholarship," Ryan suggested. "You're very good, not to mention your experience in teaching would be a major point in your favor." His phone chimed. "Quinn says she and Tina are over at the park, if we want to go meet them," he reported, checking his messages.

"Sure," Mike grinned.

..

A car ride later the two boys were at the park, looking for their girlfriends. "There they are," Mike said, nodding. Ryan looked, and sure enough, there they were.

"Hey," Ryan called over as they approached Quinn and Tina. Tina was holding a leash, and at the other end was a small, furry dog. "I didn't know you had a dog, Tina," he commented, kneeling down. "May I?"

"Sure," Tina nodded with a smile. "Chester doesn't bite."

Ryan petted the dog on the head, running his fingers through the dog's fur. "So what have you two been up to?" he inquired, looking up at the two girls.

"Oh, we've been around," Quinn said vaguely. "We were at the mall earlier, just walking and talking. Then we stopped by at Tina's house to get Chester."

"Do I want to know what you were talking about?"

The two girls got matching smirks. "No, probably not," Quinn answered.

Mike raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound good."

Tina reached up to give him a kiss. "Don't worry about it." She glanced to her left, nodding at an ice cream cart. "Want to get me an ice cream cone?"

"Sure," Mike smiled, giving her another kiss. Ryan glanced at Quinn.

"Do you want one?"

"Yes please," Quinn answered happily.

Soon the four of them were settled under a tree with ice cream, the cold treat doing wonders to stave off the summer heat. Ryan was getting a little hot for a different reason though, as he watched as his girlfriend licked at her ice cream cone. His eyes widened a little as her mouth wrapped around the scoop of ice cream, and he swallowed as he imagined her mouth around something else. His head tilted to the side as he imagined her very talented tongue darting licking –

"Are you okay?"

He was yanked from his daydreams by Quinn's question. He gave himself a quick shake, surreptitiously bringing his hand up to the corner of his mouth to check for drool before swallowing. "Uh, yeah, I'm good."

Quinn smiled at him beatifically. "Okay then."

"Okay," Ryan smiled goofily. He sat back against the trunk of the tree, shoulder to shoulder with Quinn. He bumped her gently. "Love you."

She smiled shyly. "Love you too."

Ryan grinned, always happy to hear it. This summer was practically perfect – he had his friends, he had his family, he had his amazing girlfriend… He ran a hand through Quinn's pink hair. He found it fascinating, and quite hot.

"Quit that, it tickles."

He ran his hand down her hair one more time before stopping. He finished the last of his ice cream cone. "So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

She shrugged. "Nothing really," she said idly. "This is good." She quirked her head at him. "You have ice cream on your…" She gestured at her chin.

"Oh." Ryan put his hand to his chin.

"No, over there –" She smiled as he tried to wipe the melted chocolate away. "Here, let me."

"Okay, thanks –" He inhaled sharply as she pressed her lips to the spot, running her tongue over the mark. A shiver ran up his spine as she licked a little longer than necessary before pulling away.

"There," she said with a satisfied smirk. "All better." She pressed another kiss to his neck, making him gasp, his breathing growing shallow as she pressed a small trail of kisses up his neck before finally catching his lips in a searing kiss. He closed his eyes, unable to hold back his smile as his lips glided against hers.

Yes, this was a fantastic summer indeed.

* * *

Soon, after a blur of blissful, if hot, days, it was nearing the end of summer, and Ryan was busy in the garage. He was grateful to his parents for the college fund they'd set up, but he didn't want to rely on them completely. He needed money to live on, besides tuition fees, after all. Besides, he'd been prepared to make it completely on his own, and it was habit now to save up.

It was a slow day though, and he was busy texting with Quinn as he listened to his iPod, his feet propped up on a table. A car suddenly drove in, and Ryan looked up in surprise. Even more surprise when he recognized the owner of the car.

"Dave Karofsky. This is a surprise," he noted, tugging his earbuds out.

"What are you doing here?" Karofsky asked, looking confused.

"I happen to work here," Ryan said testily, before adopting a mask of indifference. "Did you need to have something repaired?"

"Uh, yeah," Karofsky rubbed the back of his neck, gesturing at the back of the car. Ryan walked around it and found a nice dent in the back.

"Hit a pole?"

"Fire hydrant," the football player muttered.

"I hope you didn't break it, that's government property after all."

"The stupid hydrant's fine, okay? I just need to get this fixed before my dad sees!"

"Hmm. I'm surprised you're here, given your previous history with the Hummels," Ryan said warily.

Karofsky fidgeted uncomfortably. "McCoy's garage is closed," he mumbled, referring to the other garage in town. "And I need to have this fixed, otherwise my dad'll kill me. I wasn't supposed to be driving."

"Huh." For a second Ryan toyed with the idea of refusing to service the car – he had plenty of grounds, and he was sure Mr. Hummel would back him up – but in the end professionalism won out. "Fine."

The larger teenager nearly melted with relief. "Cool. Uh, so how long is it going to take?"

Ryan inspected the damage critically, checking his watch. "I guess you can come back for it at around four," he said slowly. "That's if Mr. Hummel doesn't need me for anything else."

"Okay." Karofsky shifted. "So…"

"You can just leave me the keys and come back later." Ryan didn't exactly want him hanging around all day.

"Oh. Yeah. Cool. I'll see you." Karofsky practically ran out of the garage. Ryan watched him go, unsure of what to think. On the one hand, he was angry with the other boy for all the bullying in the past. Karofsky had been one of the worst bullies in Lima since he and his family had moved here when Ryan had been in elementary school. He'd been behind countless slushies and dumpster dives and all sorts of humiliating events, and Ryan couldn't help his resentment.

On the other hand though, he felt for Karofsky. It couldn't be easy, being homophobic, and then finding that he was the very thing he hated. It was almost poetic justice, Ryan thought with a small twisted smile. Karofsky had made his life miserable for having two dads, and now… His smile faded though, turning into a frown.

..

Karofsky returned to the garage about fifteen minutes before Ryan finished the repairs on the car. An awkward silence fell across their small section of the garage, broken only by the sound of Ryan's tools. Ryan didn't exactly know what to say to the former bully, and instead focused on the car. His concentration was broken by Karofsky though.

"I'm transferring," the football player blurted out suddenly.

Ryan glanced at him, frowning as he turned back to the car. "Pardon?"

"Out of McKinley. I'm transferring to the next district."

"Oh." Ryan looked back at him. "Why?"

"I just… I need a new start," Karofsky said quietly. "I can't – I can't stay. Not after everything that happened. With Kurt. And you. I'm… I'm sorry about… you know."

"Hmm." Ryan kept his eyes on his work, mulling over Karofsky's words, deciding if he was sincere or if he was just messing with him. Something told him Karofsky was serious though. "Is this because you're scared Kurt or I will tell people about you? Or are you really sorry about everything that happened last year?"

"I – I don't want people to find out," Karofsky answered. "But… I really am sorry." He was silent for a moment. "I apologized to Kurt. Before the prom."

"Oh."

"He wanted me to dance with him. You know, when that stupid crown crap happened." Karofsky snorted derisively. "Like I was gonna dance with that –" He cut himself off abruptly. "I'm a coward."

"I suppose you could say that," Ryan said guardedly. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't know," Karofsky said, almost defensively. "I just… you're the only one besides Hummel who knows… you know."

"I see."

"Look, I just needed to get this crap off my chest, okay? And I can't – I can't –" Karofsky seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack, and Ryan looked up at him.

"Hey, hey, stop, okay?" He straightened up, warily approaching the football player. "Calm down."

"You can't tell anybody, got it?"

Ryan nodded. "Of course not." He hesitated for a second. "And you can talk to me if you want. If you need someone to talk to." He pulled a pad of paper out of his pocket, scribbling down his phone number and handing the piece of paper to Karofsky. "If you need it."

"Okay." Karofsky took a breath, calming down. He shook his head. "Are you done, or whatever?"

"Just about." Ryan sighed softly, recognizing the deflection for what it was. A defense mechanism. "Just a sec." He quickly finished the final touches on the car, before stepping back and nodding. "That should do it." He reached into his pocket again, pulling out a folded receipt. "I fixed this up with Mr. Hummel earlier." He'd thought that it wouldn't do for the two to have too much contact, what with their history.

Karofsky seemed to think the same. "Thanks." He pulled his wallet out, handing over the right amount, plus a decent tip. "For the car. And for, you know."

"Sure."

Karofsky nodded awkwardly. "Cool." He got into his car, quickly leaving the garage. Ryan watched him go thoughtfully. He felt for Karofsky, it couldn't be easy trying to come to terms with what he was going through. Karofsky was scared, and God knew his friends – Azimio et al – would hardly be supportive.

"Hey Ryan."

Ryan turned around to see Blaine and Kurt heading towards him. Of course, Blaine was the one who had spoken. "Oh, hi Blaine. Kurt."

"Ryan," Kurt nodded. "Was that Dave Karofsky I saw burning rubber out of here?"

"Yes," Ryan replied. "He was in a fender bender, he needed to have a few things straightened out."

"That's not the only thing he needs straightened out fast," Kurt said a bit rudely.

"Not everyone can be as secure in their sexuality as you," Ryan shot back. "He needs time to come to terms with it. I don't recall you bursting out the closet with trumpets and confetti." Kurt sure had some nerve saying that when he'd been terrified to come out to his own dad.

"Ryan's right," Blaine agreed. "Everyone needs to do it on their own pace, and if Karofsky's not yet ready, we can't do anything."

"Oh, so you're siding with him," Kurt snarked.

"There aren't any sides," the Warbler argued. "I just happen to think that he was right in that no one hurried you out of the closet, and you can't judge Karofsky for not being ready yet."

"Well, after he tormented me for the past, oh, five years or so, I think I can. But sure, Blaine, go ahead and side with Ryan, since we all know you're such good friends and all." He flounced back out of the garage, leaving Ryan with Blaine.

"Sorry," Ryan said guiltily.

"No, it's fine," Blaine sighed. "He's been in some sort of snit again for the past few days. Not to mention he's still annoyed about that spin-the-bottle kiss at the party."

"That was ages ago!" Ryan shook his head. "Did you tell him about your little crush?" he teased.

"God no," Blaine gave an embarrassed laugh. "And don't even think about telling anyone else," he added.

Ryan smirked. "My lips are sealed."

* * *

"So, I got a call earlier," Shelby mentioned to Ryan, as he entered her office to get a set of sheet music late one afternoon near the end of summer. "There was a talent scout from USC at your workshop yesterday."

Ryan nearly dropped the sheaf of papers he was holding. "And? Why did they call you? Was it about me?"

"Hmm," she said, drawing it out. "Well, he was watching your rehearsals…"

"And?"

"And he noticed you, so he asked Jerry about you," she continued, referring to one of the directors who ran the workshop, and incidentally a friend of hers from New York. "I don't know what he said, but he pointed the scout to me." Shelby smiled. "He's interested in you, maybe for a potential scholarship."

Ryan grinned broadly. "Really? He is? What did he say? Tell me everything," he demanded.

"Well, he said something about excellent characterization, and good projection," Shelby said. "He thought your stage presence had excellent potential, and that you probably have the looks to make it on the screen." She smirked at the amazed look on her kid's face. "And he says he'll be watching you this year, and if you apply to USC, he'd see if he'd be able to offer you a scholarship."

"Oh my God, this is great!" Ryan gushed delightedly. "Someone really noticed me? And a talent scout too! I mean, maybe it's not one from New York, but USC is great too. At the very least it would be a safety school." His grin widened even further. "And if he noticed, maybe someone from New York will notice too." He gazed intently at Shelby, who looked at him questioningly.

"What?"

"Don't you see? This is exactly why you need to start up a new glee club! I need as much exposure as I can get, and what better way to do it than with a win at a National level competition? And not only that, with a four-time winning coach to boot!"

Shelby smiled in amusement. She hadn't told him yet, but she was in fact leaning towards starting a new team. She was missing the show choir world, and as much as she liked teaching English, music had always been her first love. And she missed the thrill of winning. She'd have to take a good look at her chances though, McKinley wasn't an arts-heavy school, and the kids didn't seem too interested in glee. A complete contrast from Carmel, where VA was considered royalty. Not to mention she highly doubted Figgins would cough up the funds she'd need to run a club to her exacting standards.

"… I'll just have to convince you as soon as school starts," Ryan concluded, before turning and leaving the office.

Shelby smiled as she watched him go, before sighing as she glanced over the paperwork she had to do. It was around that time again. School was starting back up soon and she needed to get her class plans in order. She liked teaching, she did, but it could be such a hassle sometimes.

She looked up at a knock on her office door, and to her surprise, Quinn stuck her head inside. "Hi Quinn. I think Ryan's in his room."

"I'll go up soon, but I was looking for you first, actually," the blonde said with a light smile. She pulled a folded sheet of paper from her pocket, sliding it across Shelby's desk.

"What's this?" Shelby asked curiously.

"Read it."

Shelby unfolded the sheet of paper, which turned out to be a letter. "'Dear Miss Fabray, we are delighted to inform you that you have won this year's Ohio state writing competition for…" She looked up. "You won? You won!" She smiled broadly. "That's wonderful!"

Quinn nodded, smiling shyly. "Yeah. I won. I sent my work to some of those contests you told me about, and this came in the mail this morning." She let out a small laugh as she pulled another sheet of paper from her pocket. "I got this too, it's from one of the judges, she's an editor for a magazine, and she said she'd like to see more of my stuff."

"Congratulations, I'm so proud of you," Shelby smiled, wrapping Quinn in a hug.

"Thanks," Quinn smiled softly. "Really. I learned a lot from you last year, and I wouldn't have tried sending my work out if you hadn't talked to me."

Shelby smiled at her as she pulled away. "That's my job. Always happy to help. You're really talented, Quinn, and I'm so happy for you." She glanced down at the letter again. "You do know this comes with a cash prize, right?"

"What?" Quinn took the letter again.

"Yes, there's a $150 prize for first place," Shelby explained. "Didn't you read the whole thing?"

"I kind of lost it after the first paragraph," the blonde said sheepishly. "Wow. Okay." She put the letters back in her pocket. "I'll just go find Ryan."

"You do that," Shelby nodded, hiding a smile. "Don't have too much fun, okay?" she added, smirking at the blush that Quinn tried to hide by turning away.

..

Half an hour later Ryan followed Quinn into her house. "So your mom's not coming home until late, right?" he asked.

"Nope," Quinn answered. "AA until 10." She smiled slyly. "I thought we could do something here."

Ryan smiled back. "What did you have in mind?"

She didn't answer, just led him into her room and pushed him down on the bed. "Wait there," she commanded as she disappeared into the bathroom. She came back out a few minutes later, and Ryan's jaw fell when he caught sight of her in a new bikini. She smirked smugly at him as she sauntered towards him, and he felt his pants tighten as his eyes followed the sway of her hips. "So?"

Ryan swallowed as he tried to rip his gaze away from the place where her breasts were threatening to spill from the bikini top. "I – I –" He cleared his throat as he tried to speak without drooling. "W-why are you wearing that? Not that there's anything _wrong _with you wearing that –" His eyes inevitably trailed back down. "I – uhh –"

"Well, you did say you'd like to see it in a more… private… setting," Quinn said sultrily, putting her hands on his shoulders as she stepped between his legs. He bit back a choked whimper as she bumped up against his dick.

"D-did I?" he stammered. "You –" He shivered as she stroked her fingers over his collarbone.

"So I thought we could go make use of the hot tub," she continued. Ryan tore his gaze from her breasts, which were just level with his face, to meet her eyes. She stepped back, and Ryan almost whined at the loss of her warmth in front of him. She headed for the door. "Follow me."

Minutes later Ryan was hopping into the Fabray's hot tub after Quinn. He let out a soft moan of pleasure as he sank into the warm water, his arousal momentarily forgotten. Quinn smirked. "Never been in a hot tub before?"

He shook his head. "No, I've never had occasion to try it, since I've never actually had access to one." He sighed. "These jets are amazing."

"I know." Quinn scooted over next to him so that their arms were touching. "But you do know what else hot tubs are used for, right?" She leaned in, slowly invading his space before letting their lips meet. Ryan's libido roared back to life as he kissed her back hungrily, his tongue swiping into her mouth.

Quinn swung a leg over his lap a moment later, straddling him. Her bikini-clad breasts brushed up against his chest, and he inhaled sharply. One hand slipped down to cup his hard cock as she thrust her tongue into his mouth. He moaned helplessly as she squeezed him. His hands gripped tightly at her waist, completely intoxicated by her surrounding him as the warm water swirled around them. "You're gorgeous," he panted, as they broke apart for air.

"Glad you think so," she gasped back. She stroked his dick hard, and Ryan gasped, burying his face into her neck. He recovered a moment later, his hands fumbling behind her back to undo the lace of the bikini top. The fabric fell away, and Ryan took a moment to admire his girlfriend's breasts before dipping his head down to suck on one. One hand squeezed the other breast, his other hand roving all over her. Quinn arched against his touch, moaning, before pushing him away.

Ryan swallowed breathlessly as Quinn stood up, removing the bottom half of the swimsuit before landing back in his lap, slamming her lips against his. "Inside," she whispered against his mouth.

"I – I don't have –" Ryan cursed inwardly. He didn't have a condom on him, and he didn't know if he'd be able to control himself enough to pull out.

"I'm on birth control," she murmured, her breath hot against his ear, pressing a kiss against the lobe.

"Oh." Ryan bucked upwards as she ground down, sending the water rippling around them. His hands wandered down, rubbing against her thighs and squeezing at her ass. He nodded distractedly. "Okay." One of his hands came between them, brushing against her folds, and she shivered. She braced her hands on his shoulders, taking a breath before sliding down onto Ryan's dick.

He gasped, his head falling against her neck as she dropped down onto him. "_Fuck._" The water was warm, but nothing compared to her heat. And it was different, because this was his first time without a barrier and he could just _feel _every bit of her. He groaned as she rocked forward, her tightness gripping him hard. He surged forward, catching her lips in a kiss, whimpering a little as she sank her teeth into his lower lip. She rose up off him, before sliding back down with a moan and a splash. He himself saw stars as the friction almost caused him to come.

Quinn rose up again, and this time he grabbed her hips, pulling her down just as he thrust up, making her cry out in surprise. "God, Ryan!" She tried to pull back again, but he wrapped an arm around her, holding her trapped against his dick. "Ryan!"

"Hold still," he grunted, as she writhed on his lap. He held her flush against him before grinding upwards to hit her g-spot. She cried out again, squirming against his grasp, but he kept his hold, keeping her from moving away. She rocked forward against him, pressing for more as her hands gripped tight at his shoulders, nail digging in as she tried to ground herself.

Ryan stared at her in awe. She was so gorgeous like this

Ryan dipped his head back down, latching onto one of her nipples as he thrust upwards again, still keeping her tight against his dick, relentlessly pressing up against her walls. She writhed as he slammed deep into her again and again, sobbing incoherently. "Ryan, I – I –"

"What?" Ryan panted, switching to her other breast as she let out a wail. He was so close, he was starting to shake from holding it back. He nipped gently, feeling her shudder on his lap.

"C-close – please –"

"Me too," Ryan nodded breathlessly, finally releasing his death grip on her. He pulled her up off his dick, the water making it easy. He took a breath, pulling himself together before pulling her down again and thrusting into her. One more thrust and she was coming apart, screaming, her walls milking tightly at his dick. Ryan had a fleeting thought about the neighbors hearing them before it was driven out by his own climax, his head falling back as waves of pleasure flooded through him.

After what felt like forever, he came back to his senses, Quinn burying her face against his neck, pressing soft kisses against his pulse point. He laughed tiredly, sagging back against the wall of the tub. "Do you think the neighbors heard us?"

"I don't give a crap at this point," she sighed contentedly, her hand rubbing against his bare chest. Ryan couldn't help but agree. "That was awesome."

"I know," he agreed, pressing a kiss to her head. "Perfect." Yes. Perfect summer.

* * *

**Hello people, here's the last filler chapter for summer! As always, I hope you enjoyed it. **

**Happy to hear you liked the last chapter, I had you all worried, didn't I? Don't worry, I highly doubt Quinn or Ryan will be cheating. I was in two minds whether to make Quinn's punk phase something serious like the return of her depression, but I thought she's had enough drama for now. Not to mention they've got some major drama to get through once we get to On My Way. And on that note, to respond to the latest guest review, I have a vague outline of how that's going to go down. Don't want to spoil things though ;)**

**Off to Season 3 next chapter! I'll be introducing some of the Season 4 kids to fill out the glee club, so stay tuned for that. I've started at my new job, so updates will probably slow, but we'll keep chugging along. Again, Glee is not mine, but typos are. So leave me your reviews, and I'll see you next time!**


	71. Chapter 70

"Morning, buddy," James grinned as Ryan came down the stairs, fresh from his shower. "Ready for the first day of senior year?"

"Yeah," Ryan grinned, sliding onto a seat and pulling a box of cereal towards him. It was the first day of classes, and he was ready for his final year of high school. A complete contrast from first days of school when he was younger, when he'd had nothing to look forward to besides slushy showers and dumpster dives. Even this morning was different, since he had parents who actually cared that it was the first day of school. "This year is going to be great, I can feel it."

"That's good," his dad nodded, biting into a slice of toast. "Looks like you're going to be busy. Glee, basketball, the garage…"

"I'm fairly confident I'll be able to balance everything." He poured milk into the bowl, quickly taking a bite. James took the jug of milk, taking a gulp. "I'm just waiting until I can finally convince Mom to solidify her decision about starting the new glee club. It's just a matter of time. I'm already thinking of how I can find new members." He finished his bowl of cereal, opening the jug of milk to take a drink. He managed to take a swallow before he found it snatched from his hands. "Hey!"

"That's disgusting," Shelby scolded, grabbing a glass from the dishwasher and filling it with milk before pushing it towards him. "Other people drink this too." James grinned, opening his mouth to talk. "Don't you start," Shelby cut him off, rolling her eyes. "Boys."

"Good morning Mom," Ryan said sweetly. "Breakfast?"

"I made toast," James volunteered.

"Why are you two sucking up?" Shelby asked suspiciously. "Did you do something?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Well, actually, I'm still trying to convince you to start that glee club," Ryan said, smiling as he put a plate of toast in front of his mom. "We both know that arts programs are extremely beneficial –"

"Okay, okay, I've heard your spiel before," Shelby interrupted, holding up her hand as she started buttering the toast. "If you go through the whole thing again we'll be late. And I told you, we'd still have to figure out funding and recruitment, so just wait, okay?"

He stole a piece of toast from Shelby's plate. "I've already outlined plans for recruitment that we may be able to implement as soon as you give me the go-ahead. The funding… well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Hmm."

"Well, have fun on your first day," James smiled, standing up. "Both of you." He ruffled Ryan's hair and gave Shelby a kiss. "See you later." He headed out of the house.

"I should be going soon too," Ryan added. "I'm going to pick Quinn up."

Shelby nodded. "See you later. Don't be late."

"I won't." He headed out, starting his care and setting off towards Quinn's house. He made it in fifteen minutes, quickly bounding up to the front door and knocking. His girlfriend soon opened the door, her pink hair bright in the sunlight. "Hey," Ryan smiled, leaning in to kiss her. "Ready for the senior year? You're riding with me, right?"

Quinn returned his kiss quickly, closing the door behind her. "Um, actually, there's been a change of plans," she said a bit sheepishly. "I –"

Right at that moment the door opened again, revealing a smaller blonde. She smirked. "Ooh, it's the boyfriend."

"Ryan, you remember my cousin Kitty," Quinn said, smiling dryly. "Her family's staying here for a week or so, until their house is ready to move into."

"Oh." Ryan's smile turned confused. "Okay. Hi Kitty. Wait, move into?"

"That's right," Kitty answered blithely. "My dad got a new job here in Cowtown, Ohio, so McKinley High better be ready for me." She grinned excitedly, for once looking her age. "I'll be trying out for the Cheerios, just like Quinn here." She smirked again, her cynical smile returning. "I'm actually surprised you're still around."

Ryan blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Yeah, I mean, Quinn's uber-popular, right? So shouldn't she be switching boyfriends every now and then, keep you boys on your toes?"

"Uhh…"

"Okay, I think that's enough, _Catherine,_" Quinn ground out. "First of all, serial dating is just weird, I never did that. Second, I love Ryan, I'm not dumping him anytime soon, okay?"

Kitty shrugged. "If you say so."

Quinn nodded crisply before turning back to Ryan. "Okay, let's go. She needs to ride with us, otherwise Mom will blow a gasket."

"No problem," Ryan agreed. Soon the three of them were parking in McKinley. Ryan headed to his locker while Quinn took Kitty to the administration office. "Mike, hi!" He grinned as he came up to the Asian boy, who was with Tina. "Hey Tina." He glanced up. "Nice hat, Mike."

"Thanks," Mike grinned, taking the white hat off and giving it a twirl.

"Have you seen JBI yet?" Tina questioned. "He's been asking all the glee kids about their future plans. Can you believe he didn't know Artie and I were juniors?"

Ryan chuckled. "What did you say?"

"My mom hasn't decided between Yale and Stanford yet," Mike sighed. Tina patted him on the arm. "Hey, where's Quinn?"

"Oh, she just took her cousin to the office, she's transferring in." Ryan checked his watch. "I just need to go to my locker." He waved goodbye to his friends and walked up to his own locker. He pushed his books inside and looked up just in time to see Quinn coming over. "Did you get Kitty settled all right?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She's just getting her schedule at the administration office." Quinn flicked a hand through his hair before giving him a quick kiss. "Sorry about her."

"It's fine," Ryan answered. "She should make things… interesting… to say the least."

"No doubt," Quinn rolled her eyes. "Everyone's staring."

"Are they?"

She gave him a look. "It's the stupid hair, and these ridiculous clothes," she muttered self-consciously, pulling at the gray heavy-metal shirt Santana had pushed her into wearing for the first day of school. Quinn had tried to get out of it, but Santana had been adamant, saying it was part of the bet. "I look like a punk. Everyone thinks I've gone off my rocker or something. The Skanks asked if I wanted to join them this year."

"You, a Skank?" Ryan chuckled. The Skanks were a group of girls who dressed like punks and spent their time under the bleachers smoking and huffing drugs that they probably got from Sandy Ryerson. "In what universe would that happen?"

"Shut up."

"Shutting up." He smiled, tugging lightly at a lock of pink hair. "They're all just staring because you look hot."

"No they're not," she grumbled, waving his hand off. Ryan swooped in to steal a kiss, and she let out a reluctant smile. It faded as Finn Hudson ambled past them, not sparing them a glance. "Do you think Finn's going to be a problem this year?"

"I don't know," Ryan answered honestly. "I know he worked at Mr. Hummel's garage sometimes over the summer, when I wasn't there. I'm pretty sure he's been avoiding me." Ryan hadn't particularly wanted to see Finn either. He suspected he probably would have decked the other boy in the nose again.

"Hey!" Suddenly there was a small commotion. "Taste the rainbow, Glee-otch!"

Ryan flinched on instinct, half-expecting to feel the chill of an icy slushy splashed across his face. He should've known it wouldn't last. But when the expected blizzard didn't come, he opened his eyes to see Finn standing a few feet away, covered with brightly colored ice, a group of kids laughing around him.

Ryan saw that the culprit was Rick 'the Stick' Nelson, a tall, redheaded boy with a mullet. He was the captain of McKinley's hockey team, which had a rivalry going on with the football team as to which sport was better. Rick had been one of the many jocks disappointed by the disappearance of the slushy machine last year, a mystery which was yet unsolved, and was likely to remain so.

Taunting finished, Rick headed away from Finn. "Corcoran," the hockey player nodded affably, walking over to Ryan.

"Rick," Ryan nodded back warily, half expecting another Big Gulp to come flying in his face. He wasn't going to call him 'the Stick', that was just ridiculous. "Where'd you get the slushy?"

"Oh, one of the boys did a 7-11 run," he said nonchalantly. "Too bad they didn't get a new machine up this year. Gonna have to save the ice for the special losers, eh?"

"Mmm," Ryan nodded noncommittally, worried that he was going to be one of the 'special' losers. "Did you want something?"

"Nah," 'The Stick' shook his head. "I've got no beef with you. You're captain of the basketball team this year, yeah? 'Sides, heard you quit your loser club last year."

"Yes, it's true that Finn and I had some differences. I'm not sure where you got your information that I will be captaining the basketball team though."

Rick smirked. "Hudson's a moron, all right, kissing your girl right up there in front of God and everybody. Saw what you did to his face. Guess you're all right." He nodded again before sauntering off, taking his cronies with him. Ryan watched him go, his eyes wide. Quinn was surprised too. Santana found the two of them standing there at Ryan's locker a moment later.

"What's up, bitches?" she grinned cheerfully. "Loving the threads, Q." She waved a hand in front of Quinn's face when she didn't react. "Hello? Earth to disgusting lovebirds?"

"Did that just happen?" Ryan questioned, ignoring Santana, who didn't take well to it.

"Did what just happen?"

Quinn nodded slowly. "I think it just did."

"What?" Santana prodded irately.

"This is going to be a very interesting year," Ryan commented.

"Yes it is," Quinn agreed.

Santana huffed. "Okay, this whole telepathy thing you've got going on here is super cute, but how about we use our words so the rest of the world don't think the two of you are crazy?"

* * *

"Can't believe it's only the second day and they're already giving out homework," Tina grumbled as she headed to the choir room with Mike and Ryan. Mike just chuckled, giving her a quick kiss. Ryan rolled his eyes at the display. Quinn had AP English at the moment, so he was the third wheel. "Ryan, want to come in with us?"

"I'm not really in the mood for a verbal fight," Ryan said dryly. He hadn't really talked to any of the other glee kids yet, but he was relatively sure it wouldn't be pretty.

"I'm sure it won't be like that," Mike said a bit doubtfully. Ryan sighed, readying himself for a verbal assault, before nodding.

"Okay." They went into the choir room, where most of the glee kids were already assembled, minus Quinn, Sam, Lauren, and Ryan himself. Ryan scanned the room. "Where's Lauren?"

"Puck couldn't convince her to stay," Santana interjected boredly barely looking up from where she was playing on her phone next to Brittany.

"She's the one who got away," Puck sighed. "Very, very slowly."

"That doesn't really matter, what matter is what Ryan's doing here," Kurt interrupted. "I mean, didn't you ditch us? So what are you doing here? Crawling back already?"

Incensed, Ryan was about to shoot back when Tina stopped him. Which was probably good, since he probably would have said something rather nasty. "Okay, Kurt, wasn't that kinda out of line?" Tina asked her friend pointedly.

Kurt raised his hands. "I'm not the one who deserted the glee club," he pointed out. "If Ryan thinks he can do better without us, then by all means he should go ahead."

"Kurt's right," Finn nodded. "Ryan, you said you were out. We can't have people in here who aren't loyal to the New Directions. So you should just go."

Ryan scowled. "By that definition, you should go as well," he said, trying to keep his voice even. "If you'll remember, you abandoned this club on at least two separate occasions – once when Coach Tanaka forced you guys to choose between football and glee, and once at Sectionals two years ago. Kurt joined the Warblers. Remind me again how loyal you are?"

"Burn," Santana smirked.

Finn turned red. "But I came back," he sputtered out. Right on cue, Mr. Schuester came in.

"All right guys – Ryan, what are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you quit. This meeting is only for New Directions members, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Ryan shook his head. "You know what, it's okay. You're right, I'm not part of this club anymore. I just came to support my friends. I didn't come to 'crawl back' as you so eloquently put it. So I'll wish my friends good luck, and I'll just leave you." He turned, executing a perfect storm-out.

He shook his head again, trying to tamp down his frustration. He'd told himself he wasn't going to rise to their baiting anymore, but that was just – he scowled. Sadly, he wasn't surprised by their reactions. Finn was being an absolute hypocrite, and Kurt was being his usual self, as always. Ryan couldn't even bring himself to be surprised by Mr. Schue. The teacher didn't even acknowledge the fact that Ryan had spent two years pouring everything into this club. But then, that was about par for the course.

Well, that just solidified it even further – he just had to set up his own team and whip their asses.

..

One period later Quinn walked to the water fountain, taking a drink, still wearing the stupid punk outfit because the deal was good for a week. She looked up when she sensed a person looming behind her. "Hello Coach Sylvester."

"Hello, Q," Sue greeted easily as Quinn turned around. "Beautiful outfit. If you're trying to make a statement, I can tell you you've managed to achieve the insane punk unicorn look perfectly. I can now safely say that you are firmly off the Cheerios this year."

"I'm drowning in despair," Quinn said flatly.

Sue nodded. "Fortunately, I've managed to find someone to replace you, and she's so perfect, she might as well be your clone, right down to that witty acidic tongue of yours. As a matter of fact, you probably know her." Right on cue, Kitty came around the corner in a brand-new Cheerios uniform, her hair up in a high pony.

"That was fast," Quinn observed. "But then you always did work fast," she added, turning to her former coach.

"What can I say, when I see talent, I go after it like one of my bloodhounds sniffing a McDonald's quarter-pounder. She's just like you, only not pregnant and not insane enough to join William's little zombie club." Sue shook her head. "You know, I'm really disappointed in you, Q. So much potential, all down the drain."

Quinn studied Sue for a moment. "Not down the drain, just… going in a different direction."

"Right, I heard about the latest writing competition news." Quinn could have sworn she saw a glint of pride in the teacher's eyes before it vanished. "Not nearly as flashy as a National Cheerleading trophy, but it's something." Sue nodded. "Kitty, football field at three. Don't be late." She turned around, heading down the hall.

Kitty turned to her. "Oh my God," she said excitedly. "Can you believe it? I'm a Cheerio! I'm going to be just like you. You know, minus your whole fall from grace." She nodded decisively, not noticing Quinn's flinch. "I'll see you later, I said I'd meet some of the other Cheerios in the cafeteria."

Quinn sighed as her younger cousin hurried down the hall. She hadn't been that excited when she had joined the Cheerios. She had been more… relieved. Because being a cheerleader meant she wasn't going to be a loser. She turned back to her locker only to tense up as a pair of arms wrapped around her. She relaxed immediately though. "Hi Ryan."

"Hey." Ryan squeezed his arms around her waist from behind, pressing a kiss against her neck. "Having a good day?" He rested his chin on her shoulder.

She smiled contentedly. "Better now."

..

Late that afternoon Ryan headed back to his car to meet Quinn, ready to go home, when he passed by the football field. The place was crowded, boys milling around all over the field. One suddenly shot off the field trying to catch a football, bumping into Ryan, who automatically steadied the boy. "Are you okay?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah." The boy nodded. He was tall, but if Ryan had to guess, he'd probably just had a growth spurt. Probably a freshman or a transfer, since Ryan didn't recognize him. "Sorry, man."

"It's okay." Ryan held back a smile at the guy's long sideburns and his brown hair that slightly resembled Sam's Bieber-do last year. The boy grinned at him before hurrying back to the field. Ryan looked around. He saw Coach Beiste overseeing the whole event, and walked over to her with a smile.

"Hey Ryan," the coach nodded. "How's that jacket treatin' you?"

"Hello Coach Beiste," Ryan smiled. "It's treating me very well, actually. Are you holding tryouts for football?"

"Yep," Coach Beiste replied. "Thinkin' of joining in?"

Ryan shook his head. "No thank you." Most definitely not. He wasn't fond of violence, and the thought of being tackled by a 200-pound giant in the name of sport made him cringe. Football injuries were often devastating, and could permanently harm his chances of getting a stage career. He'd need the stamina to be able to perform eight shows a week after all. Not to mention he didn't trust McKinley's current football players, and he knew trust in one's teammates was a requirement in this sport.

"Just as well," the coach answered. She waved her clipboard at the small multitude of boys her assistants were trying to wrangle into some semblance of order. "Prob'ly gonna have to cut 60 of these guys already. None of the freshmen are likely to get in, unless they're like super talented. They'll get their chance next year. But anyways, you still in for the basketball team?"

"Yes I am, if you'll have me," Ryan nodded.

"Are you kidding?" Coach Beiste snorted. "You scored just about half the points we got all last year by yourself. Which is why I was gonna ask if you'd be my basketball captain this year."

"Captain?" Ryan asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Not really much to it, you'll be planning the plays with me, but that's about it besides regular practices. So what do you say?"

"I'm flattered, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity," he hedged. "But can I think about it for a while?" It was a great offer, one that would surely boost his popularity in the school. But he needed to focus on the new glee club. He knew it was inevitable, it was just a matter of when it got started. He needed to work on college applications, auditions… plus his work at the garage. And he wanted to be able to spend time with Quinn and his family too.

Coach Beiste nodded. "No problem."

* * *

The next day Quinn was back at her locker when two Cheerios came up to her. "S, B," she greeted. "Nice outfits." The two girls were back in their Cheerios uniforms.

Santana nodded, leaning on the lockers. "Tubbers."

"Hi Quinn," Brittany chirped. "Coach Sylvester let us back on the Cheerios, she said she needed Santana's diabolical evilness and my awesome dance moves again. She even said we didn't have to quit glee to do it."

"That's nice," Quinn smiled. "I'm happy for you."

"Are you sure you don't wanna join the Cheerios again, Quinn?" Brittany asked. "I bet Coach would let you back in if you asked really nice. We could be like the Three Musketeers again. Now you're not even in glee, and me and Santana are just Almond Joy. You're a Jolly Rancher, which is kinda because Ryan makes you really happy."

Quinn smiled faintly at Brittany's assessment. "I'm sure," she nodded. "The Cheerios are a part of my old life, and I don't want to go back. I'll find other things to do with my time." She was writing and drawing a lot more now, things she didn't have time for when she was planning cheerleading routines and killing herself in practice. She'd enjoyed the acrobatics, but other than that she'd never really liked it all that much anyways. It was more of a means to an end. "I don't think it's for me anymore."

"Well, more fun for me," Santana said offhandedly. "Now that you're off joining the Skanks Sue's probably gonna make me captain."

"I'm not joining the Skanks," Quinn huffed. "Why does everyone think that?"

"Uh, the pink hair?"

"Which is your fault," Quinn said pointedly. "I am _so_ getting this bleached off next week."

"Why?" Brittany questioned. "I think it's kinda hot. You look like a unicorn that's into heavy metal. Anyways, Santana and me have to go make out in the janitor's closet again."

Both Quinn and Santana blushed at that. "Uh, yeah," Santana fidgeted. "We're going. See you later, Q." Quinn just nodded, turning back to her locker as the two newly-reinstated Cheerios left. Quinn managed to locate her history textbook when yet another Cheerio stopped next to her locker. Quinn sighed as she turned to face the newcomer.

"Nice hairdo, Caboosey," Kenzie Larkin smirked. "Heard you were joining the Skanks soon."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Looks like someone's put on a little weight," Kenzie said knowingly, and Quinn flushed ever so slightly. "I guess not being on the Cheerios will do that to you," she continued. "I saw Santana and Brittany were back in their uniforms. Did Coach Sue not want to take you back?"

"Your head really is full of air, isn't it?" Quinn retorted. "I suppose that's why everyone can lift you so easily. Maybe the reason I'm not back in my Cheerios outfit is because I don't want to be back on the team."

Kenzie let out a condescending laugh. "Everybody wants to be on the Cheerios. You're just too embarrassed Coach wouldn't let a chubster like you back on the team. And after seeing that, I can't blame her," she added, smirking at Quinn's pink hair before swaggering off.

Quinn stalked off in the opposite direction to meet Ryan in the cafeteria, trying to push her little conversation with Kenzie out of her mind. It had affected her a little more than she cared to admit. She never told Ryan, but she was still more than a little conscious about her weight, and there were still days when she felt unspeakably fat. Maybe it was stupid, but she didn't want to return to Lucy Caboosey ever again. It was why she still watched what she ate. Not to the point of Sue's Master Cleanse – she still shuddered when she remembered those times when her starving mind started transforming people into food – but she didn't indulge all the time. And it was why she kept up with her exercise routine and why she'd worked double to lose the weight she'd gained after Beth.

And of course, like a shark, that little insecurity was what Kenzie had latched onto. Quinn knew the technique well, you needed to find the weakest point of your opponent, and attack mercilessly. She'd used it enough times to know.

"Quinn?"

She looked up in surprise to see her boyfriend in front of her, a touch of concern in his eyes. "Hmm?"

"Are you okay?" Ryan questioned. "You looked a little out of it."

"I'm fine," she said dismissively, absently straightening his letterman jacket. Ryan nodded, giving her his adorable smile, and she couldn't help but smile back. She knew he loved her. Even if she looked like a fat pink-haired punk right now. She followed him over to the line, picking up a tray. He let her go first and she lined up behind a shy-looking brunette girl.

Up front, there were two boys, freshmen by the looks of them, who were busy harassing the rather obese lunch lady who was serving the food. One of them snickered. "Hey lady, any more food left, or did you eat it all?"

The other guy tapped his friend in the arm. "Bet if she backs up, something starts beeping." The two of them burst out laughing.

Quinn gritted her teeth, noticing the brunette girl ahead of her in line flinch as well. What was it with people making fun of people's weight today? "Hey," she called over, shooting a nasty glare at the two belligerent boys. Looks like they were the Karofsky and Azimio of the freshman class. "Would you mind repeating that?" she asked evenly.

"Uhh…"

She had the satisfaction of seeing them flinch a little under her scrutiny. She may not be in the hallowed Cheerios uniform anymore, but she was still Quinn Fabray, and her glare could still make any student quail back. Not to mention her punk outfit probably accentuated the effect.

She saw Ryan shooting them a glare as well, backing her up. It surprised her a little, his supporting her even when he probably had no idea what she was so upset about. "I think you should refrain from making any more similar comments," he stated. "It's rude, and don't you think that maybe your words hurt?"

"Come on, man, she's just the lunch lady," one of the boys cajoled. Quinn almost rolled her eyes. She saw them eyeing Ryan's letterman jacket, probably assuming he was just another one of the jocks who wouldn't care.

"So that means you can say whatever you like?" Ryan scowled.

"Besides, she's one of the staff," Quinn added. "Who feeds you, by the way, so do you really want to get on her bad side?"

The boy who had made the beeping joke started to argue, but the other one stopped him. "Whatever, man, let's get out of here," the second boy grumbled, pulling his buddy away. Quinn watched them leave before getting her food. The cafeteria lady shot her a small smile before she left.

Ryan turned to her as soon as he picked up his own tray of food. "So what was that about?" he asked expectantly.

"I should ask you that, why did you jump in?" Quinn returned curiously.

"I knew they were upsetting you," Ryan shrugged. "One of my jobs as your boyfriend is to help you when you're upset. And I didn't like how they were bullying the lunch lady either, it reminded me too much of Karofsky and Azimio, and even Puck." He gave her an anxious glance. "Was I not supposed to get involved?"

"No, you were great," she assured him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

He gave her another happy smile. "You're welcome." He glanced around the cafeteria. "Look, Mike and Tina are over there."

They headed over to the table, quickly joined by Santana and Brittany. "Q, Hobs, Chang-squared," Santana nodded as she sat down.

"Guys, did you see the purple pianos?" Brittany smiled. "Aren't they awesome?"

"Now that you mention it, there do seem to be an inordinate amount of painted pianos scattered about the school," Ryan commented. "Is there any particular significance or has Mr. Figgins opted for a change in décor?

"It's Schuester's new recruiting schtick," Santana grumbled.

"We're supposed to sing a song every time we see one of them," Tina explained. "I guess we're hoping it'll inspire other kids to join the glee club." Quinn held back a slight snort. Like that was going to work. "Yeah, that was kind of our reaction too. Sue's on a vendetta too, she started cutting the strings out of one of the pianos. When Mike and I were using it."

"So why aren't you guys singing?" Quinn inquired. "There's one right over there."

"Any minute now, Wheezy's gonna start singing along with Lady Hummel."

Sure enough, a few tables away the New Directions started up a rendition of _We Got the Beat_, complete, somehow, with instrumentalists. It was actually a pretty good showing. Unfortunately, the rest of the school didn't seem to think so, with the entire cafeteria falling into silence as the last note ended. Then Becky Jackson came up to Mercedes, tossing a plateful of peas in her face.

"That can't be good," Ryan murmured.

"Food fight!"

..

A couple of hours later Shelby headed out of her office, intent on getting some food at the cafeteria. She'd neglected to bring lunch today and she had spent lunch dissuading Sue Sylvester from wreaking havoc on the purple pianos Will had for some bizarre reason spread around the school. Shelby had come upon Sue hacking the strings from one of the instruments with a pair of garden shears in front of a shocked Mike Chang and Tina Cohen-Chang, and had quickly stopped Sue's tirade of vitriol. In hindsight it was actually fortunate as she had escaped the carnage of the food fight that had broken out.

She slowed down when Ryan suddenly fell into step with her. "Hi sweetie. Free period?"

Ryan rolled his eyes playfully. "I know you have my schedule memorized."

Shelby smirked. She did in fact have his schedule memorized so she could keep track of him. "I love you," she said nicely. Her heart almost stopped when she noticed a bright red splotch on the back of his neck. "Is that –" She reached out, rubbing the red stuff away. "Oh. It's spaghetti sauce." Not blood. False alarm. "I assume you got in on some of the cafeteria action today?"

"Gee, how on earth did you guess?" Ryan asked dryly, following her into said cafeteria. The room was a mess, with a pair of janitors trying to clean up the random gobs of spilt food from the floors and walls. Shelby strolled up to the food area, where one lunch lady was still on duty, the same one Quinn had defended yesterday. Since it was class time, the cafeteria was empty aside from Shelby, Ryan, and the lunchroom staff. "Haven't you had lunch yet?"

"Nope." She glanced over the food displays and selected the most recognizable offering, a sandwich with chips. The lunch lady handed it over with a smile, and Ryan immediately tried to snag one of the chips. Shelby slapped his hand away quickly. "Mine."

"But I'm hungry," Ryan whined with a pout.

"You're always hungry. Get your own."

"I left my wallet in my locker."

Shelby sighed. "Fine. One more, then." Ryan brightened as the lunch lady, plated up another sandwich, handing it to Ryan with an amused smile.

"Thank you!" he chirped happily, taking the plate and following Shelby to one of the tables after she paid for the food. "So have you made a solid decision on the new glee club yet? Judging from today's showing in this very cafeteria, the New Directions are as unpopular as ever. Their only prospect so far has been a girl who is absolutely tone-deaf."

"And how do you know this?" Shelby questioned. "Spying on their rehearsals?"

"I was not spying," Ryan answered indignantly. "It's hardly my fault if they choose to leave the door to the choir room wide open. Anyone could stand just outside the door and hear everything that was going on inside."

"Yes, you're perfectly innocent in all this, aren't you? It's not as if you'd break into a rival team's auditorium, sneak into the balcony, and take notes on their rehearsal, right?" She hid a smirk as Ryan blushed.

"It was a reconnaissance mission. And if I recall, your team TP'd our choir room shortly afterwards. At least we didn't do any damage."

"Riiiight."

"You know what, never mind," Ryan said hurriedly. "Anyways, the point is, no one wants to join the glee club right now. So now is the perfect opportunity to start recruiting."

"I thought you said no one was interested?" Shelby asked, confused.

"No one's interested in the New Directions," Ryan corrected. "They might be more interested in a different group, one coached by a winning director, that's you, and endorsed by one of the recently popular people in school!"

"I suppose that would be you."

"Yes, I'm surprised about it myself," he admitted. "But we all know joining a sports team boosts your popularity, and apparently beating the star quarterback to a pulp is a massive booster as well."

"I'm not sure I approve of that…"

"Doesn't matter. The important thing is I need your go-ahead to start recruiting members. Mr. Schue's mistake last year is that he just made us do one big number, and then nothing. We need to go out and talk to people about joining, because let's face it, people aren't going to join on their own. But they will if they see that there's something in it for them."

Shelby nodded. It made sense, she supposed. She'd never really had this problem with VA, people used to come in droves during audition season. "If you say so."

Ryan finished his sandwich, washing it down with a glass of water. He stood up, walking over to the piano. Someone had wiped off the keys, but there were still a few noodles draped over the back, a splotch of nondescript sauce painted on a corner. He pressed a few keys. "Did you hear about Mr. Schuester's latest assignment?"

"The one where they have to sing whenever they see purple pianos? Yes, I did. It's an interesting assignment. Not one I've ever thought of, but that's probably because purple pianos are rather in short supply," she said in amusement. She smiled as Ryan went through a chord progression. "You're getting good at that."

He grinned. "I've been practicing. And I've had a great teacher." He paused. "Sing with me."

"Okay," she smiled, coming to stand next to him. She thought for a moment, recalling the last progression Ryan had played, coming up with a song to match before singing acapella.

_There's a fire starting in my heart_  
_Reaching a fever pitch, it's bringing me out the dark_  
_Finally I can see you crystal clear_  
_Go 'head and sell me out and I'll lay your ship bare_  
_See how I leave with every piece of you_  
_Don't underestimate the things that I will do_

Ryan jumped into the next verse, and Shelby fell silent, marveling at his voice. She could listen to him all day. A part of her suspected though that even if he had sounded like a dying walrus she would have been happy to listen.

_There's a fire starting in my heart_  
_Reaching a fever pitch_  
_And it's bringing me out the dark_

_The scars of your love remind me of us_  
_They keep me thinking that we almost had it all_  
_The scars of your love, they leave me breathless_  
_I can't help feeling_  
_We could have had it all_  
_Rolling in the deep_  
_You had my heart inside of your hand_  
_And you played it, to the beat_

Shelby took over again, the pair taking turns every couple of lines as they harmonized, sounding as though they had rehearsed this over and over again.

_Baby, I have no story to be told_  
_But I've heard one on you_  
_And I'm gonna make your head burn_  
_Think of me in the depths of your despair_  
_Make a home down there_  
_As mine sure won't be shared_

_Throw your soul through every open door_  
_Count your blessings to find what you look for_  
_Turn my sorrow into treasured gold_  
_You'll pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow_  
_We could have had it all_  
_We could have had it all_  
_It all, it all, it all_

_We could have had it all_  
_Rolling in the deep_  
_You had my heart inside of your hand_  
_But you played it_  
_You played it_  
_You played it_  
_You played it to the beat._

Ryan smiled at her as they ended the song. "Thank you."

"You know I'd never miss a chance to sing with you."

* * *

After yesterday's food fight, Ryan had actually been hoping for a peaceful lunch period today. He glanced out into the courtyard, surprised to see an elaborate dance number featuring Blaine Anderson occurring, with several Cheerios acting as backup dancers. Ryan wandered outside, smiling at the performance. Blaine was a very good singer, too bad he wouldn't join Ryan's team. Blaine probably wouldn't leave Kurt like that.

Suddenly the purple piano that sat off to one side burst into flames. Everyone stared at it in shock for a moment until a teacher finally came out, and scrambled for a fire extinguisher. The fire was out in minutes, and the crowd dispersed. Blaine came over to Ryan a few minutes later.

"Does this usually happen?" he asked Ryan.

"The bonfires? No," Ryan admitted. That was whole new level of vandalism. "How did you get the Cheerios to dance for you?"

"I don't really know…"

"So you decided to transfer after all," Ryan noted. "You're sure about this?"

Blaine nodded, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. "Yeah. You know, Kurt wanted me to, and maybe the New Directions will make it to Nationals this year. Besides, I…" He paused for a moment. "I think it's time I stopped hiding at Dalton," he said decisively. "I mean, Kurt's okay here, and maybe it'll be better with two of us. And I can't just hide in my safe haven forever. Is that okay?"

"Yes, of course it's okay," Ryan assured him. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't just doing it because Kurt's pressuring you." He smiled. "You're my friend, I'm happy to have you in my school. Of course, once I get the new glee club up and running we'll be competitors again, but may the better team win, right?" Ryan brightened. "Maybe you could join my team instead."

Blaine shook his head ruefully. "I can't do that to Kurt. No hard feelings?"

"Of course not. I understand," Ryan nodded. "Though I can't say I'm not disappointed. We'd be epic together."

"I'm sure we would be." Blaine glanced over his shoulder. "I should get going. Kurt went to this musical theater college mixer last night, he came home in tears. Apparently there were a whole bunch of people just as talented as he is, if not more."

"The NYADA mixer?" Ryan asked curiously. Harmony, the girl he'd met at his theatre classes during the summer, had invited him but he'd opted not to go this time around, preferring to spend time with his parents.

"Yeah, I think that's the one. He's kind of depressed right now."

Ryan hid a smirk. He'd gone to one of the mixers a month ago with Harmony, and had also been surprised and a little intimidated by the other students, who had been getting together for years in anticipation of their application to NYADA. They were insanely talented, and some of them were only sophomores. Shelby had laughed when he'd told her though, and had assured him that going to the mixers didn't guarantee anyone a spot in NYADA and that he needed to have confidence in his own talent. The visit had truly driven home the fact that he may be a big fish here in Lima, but there were tons of other talented performers out there. It was too bad Kurt had gotten intimidated, but it wasn't Ryan's business. After all, it wasn't as if Kurt was all that concerned about him. "You should go after him then. I'll see you later?"

"Definitely," Blaine grinned. Ryan pulled out his phone as Blaine left, sending off a quick text.

_12:48 PM To: Harmony Pearce – Hi Harmony. Did you by any chance meet a Kurt Hummel at last night's mixer?_

_12:50 PM To: Ryan Corcoran – Hello Ryan, as a matter of fact I did. Gavroche and I thought the poor dear was going to faint after our mash-up of Anything Goes and Anything You Can Do. Is he your friend?_

_12:51 PM To: Harmony Pearce – No, not really. Just wondering what happened to make him depressed. Perhaps you had something to do with it?_

_12:51 PM To: Ryan Corcoran – Perhaps ;) _

_12:52 PM To: Ryan Corcoran – I remembered the name from your story about Nationals, and we thought maybe he could use a bit of spooking._

_12:53 PM To: Harmony Pearce – You didn't have to do that. But thank you for the thought :)_

_12:54 PM To: Ryan Corcoran – You know we do like to show off for the newbies. Gotta go, maybe you can come to the next mixer?_

_12:52 PM To: Harmony Pearce – Looking forward to it :)_

..

Meanwhile Shelby was in her office busy with paperwork when a tap sounded on her door and Sue Sylvester came breezing in a second later. "Hello Streisand, good summer?"

"Can't complain," Shelby answered absently. "What do you want?"

"Why, I'm hurt that you think I want something," Sue replied. "What could I possibly want from you? I've got the Cheerios back, Brillo-pad is down a quarter of his team, and I'm running for Congress."

"You're what now?"

"I'm running for Congress. I was thinking that the people want a candidate who stands for something. In public schools, special education is severely lacking. Why, we don't even have a special ed program."

"And how is this going to help you rile Will Schuester up?" Shelby inquired, not looking up from her work.

"I'm astounded that you would even think that of me," Sue returned. "But as a matter of fact, I'm recommending that we cut the arts funding in public schools, until we fix our standards of education."

That got Shelby's attention. "You want to cut the arts budgets?"

"That's what I said, Streisand." Sue leaned back in her seat. "See that little purple bonfire out in the courtyard this afternoon? That's what happens when the arts and the hare-brained artsy people are allowed to run rampant in public school hallways – wanton destruction of public property."

Shelby held back a noise of derision. She was pretty sure Sue had ordered the piano to be set aflame. Not to mention the cheerleading coach's assault on the purple pianos with a pair of pruning shears. "Weren't you the one causing 'wanton destruction of public property' just the other day?"

"So," the cheerleading coach continued, acting as though she hadn't heard Shelby, "Sue Sylvester's new way to serve the good people of Ohio is to start the long-awaited crusade against publically funded arts programs. Just thought I'd give you a heads up."

"Well, I don't suppose I can really stop you," Shelby said, slightly amused by the woman's rant.

"You can't."

"And while I think you'd be doing the school and the state of Ohio a disservice by removing the arts programs, it's up to the voters if you can sway them over to your way of thinking."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

"I'm apolitical, so I think I'll stay out of this fight," Shelby decided. "I'm surprised thought that you think the arts are so useless. I'm pretty sure you used to have more than a passing interest in singing and acting."

Sue tilted her head. "I hear a little bit of I-know-something-you-don't-want-me-to-know in there," she commented. "And I know exactly how that sounds, because I use it all the time on Butt-Chin. You've found something."

"Oh, it's nothing much," Shelby said casually. "Just some old audition tapes from _Star Wars_ and _Pretty Woman_. There were candidates in there who looked remarkable like one Sue Sylvester."

Sue was silent for a moment. "Well played. I don't know how you got those tapes, but good job. Good thing I know you won't use them until there's an absolute pressing need. Like the advent of a nuclear war. Looks like I'll have to find some dirt on you too."

"Hmm," Shelby nodded vaguely. "Good luck with that. Now go away, I have a meeting with a parent soon," Shelby waved her off.

Sue nodded, standing up and brushing her tracksuit off. "Okay then." She left the office. Not five minutes later, Shelby heard a tap on the door.

"Come in." She looked up as a man in a sharp business suit came in, with a student Shelby recognized from her freshman class. She stood up. "Mr. Motta, yes?" she asked, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Shelby Corcoran." She turned to the student. "Sugar, right?"

"That's right," the girl smiled happily. "I knew you'd remember, I mean, who could forget me, right?"

Shelby tilted her head as the man, Mr. Motta, grinned. "Good to meet you too, Miss Corcoran." He made himself comfortable on the seat in front of the desk, and Shelby sat down as well.

"I'm a little curious as to the nature of this meeting, Mr. Motta," Shelby started. "It's only the fourth day of school, and we really haven't done enough classwork for there to be much progress yet."

"Oh, I know," Mr. Motta assured her. "This isn't about my girl's classwork." He smiled fondly at his daughter, who sat in the other chair. "My Sugar tells me she's interested in joining the school's glee club. Unfortunately, she wasn't deemed worthy of getting in."

Shelby nodded, remembering what Ryan had told her about the New Direction's single prospect. "Well, as unfortunate as that is, that's not really my decision," she said apologetically. "I'm not involved in the New Directions whatsoever, and Will Schuester and I aren't on the friendliest of terms."

"No, I understand. Now, since Sugar here has her heart dead set on being a star, I'm gonna make you an offer. I want to start another glee club in this school. I'm a big fan of the arts myself, and I can't think of anything better than to have a hand in another arts program, especially one that'll make my little girl happy."

"Well, that's very admirable," Shelby smiled. It was nice to see a father so involved in his daughter's extracurriculars, even if it bordered slightly on spoiling the girl. "I should warn you though, the district isn't very free with funds for the arts, and the New Directions are actually having a difficult time coming up with funds."

"Oh, I'd be very happy to fund the new club myself," Mr. Motta assured her. "Now, the reason I'm here is that I want the best of the best leading my girl's club. And according to my headhunter, that," he grinned, "would be you."

Shelby's eyebrows rose. "That's very flattering."

"Four-time winner of the National Show Choir competitions, credits in a number of Off-Broadway productions, and over a decade of experience in vocal coaching? You're exactly the person I want teaching Sugar. Not to mention, you're already here in her school!" Mr. Motta flashed her a smile. "So, do you want the job? I'd be offering a separate salary of course for you to give my baby some one-on-one lessons." He pulled a slip of paper and a pen out of his pocket, jotting something down. "Here's my figure." He slipped the paper across the desk. Shelby took it, her eyes widening at the amount written down.

"Are you serious about this?" she asked incredulously. That was a _lot _of money.

"When it comes to my Sugar's happiness, no expense is too great." He placed a kiss on Sugar's head. "I'd also write you a blank check when it comes to club expenses, if you'll send me a list."

Shelby looked down at the figure, then back up at Mr. Motta. "Are there any requirements? For example, am I absolutely required to win Nationals, or place in all our competitions?" Her VA contracts had stipulated that she get the team to at least third place in each competition. And there had been a massive bonus after each outright win.

"Oh, no," the businessman shook his head. "I mean, if you win, that would be fantastic. But it's all in good fun as well. I'll send you a proper contract by tomorrow. So, what do you say?"

"Please, Miss Corcoran?" Sugar wheedled. "Imagine, someday you'll get to say that you got to coach _the _Sugar Motta in high school! 'Cause I'm gonna be a big star."

Shelby held back a smile. The statement almost reminded her of Ryan. "All right then. I accept. My son has been begging me to start a new club as well, but we were a little short on funds. I'm sure he'd be very interested in our new club."

Sugar squealed happily, coming around the desk to wrap her in a hug. Shelby smiled in surprise.

"Perfect," Mr. Motta smiled, grabbing her hand. "The more kids you can get, the better." Suddenly the bell rang. "Baby, you better get off to class," he told his daughter, who nodded.

"Thank you so much, Miss Corcoran, I promise you're not gonna be disappointed," she gushed, before hurrying out of the room."

Shelby and Mr. Motta settled back down on the seats. "Thank you so much, Miss Corcoran," Mr. Motta said. He smiled wistfully. "I bet you're thinking I spoil my kid a little too much for her own good."

"That's none of my business," Shelby answered. "But I think it's sweet that you're supporting her."

"Wait till you hear her singing voice," the businessman chuckled. "I love my daughter, but she has a voice that could peel paint."

Shelby nodded. "My son stipulated as much," she admitted, remembering Ryan's assessment of the only audition for the New Directions. "But I've taught dozens of kids, I'm sure we'll have her singing brilliantly very soon," she concluded confidently.

"Perfect," Mr. Motta grinned. "I'll have another meeting set up with your principal, and we'll be good to go." He and Shelby stood up, shaking hands again. "I'll see you around."

..

"Okay, okay, wait," Ryan shook his head. His mom had just told him that Al Motta, the man who had donated the purple pianos to the New Directions, had come by to see her. "So he offered you carte Blanc to start a whole new glee club?" He smiled widely, mind racing as he thought of all the possibilities. He practically had Nationals in the bag! Well, as soon as he could find more members.

"That's right," Shelby confirmed. "The only condition is we have to feature Sugar in the club."

That ground Ryan's fantasies to a halt. "But her voice is terrible," he argued. "She's not going to do us any good at competitions."

"Do you want this glee club or not?"

Ryan stared at her for a moment, thinking. On the one hand, Sugar Motta was unequivocally tone-deaf. She hadn't been even remotely in tune with Brad during her audition. On the other hand, he really needed her father's funds, and he needed as many members as he could get. He nodded slowly. "Maybe she can dance really well," he ventured.

Shelby snickered at him. "You better hope so. Because this new club isn't happening without her. But have hope," she said dramatically. "Because her father has also requested that I give her private lessons. So we'll have her singing the necessary show tunes in no time."

He nodded again. "I guess so. You _did _manage to get that Nora girl to stop screeching this summer…"

"Thank you for your vote of confidence," his mother said sarcastically.

"You're very welcome." Ryan grinned. "Nationals, here we come!"

* * *

**Hello people, thank you very much for your responses last chapter… and for sticking with me 500k words! We have come so far, guys :D**

**So anyways, this is mostly the first episode of season 3, I've mentioned I'm not completely going to follow canon this time around, because it's a little too far from the AU I've created. I will be incorporating a lot of the events though. Most of you like the story so far, so I hope you like what I've got in mind. The season 4 kids aren't here yet (actually they are, just not named), but they'll be introduced next chapter. I do like some of them and I hope I'll do them justice. I agree with one of the guest reviewers, splitting the air time between Lima and NY didn't do any of the characters any favors. **

**I'm glad my fic is readable, I think at some level most fanfics are an attempt to 'fix' canon, so I'm glad my repairs are well received. ****So leave me a review to tell me what you thought. Or a PM, some people prefer that, apparently. I have a busy schedule, but I read everything you guys send me, and if you send me a PM I'll do my best to reply. See you next time!**


	72. Chapter 71

"And he was all, 'Don't come back until you can be as loyal to the glee club as the rest of the people in here,'" Santana said, lying on Quinn's bed ranting as Quinn typed away at her laptop at her desk. The Latina had shown up unceremoniously at the Fabray house on Saturday after lunch, needing someone to bitch to after Schuester had banned her from glee for setting the purple piano on fire the previous day. The teacher had banned Santana from the New Directions after the whole burning piano incident since the Cheerios had been found culpable.

"He said that?" Quinn asked, glancing at Santana incredulously.

"I know, right?" Santana complained. "Loyal? As if those weasels would recognize loyalty if it danced naked across the choir room in a sombrero! We didn't even set the stupid piano on fire, one of those idiot Skank girls flicked a cigarette butt on it!"

"Well, you did pour alcohol on it…"

"Okay, Princess Bubblegum, whose side are you on here?"

"What did Britt say about all this?"

Santana flopped back onto the bed. "You know her, she just kept her cool the whole time. She said she didn't join in because she was a water sign." She shook her head in fond exasperation at her – secret – girlfriend. Things had gotten so much better since junior prom, and had only improved over the summer. She still wasn't ready to be out yet, but she and Brittany were good. "She's still in glee."

Quinn looked at her knowingly. "You miss glee, don't you?"

Santana scowled again. So maybe she did miss making an idiot of herself in the choir room. At least Coach Sylvester had made her Cheerio captain this year. Well, co-captain, with Becky Jackson, but whatever. She could deal. Her retort was interrupted by a knock on the door, which opened to admit Ryan. "Midget," Santana nodded grudgingly.

"Santana," Ryan greeted pleasantly. "Hi Quinn." He walked over, giving Quinn a kiss on the cheek.

"Keep it PG, otherwise Imma throw up all over Quinnie's pretty covers."

"Shut up, Santana," Quinn groused, pulling Ryan down into a deeper kiss. Santana smirked, knowing her friend was doing it on purpose. "If you don't like it you can leave."

"Wow, so that's how it is, huh? Here I am, telling you how I basically got booted from glee –"

"You got kicked out of glee?" Ryan interrupted. "That's fantastic!"

Santana glared at him. "Not exactly the reaction I was looking for."

"Well, no, it's too bad that you got kicked out," Ryan amended quickly. "But if you're no longer in the New Directions, then that means you're free to join the new glee club we're starting!"

"Oh, so you finally got Mommy Dearest to make you your very own glee club?" Santana snarked. Ryan had been going on all summer about getting a new, better glee club started, with his mom as director. Santana knew it would be loads better, if only because it wouldn't have hypocritical idiots in it.

"Sarcasm inside, yes," Ryan nodded. "It wasn't all my doing though, Sugar Motta's father offered to fund a new glee club for her, and he approached my mom to direct it. Her pedigree as a show choir coach does speak for itself."

"Wow," Santana nodded. "So we've found the parent who spoils their kid more than your parents spoil you."

"They don't _spoil_ me –"

"Okay, time out," Quinn broke in. "If you're going to fight, don't do it in my room. Go outside and let me finish my homework."

"Sorry."

"Nerd."

"Okay, wait, wait. Sugar Motta? As in tone-deaf Asperger's girl with the big nose?" Santana barked out a laugh. "You're kidding me, right? You, Ryan Corcoran, are going to be in a club with the worst singer to ever come to McKinley?"

"She's not the _worst _singer," Ryan defended weakly. "I'm sure she's just… got a hidden talent… or something. You know what, that's not the point. Will you join our club? Quinn's already in it. And yes, Sugar's in the team as well, but Mom's working on her so I'm sure she'll be singing in key in no time at all. Anyways, you'll be a wonderful asset to the team, your voice is amazing, with that smoky quality. Maybe balance some of Sugar's talents, or lack thereof."

Santana contemplated. She did miss singing, no matter how much she tried to deny it. And she did have that crush on Shelby Corcoran – yes, she admitted it, she had a crush on the Hobbit's mom – so there was that, not to mention the woman knew loads more than Mr. Schue. And again, Flubber, Lady Gay, and Wheezy wouldn't be on the team. But… "I don't want to compete against Britts."

"You could bring her along," Ryan said hopefully. "The more people the better. I'm still working on getting Mike and Tina to join."

"I'll talk to her, okay?" Santana relented. "Britts, I mean, not Girl Chang. If she says she'll join, then I will too. But if not, I'm not competing against B. Comprende?"

Ryan smiled happily. "Fair enough."

..

"Come on, we should go, we're meeting Tina and Mike at the Lima Bean in a few minutes," Ryan said, checking his watch. He'd just finished up his homework in Quinn's room with Quinn and Santana, the latter randomly trying to distract the other two with random, off-color jokes. "Santana, do you want to come?"

"Hmm, hang out with Girl and Boy Chang, or hang out at home by myself?" the Cheerio pondered mockingly. "Yeah, I think I'll take my chances with you losers. Can't believe I'm willingly hanging out with Chopsticks," she added in a mutter.

"It's not like we're dragging you with us," Quinn grumbled, putting her things away.

"Whatever, Tubbers, you know more fun's gonna be had if I'm around."

Ryan just smiled as he followed the two girls down the stairs. He'd gotten used to their bickering over the summer, it was actually quite amusing. He closed the front door behind himself, only to have it open again. Judy appeared at the door. "Quinn – oh, hello Ryan, Santana" she smiled, stopping when she saw the two extra teenagers. Ryan smiled back, giving her a small wave.

"Hi Judy."

"Hey Mrs. F," Santana nodded.

"What was I going to say?" Judy though for a moment. "Oh, yes. Quinnie, your aunt and I are going out to look for furniture, okay? Are you going out?" At Quinn's nod, she brightened. "Good. How about you take Kitty? I'm sure she'd rather spend time with someone her age than with us."

Quinn balked at the suggestion. "But –" Her protest died at the look her mom gave her. "Fine."

Judy pulled a few bills from her wallet, handing them to her daughter as Kitty came out to join them on the porch. "For food. We'll be back by three, okay?" She turned and went back into the house, leaving Ryan with two blondes and one brunette on the porch. He hid a smile.

"Okay, ladies," he said agreeably. "How about we get out of here?"

"Whatever Hobs, just don't call me a lady again, got it?" Santana drawled as she let herself into Ryan's car.

"Oh my God, this is so cool," Kitty grinned happily, following the Cheerio captain.

That left Ryan with Quinn on the porch, and Ryan had to smile at the disgruntled look on his girlfriend's face. "Not exactly the date we were anticipating, is it?" he asked rhetorically.

"Nowhere close."

"That's okay, maybe we can make up for it later tonight?" Ryan asked hopefully. Quinn smiled reluctantly.

"Maybe. I –" She was cut off by someone – probably Santana – honking the horn on Ryan's car. "It's like taking care of a couple of children," Quinn complained as they headed over to the car. "Can't believe I have to babysit two giant kids. Three if I count you."

Ryan shot her a pout. "Hey!"

A short drive later the three seniors and the freshman were sitting around a table in the Lima Bean. It was pretty occupied with it being a Saturday afternoon, but they were ahead of the rush and had managed to get one of the best tables. "Garcon?" Kitty snapped her fingers after sipping her drink, beckoning a waiter over. "My iced latte is too cold."

The waiter looked at her blankly. "It's an iced latte."

"That's too cold," the small blonde said with an arched eyebrow. "Get it fixed." As with most boys, the eyebrow sent the waiter scurrying off to the back in an attempt to repair the drink.

Santana smirked. "She's like a mini-Q," she said, amused. "You know, before you turned all sappy and shit. I blame the Hobbit for that, by the way, you were totally badass before."

"Whatever, Santana," Quinn groused. "I wasn't like that, was I?"

"No, of course you weren't," Ryan agreed, ignoring Santana's coughing fit and the whisper of _whipped_ that she threw in. Thankfully, Mike and Tina arrived a moment later. "Hi guys."

"Uh, what's Santana doing here?" Tina questioned as Mike pulled a chair out for her. Santana rolled her eyes.

"I'm getting my coffee on, Girl Chang, got a problem?"

"Are you guys part of the loser club?" Kitty asked curiously. Mike and Tina exchanged a look.

"Okay, Kitty, we've talked about this," Quinn cut in. "The glee club is not composed of losers –"

"Half of it is though," Santana tossed in.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "And these are my friends, not to mention they're all upperclassmen, so how about we try this foreign concept called manners, okay?"

"If you say so," Kitty said offhandedly. "I think I'm going to go over there, I see some of the newer Cheerios. I'll see you oldies later." She stood up, plucking the new iced latte from the hands of the waiter who had returned with the drink.

"Sorry about her," Quinn said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Anyways," Ryan interjected. "Mike, Tina, I would like to inform you that my mom has elected to begin a new glee club at McKinley, separate from the New Directions. I'm a part of it of course, as is Quinn. It's being funded by Al Motta, also known as the guy who donated the purple pianos, in exchange for his daughter Sugar being part of the glee club. Now, we would be honored if the two of you would join us. Our auditions this Friday at the auditorium, but I'm sure you'll be shoo-ins. Santana here has already said that she'll think about it. Mike's dancing would be a wonderful asset, as would Tina's beautiful singing voice." He grinned hopefully. "So, what do you think? Would you consider it?"

The Asian couple exchanged a look again. "Well, we're kind of committed to the New Directions…" Tina hedged.

"Yes, I know," Ryan pressed. "But just think. My mom is a four-time winner of the National Show Choir competitions. Mr. Schue, as well-intentioned as he might be, just doesn't have the skills to get us there. I mean, he shows up late half the time, and we only prepare for our competitions the week before. Just think, with all our talent and proper direction, we'd be unstoppable!"

"I kind of want to join," Mike piped up. "Mr. Schue doesn't really do choreography much. And we all saw VA's dancing when Miss Corcoran was coaching them, they were awesome. We're kind of limited at the New Directions."

"That's because of Lumps," Santana smirked.

"Yeah, I guess so," Tina said thoughtfully. "And Mr. Schue doesn't really help us improve our singing. I just kind of feel bad for them. But they sort of deserve it, Finn was being a real douchebag last year, not to mention Kurt and Mercedes."

"Yeah, and Mr. Schue doesn't really notice us much anyways," Mike pointed out. The pair had a silent conversation for a moment before Tina nodded decisively.

"Okay. We're in."

"Yes!" Ryan cheered happily, delighted to have his friends choose his team. This was a momentous first, he was usually last choice after all. "This is going to be an amazing year, guys. We're going to make it all the way to Nationals."

* * *

"_I am a shining star! I am a shining star!" _

Shelby shut her eyes for a moment, listening to the off-key vocalization attempts of one Sugar Motta. This was the first of her one-on-one sessions with the girl, and her ears were starting to hurt. "Okay, stop, stop. Stop!" She raised her hand sharply. Sugar finally stopped singing, glancing at her questioningly. "_I am a shining star, I am a shining star,_" Shelby demonstrated the vocalization technique. "Do you hear the difference?"

"Yeah, I sound good," Sugar nodded. "You know, why don't you take the day off? I need to catch up on my Strange Addiction episodes, and you kind of have an irritating nasally quality that I can only take so much of. Sorry, Asperger's." She gave Shelby a hug just as Ryan and Quinn came into the classroom. Sugar smiled widely. "Are you guys my backup singers?"

Shelby bit back a laugh at the bewildered expression on Ryan's face and the gleeful one on Quinn's. "Sugar, this is Ryan and Quinn, they're going to be part of the new glee club with you," she introduced.

Sugar squealed happily, hurrying over to give a surprised Ryan and Quinn a hug each. "I'm Sugar Motta, and I'm going to be a big, big star. We're all going to be really good friends, even if your nose is kind of big and you look like a punk." She smiled. "I have self-diagnosed Asperger's syndrome, so that means I can say pretty much whatever I want. I'm like a diplomat's daughter."

"Oookay?" Ryan glanced helplessly at Shelby, who shrugged. The girl was paying for the club, they could play along for at least a while. Ryan recovered after a moment. "Anyways, Quinn and I came over to discuss our recruitment plans."

"No, just him, I got dragged along," Quinn interjected.

"Anyways," Ryan said, shooting her a look. "I have here a list of the new freshmen and the transfers," he said brightly.

Shelby looked at him suspiciously. "Wait, how did you get that?"

"Doesn't matter. Now, since the old students at this school already have it ingrained into their heads that glee club is for losers, we need to target the new students. Hence this list of freshmen and transfers. Now –"

"Okay, Ry, I'm going to stop you right there," Quinn interrupted. "As well-intentioned and borderline fanatic as your plan is, I'm pretty sure no one's going to join if you start accosting people in the middle of the halls like a deranged vacuum salesman."

"I have to agree," Shelby voted dryly.

"Well, we're also going to put up sign-up sheets on the board, but we know from experience that that doesn't work. A grand total of four people signed up for the New Directions two years ago. Including myself. We can't go about this passively, we need to push forward."

"That is also true," Shelby acknowledged. "But you may want to go about it with a little more tact. Going at people like a psycho isn't going to win us any members."

"But why wouldn't they want to join?" Sugar questioned, tilting her head. "I mean, we're going to be super talented, super hot, and we're going to win Sectionals, then Regionals and Nationals, no question."

"Exactly, thank you, Sugar," Ryan smiled. "But I guess we can rework that point." He thought for a moment. "There is one other strategy that I would like to implement. One reason why nobody wants to join glee is because its members are always targeted for slushy attacks and the like," he reasoned. "So the solution to this problem is to make it so that the jocks don't target the members of our new club."

"And how are you going to do that?" Quinn asked.

Ryan smiled. "I may have an idea."

..

"So lemme get this straight," Rick 'the Stick' Nelson shook his head as Ryan spoke to him later that afternoon. "You want to start another geek club, because you quit the first geek club? And you want me to tell the other guys to back off?"

"It's glee club, not geek club," Ryan huffed. "But basically, yes. And I would like your word that you will refrain from targeting anyone in said group with any of your, shall we say, special attentions. Since Dave Karofsky has transferred out, I think that you're the incumbent lead jock, am I correct?" Ryan wasn't exactly sure, but it seemed like Rick was currently leading the bullies this year. And he knew the acknowledgment would make Rick more amenable to his negotiations.

Sure enough, the hockey player smirked. He wasn't completely sure what 'incumbent' meant, but 'lead jock' sounded pretty good. He was way better than Finn Hudson, anyway, the dude was such a pussy. "Got that right. Hudson doesn't have the balls to step it up." He stared calculatingly at Ryan. "What are you going to do if I say no?"

Ryan had already considered this. "If you'll recall, I think I proved last year that I can defend myself and the people I care about, if necessary," he said carefully.

"I'll say," Rick chortled. "Hudson and Karofsky were pretty good examples. Is it true Adams called your mum a cash whore?"

Ryan bristled angrily. "I'll thank you not to repeat that ever again," he ground out, shooting Rick a cold glare that wiped the smile off his face. He'd seen that glare on Miss Corcoran right before she laid into someone in class, and it sort of reminded him of Quinn Fabray when she got creepy scary too. Rick raised his hands.

"All right." He looked Ryan over. It was true, the guy had managed to get the drop on Karofsky last year, not to mention Hudson. And he'd gone up against Karofsky and Adams at once. Not to mention he was friends with Santana Lopez, who was said to keep razors in her hair. "You know the boys aren't gonna be happy about this, yeah?"

"I'm sure you can keep them in line. Karofsky could, I remember." Ryan knew he needed to play up to Rick's ego. "But rest assured I will deal with anyone who assaults a member of my team." He paused. "On a side note, do you remember what happened to Finn's truck at the end of last year?" Rick nodded, remembering that day when Finn's engine had gone off with a bang, smoke spewing from under the hood. They'd thought the thing was gonna blow. Ryan continued. "The incident happened just after Finn kissed my girlfriend in New York. Coincidentally, I happen to work as a mechanic at Burt Hummel's auto shop."

Rick frowned for a moment before the penny dropped, and his eyebrows rose. "Huh. Heard the damage cost him a few hundred to fix." He nodded. "All right. I'll spread the word around that you're off limits."

"My team too," Ryan said firmly.

"Right." Rick looked at him with a bit of grudging respect. Some of the guys would probably try testing the new rule, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to turn out very pretty. The guy in front of him was different from the guy they all used to mess with a couple of years ago. "Gotta say, you got balls, Corcoran. More than Hudson anyways." He put out his fist, and Ryan tapped it with his after a moment.

"Thank you, I think."

* * *

The next morning Santana was staring at a pink, glittery poster Brittany was showing her. It had a picture of Kurt with a horn erupting from his forehead and the slogan KURT HUMMEL FOR PRESIDENT. Because yep, Lady Hummel was running for student class president. Santana didn't know who the hell would actually vote for him – seriously, who cared about senior class council anyways? – but Brittany was really into this, so whatever. "Hey Britts?"

"Yeah?"

"I was talking to Q and Ryan the other day, and they said they're starting a new glee club." She took a breath. "They asked me to join." Brittany frowned, opening her mouth to speak, but Santana continued. "I told them I'd think about it, and talk to you. I don't want to join if it means I have to compete against you."

"I don't want that either," Brittany said.

"But they said you could join too. We could go together."

The blonde looked down, then back at Santana. "But what about the New Directions? I don't want to be a quitter. And they're our friends."

"Q and Ryan are our friends too, right?" Santana persuaded. "Come on, at least think about it. I think Miss Corcoran would be a totally awesome teacher. And we wouldn't have to put up with Finn, or Artie." She knew Brittany was still upset with Artie after he had called her stupid last year. "Besides, it wouldn't be quitting," she reasoned. "It would sort of be moving on to something better."

Brittany thought for a moment. "You really think it'll be better?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Can I at least think about it?" the blonde asked. "Kurt's my unicorn, and he's in the New Directions and I don't want to let him down."

Santana nodded. "Yeah, of course." She smiled at Britts. "Just let me know when you decide, 'kay?"

Brittany smiled back, and Santana melted. "Okay."

..

Meanwhile, as the two Cheerios were busy printing up and posting unicorn posters, one of the new freshmen stood in front of the school billboard. Ryder Lynn squinted at the assorted posters and notices stuck to the board, sighing as the letters floated off of the random sheets of paper stuck on the wall. Annoying, but he was used to it. He tried to focus, looking for some kind of club that he could join. He still wanted to be on a sports team of course, but football was out. Over fifty guys had tried out the other day, and he hadn't made the cut. He could go for hockey, or basketball, but the coach had said tryouts weren't for a while yet.

"Hey."

He looked to his right and saw a guy wearing a letterman jacket next to him, sticking a sign-up sheet to the board. "Hey."

"I recognize you," the guy said, studying Ryder. "You ran into me on the football field during tryouts last week."

Ryder's eyes widened as he remembered the incident. One of the seniors on the football team, Puckerman, he thought, had thrown the ball a little too hard, sending it off the field. Ryder had caught it, but not before knocking into another senior in a letterman jacket. "Oh yeah," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry about that."

The other guy smiled a little. "Not a problem. Did you get in?" he asked solicitously.

"No," Ryder shook his head. "Too many guys."

"That's too bad," the guy answered. "I'm Ryan, I'm a senior." He held out his hand. "Are you looking for a club to join?"

"Oh, I'm Ryder Lynn, freshman," Ryder replied, shaking Ryan's hand. "And yeah, I'm kind of looking for a club. Best way to make friends, right? I was kinda hoping for a sports team though."

Ryan chuckled. "Yes, it does seem like the most expedient way to meet people with the same interests. I'm on the basketball team, but tryouts aren't for a few weeks, Coach Beiste is focusing on the fall sports first. But you're welcome to try out of course."

"Cool." Ryder smiled. The older kid seemed to talk a lot, and with big words, but he seemed cool. Not many seniors would willingly talk to a freshman like him.

"In the meantime though, maybe you'd be interested in joining the glee club," Ryan said hopefully. "There's a new one being started, and we need all the members we can get."

"Oh, ah," Ryder fumbled. He wasn't sure about glee club, weren't they kind of the losers around here? He'd seen the quarterback get a Big Gulp to the face the other day, and he'd heard it was because the guy was on the school glee club. "I don't really sing…"

"As long as you can least carry a tune," Ryan encouraged. "Auditions are on Friday. And if you're worried about becoming a target for the jocks, I've already spoken to the others, they'll leave us alone. Just the new club, mind you, the New Directions, that's the other glee club, is I think still free for all." He smirked slightly.

Ryder thought for a moment. He sang in the shower sometimes, and it was fun. Ryan seemed like a nice guy, maybe it would be cool and he could make some new friends. Not to mention he really didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those Big Gulps he'd seen the hockey team tossing around, and if Ryan was right then the target would be off his back. And as an added bonus, he wouldn't have to wade through all the announcements on the board to find a club he liked. "Okay, I'll think about it."

Ryan smiled. "That's great. I'll see you on Friday at the auditorium. Auditions are at four, so don't be late." He nodded before walking briskly down the hall. Ryder shrugged, before digging for a pen and scrawling his name onto Ryan's sign-up sheet.

* * *

"Mom, Mom, guess what I heard?" Ryan exclaimed, hurrying into Shelby's office the next afternoon. "The school musical's been announced, and guess what they're doing?" He grinned excitedly. "They're doing West Side Story, Mom! This is perfect, I'll finally be able to get a leading role in a legitimate school production!"

Shelby barely looked up from her paperwork. "Yes, come right in, sweetie," she said dryly. "That's great though. West Side Story is a classic."

Ryan was about to answer when Sugar Motta breezed in, wearing a fleecy vest and a pair of leopard-print leggings. "Hello everybody! I just passed by the New Directions having rehearsals," the girl mentioned. "And I thought again how I was so much better than them."

"Well that's probably true now that I'm off the team," Ryan interjected.

"They should really have taken me," Sugar continued. "But it's their loss. Now we get to have more fun with my own group. When are auditions? For everyone besides me, I mean."

"Friday," Shelby answered, amused. "You can go check on the sign-up sheet to see if anyone's interested."

"Oh, they will be," Ryan said confidently.

"That's right," Sugar agreed. "I'll be way better than everyone, but that's okay 'cause we need more people anyway. Besides, I think there will be a lot of people who can sing, even a little. Mr. Schuester probably missed them 'cause he can't see talent at all."

That comment drew a smile from Ryan. "Believe me, I have plenty of experience with Mr. Schue's lack to recognition for talent," he nodded. "After all, I was one of New Directions' top performers, and he hardly ever gave me any solos."

"Oh. Well, he didn't even accept me, and I'm way more talented than you, so you shouldn't feel too bad," Sugar commiserated, patting his arm in what was probably supposed to be a comforting manner. "Anyways, I just stopped by to say I won't be having my lesson today," she informed Shelby. "Daddy had a last-minute cancellation on his business meeting, so we're going to spend the afternoon together." She smiled happily. "But don't worry, you'll get your chance to work with me tomorrow. Tata, everyone!" She left the office.

Ryan watched her go, a bemused expression on his face. "I… have no idea what to make of her," he said honestly. Shelby smirked.

"Actually, when we talk, she reminds me a little bit of you."

"What?" Ryan stared at his mom in confusion. "How exactly does she remind you of me? We look nothing alike, and I am in no way as obnoxious as she is. I never claimed to have Asperger's syndrome, for one thing."

"No, but you have the same confidence," Shelby pointed out. "And the same lack of modesty when it comes to bragging about your skill levels."

Ryan started to argue, before falling silent as he thought about it. Maybe his mom was right, in a small way. He was making an effort to be more self-aware, and maybe, if he were totally, completely objective about the whole thing, then maybe he had acted a little like Sugar in the past. Not now though. He liked to think he'd matured quite a bit in the past year…

It brought to mind another thought though. His overconfidence had been borne of an almost desperate attempt to simultaneously fit in and get people to notice him. If he and Sugar were similar as Shelby was suggesting, then maybe there was a little more to the quirky freshman that he'd initially thought. He filed the idea away for the moment though as he remembered what exactly had brought him to Shelby's office in the first place. "I need you to come with me."

"What?"

"I need you to help me figure out my audition for _West Side Story,_" Ryan explained patiently. "Obviously I'll be auditioning for the part of Tony. I'm a shoo-in for the role of course, no other student in the school could match up, other than Blaine perhaps." He gave Shelby a quick glare when she smirked at him. Yeah, okay, maybe he was still a little overconfident. "But that's no reason to give a shoddy audition performance," he pressed on hastily. "Therefore I need you to come to the auditorium and help me rehearse."

Shelby nodded, still smiling faintly. "Of course I'll help. Just let me get this wrapped up."

..

At that moment in the lunchroom, another mother-child conversation was going on. Marley Rose perched on a stool in the kitchens, chatting with her mother Millie as the latter peeled some potatoes. "So, how's your day been?" the mother asked.

"It's been okay, I guess," Marley shrugged.

"Made any friends yet?"

"Not really." She wasn't really good at making friends. She was more of the shy type. Not to mention the kids at her old school had shunned her for having the largely overweight Millie as a mom. Marley loved her mom, but kids were cruel, and the daughter of the obese lunch lady hadn't stood a chance. "A lot of the kids make fun of you."

Millie smiled weakly. "Well. We expected that, didn't we? That's why we're not letting anybody know we're related this time around." She looked up from the potatoes. "Why don't you try joining a club? I heard there's a new glee club starting up, you really like to sing."

"Oh, I'm not good enough."

"Marley." The teenager looked up at the stern tone, meeting her mom's eyes. "You are good enough. Your voice is magic. Any team would be lucky to have you." Marley smiled shyly. "And you should really stop hanging out in the lunchroom so much, people are going to see." Mille gave her a kiss. "Go sign up for that glee club. That Miss Corcoran who's starting it seems like a nice teacher. You need to make some friends."

"Okay, okay," Marley relented, smiling. She threw her arms around her mom in a hug before heading towards the door.

"I'll see you two blocks down the road later, okay?"

"Okay." Marley smiled sadly as she headed off down the hall, still mapping out her new school. She loved her mom, she wasn't ashamed of her. But high school was tough. It wasn't too easy, being one of the new kids at a new high school. And she didn't know anyone at all, since her mom had made sure to move to a district where nobody knew them. The other freshmen knew each other, since they'd all moved up from the same middle schools, which left her an outsider.

She peeked into a door, eyes widening as she found the school auditorium. She went in, finding herself on stage right, smiling when she saw a beautiful grand piano. Glancing furtively around, she sat down at the instrument, running her hands on the keys, pressing a few here and there. She didn't know how to play, but music was awesome.

Suddenly she heard the noise of people coming into the auditorium. Marley hurriedly stood up and hurried off the stage and into the shadows, just in time to see two people walking onto the stage. One of them was the English teacher, Miss Corcoran. The other was the boy from the cafeteria, the one with the pink-haired punk girlfriend who'd defended Marley's mom against those two bullies.

"… I'm so glad it's West Side Story this year, and not something controversial again, like Rocky Horror," the boy was saying. West Side Story? Oh, right. Marley had seen the sign-up sheet for auditions for the school musical. "Can you imagine all the obstacles we'd run into if it were something like Hair, or RENT?"

"I like RENT," Miss Corcoran said.

"So do I, of course," the boy nodded. "But you have to admit it's not particularly appropriate for high school students, not to mention homophobic high school students who are predominantly white and conservative." He flipped through a set of papers in his hands. "So, I was thinking that I could audition with _Something'__s Coming_. As you know, it's Tony's introductory song, and I think it showcases my vocal talents remarkably well, don't you think?" He offered the teacher a charming smile. Marley couldn't help her own smile, the boy was certainly cute. She knew he had a girlfriend though.

"Oh, I'm well aware," Miss Corcoran answered with a small smile. "And while that song will hold a very special place in both our hearts, I'm sure, you can't audition with that."

"Why not?"

"Because they've already heard it before," the teacher replied promptly, as a blonde guy with glasses and a mustache came in and settled at the piano. "And it's too easy. We both know you can perform that in your sleep. No, you should audition with either _Maria_, or _Somewhere_."

The boy set his sheets on the piano. "Those are very difficult songs."

"Trust me," Miss Corcoran said. "You know I've played Maria 18 times, I know which songs will wow the judges. And you'll never get the lead if you insist on playing it safe." She nodded at the man sitting at the piano. "Try it."

The music started, a song Marley recognized from the classic musical she'd caught on the TV once. The still-unnamed boy nodded, before starting to sing.

_There's a place for us,_  
_Somewhere a place for us._  
_Peace and quiet and open air_  
_Wait for us_  
_Somewhere. _

Marley was spellbound. The guy's voice was amazing. He was even better than the guy who sang it in the movie. The next verse was sung by Miss Corcoran, and it was just as perfect.

_There's a time for us,_  
_Some day a time for us,_  
_Time together with time to spare,_  
_Time to learn, time to care,_  
_Someday_  
_Somewhere._  
_We'll find a new way of living,_  
_We'll find a way of forgiving_  
_Somewhere_

The two began to trade lines, and Marley almost felt as if she were intruding on a private moment as the teacher took the boy's hand as they started to sing in tandem.

_There's a place for us,_  
_A time and place for us._  
_Hold my hand and we're halfway there._  
_Hold my hand and I'll take you there_  
_Somehow,_  
_Some day,_  
_Somewhere!_

Marley almost started clapping as the song came to a conclusion, before remembering that she was technically eavesdropping. But that performance was inspiring. She thought back to that glee club announcement she'd seen on the billboard. Her mom had never been able to afford singing lessons, but she loved to sing. Maybe it was time to take a chance.

* * *

"This is not the poster we agreed upon!"

Kurt's exclamation caused Santana to look up from the poster she was tacking up to the wall. This one had an image of Kurt riding a unicorn along a rainbow. The outburst also had Brittany looking at Kurt. The blonde shrugged. "The poster that you wanted gave me crippling depression." Santana had to agree, the monochrome posters Kurt had made had looked like something out of a sad 1950s movie where everybody died or broke up.

"I wanted something toned down!" Kurt fretted, his already high voice pitching even higher in his agitation.

"This _is _toned down," Santana piped up. She so did not like Kurt and had taken glee in helping Brittany make up the posters. "In the original, the unicorn was riding you."

"I don't know why you're so upset," Brittany said, sounding confused. "You're special, you need to embrace it. This is who you are."

Kurt looked at her in gaping disbelief. "I'm not going to win." He spun on his heel before hurrying back down the hall. "Take down those posters!" he yelled over his shoulder as he disappeared around a corner.

Santana had to roll her eyes at his dramatics. And they said Ryan was crazy. She glanced at Brittany, her heart dropping when she saw that the blonde looked ready to cry.

"I failed my precious unicorn."

Santana's heart clenched at Brittany's heartbroken tone. "No," she argued immediately. "Look, this campaign is brilliant."

Brittany looked at her through her eyelashes. "Really?"

"Completely," Santana said firmly. "And if he doesn't get it, then he doesn't deserve to have you as his campaign manager. There's no one like you Brittany, you're a genius." A small smile started to spread across the blonde's face, causing Santana to smile as well. "You are the unicorn."

Brittany's smile widened as she shrugged, linking her pinky with Santana's as they walked to her locker. It was as far as Santana was willing to go, in public anyways. She still wasn't ready to be all out. She wasn't even ready to tell her parents yet. Brittany was okay with it, at least for now. "I think I want to join Q's new group."

Santana looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, Kurt doesn't want to be my unicorn anymore. And you and me and Quinn can be Three Musketeers again." She smiled, blue eyes twinkling at Santana. "And besides, it'll make you happy, right?"

Santana stared at her girlfriend, falling even more in love with her. "Yeah. It will."

"Great," Brittany said happily, opening her locker. "I need to go home after school, 'cause Mom says we're getting an Irish next week and we need to get the extra room ready. Maybe you can come with, and we can have lady kisses after."

"You got it."

..

Ryan headed over to the garage that afternoon, and was in the middle of a routine oil change when he overheard a conversation between Kurt and Burt, the former following the latter around as he searched for something among the garage shelves.

"… These are the only musicals that I am a shoo-in to play the lead role in," Kurt was saying flatly. "Number one – La Cage aux Folles. Number two – Falsettos." Ryan held back a laugh. Yes, Kurt would be particularly suited for that musical. "Number three – Miss Saigon…" Ryan tilted his head. Kurt didn't seem to be suited for the roles of either Chris or the Engineer. "… As Miss Saigon." Oh. That made more sense. "And that's off the list when and if I ever start shaving."

Burt kept rifling through the boxes of car parts. "Dude, you're gay."

"Excuse me?"

The older man looked at Kurt seriously. "You're gay. And you're not like Rock Hudson gay, you're really gay. You sing like Diana Ross, and you dress like you own a magic chocolate factory."

Kurt looked at him in frustration. "Okay, why are you being so mean to me?"

"What is wrong with any of that?" Burt asked seriously. "It's who you are."

Ryan, still unseen by the pair, smiled slightly. He'd always admired how accepting Burt was of Kurt. He'd been so envious of the pair in the past, because he'd never had anything close to that with Hiram or Leroy. Little overheard conversations like these had made him so jealous, especially because Kurt didn't seem to appreciate what he had. Now that Ryan had James though, it didn't hurt as much. He headed to the back to get some supplies, returning in time to hear the tail end of the conversation.

"… You're awesome," Burt said. "Change the rules, write your own history."

Kurt sighed heavily. "I'm just tired of being a unicorn, Dad."

Burt nodded. "You know what they call a unicorn without a horn?" Kurt shrugged. "A freaking horse."

Ryan held back a snort as the father and son shared a laugh. He started to finish up the oil change about ten minutes later when he heard a throat clearing behind him. He turned around, giving Kurt a questioning look. "Yes?"

"So, you're trying out for Tony," Kurt mentioned casually.

Ryan nodded resignedly. There went the peaceful afternoon. "Yes I am. West Side Story is one of my favorite musicals and I've had all of Tony's numbers memorized by the tender age of six. Not to mention my range suits the part and I would like credits in at least one school production before I graduate."

"See, that's funny, because so do I, and West Side Story was kind of my idea."

"So you want me to concede the role?"

"Yes, I do," Kurt said bluntly. "Blaine's auditioning as well, and I'd rather have as little competition as possible."

"Isn't the point of auditions to find the actor who will best fit the role?" Ryan asked, frowning. "If you think you're best suited for the role, then I'm sure Artie won't have any problem giving it to you, no matter who auditions. Besides, have you asked Blaine to concede as well?"

"He said he'd go for either Bernardo or Officer Krupky, since Tony should go to a senior, and I agree."

"I'm a senior too," Ryan pointed out. "And I think I deserve the role just as much as you do."

"Oh my God, don't you get it?" Kurt asked in frustration. "I need this role to stand out in my NYADA application! You are so annoying, why do you always have to get everything? You think just because you're so talented you deserve all the solos and all the parts, well guess what? You're not the only talented person in this school!"

"Well then, you should be immensely relieved that I'm out of the New Directions then," Ryan retorted. "You can have all the solos to yourself now. But I'm not just giving you Tony because you're scared that I'm better than you."

Kurt glared at him. "After all my dad's done for you, offering you this job, you can't do me this one favor?"

"Excuse me?" Ryan looked at him, taken aback.

"You heard me," Kurt continued. "You've been hanging around here ever since you were eleven, my dad offered you a job and everything, and you can't even concede a part in the school play."

Ryan straightened up. "Okay." He shut his eyes for a moment. "I've had it with you. I don't understand what exactly I did that makes you hate me so much. I have gone out of my way for years to try to befriend you, but you've thrown it back in my face every single time! Who do you think helped make that scaffold for your audition yesterday? It sure as hell wasn't Finn! I have put up with all your sarcastic comments towards me, and I was still the only one who defended you against Karofsky last year!"

"Well, you know what, if I'd have known you'd be throwing that in my face until the end of times, then maybe you shouldn't have done it! I never asked you to!"

"Oh, I am so sorry," Ryan seethed. "Pardon me for trying to help a teammate from harassment, only Heaven knows why the thought ever entered my mind! It's not as if anyone else went out of their way to help me, so what on Earth was I thinking, trying to help you out of a tight spot?"

"Yes, it's all about you, isn't it?" Kurt snarked. "You're such a great star, everyone should fall down and worship you, right? You're even cozying up to my boyfriend!"

"I'm sorry, is Blaine no longer allowed to have friends now that he's dating you?"

"Yes, I'm sure you two are very friendly," Kurt said sarcastically. "I saw that kiss at your little house party!"

"That was months ago!" Ryan exclaimed in exasperation. "And yes, maybe he used to have a little crush on me in the past, but he is quite over that, and we are both very dedicated to our current partners."

"Wait, what?" Kurt had a livid look on his face. "What crush?"

Ryan mentally facepalmed. "Nothing, forget I said anything."

"I see. So he had crush on you, and neither of you told me anything about it."

"You know what, don't drag me into this," Ryan said heatedly. "It's none of my business what Blaine chooses to tell you about his past crushes. I'm sure you've told him all about your little crush on Finn, who's now your stepbrother," he added, voice dripping with sarcasm. "But for the record, he's not to blame for a crush he had way before you two met."

"Well, do you know what? This just proves that you get everything I want. You get all the solos at glee, the part in the play, my boyfriend has a crush on you, heck, even my dad likes you!"

"What?" Ryan asked, bewildered.

"Oh, don't play dumb," Kurt snarked. "You used to spend half your time in this place even before my dad offered you this job! What, two dads weren't enough, so you had to horn in on mine?"

"My relationship with your father is strictly professional," Ryan gritted out, giving Kurt a hard glare. "I made sure to keep it that way, because he's _your_ father, and I wouldn't dream of coming between you two. Do you know how jealous I was of you, because of him? I could only wish I'd had someone like him in my corner."

"Oh please," Kurt rolled his eyes. "You had two dads!"

"Not all parents are like yours," Ryan shot back angrily, his previous thoughts resurfacing. "You have no idea how lucky you are. You think all dads come running to school as soon as they find out their kid is being bullied? You think everyone's parents give a damn what club their kids are in? And I wish mine had bothered to push me into attending family dinners, because that would have meant they actually wanted to spend some time with me! But you never thought of that, did you? You just take your father for granted, you don't even want to make time for family dinners. You only come in here when you want money or a favor!"

"I love my dad," Kurt threw back. "And you know what, maybe I'm not perfect, but at least people actually like me. You think you have friends? It's just a matter of time before they remember how annoying you are!"

Ryan froze for a moment. There was anger, yes, but also the smallest bit of fear that maybe Kurt was right. He had spent years without friends, and sometimes it was still surreal that he had them now. And sometimes there was still that nagging doubt that they were just playing him. "You don't know anything."

"Don't I?" Kurt scoffed. "You know what, do whatever you like. Tony should go to me anyways, I'm sure Artie will see it that way. So how about you do us all a favor and stop helping me, okay?" He stalked out of the garage.

..

Some time later, James was back at home, his shift just over. He checked the clock. Shelby wasn't due back home for another hour, and Ryan probably wouldn't be back anytime soon either since he'd said he was heading to the garage. James made himself a cup of coffee before settling down in front of the TV for some channel surfing. He was interrupted by the front door opening though, and Ryan walked in a moment later. "Hey."

The teenager looked up in surprise before recognizing him. "Oh. Hi Dad." He mustered up a small smile before inching towards the stairs.

"What's wrong?" James questioned. He liked to think he was getting better at reading the kid, and he thought there was something off about him. He put the TV on mute, turning his full attention on Ryan.

"Nothing, it's fine."

"You sure?" He patted the couch next to him. "I'm not busy."

Ryan contemplated for a second before sitting down, quickly unloading the story of his afternoon in the garage. James was actually a bit surprised by how readily he spilled. "… I didn't really want to stay there after that," he ended after a while. "So I just came home." He was quiet for a moment. "Do you think he was right? Maybe… I thought maybe Santana and Mike and Tina and Blaine are my friends, but… what if Kurt's right and they'll remember that they don't like me?" he asked in a small voice.

James shook his head. "That can't be true. Look, you've spent a lot of time with your friends over the summer. If you think back, did they ever give you a reason to think that they're playing you?"

The teenager paused, thinking. "No, not really…"

"See, there you go. Now, Kurt doesn't really know how strong your friendships with these other people are. He doesn't know what he's talking about. So you just believe that your friends are your friends."

Ryan gave a small smile. "Okay."

James nodded, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry you and Kurt had such a falling out."

"We weren't really friends. Well, I tried to be, but he didn't return the sentiment."

"If he wasn't your friend, then why are you this messed up about it?"

"I'm not," Ryan conceded. "Well, yes I am. But it's not really because I lost some kind of meaningful relationship with Kurt. It's more like… I kind of feel like I let Mr. Hummel down."

"I highly doubt your boss expected you to be friends with his kid just like that."

"Yes, I know. It's just… I tried really hard to be his friend. I tried to include him in glee discussions, I even helped him pick out a song for his audition two years ago. And if you'll remember I got into that fight the football players in the locker room because Karofsky was harassing him."

"Why _did_ you do that?" James asked curiously. "I mean, if he wasn't really your friend. It's not something you'd normally do for just anyone."

Ryan chuckled. "I remember Santana asked me something like that. Why I was defending Kurt when he didn't even like me in the first place. I think I said something about his being part of glee family, but that wasn't really it." He glanced at James for a moment. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course."

The teenager was quiet for a while. "I think Mr. Hummel saved my life when I was in freshman year. But he doesn't know."

"What?" James was confused. "How?"

Again, there was a short silence. "Maybe a week before freshman year ended, Hiram and Leroy both went out on a business trip. This was way before Mom and I found each other. Anyways, it was the end of freshman year, and it was… bad. It's not like now, I didn't have any friends, everyone at school hated me because, well, because I'm me." He quirked out a smile. "You know about the slushies, right? I'd gotten three of them that day, it was as if they were having their last laugh before school let out, and of course, I ended up in the dumpster at the end of the day. It happened pretty much all the time."

"I didn't know that." James knew it had happened at least once, but Ryan hadn't told him it was a normal event.

Ryan shrugged noncommittally. "There were the usual verbal slurs as well. You know how if you say something enough, you eventually start to believe it? Well, if you get thrown in the trash enough, eventually you start to believe that maybe you _are _trash. Worthless." He let out another humorless chuckle. "Anyways, that day the janitor helped me out, and I started to walk home because of course, I'd missed the bus and there was no one who could pick me up."

James had a foreboding feeling that he knew where this was going. He hoped he was wrong, because he never wanted anyone to feel like that, much less his child. Ryan had a distant look in his eyes as he continued.

"I'd been thinking about it for a while," he said absently. "Leroy didn't like safety razors, he used to use a straight-edge. It was so easy to swipe one from their bathroom. They wouldn't miss it. They wouldn't miss me. No one would." He paused. "I had one in my room at one point," he admitted slowly. "I had one that day. I was walking, and I passed by the garage. I'd spent some time there before, and I wandered in, because I was already having morbid thoughts and if I was going to do it I wanted to chat with one of the very few people who'd been somewhat nice to me. So I went in, and he was doing a lube job, and I helped him a little. Then he turns to me and says, 'You know, you've been hanging around for a while now, and you know your stuff. So if you want, I'll give you a job over the summer.'" He smiled slightly. "That job offer changed everything, it made me feel like I was worth something, even just a little bit, to somebody. And I think maybe it saved me, because if I had gone home, I would have…" He trailed off pensively.

"Did you ever try?" The question was out before James could stop it. Of all the secrets Ryan could have held, he'd never wanted it would be this one. Had prayed it hadn't been this one.

Ryan licked his lips. Then his right hand brushed lightly over a thin white line on his left wrist, about an inch long. It was barely noticeable, especially if he was wearing a watch, and James hadn't really noticed it before, but now… "Just once. A week before. It wasn't…" He took a breath. "I wasn't trying to. I just wanted to see… if it would help." He chuckled. "It didn't really. But I think if I had gone home that day, I would have tried. But I didn't, because of Mr. Hummel. And it was a good thing, because seeing how often I was alone in the house I probably would have succeeded."

James stomach lurched horribly at the thought. He didn't know how to feel – sympathy for his son, rage at his tormentors, gratitude towards the man who had inadvertently saved him all swirled together.

He could have lost his son before he'd even found out about him.

"I –" He cleared his throat, shutting his eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry." He should have been there for him, should have been able to do something.

"It wasn't your fault."

It didn't matter, no matter how many times he said it, it would still partially be his fault. But he let it pass. "That's why you tried to befriend Kurt."

Ryan nodded. "I felt like… like I owed it to Mr. Hummel to at least try. That's why I helped him with his audition for glee, that's why I looked out for him last year… but apparently my help wasn't needed or wanted." He let out a choked laugh. "And this afternoon, it made me remember… what it was like before. When I wasn't needed or wanted."

Wordlessly, James reached out, pulling the sad teenager into a tight hug. Not just to comfort him, because that was part of the reason, but because James himself needed it. Needed to hold him, needed to feel him breathing, warm and solid and so wonderfully alive in his grip. "It's not true, you know," he murmured. "So many people would have missed you. You're special, and you have made a difference in so many lives. Your mom's, Quinn's, your friends. Mine. And you'll make a difference in so many more."

Ryan nodded, returning the hug just as tightly. "I know. I'm sorry."

James held him tighter. "Just promise you won't think of it again. Or if you do, that you'll talk to someone. Okay?

The teenager nodded again, burrowing into him. "Okay. Promise."

"I love you so much, buddy."

"I love you too."

* * *

**Hi people! I seem to have missed out on updating last week, so hopefully this makes up for that. I was rather busy as graduate school requirements are due by next week. Not to mention my laptop just gave up on me. Good thing I still have my laptop from four years ago. I just spent the morning reformatting and reinstalling the system on it. On the plus side I have a day off from work today, which is why I have some time for that and an update.**

**Thanks for all your reviews last time. To address some concerns, I'm hoping to treat Sugar a little better than canon, she kind of got wasted there. Some people are also a bit apprehensive about the season 4 characters, but again, I don't really want to make OCs, and I hope to treat them better. I won't be including everyone, so far I've only included Kitty, Marley, and Ryder. I'm still considering some of the others, and even some of the season 6 kids, but they'd probably just be minor mentions. There was also one note of diverging more from canon, since it's getting predictable. I think I might be diverging more this season, but I'll still be using it as a baseline.**

**So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for your patience and continued interest, I may not be able to update regularly now that graduate school is starting, plus work, but again, I have no intentions of abandoning this story. So leave me line to tell me what you thought, and I'll see you, hopefully soon!**


	73. Chapter 72

"So, what do you think?" Mike asked Ryan the next day in an empty classroom. He had just finished a runthrough of _Cool_ from West Side Story. Tina had encouraged him to audition for the part of Riff, and he'd agreed, wanting to be known as more than just a dancer. He wanted to be a singer too, and he'd asked Tina to work on his audition with him. Now he wanted Ryan's opinion, since Ryan was hands down the best singer he knew.

"I think it was great," Ryan said, smiling. "You've definitely improved a lot since you first joined glee."

Mike grinned. "Any pointers?"

Ryan nodded. "Your diction slurs a tiny bit in some of the parts, here, give me your sheets." He took the sheet music from Mike, taking out a pen and jotting down a few notes. "Have you tried singing it with the dance?"

"Yeah, a few times," Mike replied, looking over Ryan's notes.

"You should practice that," Ryan advised. "It's harder to concentrate on the music when you have to think about dancing. Although it might be different for you, seeing as how dancing seems to be second nature to you already. I'm sure you'll nail your audition."

"Thanks Ryan," Mike smiled. Ryan nodded again as Mike turned to pick up his things. He glanced curiously at his friend. "Are you okay? You seem a little down."

"Hmm?" Ryan looked a little surprised, before giving Mike a small smile. "Oh, yes, I'm alright. Just a bit of a hard conversation with my father last night."

"Ah," Mike nodded. "Yeah, those can be hard. My dad's on my case about my grades right now, there's a Chemistry test result coming out today that he's been bugging me about. He kind of wants me to be a doctor or something." His father's plans for him weren't exactly aligned with Mike's own interests, but he could cross that bridge later. He didn't want a conventional career, but he didn't want to disappoint his father either.

Ryan shrugged. "It's just something from my past that came up a little unexpectedly."

"About your adopted dads?"

"Partly, I suppose."

Mike nodded, sensing that Ryan didn't really want to talk about it. "Okay. I should get going, I wanted to meet Tina before History. Did you see the sign-up sheet for the new glee club yet?"

That brought a smile to Ryan's face. "Yes, I did. And aside from you, Tina, Brittany, and Santana, there are two other names. That's two more than New Directions had, anyways."

"Do you know who signed up?"

"I think Ryder's the freshman I talked to when I was posting the sheet," Ryan answered. "I'm not familiar with Marley Rose though. I think Quinn's still working on getting her cousin to audition. That's about it, but it'll bring us to eight members, nine if we can get Kitty. That's still way more than what Mr. Schue had two years ago."

"Right," Mike nodded. "I guess we'll pick up more members as we go along."

"Exactly," Ryan grinned. "Now, you should go, you don't want to keep Tina waiting."

..

Quinn took Ryan home that afternoon after school, looking forward to spending some time with him. For once, there wasn't anyone in her house. Her mom and her aunt were busy looking at furniture again, and her uncle was off at work while Kitty had Cheerios. She loved her mom, but she needed her space too, and Kitty had a nasty habit of barging into her room unannounced.

Right now she was lying back on her bed reading something for Geography while Ryan sat at the end of the bed answering a math sheet. After a few minutes of companionable silence, she looked up, arching her eyebrow as she found Ryan staring at her. "What?"

He smiled widely. "I just think those glasses make you look adorable."

Quinn rolled her eyes, even as the comment tugged a reluctant smile from her lips. "Sure they do," she said skeptically. Her prescription had settled a few years ago, and she'd had these glasses since ninth grade. She hadn't so much picked them out as grabbed the first comfortable pair she could find, because she never intended to use them outside the house. They were big and clunky with black plastic frames, and no one in their right mind would call them adorable. She was only wearing them now to give her eyes a bit of a breather from the contacts.

"They do," Ryan insisted. He leaned closer, running his fingers up her arm, the light touch making her shiver. "I think they show off your personality."

She cleared her throat, trying to stay focused on her book. "You think I'm nerdy?"

He chuckled. "You are, sometimes. But that's okay. I love it." He closed the distance between them, kissing her lightly on the lips. "I love you." He kissed her again, deeply this time, swiping his tongue along her bottom lip and making her gasp. Ryan took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, and her eyes fluttered shut as he angled his head to deepen the kiss, the soft pressure of his lips on hers making her entire body tingle. His hand was still running up and down her arm, and her breathing grew shallow, the kiss stealing all air from her lungs.

Just when she was about to push him away, he broke off, placing a meticulous trail of kisses along her neck as Quinn sucked in much-needed oxygen. "Ry – oh god –" She gulped as he stopped just above her collarbone, his hot tongue licking along the sensitive flesh. "People are going to be home soon –"

Ryan simply hummed in response, and Quinn's head fell back as she whimpered at the vibration on her skin. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll hear them." He shifted so that he was hovering over her, never removing his lips from her neck. Moving down, he slid his hands under her shirt, dipping his head down to kiss her stomach. Quinn let out a moan, arching up slightly, the light teasing touches driving her insane.

"Ryan… more…" Slowly, he started to move back up, her shirt riding up higher and higher as she squirmed under him. He removed his lips for a moment, and Quinn took the moment, trying to catch her breath. Ryan smirked.

"You're not wearing a bra."

Quinn blinked, not quite able to think straight yet. He didn't give her a chance to catch up though as he delved back down, drawing another gasp from her. He pressed a light kiss to the underside of her breast before latching onto her nipple. "Oh god…" Quinn groaned as he swirled his tongue around the bud, his mouth keeping up a steady suction. His hand came up to massage her other breast gently, thumb flicking over the nipple. Quinn wriggled underneath him, but his weight kept her trapped against the bed.

She groaned again as he bit down lightly on her breast, every touch sending fire running through her body. She was sure she was dripping by now, she needed him so bad –

Suddenly the door started to open. "Quinn, Aunt Judy says –"

Things quickly got confusing from there. Quinn let out a violent yelp as Kitty froze in the doorway, instinctively moving to cover herself. Unfortunately, her knee came up sharply in the process, slamming hard against Ryan's crotch. Ryan immediately let out a whoosh of air, rolling off of Quinn with a strangled gasp, all the way off the bed and falling on the floor with a thud where he curled up. Kitty let out a belated high-pitched screech, watching the whole event from the doorway with wide eyes.

Quinn hurriedly pulled her shirt down, straightening her glasses. "Oh my God, Ryan, are you okay?" she asked anxiously. "Shit, I'm so sorry –" she rounded angrily on her cousin. "God, Kitty, knock! You can't just barge into people's rooms like that, you pervert!"

"Oh, _I'm_ a pervert? I didn't know you were doing _that_ in here!" Kitty complained. "I so didn't want to see that! My virgin eyes are practically ruined!"

"That's why you were supposed to knock!"

"What's going on in here?" Judy appeared in the doorway behind Kitty, eyes widening at the scene. "What happened to Ryan?"

"I'm fine," Ryan wheezed, still not getting up from the floor. Quinn glared at him.

"You're not fine –"

"Aunt Judy, I just walked in and they were defiling the house by doing _it _–"

"We were not doing _it,_ and you weren't supposed to just walk in, that's why the door was closed!"

"Okay, time out," Judy raised her voice. "Quinn, what were you and Ryan doing in here?"

Quinn flushed. "That's not anyone's business," she barked. Judy gave her an unimpressed look. "Look, we weren't expecting anyone to be home yet, so when Kitty just barged into _my room, _I got surprised." She shot Ryan a guilty glance. "And I guess I kind of…"

"Kneed your boyfriend in his private place?" Kitty asked sardonically. Quinn shot her a venomous glare, and the younger blonde shrugged. "Hey, I just call it like I see it."

"Okay, everyone out of my room," Quinn commanded. She pointed at Ryan, who started to try to talk. "Not you. Everyone else, out, now." Kitty rolled her eyes before marching out the room with a grumble. Judy eyed Quinn and Ryan for another second.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"_Yes,_" Quinn said emphatically.

Ryan nodded, seemingly having caught his breath, though he made no attempt to get up from his position on the floor. "It's fine, Judy, you should go ahead," he said, voice still pitched a little higher than usual.

The mother nodded slowly. "If you're sure."

Quinn sighed softly as her mother left the room. She firmly shut the door, taking a steadying breath before crouching down next to her boyfriend. "I'm so sorry," she apologized sheepishly. "Are you okay?"

"Aside from my girlfriend hitting me in my special area, yeah, I'm fine," Ryan nodded, cringing again as he tried to straighten. "This could be grounds for domestic abuse, you know."

"Shut up." Quinn pushed him on the arm. "Seriously, are you hurt? Do I need to take you to a doctor?"

"No, it just really smarts." Ryan let out another deep breath. "I'll be fine, just give me a moment."

"Are you mad?" Quinn asked anxiously.

"No, I'm not mad, okay?" Ryan huffed. "I just really want to stay right here for a while." Quinn rolled her eyes before sitting down next to him, leaning against the bed. "Santana would probably have a field day if she found out about this."

"That's why she's not finding out." Quinn blew out an annoyed breath. It had been a week since she and Ryan had had sex, what with her extended family always floating around the house, and one of Ryan's parents always at home. And they'd been so close earlier, too. That little incident had been worse than a cold shower though and had just left her really frustrated. "I swear, I have to call Frannie now and apologize for being a little snot to her and her boyfriends," she grumbled. "It's like having the little sister I never wanted."

Ryan just let out a grunt, still recovering, and Quinn reached out to rub his arm in apology. "Any luck getting her to join glee?" he asked a little while later.

"Not yet, she still thinks it's full of losers."

"She thinks you're a loser? I thought she idolized you."

"I'm the exception. She does idolize me."

"Must be nice."

"It is, sometimes. Sometimes it's just annoying." Quinn glanced at him. "Are you sure you don't want an ice pack or something?"

Ryan shook his head. "No. But I think certain activities are going to have to be tabled for now."

Quinn sighed regretfully. "I thought so."

* * *

The next day Ryan entered the cafeteria for lunch, scanning around for a table. He and Quinn didn't have the same lunch hour today, but he quickly spotted Blaine waving him over. He smiled, not having had the chance to talk to his Warbler friend since his courtyard performance. "Hello Blaine."

"Hey Ryan," Blaine grinned. "Where's Quinn?"

"Oh, she still has class," Ryan replied as he sat down at Blaine's table, before pausing. "Is Kurt around?" he asked neutrally, not wanting to talk to the boy right now. Actually, he could probably live with not talking to him for the rest of the year.

"Off with Mercedes," Blaine answered, and Ryan nodded, relaxing. "They're working on his student council campaign. I'm not sure what happened with Brittany and those unicorn posters."

Ryan chuckled. "So how are the New Directions?" he asked, smiling slightly at Blaine.

"Oh, they're, you know," Blaine said vaguely. "I mean, I don't really have a baseline. Everyone's still worked up over the musical, you know. The field for Maria is wide open, and I guess it'll go to Mercedes. Kurt auditioned for Tony."

"Yes, I know," Ryan responded a bit dryly, recalling his conversation with Kurt in the garage the other day. "And I'm surprised you actually conceded the role of Tony, it's one of the most iconic parts of all time."

Blaine shrugged. "Well, you know I'm just a junior, I guess I'll get my chance next year. I'm still auditioning for Krupky or Bernardo, or maybe Riff." He tilted his head at Ryan. "When are you auditioning?"

"Today, actually."

"Hey, me too," Blaine grinned.

Ryan nodded, smiling. "I suppose it should be a comfort to me that you're not auditioning for Tony, I mean you are the only viable competition I'd have," he said candidly. "As much as I hate to say it, I don't think Kurt is suited to the part. You on the other hand…" His smile turned mischievous. "I have to say though, I'm a little disappointed. This audition would truly be a test of which of us is the better singer."

"Hmm," Blaine nodded. "It is a good question." He paused. "You really wouldn't mind if I did audition for Tony?"

"Well, obviously I'd have to up my game a little bit," Ryan acknowledged. "Not that I'd ever consider giving a mediocre performance of course. But I'd like to think I'm confident enough that I'd be able to stand a bit of competition. Not to mention, more competitors would give the whole auditioning process a bit of legitimacy; I mean, I wouldn't want to get the part because it defaulted to me."

"I guess I see what you mean." Blaine glanced towards the cafeteria doors before letting out a small sigh. Ryan followed his gaze, seeing Finn come in with Puck.

"What's up?"

"Oh, it's nothing," the former Warbler shrugged. "It's just, I kind of hit a rough patch with Finn. He hasn't exactly been welcoming since I joined."

Ryan frowned, before scoffing a little. "He's probably just threatened. He likes to think of himself as the male lead of the New Directions. Which, now that I'm no longer there, he sort of is. Maybe he thinks you'll try to grab all the leads. Kurt will probably tell him off for you."

Blaine shrugged again. "He didn't really say anything when Finn was being… well, let's call it condescending. But it's fine, I can handle it."

"Fair enough." He shouldn't have had to handle it though, Ryan thought. Finn was Kurt's stepbrother, he should have at least said something to Finn to tell him to back off from his boyfriend. "You know, you could still try out for the new glee club," he joked. "You know, if you're feeling a little stifled in the New Directions…"

"As much as I'd love to be in a group with you, I can't do that to Kurt," Blaine chuckled. "It's tempting though. I mean, your mom's kind of a show choir legend with Vocal Adrenaline."

Ryan smiled. "Yes she is. I understand though, I wouldn't want to compete against Quinn either. But you're always welcome."

..

Later that afternoon Shelby was spending her free period in the staffroom with a paper and a cup of coffee, staring unseeingly at the words. She had been preoccupied the whole day. James had spoken with her late last night about a conversation he'd had with Ryan, and she hadn't known what to say, hadn't known what to think. Couldn't believe that she had missed this.

Her son had been suicidal at one point.

He had felt so worthless he had considered giving up, and that wasn't supposed to happen. She should have been here to stop it. Someone should have seen it, someone should have done something, but instead even the people who should have intervened had pushed him down even further. People like –

"You're starting a new glee club?" Will Schuester suddenly appeared in front of her. "You can't do that!"

Shelby's jaw clenched, partly at the accusation, but mostly because of what he done to her child. "I don't know whether to be indignant with the accusation or amused that you've only found out about this now," she said, not looking up from her paper. She didn't think she could look at him right now. "I think I'm leaning towards the second. I am however slightly offended that you think you have a say in whether or not I can start another team."

"The students interested in glee are already in short supply," Will argued. "Another team is going to dilute the talent and make it less likely that either team will make it to Nationals this year."

You know, just because you haven't managed to tap all the talent in this school, doesn't mean there isn't any," Shelby pointed out. "Besides, you should be happy. With Sue's campaign, the more arts there are at public schools, then the better. And you don't need to worry about splitting your funding with us either," she said, pre-empting Will's argument. "Al Motta is funding us all by himself."

"Al Motta?"

"Yes, you remember him," Shelby nodded, still behind her newspaper. "His daughter Sugar auditioned for the New Directions, but when you didn't take her in he decided he'd fund a new glee club just for her. A bit decadent, but hey, I'm not complaining."

"You're poaching my students," Will gritted out. "I know Brittany and Santana are moving, and I think Tina and Mike are considering it too."

Shelby nodded. "Well, I won't poach any of your kids on purpose, but if they do decide to audition, I won't reject them either. What you need to think about is why they're choosing to move."

"I know Ryan is influencing them somehow."

Okay, this guy was really pushing it. Shelby finally put down the paper. "Can you blame him?" she countered, hackles rising. "After how you treated him? I'm sorry, but you haven't been the epitome of choir directors, in fact you abandoned your team at Nationals last year. It's the last year for a lot of them, they just want a chance to shine."

"I didn't abandon them, and they'll all have their chance this year!"

"Really?" Shelby asked skeptically. "Can you honestly tell me that if Ryan by some miracle decided to return to the New Directions, that you'd showcase him equally with Finn Hudson?" Will sputtered indignantly. "I think I know why you felt the need to put Ryan down so much now," Shelby continued. "Finn Hudson reminds you of yourself. And Ryan reminds you of that guy in your glee club. Bryan, wasn't it? He got all the solos, and you didn't. You think that if you had been highlighted over him, maybe you could have made it out of this town. So now, you want to make sure history doesn't repeat itself."

"I – that's not –" Will stared at her in frustration, and Shelby stared at him impassively. She was pretty sure she'd hit the nail on the head. She'd been looking through pictures of old glee club competitions when she'd spotted a young Will Schuester almost elbowed out of the frame by another student. She vaguely remembered the blonde guy from one of their competitions as the lead singer from McKinley High. He'd been very talented, but she remembered him as a bit of a condescending jerk. After flicking through a yearbook in the library, she'd gotten his name and had quickly come to a conclusion that Will had just proven correct.

Any other time she might have found it amusing, but not right now. "What you need to understand is that this is different. You cannot put your frustrations with your own past onto an innocent student. It's unprofessional, it's wrong, and it's completely unfair." She stood up, anger growing. "You have a duty to your students, you're the authority figure, you're supposed to protect them –" She stopped, reigning in her emotions. All the teachers at that school had failed her son, true, but Will had been in the best position to help him. He was the glee club teacher, he should have helped Ryan, protected him, made him feel like he was worth something. But instead he had pushed her son down even further, making him feel worthless and inferior and –

She shook her head, trying to clear it, loosening her grip on her paper. "Fortunately, Ryan's no longer your student. But I'll make this clear." She stared Will straight in the eye, and he backed up slightly. "If you try sabotaging him again in any way, I'm not afraid to go to the school board."

"You're threatening me?"

"Take it however you like," Shelby said icily. "But you stay away from my son, or you're going to regret it." She tossed the now crumpled paper onto the table before stalking out of the lounge.

..

Meanwhile Ryan was just outside the auditorium, waiting for Miss Pillsbury to call him in for his audition. Blaine had gone ahead of him. Ryan smiled as he saw Mike pass by. "Hi Mike. Are you ready for your audition?"

"I'm not auditioning."

"What? Why not?" Ryan's brow furrowed. "I thought –"

Mike sighed uncomfortably. "I got my Chemistry test back yesterday morning." He took a deep breath with the air of someone admitting a shameful secret. "I got an A minus."

Ryan blinked, not sure if he had heard wrong. "An A minus? Isn't that still really good? I get B's sometimes, it's not that big a deal. I mean, yes, I know we need as high a GPA as we can get, but an A minus is still quite high."

"An A minus is like an Asian F."

"Oookay…"

"My dad found out and he thinks I have too much on my plate. He thinks Tina's distracting me, and he wants me to quit glee."

"What?" Ryan asked, alarmed. "You can't quit glee."

"I know," Mike said. "I just, I need to get my grades up, okay? And I've got football, and glee, and I just don't know if I'll have time for the musical. I'm stretched too thin. I can't disappoint my dad."

Ryan's face softened as he nodded. He completely understood not wanting to disappoint one's parents. Even with all of his own parents' assurances there was something inside of him that wanted to be what they wanted. "Okay. It's okay, I'm sure Artie can find someone to play Riff." He hesitated. "But you know, I think you should really think about what you want for your future. You're an amazing dancer, it would be such a loss if you decide not to share that with the world."

"Thanks."

"But you're still joining the glee club, right?"

Mike chuckled. "Yeah. Can't give up my art completely."

Ryan smiled in relief. "That's good to hear." He glanced around as Tina came up to them. "Hello Tina."

"Hey guys," Tina smiled. "Are you both auditioning."

"I'm not," Mike said quietly.

"What? Why not? We've been practicing every day," Tina argued, confused. "This is your chance to be more than just a fleet-footed dance ninja. Riff is perfect for you."

Just then Blaine exited the auditorium. "You're up, Ryan."

Ryan nodded. "Thanks, Blaine. Mike, Tina, I'll just head inside."

"Break a leg," Mike said, giving Ryan a small smile.

..

"So how do you think you did at your audition?" Quinn asked as she walked out of the school with Ryan after his audition.

"I think I performed particularly well," Ryan smiled proudly. "I always give my performances 100% of my talent, so I'm sure the directors will see that. Not to mention my only real competition is Blaine. I didn't see his audition, but I'm fairly confident I'll get the part. This role was practically made for me."

Quinn smirked at his self-assurance. It was almost cocky, but it was adorable. She loved his confidence. "That's great."

Ryan grinned as he started the car. "Are we going to your house?"

The blonde's smile faded a little. "Actually, can we go to yours?"

"No problem." Ryan looked at her sideways. "Is everything okay at home?"

Quinn sighed before nodding. "Yeah, it's fine. Just too many people. Kitty's family is going to be living with us for at least another week, so there are a few too many people."

"Yes, Kitty does seem like an interesting person to deal with," Ryan agreed.

"I guess." She was silent for a few moments. "I called them, you know." Ryan gave her a questioning look. "When my father kicked me out," she clarified. "When I was living in Finn's basement. Frannie was too far away, and… I called them, because maybe…" She shook her head. "It was stupid. Uncle Brian's not as bad as my dad, but they still have the same mindset."

Ryan frowned. "Are they giving you a hard time?"

"No, no, they're not." She sighed again. "There's just this overall sense of… disapproval, I guess. It wasn't as bad when they were over in December, because it was just for a few days, but they've been here for a week. They don't say anything, but still."

"Have you told Judy?"

She shook her head. "No. It's not that big a deal, I took the stares and all the crap people said at school for nine months, I can handle another week."

"You shouldn't have to," Ryan argued. "It's your home, they shouldn't get to do that." Quinn just gave him a noncommittal noise.

"It's not like my home was such a safe haven before."

Ryan didn't know what to say to that. "You can stay at my house as much as you want. You know, if you want to get away from the oppressive atmosphere."

Quinn watched him drive for a few moments. "I love you so much, you know?"

He smiled, turning onto his street. "I know, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing it." Even after over a year of dating it never ceased to amaze him how she, or anyone really, could feel that way about him. He entered the driveway, putting the car into park. Then he leaned across the seats to give Quinn a kiss. "I love you too."

..

A couple of hours later Shelby parked her car behind Ryan's, trudging up to the front door, still upset. She had to talk to him, had to tell him – what, exactly? What did she say about something like this, when she felt at fault for the whole thing?

She quietly opened the door, heading slowly into the living room, only to stop short. A small smile spread across her face as she saw Ryan and Quinn both asleep on the couch, the TV quietly playing in the background. Quinn's head was leaning on the back of the sofa, while Ryan was stretched out using her lap as a pillow, so peaceful it was hard to reconcile what she now knew had happened – or had almost happened – to him. Shelby quietly pulled out her phone, snapping a few impromptu photos of the pair. Really, the two were adorable. When they weren't sneaking around having sex in her house. Which she knew they did. Ugh. She was just putting her phone away when Quinn stirred, blinking sleepily. The teenager noticed Shelby watching, and quickly sat up, jostling Ryan.

"What?" he complained, looking around. "Oh." He sat up as well. "Hi Mom."

"Hi." Shelby gave him an amused smile. "Good nap?"

"Mmm." Ryan stretched his arm out, the movement catching Shelby's attention and pulling her back out of her amusement.

"What time is it?" Quinn grabbed his arm, checking his watch. "I need to go home, I'm supposed to have dinner with my mom." Ryan started to say something, but Quinn stopped him as she stood up. "It's fine, everyone else is going to be out tonight, it'll just be the two of us."

"Oh. That's good then." Ryan swallowed back a yawn. "I'll walk you out."

"I think I can get out by myself," Quinn said dryly. "Thanks though." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Bye Shelby."

"Bye," Shelby nodded absently as Quinn skirted past her and out the front door. She'd barely registered any of the couple's conversation. Slowly, she sat down next to Ryan, who looked at her questioningly. Shelby stayed silent, before reaching over and gently taking his left hand. She turned it over, palm up, gaze quickly honing in on the pale line marring the skin.

"I guess Dad told you," Ryan eventually said. Shelby gave a nod. "Is that why you were in my room last night?"

Shelby glanced at him, surprised. After James' revelation she'd had the inexorable need to go check on Ryan. It was stupid, he was fine now, hadn't shown signs that anything was wrong. Still, she'd needed to make sure he was… "I didn't think you were awake."

Ryan just shrugged. "I…" He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry."

Silence fell again. Shelby cleared her throat as well, her hand clasping gently over his wrist. "Don't be." She let out a watery laugh. "You're so much like me… but this is the one part of myself that I wish you didn't have."

Ryan looked at her sharply. "You –"

"I never got as far as actually doing it," Shelby cut him off. "But there were times… that I really thought I would. Especially the first year after I gave you up. I told you, it was bad. I just didn't tell you how bad." There had been nights when not even the alcohol could make her forget, nights when she just wanted the pain to stop.

"What… what stopped you?"

"Your grandparents did," she said quietly, swallowing back the pain at the thought that he hadn't had support like she did. "They took care of me after… after everything happened, and when it got too bad for me to handle they got me the help I needed. They made me realize that it wasn't the end." She raised her gaze, looking at him fiercely. "You need to know that too."

"I know," he said softly. "I understand now. I think I always did, I just… it was so hard."

Shelby nodded. "We're the same, you and I. We see the world with such a fierce sense of theatricality. People call us dramatic. We… feel things too much, want things too much. And when events don't go as we wish, it just… crushes us. Whether it's with things piling up on each other, or with one enormous event." She shook her head. "Do you think you need help?"

Ryan was pensive for a moment. "No," he decided. "Not now. I think I may have, before. But not now." He glanced at her with a small smile. "I only ever considered it because I was alone. But I'm not alone anymore."

"I'm glad you know that." She hesitated. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"I…" He shrugged, looking down. "I didn't think it was that important. I didn't want you to feel sorry for me, or to feel badly because of what I felt then. There isn't really anything to be done now. And it's over, I don't feel that way anymore."

Shelby studied him for a second. "Are you afraid your dad and I would look at you differently if we knew?" He shrugged again. "We won't, you know," she continued gently. "You're still our son, and we love you just as much. We never wanted you to have to go through anything like that, but… it's made you who you are today. And we're so proud of you," she told him, squeezing his hand.

"Even if…"

"Even if," she promised, running her thumb over the small scar. "And it's okay to ask for help sometimes. We'll never think any less of you."

"She's right." Shelby and Ryan looked up to see James watching them from the doorway. He came over to sit down on Ryan's other side. "You're our kid, we love you, and we just… we don't want you to ever feel like that again. So you talk to us, okay? About anything."

Shelby nodded, watching a set of vulnerable brown eyes lock with the older, stronger, but almost identical pair. Ryan nodded. "Okay."

She scooted closer to Ryan, leaning her head on his shoulder. James put an arm around both of them, and she could feel Ryan relaxing, fitting perfectly between the two of them.

She'd stay there forever if she could.

* * *

The next morning Ryan found himself in Miss Pillsbury's office with Blaine to find out the results of their auditions. Also present were Coach Beiste, Artie, and the guidance counselor herself.

"So you want us to audition again?" Blaine asked, confused. Miss Pillsbury started to answer.

"In the biz it's called a callback," Ryan explained, cutting the guidance counselor off. "Like I told you, Tony is such an iconic role, it can't appear as though they're just giving me the part – or rather, just giving it away," he tacked on hastily. Tact, he needed more tact. Fortunately Blaine didn't look offended.

"Oh. Well, that's fine, I guess. But like I've already told Ryan, I don't mind conceding the role to a senior," the former Warbler explained. "As much as I'd like the role, I think it should go to someone from the senior class. Not to mention I just transferred in, it wouldn't be right."

Ryan stared at him for a moment before looking at the panel of directors expectantly. He'd meant what he'd told Blaine the other day, he would be perfectly all right with having some competition. But now they understood that their skills were too close to call, and Ryan really wanted that role. If Blaine was willing to give it to him he wasn't going to complain!

"We'd still like you to audition again," Artie said.

"Done," Ryan answered. "I'll be singing –"

"Actually, we've already decided that you're both going to be singing _Maria,_" Miss Pillsbury interjected. "It's an important song for the role, and from what I understand it's rather difficult to sing. We think it will showcase both your talents beautifully."

"So we'll see you guys Monday in the auditorium at four," Coach Beiste said. "Now, I need to go get things organized for the student council election, so I gotta go."

"All right then," Ryan nodded as he and Blaine stood up. "Thank you for your time." The two boys exited the office.

"That was interesting," Blaine commented.

"Well, we always knew we were too close to call," Ryan said lightly. "Now, in the spirit of Broadway camaraderie, I would like to offer you a hug before our callback. Whichever of us does get the role, I'm confident that Tony will be well represented in the school musical."

Blaine gave a short laugh as they shared a quick hug. "He definitely will."

"And thanks," Ryan added, as they pulled away. "You know, for offering to concede the role."

"It's nothing," Blaine waved him off. "I don't mind. I want the part, but I've still got next year."

"So, how did it go?" The pair looked up to see Kurt coming towards them. "Did you get the part?" he asked Blaine.

"Well, we actually got a callback," Blaine admitted. "We have to audition again tomorrow."

"I see." Kurt turned to Ryan, a hard look in his eye. "So, that little hug I saw back there, what was that? Isn't that sort of fraternizing with the enemy a little bit?"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Come on, Kurt, that wasn't anything. Just a hug between fellow actors."

"Right," Ryan nodded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go prepare for our audition."

..

"So, are you ready?" Millie asked her daughter in the lunchroom that afternoon. Marley shrugged. The audition was in fifteen minutes, and she was dawdling, nervous about actually going up to sing in front of real live people.

"I guess."

"No guessing," Millie said sternly. "I've told you this a million times, Marley. You've got magic in that throat. And I raised a star, so you go out there and wow Miss Corcoran, okay?"

Marley smiled reluctantly, giving her mom a hug. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll be waiting down the street after your audition, okay?"

"Okay." Marley nodded, taking a deep breath before heading to the auditorium. She knew her way around most of the school, but she still didn't know anybody. Sure, she knew her lab partner and the guy who sat next to her in Spanish, but she was shy and didn't really know how to make friends.

She peeked into the auditorium, tensing a little when she saw someone sitting in the third row. She actually considered making a break for it and waiting until more people arrived, but the guy in the auditorium spotted her and waved. No choice but to go in now. So she entered the auditorium, and the guy gestured to the seat next to him. Marley sat down gingerly, unsure of what to say. "Hi."

"Hey," the boy said, smiling a little. He was kind of cute, Marley thought, with long sideburns, a square jaw, and brown eyes. "There's no one else around yet, I guess we're kind of early," he said a bit unnecessarily.

"Yeah."

"Oh, uh, I'm Ryder," the guy introduced himself, awkwardly sticking out a hand.

"I'm Marley." She shook his hand. He had a nice smile. "You're auditioning too?" She mentally facepalmed. He was in the auditorium. "Of course you're auditioning, you're in the auditorium."

Fortunately, he just smiled wider. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I didn't really think about joining into glee, I'm not that great a singer. But I talked to one of the guys here, and he said it would be cool. And maybe meet some friends."

Marley brightened. "Oh good, so it's not just me." She laughed nervously. "I mean, I'm joining to make some friends too. I love singing though, and my mom thought glee might be fun. I don't really make friends that well."

"That's probably not true," Ryder disagreed. "You seem cool."

A light blush spread across her cheeks. "Thanks." Then she jumped a little in her seat as a blonde cheerleader plopped down unceremoniously on Ryder's other side.

"Okay, so when is this little ceremony going to start?"

"Um, I don't know…" Marley leaned a little away from the Cheerio. She hadn't had very good experiences with cheerleaders at her middle school, in fact they'd been the ones who had been relentless in teasing her about her mom. She fidgeted awkwardly as the blonde looked her outfit up and down. Most of her clothes were from the secondhand store, and she braced herself for the disparaging comments.

Fortunately she was saved from any pending insults by the entrance of another pair of Cheerios, one blonde and one brunette. Was this club going to be composed entirely of cheerleaders? "Oh look, new people," the blonde one said cheerfully as they sat down in the row behind Marley's. "I bet this club is going to be awesome, right San?"

"Sure," the brunette one, San, said, smiling indulgently at the blonde before surveying the three freshmen. "I guess new blood's always good," she smirked evilly. "So we've got Bieber, Newsie, and Mini-Q trying out. And look, here's Big Q herself. And Frodo. How blessed we are."

"Shut up, Santana." Marley smiled a little as the pink-haired girl sat down next to Santana, her boyfriend next to her.

"Where's Chang-squared?" Santana asked, boredly checking her nails.

"On the way," the boy informed her. Marley still didn't know his name, but he looked at the three freshmen. "Oh good, you're all here," he commented with a bright smile. "Hi Kitty, Ryder."

Ryder sent Ryan a quick smile. "Hey." The small blonde Cheerio, Kitty, just raised her hand.

"You must be Marley," the still unnamed boy said. "I'm Ryan, it's nice to meet you."

Ah, she finally had a name. "You too."

"This is Quinn, that's Brittany, and the bitchy one is Santana," Ryan pointed out the girls.

"Say that again and Imma end you, Midget," the Latina threatened just as two Asian students walked in hand in hand, sitting on the row next to Ryan. "Finally," Santana grumbled. "Now where's our esteemed leader?"

"She got waylaid by Coach Sylvester," Ryan answered, ignoring her complaints. "She'll be here soon."

Sure enough, the door opened again, admitting Miss Corcoran, who quickly scanned over the assembled students. "Where's –"

"I'm here!" another student came in, striding across the room to sit down next to Marley. "We can start now! Hi, I'm Sugar, and I'm the star of the glee club. I love your sweater," she said nicely to Marley, who could only blink in surprise.

Santana scoffed. "Oh please –"

"Okay," Miss Corcoran cut in from the stage, forestalling any further arguments. "Good afternoon everyone," she announced. "Welcome to the auditions for the new, as yet unnamed, glee club. If you don't already know, I'm Shelby Corcoran, and I will be the coach and faculty advisor of the group. Now, there aren't that many of you, so we'll make this quick. Here's how this is going to work. I'm going to call your name, you're going to come up here and sing a song, and then after deliberation, I will post the final list on Monday."

"As if everybody's not going to get in," Kitty mumbled as Santana snickered and Ryan shushed them both.

"We'll have the newcomers first," Miss Corcoran continued, consulting the sign-up sheet. "Mr. Lynn, you're up."

The tall freshman paled a little at being called on first. "Good luck," Marley whispered, patting him on the arm as Miss Corcoran left the stage and settled at the director's table front and center of the auditorium. Ryder whispered his thanks, and then shuffled nervously onto the stage. He tapped the mic lightly before leaning down. "Uh, hi. I'm Ryder Lynn, and, uh, I'll be singing _Jukebox Hero._"

Miss Corcoran nodded. "That's great, Ryder, anytime you're ready."

The band started up the classic rock song, and Marley thought Ryder was pretty good, even if he hadn't seemed confident in his voice earlier. Her nerves started to build up as he reached the end of the song, and she barely remembered to applaud before… "Marley Rose, you're next."

Marley took a deep breath, smiling slightly when Ryder grinned at her as she passed him on the way to the stage. She nervously walked up to the mic, looking out at the others. She hadn't noticed how big this place was before. _Not the time._ "Hi, I'm Marley Rose, and I'll be singing _New York State of Mind_, by Billy Joel, popularized by Barbra Streisand." She saw Ryan smile approvingly. Her confidence slightly boosted, she glanced at Miss Corcoran, who nodded at her to start. The band started to play.

_Some folks like to get away_  
_Take a holiday from the neighborhood_  
_Hop a flight to Miami Beach_  
_Or to Hollywood_  
_But I'm taking a Greyhound_  
_On the Hudson River Line_  
_I'm in a New York state of mind_

The band segued into the instrumental again, and she smiled, letting herself sink into the music. She absolutely loved singing, she wanted to hear herself singing on the radio someday, and at times like these it was so easy to believe that it would happen someday.

_It was so easy living day by day_  
_Out of touch with the rhythm and blues_  
_But now I need a little give and take_  
_The New York Times, The Daily News_

_It comes down to reality_  
_And it's fine with me 'cause I've let it slide_  
_Don't care if it's Chinatown or on Riverside_  
_I don't have any reasons_  
_I've left them all behind_  
_I'm in a New York state of mind_

_I'm just taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River Line_  
_'Cause I'm in a New York state of mind_

She came back to herself as she let out the last note, and she looked around shyly, smiling at the applause that rose up as she finished. Miss Corcoran smiled at her. "Thank you Marley, that was good." She gave another nervous smile before leaving the stage.

Kitty was up next, followed by the older kids, until there were just two more auditions left by Marley's count. "And last but not least, Ryan. You're up."

There was a short pause. "Wait, what? I have to audition?"

Miss Corcoran raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't that what I just said?"

Ryan gaped at her. "You already know I can sing, you've been giving me lessons for over a year now! And we got all the way to Nationals last year!"

That was true, Marley didn't quite know why the older students were auditioning when they had gotten to New York just a few months ago. She supposed it was just for formality. Miss Corcoran shook her head. "Everybody has to audition."

"Sugar didn't audition," Ryan argued.

"Are your parents donating a blank check to this glee club?"

"Are you?" Ryan asked flippantly. Marley's eyes widened. Ryan was Miss Corcoran's son? That was a little surprising. But now that she thought about it, it made sense. They'd seemed closer than usual when she'd seen them sing in the auditorium the other day, and they did kind of look alike. And she didn't exactly know Ryan's last name…

Miss Corcoran just smiled at him sweetly. "Just for that, you get a new requirement. You can't sing anything from the Broadway catalogue for your audition piece, I want you to sing something out of your usual genre. And nothing I've already heard, either."

"That takes out practically two thirds of my repertoire!"

"Not really my problem, is it?"

Ryan's jaw flapped up and down for another moment before he stood up sharply, marching up to the stage where he had a quick whispered word with the band. A minute later he strode to the middle of the stage, taking the microphone. "Good afternoon," he said pointedly. "My name is Ryan Corcoran, and I'll be auditioning for your glee club." He nodded at the band, who quickly started up the music.

_Well, hell sees her shadow in my backseat_  
_And her friends are standing right in front of me_  
_Worldwide from the Cimmaron to Turkey,_  
_Open up said, "Everybody loves me!"_

_And you don't have to make a sound_  
_They got what you need_  
_What you need_  
_Make ya say_

_Oh my!_  
_Feels just like I don't try_  
_Looks so good I might die_  
_All I know is everybody loves me_  
_Head down,_  
_Swaying to my own sound_  
_Flashes in my face now_  
_All I know is everybody loves me_  
_Everybody loves me_

Ryan took a break, letting the band take over as he gazed almost defiantly at Miss Corcoran. The teacher for her part had a poker face on, though when Marley looked closely she could almost see an amused smile ready to break out.

_Well, I play the music don't stop till I turn gray_  
_Stars forever like Don Suzan never fade,_  
_He had a beautiful child, named her Desiree_  
_Hope I'm remembered for the things that I never made_

_'Cause you don't have to make a sound_  
_When they got what you need_  
_Make ya say_

_Oh my!_  
_Feels just like I don't try_  
_Looks so good I might die_  
_All I know is everybody loves me, everybody_  
_Head down,_  
_Swaying to my own sound_  
_Flashes in my face now_  
_All I know is everybody loves me_

He was good, Marley could hardly tell that this was an impromptu performance. And he looked so natural on the stage, swaggering back and forth with all the confidence in the world. All the kids were bobbing along to the music by now.

_Don't need my health_  
_Got my name and got my wealth I_  
_Stare at the sun_  
_Just for kicks all by myself I_  
_Lose track of time_  
_So I might be past my prime_  
_But_  
_I'm feeling oh so good_  
_YEAH!_

_Oh my!_  
_Feels just like I don't try_  
_Looks so good I might die_  
_All I know is everybody loves me_  
_Get down,_  
_Swaying to my own sound_  
_Flashes in my face now_  
_All I know is everybody loves me!_

The song ended abruptly, and the kids all burst into cheers. But Ryan stood there in center stage, almost glaring at Miss Corcoran, who nodded after a moment. "Adequate."

Ryan nodded jerkily before making his way offstage. Marley's eyes widened. Adequate? If that was adequate, then what the hell were the rest of their performances? Miss Corcoran organized her notes before standing and moving onto the stage. "Thank you very much for coming to the auditions, I'll post the results on Monday," she announced with a warm smile. "Happy weekend, everybody."

..

"What exactly was that?" Ryan asked Shelby irately as soon as they were alone in her office. "Why on earth would you make me audition when you already know how well I can sing? And 'adequate'? My performance was more than just adequate!"

"Very confident in ourselves, are we?" Shelby asked coolly. "Your audition was good, at the performance level. However there is room for improvement, and we both know rock isn't really your style."

"Whose fault is that?"

"If you had done as I asked without complaint you would have been able to perform your choice of song," Shelby pointed out. Ryan scowled, ready to say something in his defense. His mom cut him off though. "And as to why I made you audition, I made it perfectly clear that if and when I ever taught a glee club at this school, you would not be entitled to any special treatment just because you're my son."

"That –"

"– would be completely unfair to the other students," Shelby finished sternly. "And the sooner you learn that, the more smoothly this will go for everyone involved."

Ryan's scowl deepened. Oh, he understood that, and maybe it was nice to know that she was still treating him normally even after what she had found out this week, but he was still angry. "It's still unfair that you didn't make Sugar audition."

"She's getting in anyways," his mom pointed out. "Without her, there's no club. And we both know that at this point, she wouldn't get in." That got a snort from Ryan. That was true enough. "Besides, your audition let the other students, especially the new ones, see what level they're dealing with here. That's why I had all of you audition. I know you can all sing."

Ryan sat down in a chair, folding his arms. "Fine. But I'm still annoyed with you."

Shelby shrugged. "I can live with that."

* * *

**Wow, I am so sorry, I didn't expect this update to take this long. But I have been absolutely swamped with work, apparently it takes a lot of time to manually process a hundred lab samples, not to mention the other aspects of my job. My laptop also almost died and I spent a week waiting for parts to repair it. I've had a few reviewers telling me to get on with it, so here you are. Not sure if quality has suffered, so let me know.**

**So anyways, happy to know you liked the last chapter. I've had that little part of Ryan's past in mind since the early chapters of this story, and I'm glad it turned out well. I hope this chapter is as well received. I've actually written out a sort of oneshot exploring bits of his freshman year, it's interesting to see what might have happened. Not sure if I'll publish it though, it's kind of sad. **

**Now, I've mentioned it before, I'm not going to be following the season 3 timeline as strictly as I did season 2, mostly because a lot of the reasons for canon events don't exist here (i.e. Beth). As for Kurt, I'm not writing him as a good person, and most of you don't like him, so I guess I'm doing it right.**

**I've had a few people suggest getting Ryan a sibling, and while I can see potential in something like that happening, I don't think Shelby and Ryan are in a place where they will voluntarily do that, especially in light of recent revelations. Also, I've locked out the possibility of a baby for Shelby and James, and while they could go for adoption, they're getting older too and I don't know if they'd feasibly do that. Another child is a very big step, and maybe too big considering they've only been a (pseudo)family for less than two years.**

**Also, glad that the introduction of season 4 people is so far well received. Still considering adding more, so if you've got suggestions, go right ahead.**

**So that's it for now, I hope this chapter sort of made up for the long update time. I will try to do better, but no promises as life is getting crazy. Typos are mine, there may be more than usual because I wanted to get this out ASAP. Leave a review, even if it is just to get me to update, because sometimes it gives me a kick in the rear to get writing. Seriously though, I'm glad people like this story enough to tell me to get a move on. One note though, if you're going to say something negative, please explain your reasons and how to improve, or at least sign in so I can ask.**

**See you next time!**


	74. Chapter 73

Just before lunch on Monday, Ryan was greeted by Brittany pushing a pack of Pixie Sticks at him. "Hi Ryan!" she said sweetly. "You want one?"

Ryan took one of the candies from the box. "Thank you Brittany. How is your campaign going?" After Kurt had turned down Brittany's poster designs for his student class president campaign, Brittany had decided to run for the position herself with Santana's encouragement. Brittany had announced her campaign by leading a rousing flashmob of _Who Runs the World_ this morning in front of the whole school.

"It's going awesome," Brittany smiled. "So, Ryan, do you like my posters? Lord Tubbington led on the designs."

"Yes, Brittany, they're very…" Ryan took a moment to look for the right words to describe the glittery pink posters. "Delightful. Very you."

"That's exactly what I was going for," the blonde said, pleased. "So can I count on your vote for the student elections? I'm pushing the fact that we've had nothing but male student presidents in the past, and look what that's got us – double digit inflation, economic freefall, oil spills, war in Afghanistan. So we don't want another guy as a president."

Ryan tilted his head. "Okay… I should probably take that as an offense to my gender."

"Don't worry, I totally know you're a bicorn like me."

Again, Ryan let that comment pass, unsure of what that meant. "… But I do agree that you might make a better president that Kurt." Not to mention he was still mad at Kurt, but he wouldn't let that get in the way of his voting sensibilities. All right, maybe he would, a little. It wasn't like student council president counted for that much. "So yes, you have my vote."

"Awesome!" Brittany leaned over, pinning a bright pink badge to the front of his sweater. Yes, he was still wearing sweaters, but they were more tasteful now, at least according to his mom and his girlfriend. "Also, can I tell you a secret?"

"Yeah, sure."

"There's a leprechaun living in my house."

Ryan blinked. "Excuse me?"

"His name's Rory. He's from Ireland, and he wears green like all the time, so he's totally a leprechaun. He's disguising himself as a foreign exchange student."

"Ohhh." Realization dawned. "That's… nice."

"Yeah," Brittany nodded enthusiastically. "It's a secret, 'cause everyone knows leprechauns have the power to grant wishes, so if everybody knew about it his magic might go out. But anyways, the reason I'm telling you is 'cause I heard Rory Leprechaun singing the other day, and I thought –"

"You thought maybe he could join the glee club," Ryan grinned.

"Well, actually I thought you could use a wish to get more members, but I guess that might be a tall order. Your idea could work too," the cheerleader shrugged.

"That's great, Brittany," Ryan said happily. "I'll go talk to him and try to convince him to join. Do you know where he is?"

"I'm not really sure," Brittany said. "He can, you know, make himself invisible. But if I see him I'll tell him to let you see him, okay? Now, I'll see you later, Ry, I've got to give out more of these Pixie Sticks."

Ryan blinked again in surprise as Brittany skipped off to a group of students, handing out her candy. He shook his head. Talking to Brittany was always an adventure. Anyways, it looked like he had a new recruit to hunt down. This would bring the new club's numbers up to ten. Just two more and they'd be in business.

..

Meanwhile, Quinn opened her locker before heading to the lunchroom. She checked her appearance in the mirror, fingering the tips of her bright pink hair. Her bet with Santana had been up for a while, but the color had sort of grown on her. Not to mention Ryan thought it was hot. Still, maybe it was time to go back to blonde.

Her eyes flicked to the side when Santana appeared out of thin air, leaning against the wall of lockers next to her. "Did you want something?"

Santana shrugged. "The list for the new glee club just went up. Everybody got in – no surprises there," she said ironically. Quinn nodded. They needed everyone they could get, and Shelby had Sugar Motta. Compared to her, everyone else could sing like an angel. "So, the school's latest exchange student is living at the Pierce's," Santana mentioned casually.

"Good to know." She didn't know how this was relevant to her at all.

"The new kid's from Ireland, he wears green all the time and he talks like he swallowed a kazoo or something."

Quinn smirked knowingly. "You're just mad you can't make out with Brittany in her house anymore."

Santana glared at her venomously. "Shut up." Quinn just kept her smirk, used to her friend's antics. "You know what, whatever. Imma go find Britts and get her away from that green kazoo kid. You coming?"

She shook her head. "You go ahead."

"Suit yourself." Santana stalked off in search of her secret girlfriend, and Quinn shut her locker. She started to head to the cafeteria before deciding to make a pit stop at the ladies' room first. When she pushed the door open, she was greeted by a student wearing a grape slushy all over her front. She took a second before recognizing the girl as one of the new glee club members. "Need some help over there?"

The girl whipped around at her voice, surprise ad embarrassment in her eyes. "I…"

Quinn sighed, before going over to help the girl rinse out the slushy. "You should get that out before it dries up, it's harder to get out." She motioned for the brunette to lean over the sink. After a moment's hesitation, the girl complied, and Quinn turned the faucet on, running long brown hair under the stream. "You're Marley, right?"

"Um, yeah," the girl started to nod, before thinking better of it and keeping her head still. Quinn finished rinsing the worst of the syrup off and let Marley straighten. "You're Quinn Fabray."

"Right," Quinn nodded. Marley started to say something else before ducking her head shyly. She fell into a shy silence as she continued to try to get as much slushy as possible out of her hair. "You know who did this?"

Marley shook her head. "No. But the list for glee club just went up, and this happened right after."

Quinn just nodded again. Understandable, she supposed. The top of the food chain probably wanted to establish the hierarchy over the latest gleeks. She'd sort of expected something like this. "So, you just moved here to Lima, right?" she asked, trying for some small talk as she helped the younger girl wash the syrup from her long brown hair. "Must be weird, huh? New school, new… everything."

"Yeah," Marley sighed, running a particularly sticky lock of hair under the faucet. "It's not as bad as my old school I guess."

"Really? You don't miss your friends?"

The brunette shrugged as she wrung her hair out over the sink. "I didn't really have any. I sort of stuck to myself a lot. The kids there were the same as they are here."

"Ah." Quinn nodded, digging around in her bag and handing Marley a small towel. The girl was shy – not painfully so, but enough that it might hamper her making friends. She reminded Quinn of… she shook her head. "There, you should be good to go."

"Thanks," Marley said, smiling at Quinn with grateful blue eyes. "You know, for helping. Not that I couldn't have done it myself, but… yeah."

Quinn just nodded in response. "Come on, we should go head to the cafeteria," she said. "We'll have just enough time to have lunch."

"Okay." The freshman opened the door, letting Quinn exit the bathroom first. Ryan immediately spotted them as soon as they exited the ladies' room.

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you," he said distractedly, giving Quinn a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hi Marley."

Marley smiled a bit shyly. "Hi Ryan."

"I heard about the slushy," Ryan continued. "I'm very sorry that happened; rest assured I will be speaking to both Rick and Dylan about the incident. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it was just a shock," Marley nodded. "Quinn helped me clean it off."

"That's good," Ryan smiled. "I know firsthand how difficult it can be to remove all that colored corn syrup from one's hair. Of course, I assume it must be endlessly worse for someone with long hair such as yours…"

Quinn just smiled as she let her boyfriend ramble on. She'd gotten used to his verbose speeches, and while she occasionally found them a bit trying – keeping track of things was rather exhausting – she did find it cute. And it seemed to bring Marley a little out of her shell, because soon the freshman was talking and laughing as well. Quinn just followed them, lost in her own thoughts.

Soon enough the three of them reached the lunchroom, where they lined up to pick up their food. Fortunately with it being the tail end of the lunch hour there was a relatively short line. Marley was giggling at Ryan's theatrical retelling of some of last year's glee antics when Quinn reached the front of the line. The lunchlady on duty was the same big one that she'd sort of defended last week. She was smiling almost fondly at Marley when Quinn cleared her throat, and the woman looked at her with an apologetic smile before handing her a tray. The lunchlady smiled at her with an expression that sent Quinn's mind into a sensation of deja vu. She stopped for a moment in confusion, wondering what that smile reminded her of, before shaking her head in dismissal as she took her tray and followed Ryan and Marley to a table.

..

That afternoon, Ryan headed to Miss Pillsbury's office to await the ultimate decision of who would be playing Tony in West Side Story. He and Blaine sat in front of the panel of directors, everybody awkwardly waiting for someone to speak. Blaine cleared his throat. "Do we have to audition again?"

"No, we've come to a decision," Artie said quickly.

"It was one of the hardest decisions of my life," Coach Beiste added. "Like the time when I had to sell one of my prize donkeys to pay my gas bills. I sold Kim, but I kept Chloe."

Ryan wasn't sure how the picking the lead of a high school musical could be the hardest decision of a teacher's life – it was important to him, but in the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter that much – and he could tell Miss Pillsbury agreed. "So," the ginger guidance counselor said, "In the grand tradition of the special Olympics… everybody wins! We're double-casting Tony."

She watched them with a bit of trepidation as they absorbed the news. "So we'll both get to play Tony," Ryan concluded. He glanced at Blaine. "Who gets the night shows and who gets the matinees?"

"Oh, we're adding a week," Artie answered. "You'll both get four nights and two matinees."

"Fair enough." Ryan nodded, turning to Blaine. "Blaine, it'll be a pleasure to share the stage with you." He saw Miss Pillsbury let out a relieved breath, and he almost rolled his eyes. He wasn't that much of a diva, was he? He understood that sometimes decisions were too close to call. Besides, this was actually a good outcome. At least he got half the role. And there had been a fair auditioning process. In the New Directions he'd had to put up with other people getting roles that he knew he deserved more.

Blaine nodded. "Likewise."

Now Ryan himself felt mildly relieved. He hadn't really thought that Blaine would fight him on this, especially after offering to concede the role, but he was used to people – namely Kurt, Finn, and Mercedes – putting up a fight whenever he got a solo. "Excellent." He returned his attention to the directors. "Thank you very much for your consideration. I know it must have been a difficult decision to choose between two candidates such as ourselves. I'd like to say on both of our behalves that we will do our utmost to represent Tony to the best of our abilities. Furthermore –"

"Yeah, that's great Ryan," Artie cut in hastily. "So, we'll see both of you tomorrow in the auditorium at four for rehearsals."

Blaine nodded. "Okay then." He stood up, Ryan following a second later. The two boys exited Miss Pillsbury's office together, stopping a few feet away. Blaine glanced at Ryan expectantly. "So."

"So." Ryan offered him a slight smile. "Congratulations."

"You too," Blaine grinned. "I'm surprised they double-cast us, but it's great. At least we both get the chance to be Tony."

"I know," Ryan agreed. "And this way we don't have to fight. As I said, I think we'll both do Tony justice."

"Oh, I don't know," Blaine said casually. "I bet I'll be a better Tony."

Ryan let out a mock gasp. "We'll see about that." He checked his watch. "I have to go, we're having our first glee rehearsal this afternoon."

Blaine nodded. "Break a leg, then."

"Thanks." Ryan hurried towards the classroom that Figgins had designated for the new glee club. Shelby had had a piano moved in there in time for their first glee club meeting. "Hi Mom."

Shelby flashed him a smile from her seat at the piano bench. "Hi. You're early," she commented.

"Of course. As captain, I'm expected to set an example for the rest of the club, and arriving late would hardly set the appropriate tone," he nodded. "You're early too," he added approvingly. It was one of his pet peeves with Mr. Schuester, among many others. The man was chronically late, arriving at least ten minutes after everyone else. Then he spent the first few minutes absolutely clueless as to whatever issue everyone was arguing over.

"Oh, you're captain, are you?" Shelby teased.

"Well, I assume that you would want the most dedicated and talented person to captain the team," Ryan countered confidently. "That would be me. Not to mention, I'm your undisputable male lead, so it just makes sense for me to be the captain." His voice lost a little of his confidence. "I guess we could have a sing-off or something and then vote to determine who should be captain, that's how Mr. Schue used to do things." Unfortunately the system had always worked against Ryan, as his peers voted based who they liked better rather than who had more merit.

Shelby just hummed in response, still working on her papers. "Well, I am expecting you to be captain, but it wouldn't hurt to get the opinions of the other members," she said absently. "Wouldn't want to be accused of nepotism and all." She looked up, giving him a smirk. "Besides, it'll be easier for me to tell you what I want done when I have access to you 24/7."

"Oh joy." He relaxed a little though, pleased to finally have a coach who could see his value. "Are you going to run this group like Vocal Adrenaline?" he asked curiously. "You did have a four-year winning streak with them, but from what I've heard you methods are a bit…"

"Brutal?"

"I was going to say exacting, but brutal works too."

"Hmm." Shelby glanced at him in amusement. "You should take those horror stories with a grain of salt, show choir kids are notorious for over-dramatization."

Ryan looked at her skeptically. "So you didn't keep VA up until midnight one week in a row in preparation for Nationals three years ago?"

"Oh, no, that part's true." She smirked at him. "But one thing you'll learn when working with performers is that you need to know how much they can take, and how to motivate them. The first few meetings will be all of us getting a feel for each other, to see what we can do and how to work together to get Nationals."

That made sense. "Okay." He moved to stand next to the piano. He grinned as he remembered his bit of news. "Also, in case you didn't know… I got Tony!" he said proudly. "Well, double-cast with Blaine. But it's still great!"

"Yes, it is," Shelby agreed, smiling widely. "Congratulations, sweetie, I'm so proud of you!" She stood up, giving him a hug that he happily accepted. Ryan caught sight of some movement out of the corner of his eye, and he pulled back, glancing at the door to see Sugar Motta watching them with an almost wistful expression. It disappeared as soon as she saw him watching though, and she entered the room with a smile.

"I'm ready for the first glee rehearsal," she said happily. "I mean, not that I need it 'cause I'm so much better than everyone already, but it'll be good for team spirit."

Ryan had no idea what to say to that. He glanced at Shelby in confusion, and she just gave him a nice smile. He'd never had experience with someone with that much confidence before, besides… well, himself. He remembered what Shelby had said about Sugar reminding her of himself, but he hadn't been that bad, had he?

"Yes, ah, hello Sugar," he finally settled. "As you can see, nobody's here yet."

"Oh, that's okay, I don't really know anybody yet, so I don't have anything else to do. Everyone's probably too amazed by my awesomeness to talk to me."

Ryan tilted his head. "Okay…" That sounded eerily similar to the things he'd used to tell himself: _It's okay, everyone's just intimidated by talent, that's why it's hard for them to approach you. It'll be fine, just don't let them see it's getting to you. _ He shook himself. "Well, I'm sure you'll be able to make some friends in here," he said. The way he wasn't really able to in the New Directions. "Even if they aren't quite as talented as you are," he added a bit dryly.

"Exactly," Sugar exclaimed with a pleased smile. "And look, here they come!"

Sure enough, the rest of the members of the new club started to shuffle in. Marley and Ryder came in first, followed by Kitty and Quinn. Tina and Mike showed up soon, and finally Santana and Brittany brought up the rear, pinkies linked as they came into the room giggling slightly. Ryan was pretty sure they'd been making out in the nearby janitor's closet.

Shelby waited for a moment to let them get settled before moving to the front of the group of chairs, watching them. These kids were completely different from Vocal Adrenaline, which meant she'd need to get to know them in order to get them to the tops of their games. Finally everybody had seated themselves, and she cleared her throat.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to the first meeting of the new glee club," she said, smiling at the students. "You all performed very well at the auditions. However, we're going to have to kick it up a bit so we can win all our competitions." She smirked slightly. "And make no mistake, I am definitely planning on winning." That got her a ripple of laughter from the kids. "Now. The first thing I need from you is teamwork." She surveyed the students with a firm eye. "I won't have any infighting here. If you've got a problem with someone else, you come out and say it properly, and we'll work through it. But I won't tolerate any student trying to tear another one down, clear?"

An affirmative sound rang through the room, and she nodded. They needed to work together, something Will Schuester didn't seem to grasp. She'd watched him let the fighting inside his team run rampant, and look where it had gotten them. "So for today, we're not going to do any singing just yet. We're going to go around the room and introduce ourselves, try to build our rapport as a team. I'll start. My name is Shelby Corcoran, I'm the English teacher and now your vocal coach. In case you're wondering about my credentials, I've been a voice teacher for over a decade, and I have been in several Off-Broadway productions in New York. I was also the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, whom I coached to four consecutive National Championships." An impressed murmur rose up. "So yes, I do know what I'm doing," she added dryly, earning another laugh. She nodded at Ryan, prompting him to go next, which he did.

"I'm Ryan Corcoran," he announced. "I was previously the male lead of the New Directions, the other glee club here at McKinley, before I left due to… artistic differences. I've been trained vocally since I was five and my latest coach is actually my mom." His eyes flicked up at Shelby, who let out an amused smile. "Which will clearly not be affecting her treatment of me in this club whatsoever," he commented, earning amused sounds from several of the senior students.

The introductions went around, ending with Tina, and Shelby nodded. "Good. Now we all know each other. I don't expect all of you to be friends, but I do expect you to be able to work together. The next order of business is for us to choose a captain."

"Needless to say, I think I'm best suited for the role," Ryan piped up. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Okay, hold up a minute. Who died and made you queen?" she snarked.

"Yeah, don't we all get a say?" Kitty questioned.

"I thought I could be captain," Sugar said, pouting.

"Well, first of all Sugar," Shelby intervened. "It's your first time in a show choir. Ryan has some experience, so it may be better for him to take the lead. It's a lot of work after all." Sugar thought for a moment before nodding. "And Santana, Kitty, you're right, we all have to agree on who our captain is going to be. That said, they're going to be working very closely with me."

Ryan nodded. "All the more reason I should do it."

Santana shrugged. "Whatevs. Just as long as everyone gets solos, 'kay? I've had enough of giving Wheezy and Lady Gay all the solos."

"Don't worry, solo distribution will be as fair as possible," Shelby said, amused. These kids were funny sometimes. She could see how used they were to less-than-professional directing. "So are there any objections to Ryan being captain?"

"We kind of expected it anyways," Tina said, smiling slightly. The rest of the students nodded in agreement.

Shelby nodded. "Okay then. Congratulations, Ryan."

He beamed happily. "Thank you. I promise that I'll fulfill the role to the best of my abilities."

"I'm sure you will," Shelby said, smoothly cutting into what was sure to be a long acceptance speech. She knew her son pretty well by now. She saw Quinn's lips twitch up into a small smirk. The blonde probably knew what Shelby was doing, she knew Ryan too. "Now, one more thing. We need a team name." She smirked. "Preferably something not as prone to misunderstanding as the New Directions." She doubted Will had given much thought to possible phonetic misunderstandings when he'd come up with the name.

Santana barked out a quick laugh, giving Shelby a grudging nod. "Hot Bitches," she suggested. "Or Hot Messes. Either's fine."

"Free Beer," Brittany voted.

Shelby's eyebrows climbed a little, unable to help her amused smile as Ryan rolled his eyes. "I don't think that those names exactly capture the essence of what we want to project to audiences," he grumbled.

"Bite me, Hobbit."

"I'll leave that to Brittany." Ryan's retort had the Latina flushing a little. Santana opened her mouth to fire back. Quinn beat her to it though.

"As disgusting as that imagery is," she drawled. "I think what Miss Corcoran was going for was something that actually tells people who we are as a group. I really don't think we want to be known as bitches or messes, do we? I know you're both, but the rest of us would rather not get attached to those labels."

"Exactly," Ryan agreed. "We're a new team, so what we want is a name that will tell everyone else that we're here and that we're going to stir up some trouble for the other groups."

"The Trouble Tones," Quinn suggested. Shelby nodded approvingly.

"I like it. Any other thoughts?" After a couple more naughty suggestions from Santana – and a few eye-rolls from everyone else – the group arrive at a consensus. "All right, Trouble Tones it is," Shelby nodded. "Now, as a way to get things started, I want all of you to prepare a number for Friday. You can do solos, duets, groups, whatever you like, but everyone has to perform. Once only," she added, as Ryan opened his mouth. "You can sing anything you like with whomever you like. Just make sure to keep it appropriate. Now with that, I'll see you on Friday."

* * *

"Hi Mike," Ryan greeted a couple of days later as he saw his friend by his locker. "I've been meaning to ask, how did your audition go?" Mike had ultimately decided to audition for West Side Story upon Tina's urging, despite his father's pressure on him to perform better academically.

"I think it went well," Mike smiled. "Miss Pillsbury and Coach Beiste were pretty impressed, if I do say so myself." He shut his locker.

"Did you tell your parents?"

Mike shook his head. "My mom found out though," he confided. "My chemistry tutor called her when I skipped out to audition. But she was cool with it. She actually told me she was proud of me." He laughed softly, shaking his head again, this time in wonder. "She told me she wanted to be a dancer when she was young."

"Wow," Ryan commented. "I guess dancing runs in your family." He thought it was cool to inherit things from your parents, and he loved the fact that he shared his love for music and his vocal talent with his mom.

"Yeah. Her dad didn't let her take lessons, and she said that when I get the part, we'll tell my dad." Mike sighed, his smile fading. "I don't know how he'll take it."

"I'm sure he'll accept it," Ryan said encouragingly. "I mean, that's what parents should want, right? For their kids to follow their dreams? And he'd be a fool not to realize how much talent you have. You're a fantastic dancer."

Mike grinned as the two headed to their shared Geometry class. "Thanks."

To Ryan's surprise, Mr. Belden, the regular Geometry teacher, wasn't in the class. Instead, Shelby was sitting at the teacher's desk, reading glasses on as she flipped through a sheaf of papers. She looked up as the two boys entered the room, shrugging at Ryan's questioning glance as she stood up to call the class to order. "Hello everyone –" She paused for a moment as Noah Puckerman rushed into the room, sliding into his seat as the bell rang. "Nice of you to join us, Mr. Puckerman," she said dryly.

Puck winked at her. "You know it." Ryan rolled his eyes at the display.

"As I was saying," Shelby continued. "Mr. Belden has had a rather unfortunate incident with his pet raccoon, leading to a visit to the hospital. Therefore the rest of the staff will be subbing for the foreseeable future. Now, according to his notes, our next lesson…"

Ryan let the rest of the lesson pass by, daydreaming vaguely as he ran through song lyrics in his head. He was pretty good at geometry, in fact he was already familiar with the syllabus for the rest of the semester. He glanced around at the other students. Mike was taking notes, Finn was staring at the board with his jaw hanging open, and Puck was staring at… was Puck staring at his mom?

Finally the bell rang, shaking Ryan out of his confusion and signaling the end of the lesson. He stood up, gathering his things. He had lunch hour next, so he dawdled in the room as the rest of the students hurried out. He approached Shelby. "Okay, I'm confused. Why exactly did you get picked to sub for geometry?"

Shelby huffed irritably. "We drew lots, okay? Holly's in Cleveland, and Figgins can't find anyone on short notice."

"But you can't do math," Ryan pointed out. "Like, you literally can't do math. You need a calculator to multiply small numbers."

She glared at him. "I can too do math," she said haughtily.

"Four times eight."

"Uh, thirty-six."

"It's thirty-two."

"You caught me off-guard," Shelby defended herself. "You know what? I'm the parent and the teacher in both of our dynamics. Which means, I don't answer to you, you answer to me. And besides, it's a substitute job. No one's going to listen whatever I say."

"That is true," Ryan agreed, face completely straight. "Which may actually be a good thing, since you might end up undoing all of Mr. Belden's work in hammering the Pythagorean Theorem into our heads."

"Very funny," his mom grumbled. "How about you just head on to lunch and stop mocking me, okay?"

"I love you," Ryan said nicely as Shelby waved him off. He chuckled as he left the room. It had actually been an amusing lesson, he'd spotted his mom floundering a tiny bit. It was funny to finally find something she wasn't good at. She'd recovered quite well though. He headed towards his locker, only to slow down.

He could see two boys in football jackets heading right for Marley and Tina, who were busy having an animated discussion in front of Tina's locker. Ryan had spoken to Rick yesterday about the incident with Marley. The boy who had actually been the one to toss a slushy at Marley the other day, had unfortunately gone home before Ryan could catch him. Rick had simply shrugged and said he'd warn Dylan, but that he wasn't making any promises.

Now it seemed that there were two jocks who wanted to test the waters. He recognized them too. They were the two guys who had been bothering the lunchlady during the first week of school. According to Jacob Ben Israel, they weren't actually freshmen like he'd initially thought, they were sophomores who had transferred in. They'd managed to make Coach Beiste's football reserves, and were determined to make their way up McKinley's social ladder. Ryan was determined that it wasn't going to be by slushying his team.

He quickly altered course, heading to intercept the two football players before he could reach the girls. Just as he stepped in front of Dylan Harks and Roger Smith, he reached out, pushing on the slushy cups and sending the icy contents flying into the surprised jocks' face. The halls fell silent, before a few stifled giggles rang out.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" Ryan apologized innocently, before either of the two bullies could shake themselves back to reality. Slushies were difficult to recover from, especially if taken by surprise. "I didn't see you there! My, is that blueberry slushie?" He winced theatrically. "That is going to be so very difficult to get off. It must be why the school never replaced the slushy machine after it disappeared, hmm?"

Finally one of them, Dylan, seemed to recover from the icy shock. "What the hell, dude?" he growled angrily, dropping the now empty cup. "You did that on purpose!"

"It was completely accidental," Ryan assured him. "I mean, after all, it wasn't as if you were targeting Marley and Tina for a slushy facial, right? Especially after I expressly requested that you keep your attentions away from myself and my new team."

Roger scoffed. "You can't be serious about that! The gleeks are losers. Everybody knows that."

"Oh, I can assure you that I am very serious about that," Ryan said gravely. "You can be the judge of how serious I am. That blue slush running down your faces does seem to be telling, doesn't it?"

Dylan growled again, reaching out to shove Ryan in the chest. He was expecting it though, and reflexively batted Dylan's arm aside. "I wouldn't start a fight if I were you," Ryan advised. "I don't want to fight you, but I can defend myself. Not to mention Coach Beiste wouldn't be very happy if you got yourself suspended this early in the school year. Now how about I help you two clean that off?"

Dylan shook Ryan's hand off his arm. "Leave me alone."

Ryan shrugged. "Suit yourself. But you tell the rest of your teammates that I'm serious. Leave us alone, okay?"

The football player started to say something again, but Roger stopped him. "Whatever, man." They stalked off towards the nearest men's room and the hallway returned to its usual bustle, but Ryan was sure they were talking about what had just happened. That was good, though. Maybe it would help prevent a repeat performance.

"Thanks, Ryan," Tina said, smiling as he approached her and Marley. "I didn't see them coming. I guess I've gotten used to the slushy machine being gone, it's kind of tamed the 'duck-and-cover' instinct we had going on last year."

"Yeah, thanks," Marley nodded, smiling.

"Not a problem."

"Can you imagine how much easier our lives would have been if Finn had done something like that?" Tina wondered. "Maybe he could have gotten the football players off our backs."

"Oh, he couldn't have done that, he'd have risked his precious reputation," Ryan said sarcastically. His quarterback reputation had been of utmost importance to Finn. He'd even quit glee club for it once, back in their first year. And he fancied himself the leader of the glee club. As if. A real leader would have taken care of his team, the way Ryan intended to do with the Trouble Tones.

..

That afternoon Quinn stood up to put her things together, ready to go home. She looked up when someone called her name to see Shelby motioning her over to her desk. She had Honors English as her last class, and she was enjoying herself. She'd always loved reading, and was now seriously considering the possibility of majoring in Literature at college. "Yes?" she asked, heading over to the teacher's desk.

"I just wanted to give you these," Shelby said, handing her several brochures. Quinn took them, glancing at them curiously.

"Scholarship offers?"

Shelby nodded. "For creative writing. You'll need to send in a sample of your writing with a recommendation from a teacher – that's me – and they'll get back to you."

"Oh." Quinn read over the brightly colored papers, noting the one that offered a scholarship to NYU. She looked back up at Shelby with a smile. "Thank you. Aren't you supposed to be offering these to everyone else?"

"No, you're supposed to go to Miss Pillsbury to get them," she replied. "They just arrived the other day, and I got you the ones I thought you'd be interested in."

Quinn smiled, touched at the thought. "Thank you. Really," she said sincerely.

"It's no problem," Shelby waved her hand. "Like I told you, I think you're really talented. I don't think you'll have any problems getting in."

"I'll look these over," Quinn promised, turning around to leave the classroom. She tucked the brochures into her bag, as she went to find Ryan. She found him waiting for her at her locker. He spotted her coming over, giving her the smile that made her heart flutter. Quinn practically floated over to him, slipping her hand into his. Ryan smiled, giving it a squeeze.

"Hi."

"Hey," she smiled up at him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"You're happy today," he observed, shutting his locker. "Any particular reason why?"

"Oh, no reason," Quinn shrugged. Today was a pretty good day for her, even before she'd talked with Shelby. She'd been having gradually less and less bad days, and these days she was feeling lighter. She was still going to her therapist once a month, and there had been so much progress since last year when Shelby had first accompanied her to the clinic. There were still days when she didn't want to get out of bed, but they weren't as frequent as before.

"Okay then," Ryan grinned, lifting his hand to his lips and pressing a kiss on the back. Quinn smiled as the sensation sent a tingle up her arm. "Want to come with me to the bulletin board?" he asked. "The cast list for West Side Story is going up soon, and while I've already gotten the part – well, double-cast with Blaine – I would like to see my name officially on the roster."

Quinn nodded, smiling faintly at the volume of words he used. "Lead the way." The couple headed in the direction of the bulletin boards, hand still intertwined. "Do you know who Maria's going to be?"

"Blaine mentioned that Mercedes was auditioning, but I know Tina auditioned too. Who knows, maybe they double-cast them as well. The directors seemed rather determined not to disappoint anyone. I think Miss Pillsbury compared it to the Special Olympics."

"Everybody wins?"

"Exactly. You know, I still wish you had auditioned for a part. You have a wonderful voice, and your occasional sharp notes have been getting less and less frequent."

Quinn shook her head in amusement. "I'm already one of the extras, and I'm perfectly happy swaying in the background this once."

Ryan gave her a scandalized expression. "How can anybody be happy swaying in the background?"

"It's pretty easy, actually." She knew her boyfriend was a male Tinkerbell, but truthfully she didn't like being in the spotlight that much. Sure, she'd been HBIC of McKinley in freshman year, but that was just a survival mechanism. She preferred to stay in the background, and Lucy's hobbies had been perfectly suited for that. Her writing and her art didn't necessitate performing, and photography pretty much ensured that she was behind the lens and not in front of it. She was much happier now than when she had to keep up a façade.

They reached the billboard just as Santana and Brittany got there. "Hobbit, Tubbers," Santana nodded offhandedly. "The list for West Side Story just went up. Obviously nobody cares."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Please, Santana, don't pretend you aren't curious to see if you got Anita." Quinn smirked slightly at Santana's scowl. She knew her friend liked performing more than she let on. Santana wanted the role.

"Whatever, Rupaul, let's just get on with it." With that, Santana pushed her way through the rush of students milling around the board, dragging Brittany with her as Ryan and Quinn followed along in her wake. Quin quickly spotted the newly-posted cast list for the musical.

_West Side Story Cast_

_Maria – Mercedes Jones/Tina Cohen-Chang_  
_Tony – Ryan Corcoran/Blaine Anderson_  
_Riff – Mike Chang_  
_Bernado – Noah Puckerman_  
_Anita – Santana Lopez_  
_Officer Krupky – Kurt Hummel_

"Congratulations, Ry," Quinn smiled, rewarding him with a kiss. Ryan grinned happily, kissing her back enthusiastically.

"Hey, keep it PG!" Santana barked. She couldn't keep the smile off her face though. "And he's not the only one to make the cast, FYI."

Quinn rolled her eyes at her friend. "Congratulations to you too, Santana," she drawled. "You're not getting a kiss from me though."

"Like I'd want one," Santana scoffed in disgust.

"I'll give you one," Brittany piped up, causing the Latina to blush and Ryan and Quinn to smirk. "But later, at home."

Santana looked around furtively. Quinn knew Santana was just starting to admit it to herself, and to Brittany, but she wasn't ready to come out yet. Santana hadn't told her parents yet, though from a few times Quinn had seen Maribel Lopez, she suspected the woman already knew.

Quinn and Ryan headed for his car a few minutes later, and Ryan opened the passenger door to let Quinn in before getting into the driver's seat, still chattering happily about the musical. Quinn had a feeling she was going to be learning a lot more about West Side Story than she had ever wanted to know. "How does double casting go?" she asked curiously as Ryan paused, looking left and right before crossing an intersection. "I mean, are you going to be singing with Mercedes or Tina for all the shows, or are you going to switch it up?"

"Well, I don't know," Ryan admitted. "It depends on the directors, I suppose."

"Who would you prefer though?" Quinn prodded. She was pretty sure she knew the answer.

Ryan hummed. "Well, since Tina's my friend, I think it's natural that I would be more amenable to having her as a partner. Not to mention I think she'll be more faithful to the original version of Maria, as Mercedes tends to try to put an R&amp;B spin on her covers." He paused for a moment. "I also think I would prefer a costar who wasn't prone to antagonizing me most of the time."

There it was. Quinn knew Mercedes had a tendency to put Ryan down with little comments here and there during glee. She hadn't thought much about it before she'd gotten to know Ryan, but last year she'd been much more sensitive and had seen how Kurt's and Mercedes' barbs had hurt him. "Would that affect your performance?"

"Of course not," Ryan said immediately. Quinn raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, perhaps," he conceded. "But I'd like to think I can be professional enough to ignore anything she says to me. After all, I'm going to be working with a lot of actors and actresses once I get to New York, this will be good practice."

"Isn't this a love story though?" Quinn asked skeptically. "How are you supposed to fake it with someone you don't like?"

Ryan smiled, winking at her. "That's why they call it acting. And now that you point it out, this will be a good test of my skills, to see if I can in fact portray a convincing romance with an antagonistic costar. Again, excellent practice for my future career."

Quinn just shook her head with a small smile. Leave it to him to make this turn out positively.

* * *

**Hi everyone! It's a late update, but I've been busy with work and other life things. I hope you liked this chapter. Just a quick note, since I'm actually at work. I'm getting a bit tired of paperwork and watching over thesis students as they do their labwork, so I thought I'd take a little break.**

**I'm glad you're liking the character dynamics that I've got going on here, it's fun to try to incorporate everyone's storylines into this AU. Not sure if I'm going to be including Jake in the future, I've got so much to write and it might complicate things a bit too much. But we'll see. I'm kind of missing Shelby/Sue interactions too, but I haven't found where to work some in. Soon though. And about Shelby/James, I've got a few ideas that should be coming to fruition soon, so stay tuned.**

**I miss writing. Or rather, I miss having time to write. Please bear with me and my slow writing. Hopefully my schedule settles down soon, I've had some stuff going on. Send reviews, they cheer me up. See you soon!**


	75. Chapter 74

"All right everyone, let's take a quick break," Artie called out. "Kurt, less of that sashaying move. Ryan, less bossing people around."

Ryan rolled his eyes as the group broke up. They were a week into West Side Story rehearsals, and to be fair, Ryan thought Artie was doing a pretty good job of directing. He had a pretty good sense of the stage. Ryan did think that Artie could do a little less bossing around as well though. Blaine and Tina weren't here today, Artie had decided to pair the two of them together, leaving Mercedes as Ryan's Maria. He supposed he had to make the best of it, since in the future he wouldn't exactly be able to pick and choose his co-stars, but it was still a bit annoying.

Speaking of annoying… "So Ryan, how's life been since your defection from the New Directions?" Kurt asked conversationally, Mercedes coming over beside him.

"It's going brilliantly," Ryan answered, determined not to let their barbs get to him. He'd had plenty of practice after all. "We have a total of nine members now, and I'm sure with a little more effort we'll meet the twelve-member quota soon. How about you? I've heard you're a little short-staffed," he commented, unable to resist the little dig.

"Oh, don't even," Mercedes said irately. "We all know that's only because you somehow got half the club to up and follow you out."

"That's not the only bone we have to pick with you either," Kurt added. "According to Finn, you somehow managed to call off all the attacks on the gleeks, and everyone saw how you prevented the attempted slushies the other day. So why is it that Artie and I got a faceful of lemon-lime just this morning?"

"Are you expecting me to do something about that?"

"Well, you _are _trying to protect the glee club losers, aren't you?"

Ryan gritted his teeth at the nerve of these two. He didn't let it show though, hiding his true feelings behind a façade. "I'm sorry, but it's hard to get the jocks to back off of the losers," he explained, his voice bordering on patronizing. "I spoke to Rick Nelson and I convinced him to tell the other jocks to lay off. They apparently respect me now, and so my team is now off limits. Sadly, that apparently doesn't extend to you, as much as I would like it to, because I'm no longer affiliated with the New Directions."

"That's completely unfair."

Ryan shrugged. "I don't make the rules; if I did then I would certainly have implemented one to keep myself from taking all those slushies during freshman and sophomore year. Now, however, you have the star quarterback on your team, perhaps he should try getting the football team and the hockey team to back off."

"Okay guys, let's have the _Something's Coming_ scene," Artie directed, and Ryan let out a small sight of relief. Finally, a scene where he didn't have to butt heads with other people. This scene would just be him and Mike, who was far easier to get along with than some people.

..

"What are you doing?"

Quinn looked up at Santana, who had asked her the question. She was in front of the auditorium, waiting for West Side Story rehearsals to finish. "Waiting for my boyfriend."

"You are so whipped," Santana cackled.

"You're one to talk," Quinn snapped back. Ryan came out of the auditorium just then, greeting her with a quick kiss. "How was it?" she asked.

"Exhausting," Ryan grumbled. "Mercedes won't cooperate with me at all. It's like trying to fake chemistry with a block of wood."

She rubbed his arm sympathetically. She had no idea what was wrong with Mercedes, but she'd already suspected Ryan would have a bit or a hard time working with her. She was pretty sure Mercedes had been brainwashed by Kurt or something. "Want to come over?" she asked hopefully. They hadn't spent any time alone together in a couple of weeks. But Ryan shook his head.

"I need to work on something for the musical. I should really get going. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Quinn just nodded, and he kissed her on the cheek before hurrying off in the direction of the parking lot. "Nice to see you too!" Santana called after him irritably. "What's wrong with him?"

"It's the musical and the new glee club, he's _really busy_," Quinn huffed.

Santana looked at her strangely. "Isn't that like his default mode anyways?"

"Well, yeah, but lately we haven't spent any time together," Quinn almost whined. Santana stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter. "What the hell are you laughing at?" the blonde barked.

"Oh my God," Santana guffawed. "I know why you're pissed. You're horny, aren't you?"

"What?" Quinn spluttered, blushing. "I most certainly am not!"

"Oh, you most certainly are," Santana chortled gleefully. "You miss fucking your boyfriend, that's why you're so mopey and pissy at the same time! Oh how the mighty Chastity Club president has fallen!"

"Shut up, Santana," Quinn grumbled in embarrassment. Now that Santana put it that way, maybe that was the real problem. She hadn't had sex with Ryan into two weeks, since just after senior year had started. And considering they had spent half the summer together, it was sort of feasible that she was having withdrawal symptoms. She'd never admit Santana was right though. "I'm perfectly fine without… _that._"

"Sure you are," Santana said patronizingly. "I mean, it's not like you couldn't keep from banging the Midget for three days as soon as you got home from Cali – whoops, the pink hair is kind of a dead giveaway, huh?" she asked rhetorically, tugging on a pink lock of hair.

Quinn batted her hand away. "Shut up," she repeated, unable to think of an adequate response.

"Suit yourself," Santana shrugged. "But if you wanna get less bitchy, just go jump on your boy's disco stick. I guarantee you'll feel better. Oh, and either re-dye your hair or bleach it, your roots are showing."

* * *

The next morning, Ryan spied a new kid wearing a green shirt pushing things into a locker. He brightened, realizing that this was the Irish exchange student Brittany had told him about. "Hello," he said, striding up to the boy, who looked at him in surprise. "I'm Ryan Corcoran, I'm friends with Brittany," he introduced himself.

"Oh," Rory nodded. "Me name's Rory Flanagan." He gave Ryan a short wave and a smile.

"So, I heard you were staying with the Pierces," Ryan ventured.

"That's right," Rory nodded. "An' I'm havin' a grand time of it there, she's awesome."

"I heard her refer to you as a leprechaun," Ryan smiled slightly, amused at Brittany's flights of fancy. He sometimes found it hard to follow what she was saying, but she certainly made every conversation an adventure. Not to mention she was surprisingly perceptive at times…

"Oh yeah," the Irish boy's eyes twinkled. "That's what the Lucky Charms are for."

"Are you trying to convince her that you're the leprechaun on the box?" Ryan asked. Knowing Brittany it could be anything.

"Nah. See, since she thinks I'm a leprechaun, she thinks I can grant wishes," Rory explained. "And she said if I grant her three wishes, I could get into her pot o' gold. So I'm pretendin' to be a leprechaun. I really want to snog her."

Ryan froze. "Wait, what?"

"I'm still a virgin, you know, an' her first wish is for an all-marshmallow box of Lucky Charms."

The first thought that came to Ryan's mind was _Oh God, Santana's going to kill this kid._ The second was… "You're pretending to grant her wishes so she'll let you sleep with her?" he asked disbelievingly. "That's – you're – Okay. Wow." Ryan stopped, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Hey, listen I have to go, I've got History with Mr. Jenkins in five minutes. See you around." Rory smiled. "Ryan Corcoran's an Irish name too, isn't it? So's Finn Hudson, but he says he's not Irish."

"Oh," Ryan frowned. "So you've already met Finn, have you?"

"That I have," Rory grinned. "And it was grand, I must have watched him on YouTube a thousand times leading the glee club to Nationals after tongue-kissing his girlfriend."

"That wasn't his girlfriend!" Ryan ground out, anger suddenly spiking up. "And you know what, maybe that girl didn't want to be up and kissed like that in front of a global audience with no warning, did you ever think about that? And you know what, what you're trying to do with Brittany is – is despicable! You're taking advantage of her sweet, trusting naiveté, and that's just – just – ugh!" He turned sharply, storming away from the startled exchange student. He made it all the way to his locker where he found Quinn waiting for him.

Quinn arched an eyebrow at her obviously upset boyfriend. "What's up with you?"

"Of all the – I don't –" Ryan paced up and down in front of his locker a few times before whirling on Quinn. "I was just talking to the new Irish exchange student. Have you talked to him yet?"

She gave him a weird look. Why on earth would she talk to the Irish exchange student? She had better things to do with her time. "The weird kid who's always wearing green? No, I can't say that I have, though Santana does seem to be really pissed that he's staying with the Pierces. And Brittany thinks he's a leprechaun."

"She has a right to be," Ryan said, scowling. "I just talked to him, and he just said that he's pretending to be a leprechaun because Brittany told him that if he could grant her three wishes, then he could get into her 'pot of gold,'" he said, putting up air-quotes. "And yes, 'pot of gold' is apparently a euphemism. It's completely inappropriate and absolutely unfair. He's taking advantage of Brittany's trusting nature to further his own ends, and that's not right!"

"Okay, okay, I agree with you," Quinn said hastily.

"We have to tell Brittany."

Quinn tilted her head at him. "Well, we don't actually _have _to do anything. But in this case I think we should intervene," she conceded. Brittany was her friend, and she didn't want some manipulative pervert taking advantage of her. Getting through to Brittany could be a difficult though. "Problem is, how are you planning on telling Brittany that her leprechaun's a conniving asshat?"

"You've been hanging out with Santana a lot, haven't you?" Ryan asked rhetorically. Quinn rolled her eyes. Yes, maybe she'd been spending a little too much time with Santana. But only because Ryan was really preoccupied with the musical and it had been cutting into a lot of their time together.

"The point is, Brittany's got it in her head that this Rory kid's a leprechaun. It's hard to get her to stop believing when she's decided it's true. Trust me, I've tried."

Ryan frowned. "Well, we'll think of something," he answered. "We can't just let Rory take advantage of her, it's not right! She's our friend."

"You're really worked up about this," Quinn observed. Ryan's frown deepened.

"It wasn't just that," he admitted. "He mentioned he'd talked to Finn, and how it was so great because he'd watched – he'd watched that video of what happened at Nationals a million times. And he thought you were his girlfriend, and I –" He looked at her helplessly.

"Oh," Quinn said faintly. "Oh." She crossed her arms defensively over her chest. She'd tried really hard to erase that memory from her mind, but apparently it was going to follow her around forever. "Well, he didn't know any better, and I'm sure you set him straight, so you don't need to be so upset about it…"

"I'm not – I mean yeah, I did set him straight about you not being his girlfriend," Ryan said. "But… I wasn't mad about that. I was mad that… he didn't get that what Finn did was wrong. It hurt you, but it was like he didn't see you as a person, just this girl that Finn got it in his head to kiss, and that's just not true. And add that to what he's trying to pull off with Brittany… the kid just seems like a misogynist."

Quinn smiled softly, uncrossing her arms to take his hand. It touched and amused her at the same time that he got so riled up over a perceived insult to her, and not for the first time she wondered how she'd gotten so lucky to have him as a boyfriend. She reached up, placing a kiss on his cheek. "I love you, you know?"

His tense stance relaxed slightly as he offered her a slightly sheepish smile. "I know. I love you too."

"So this Rory kid isn't someone we want on the Troubletones?"

Ryan shook his head firmly. "No."

Quinn nodded. "That's okay, I'm sure we'll find more members soon." They had to, he was really obsessed with it, and added to his fervor over West Side Story, the two of them hadn't spent much time together lately. And yes, maybe it was stupid, but she really, really missed sex with him. It had been a while, with her house bursting to full capacity and at least one of his parents home all the time. They'd had practically no opportunities lately. Spontaneously she leaned in, reaching up to pull his lips down to hers.

"What was that for?" Ryan asked a bit breathlessly as they parted a few seconds later.

"Nothing," she answered, smiling slightly at the goofy smile on his face. She licked her lips. Even that short kiss had her hot and bothered. She really needed him soon, maybe the janitor's closet was free –

Suddenly the bell rang, signaling the start of the next class. Quinn held back a frustrated groan. She just couldn't catch a break. It was the weekend though, and come hell or high water she was going to find some time alone with her boyfriend.

..

Later at lunch Ryan found himself sitting with Santana in the lunchroom, eating a sandwich. "Can't believe Brittany really thinks that green kid is a leprechaun," Santana said sourly, biting into her sandwich.

"Neither can I. Have you talked to her about it? Or are you already plotting Rory's disappearance off the face of the earth?" Ryan asked, slightly concerned. He didn't want Rory taking advantage of Brittany, but he didn't want him to be murdered by Santana either.

"I wish," Santana grumbled. "Stupid fucking boys."

"I'll ignore that," Ryan said dryly, looking idly around the cafeteria. The place was pretty full, what with it being lunchtime. He spotted Sugar just leaving the lunch line, looking around a bit uncertainly as to where to sit down. A frown creased his brow as he remembered how he'd felt back in freshman year when he hadn't had anyone to sit with. Fortunately no one thought to tip Sugar's tray into her face the way Karofsky had with his. Ryan paused for a moment before waving the girl over.

"Okay, what the heck are you doing?" Santana asked irritably. Ryan ignored her, flashing a smile at Sugar as she headed over to them with her lunch.

"Hello, Sugar," he greeted nicely. "Would you like to sit with us?"

He saw a flash of surprise in the freshman's eyes before she smiled widely. "Okay!" She quickly made herself at home next to Santana, sitting right across from Ryan. Satana grudgingly scooted over to the side. Ryan saw Marley and Ryder a moment later and waved them over to join them as well.

"Are you doing this to annoy me?" Santana grumbled as the freshmen crowded into their table.

"Yes," Ryan said, sending her a saccharine smile. "So, how's everyone doing on their assigments? Feel free to approach me if you need any assistance at all. I'm always happy to offer my vocal expertise –"

"Can it, Hobbit!"

Ryan glared at her, opening his mouth to retort when Sugar beat him to it. "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm already an amazing singer," she said airily. "And all of you are pretty okay too. You're good enough to be my backup singers, even if you're a little pitchy and your voice is kind of annoying. Sorry, I've got self-diagnosed Asperger's, so I can say whatever I want."

Finally it seemed like Santana had had enough. She held her hands up in the air, shooting Sugar a venomous look. "Okay, first of all, my dad's a doctor. Like, he went to college and everything. So that tells me that that self-diagnosed Asperger's crap is just that, a load of crap. Second, I'm nobody's backup singer, you gots me?" she barked. "So tune it down or you're gonna have zero backup singers real soon, comprende?"

Sugar's eyes grew wider and wider at the little rant, and she nodded speechlessly. "I… just wanted to be on the winning team for once?"

"And you are," Ryan interjected, glaring at Santana who gave him an unimpressed shrug. "What Santana was trying to say is that we're a team, and none of us are backup singers. Right, Santana?" He gave her a meaningful look.

"Whatever."

Ryan shook his head in exasperation. "Anyways, have you thought of what you're going to sing for this week's assignment, Sugar?"

A flicker of something crossed the girl's face, almost unnoticeable unless you were watching closely. Ryan caught it though. "Not yet. I'm still deciding if I should sing by myself."

"You could sing with us if you want," Marley volunteered suddenly. All eyes turned to her and she flushed a little. "You don't have to, I mean. Just if you want to."

"Really?" Sugar asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Ryder chimed in. "It'll be great."

Ryan sincerely doubted that, given Sugar's talents, but he was glad someone had taken the initiative to invite her. He knew how it felt not to be wanted as a partner, and he'd toyed with the idea of volunteering himself. That would be a last resort though. He wasn't suicidal – he smiled a little at the irony – and performing with Sugar would be vocal harakiri.

Sugar let out an excited squeal, wrapping Marley in a spontaneous hug. Marley looked vaguely terrified for a moment before patting her on the back. "This is going to be so awesome! We're gonna be so great!" Sugar squealed enthusiastically. "You guys have to come over to my house to practice!"

"Uh, okay…" Marley said. Soon the three new glee kids were discussing song ideas, with Ryan interjecting once in a while. Even Santana deigned to comment once or twice before lunch ended. Ryder, Marley, and Sugar left for their shared class, leaving Ryan with Santana.

"Why are you even talking to Richie Bitch?" Santana asked irritably. "I mean, God knows she can't sing. I would've thought she'd be practically invisible to you."

Ryan looked at her, slightly startled, before frowning. "Don't call her that, people don't exactly appreciate your loving nicknames. And maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do," he countered. "Maybe I'm trying to be her friend because that's what teammates do." Unlike the New Directions.

Santana's face softened for a moment before she scoffed, standing up. "Your funeral. Just remember, you better be able to fix her voice pronto, 'cause even fucking JBI can sing better than her." She stalked off in the direction of the doors, and Ryan sighed. Santana did have a point there.

..

After class that day Ryan came upon Brittany looking slightly morose. "Hello Brittany," he said, offering the blonde Cheerio a smile. "What's wrong?"

"I think I have to go back to the New Directions," the blonde Cheerio said solemnly. The smile quickly slid of Ryan's face at the words, his jaw falling for a second before he managed to get it into gear.

"What?" he asked, confused. "No, you can't. Santana's here, your friends are here, why would you want to leave?" Had they done something wrong?

"I don't want to leave."

"Then why would you have to go back?" Ryan asked, utterly mystified.

"Because I just talked to Rory Leprechaun, and he said Finn made a wish for us to go back to the New Directions," Brittany explained. "And it was just one wish. With one wish, it absolutely has to come true."

"What?" Ryan asked, eyes widening in realization. Of course Finn was behind this. And he was using Rory to push Brittany into doing what he wanted. His eyes darkened. The two of them were exactly alike. "Brittany, that's not true."

Brittany looked at him strangely. "Yeah it is. He's a leprechaun, so Finn's wish has to come true."

"No it doesn't," Ryan said in consternation. He cast around desperately for something that could persuade Brittany. "Magical creatures are tricky, right?" he asked. "Like, I don't know, genies. Genies are known for being tricksters, and leprechauns are sort of like Irish genies, aren't they?" He wasn't sure he was making sense, but hopefully he could convince Brittany. And it wasn't like the blonde girl made sense all the time either.

"Well, yeah," Brittany nodded. "Genies are just blue, and leprechauns are green. But everyone knows they grant three wishes."

"Well, genies are really good at tricking people, so you should be extra careful with leprechauns too, right?"

"I guess so," Brittany said thoughtfully. "You think my leprechaun's playing a trick?"

"Yes, exactly," Ryan said quickly. "Think about it. If you let Rory get your pot of gold, it would make Santana very unhappy wouldn't it? And you wouldn't want her to be sad, right? And besides, good wishes should make people happy," he continued persuasively. "And if you leave the Troubletones, everyone would be really sad. Not just Santana. I think you'd be sad too."

Brittany seemed to think it over, before nodding. "Can I think about it some more? I don't want to make a mistake."

Ryan nodded. "Yes, of course. I just, I hope you know we're friends now, right? I really want you to make the choice that makes you happy. Whether it's by returning to the New Directions, or by staying with us."

He just really, really hoped it was the latter.

* * *

"Hey," Santana smiled as Brittany skipped up to her the next morning.

"Hey San," Brittany chirped happily, falling into step with her. "I really had fun last night."

"Me too." Santana and Brittany had gone on a date to Breadstix last night, cloistered in a booth away from prying eyes. It had been wonderful, spending time with Britts as her actual girlfriend, and not just her friend who's a girl. She wished she were ready to be out, but… she just wasn't. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Brittany stepped closer, and Santana instinctively looked around warily. "Don't worry, it's just us," Brittany said. "I really liked holding your hand. Even if it was just under the napkin." Blue eyes looked at Santana's hopefully. "Maybe we could do it again. Like, here."

"But…"

"Don't worry. Girls do stuff like this all the time, and no one thinks they're dolphins."

Santana thought for a moment before relenting. She glanced around as Brittany took her hand, and she smiled, letting out a contented sigh as she intertwined her fingers with Brittany's. "Wait," she said, frowning slightly. "Did you make a decision yet? If you're going back to Finn and his boy band?" It had been a point of conversation last night, because she knew about Finn using Britt's belief in that stupid leprechaun kid to try to make her go back to the New Directions. And as unfair and underhanded as it was, she had to give the Green Giant a grudging bit of respect for actually coming up with a plan.

That didn't mean she didn't want to destroy him though.

Brittany hesitated. "I don't want to," she said slowly, as Santana turned to face her. "But Finn made a wish on Rory my leprechaun…"

"I don't want to compete against you," Santana admitted. If Brittany made the decision to go back, she knew she'd follow, even if she'd hate every second of it. Suddenly an idea struck her. "What if I made a wish too?"

"What?" Brittany tilted her head to the side. "But you don't believe in leprechauns."

"Look, this is our senior year, and I really want to spend it with you, okay?" Santana confessed, dropping her gaze before meeting Brittany's blue eyes again. "And yeah, maybe I don't really believe that Rory kid's a leprechaun… but if you say he is, then he is. And I wish that you'd stay on the Troubletones with me."

Brittany smiled. "Oh." She bit her lip for a moment before nodding. "You know, you don't have to wish on my leprechaun. All you had to do was wish on me. I want you to be happy. And being with Quinn and Ryan makes me happy too. So we can all be happy together."

Santana smiled tentatively in relief. "So… you're staying."

The blonde nodded again. "Definitely." She impulsively wrapped Santana in a hug, and for once the Latina didn't care that they were in a public hallway for all to see. "Glee wouldn't be fun without you anyways, and besides, the boys think I'm stupid."

"Hey, their loss," Santana said automatically, pulling out of the hug. "You're all kinds of awesome."

Brittany smiled cheekily. "I know."

Suddenly the very unwelcome figure of Finn Hudson came lumbering around the corner, and Santana rolled her eyes because _of course_ Finn would be there to ruin the moment as always. She scowled as the tall football player smiled his dumb smile at Brittany. "So, Brittany, are you coming back?"

"Oh," Brittany frowned a little. "No, I decided I'm staying with Santana and the Troubletones."

"What?" Finn asked, face falling. Santana would have felt sorry for him if… no, wait, she wouldn't. "But the New Directions need each other right now. You have to come back. We're a family."

"That's right, Double-Stuffed Fatty McGravy Pants," Santana cut in, annoyed with his overused spiel. "If we were such a family, how come you just went after Britts? Why didn't you try to get everyone else back at the same time?" It made her so mad how Lard-Butt and his new sidekick were trying to manipulate Brittany into returning to the New Directions. "And you're one to talk about family, I heard every time the new preppy kid opens his mouth, you're just itching to kick him right in the Warblers."

"Stay out of this, Santana," Finn bit out before turning to Brittany. "Come on, Brittany, you love being in glee."

"And I'm still in glee," Brittany reasoned. "Just not the New Directions. And I know you made a wish on Rory Leprechaun, but Santana made a wish too, and –"

"Brittany, you know what, there's no such thing as leprechauns!" Finn finally burst out angrily. "All that stuff with Santa Claus last year was real cute, but this leprechaun crap…" Finn ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "At some point you've – you've just got to grow up and stop being such an idiot."

Oh no. He did not just say that. Santana glanced over at Brittany. Brittany tilted her head, looking intently at Finn. "What did you just call me?"

Finn got that constipated look on his face and tried to backtrack. "Look, Brittany, I didn't mean it like that –"

Brittany nodded. "Yeah. All the guys in the New Directions call me that. And you're the leader, so that makes you the worst of them all. You cannot call your future president an idiot. It's mean, it's bullying, and I won't accept it." Brittany turned her back on Finn, quickly setting off down the hall. Santana leaned in, a menacing look on her face.

"You are so gonna regret calling her an idiot, McFlab," she growled out, before turning to follow Brittany.

..

"That was a very good performance, guys," Shelby complimented the group composed of Ryder, Marley, Sugar, and surprisingly, Kitty. She'd thought that the aloof cheerleader would group up with some of the other Cheerios, or Quinn. This was the last performance of the day. The other groupings – or rather pairings – had been more predictable, with the couples opting to sing together. She stood up. "All right. Everyone performed really well, but there's always room for improvement. While the main purpose of this exercise is to try to get you to build a rapport with each other, it's also allowed me to take notes on where everybody needs to improve. We –" She paused when Ryan cleared his throat. "Question?"

Her son looked at her innocently. "You know, there's one more person who hasn't performed yet…"

"And who might that be?" Shelby asked suspiciously. He gave her a sly smile.

"Our esteemed coach, of course," he answered easily. "I mean, we deserve to see if our coach actually deserves to be leading us, right? And what better way to ascertain that than with a song?"

"Ooooh." A delighted noise rose up from the students as they looked expectantly between the two of them. Shelby folded her arms, fixing Ryan with a glare. She didn't mind performing of course, but her little troublemaker was baiting her.

"Yeah, Miss Corcoran," Quinn chimed in, smiling deviously. "Not all of us have heard you sing, and everyone's already performed. It's only fair."

"Mr. Schue used to do it all the time," Brittany piped up. "He even sang with us during Britney week, remember?"

"Yeah, well, that was just weird," Santana rolled her eyes. "But yeah, Miss C, maybe you could give us a little demo?"

"Unless of course you've lost your touch and don't have anything prepared," Ryan smirked. Shelby shot him another unimpressed glare. She had a wide range of songs at her disposal; she had not lost her touch, thank you very much!

A few more minutes of cajoling later, Shelby finally relented. "Fine, fine." The kids erupted into cheers as she went over to the band. After a quick word with Brad she turned to face the students. She nodded to the band, and the music started up.

_Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter_  
_Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter_  
_Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade_  
_Don't tell me not to fly, I simply got to_  
_If someone takes a spill, it's me and not you_  
_Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade_

She impulsively strode over to the students, easily engaging them in the performance as she fell into her element. She'd missed performing; she'd only done it occasionally for her VA students, and she hadn't had much chance for it recently.

_I'll march my band out, I'll beat my drum_  
_And if I'm fanned out, your turn at bat, sir_  
_At least I didn't fake it, hat, sir_  
_I guess I didn't make it_

_But whether I'm the rose of sheer perfection_  
_A freckle on the nose of life's complexion_  
_The cinder or the shiny apple of its eye_

_I gotta fly once, I gotta try once_  
_Only can die once, right, sir_  
_Ooh, life is juicy, juicy and you see_  
_I gotta have my bite, sir_

_Get ready for me love, cause I'm a comer_  
_I simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer_  
_Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade_

She took a brief moment to go over the rest of the song. The most difficult sections were coming up and it wouldn't do to fuck up now. Especially not with Ryan watching; from the slight smirk on his face, he'd never let her live it down if she messed up.

_I'm gonna live and live now_  
_Get what I want, I know how_  
_One roll for the whole shebang_  
_One throw and that bell will go clang_  
_Eye on the target and wham!_  
_One shot, one gun shot and bam_  
_Hey Mister Arnstein, here I am!_

_I'll march my band out, I'll beat my drum_  
_And if I'm fanned out, your turn at bat, sir_  
_At least I didn't fake it, hat, sir_  
_I guess I didn't make it_

_Get ready for me love, cause I'm a comer_  
_I simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer_  
_Nobody, no nobody, is gonna rain on my parade_

The room cheered as she belted out the final note, and she smiled broadly at the students, basking in the applause. She understood perfectly well what Ryan meant about being Tinkerbell – applause was a performer's fuel, and she'd take it wherever she could get it. She sought out the most important person though, heart warming when she recognized the look of adoration in his eyes. She bowed theatrically.

"That was awesome, Miss Corcoran," Marley said, smiling as she applauded.

"Yeah Miss C," Santana added quickly. Shelby smirked, knowing about the girl's little crush on both her and James.

"I still think you have that funny nasally quality, but you were great," Sugar agreed.

"Well, thank you very much," Shelby said, amused. "I hope that puts to rest any doubts you may have had about my abilities to lead this club. Now, if there aren't any more questions, I'll see everybody next week."

The students quickly stood up, shuffling out of the room. Ryan stayed behind though, approaching her with a faint smirk. She arched an eyebrow at him. "So? Comments, suggestions, violent reactions?"

"It was adequate," Ryan deadpanned, before breaking into a smile. "You were amazing."

"I haven't _lost my touch?_"

"Not yet," he, giving her a cheeky grin. "Seriously, you were great," he said sincerely, a hint of pride in his voice that made Shelby melt. "Broadway stage worthy."

"Thank you." She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Better than Barbra?" she asked teasingly.

"Nice try," Ryan smirked. "No one's better than Barbra."

"Very true."

* * *

The next day was a Saturday, and Quinn opted to spend the morning at Ryan's place rather than at her own. "You're sure you're here for my company?" Ryan questioned as he sat on his bed, propped up against the pillows. "Because you know what I think?"

"I don't particularly care right now," Quinn said loftily from the end of the bed, eyes fixed on the book she was reading.

"I think you're trying to evade the Great Unpacking Extravaganza that's going on at Kitty's house," he continued as though he hadn't heard her.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Fine, yes. Between spending the day lounging around here and having Kitty boss me into organizing her room, it's a no-brainer."

Ryan chuckled before returning to the script he was studying. Quinn looked back at her book, before shaking her head. Shelby and James were out of the house, and it was the perfect time to get up to some fun with Ryan. Problem was, she'd been hinting for a while now but he was too engrossed with his script to notice. She sat down behind him, peering over his shoulder at the script. "Haven't you memorized the whole movie by now?" she asked skeptically. "I mean, you're always going on about how iconic it is…"

"Yes, it's very iconic," Ryan answered absently. "It's the modern retelling of Shakespeare's _Romeo and Juliet._ Well, perhaps not quite so modern as it's set in the 1950's, but still. And yes, I do have most of the dialogue from the movie version and the stage version memorized, however I don't intend to give a shoddy performance just because I was overconfident."

Quinn let out a soft huff of exasperation. She admired his dedication, but come on! Was it too much to ask for a little attention? She wasn't used to this; Ryan was normally very attentive, but recently he'd been all-consumed by glee and the musical. She missed her boyfriend, dammit!

She smirked a little. If hints weren't going to work, there were other ways to get his attention. She settled behind him, propping her chin on his shoulder under the guise of looking over the script. She put her hand on his other shoulder, her fingers tracing light patterns up and down his arm. "What scene are you going over?"

"It's the _Tonight_ scene," Ryan explained, still focused on the script. "It's the scene after the dance, and Tony and Maria are on the balcony…"

"Hmm," Quinn nodded. "That's a good scene." She turned her head subtly, her breath falling lightly on his neck. She let her lips brush against a spot just behind his ear, smirking as she heard him inhale sharply. "What?"

"Uh, nothing," Ryan said distractedly, looking at the script.

"Okay." Quinn brushed her lips over his skin again as her hand went down to the edge of his shirt, fingers slipping inside to smooth across his lower back. His breath hitched again as Quinn pressed a soft kiss against the side of his neck. "Maybe you could take a little break?"

"I, uh, I really need to finish memorizing this scene," he stuttered, shifting in his seat. "I… oh…" He let out a soft sigh as Quinn's fingers slipped around his body, stroking at his abs under his shirt, lightly teasing at the edge of his pants. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing," she answered innocently, settling her chin on his shoulder as she trailed her fingers teasingly up and down his stomach. She smirked when she felt his muscles twitch under her touch. She angled her head just so, leaning in so that her lips were brushing against the shell of his ear. "Sing it for me?"

A shiver ran through him as he cleared his throat, licking his lips distractedly. "O-okay…" He cleared his throat again, starting in on the chorus. "_Tonight, tonight,__ i__t all began tonight,__I saw you and the world went away…__"_

Quinn smiled deviously as he began to sing, shifting quickly so that she was suddenly in front of him straddling his thighs. He sucked in a startled breath, dilated brown eyes staring up at her in surprise. "I –"

"Go on, don't stop," Quinn said, shaking her hair back as she started to unbutton her blouse. Ryan's jaw fell slackly as he watched her, mesmerized, and Quinn paused. "I can stop if you're too… distracted…" she said huskily. He swallowed thickly, shaking his head.

"N-no – I'm – I –" He gave up after a second, clearing his throat. "_Tonight, tonight, there's only you tonight_…"

Quinn made quick work of the rest of the buttons, shrugging out of her top. Ryan's breath hitched again, his tongue darting out to wet his lips as his eyes darkened. Quinn moaned softly as she felt him hardening under her. She rocked forward, feeling herself getting incredibly wet as she rubbed against him, placing her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. Ryan grabbed her hips as she ground down onto him, stuttering over the lyrics. "God, Quinn –"

"Keep going," Quinn urged, slowing down and scooting slightly away from him down his legs. She unbuttoned his jeans, pulling his erect dick out and giving it a languid stroke. A garbled sound escaped Ryan's throat, making Quinn smile. She absolutely loved being able to reduce her normally articulate boyfriend to speechlessness. She leaned forward, pressing a kiss against his pulse point. "Have I ever told you, I think you're really sexy when you're singing?" she husked, slowly squeezing his length. "It turns me on so much."

She could feel his pulse thrumming under her lips, his Adam's apple jumping as he swallowed. "I – I – oh God –" He whimpered helplessly as she stroked him hard, his head dropping onto her shoulder. "I c-can't –"

"You can do it," Quinn said, reaching down to fondle his balls. "It'll be worth it if you do." She nipped lightly at his neck. "Promise."

Ryan let out a strangled groan as he bucked up into her hand. "_T-today, all day I had the feeling, a m-miracle would happen_ –" He swallowed thickly as Quinn ran her hand up his dick, smearing it with precum. "_I know now… I was r-right…_"

"You're doing great, baby," she smiled, trailing her lips up to his ear. She hadn't lied, his voice was an enormous turn-on for her, the way it resonated through her, sending her into a haze of lust. She was practically dripping now, and she couldn't wait for much longer…

"_For here you are_," Ryan took a deep breath, valiantly trying to concentrate on the song as Quinn teased him. "_And what w-was just a world… is a star_…" Desperate brown eyes met Quinn's as he finally finished the song. "_Tonight_!"

Quinn's smile widened as he hit the note perfectly. "Great job, Ry," she whispered. She leaned forward, pressing him back into the bed, sliding her hands under his shirt and tugging it off. "Perfect," she breathed, raking her eyes appreciatively over his body.

"Quinn…" he whined almost pathetically.

"Just a little more," she promised, reaching down to help him pull down his pants. He raised his hips to help her, bumping against her in a way that made her center throb even harder than it already was. She swallowed, making quick work of her skirt and underwear. She reached over to his bedside table, fumbling in the drawer for a condom that she quickly rolled onto him. "Okay?"

"God, yes," Ryan rasped out, tugging on her hips. Quinn let out a moan as she sank down onto him, his dick sliding easily into her, filling her perfectly.

"Yes," she hissed, whimpering as he bottomed out. Bracing herself against his stomach, she rose up, letting his slide out of her before slamming back down. Their groans filled the room as stars filled their vision. Ryan's hands were almost bruising in their grip, guiding her in a frenetic pace as she rocked against him.

"Quinn –" he gasped. "I – I'm not gonna l-last long –"

She just nodded breathlessly, surging forward to cover his mouth with hers. She was on the edge herself. Lips and tongues and teeth crashed together frantically as they raced towards the edge. Quinn let out a guttural groan as he hit especially deep, stretching her so perfectly. She thrust down hard just as Ryan bucked upwards, and finally the resulting friction sent her tumbling over. Someone was screaming, she wasn't sure if it was her; she swore the world disappeared for a second. Then Ryan was shaking, dick pulsing as he came inside her, sending her into another orgasm.

She slumped forward onto him as they rode out their climaxes. Finally she came back to herself, finding herself settled on top of her boyfriend, his arms wrapped securely around her as they fought to catch their breath. He gave her a dazed smile. "Hi."

Quinn let out a tired chuckle. "Hi." She moved slightly, rolling off of him and snuggling into his side. "That was really intense."

"Yeah," Ryan breathed out. "Yeah it was." He let out a deep, contented sigh. "I missed that."

"Me too."

"Are you mad?"

"Kind of hard to be mad right now," Quinn huffed.

"I meant –"

"I know what you meant," she cut in. "And… yeah, maybe. Maybe I was a little annoyed that you weren't paying as much attention to me." She saw a flash of guilt in his eyes. "But… I guess I get it." She reached up, giving him a kiss. "I love that you're so passionate about glee, and the musical. I just… miss you."

"I miss you too," Ryan admitted. "I'm sorry. I'll try to balance my time better, I promise. Glee and the musical are important, but our relationship is important to me too."

Quinn smiled, shutting her eyes. "Okay. But for now, how about we just shut up, huh?"

Ryan chuckled tiredly. "Okay."

* * *

**Wow. I cannot believe how slow I've gotten. It's been a busy couple of weeks, and I'm finding it hard to get into the mood to write. I kind of feel like parts of this chapter was a bit forced, hopefully it doesn't read that way. Typos, as always, are all mine.**

**As always, I'm very happy to see that people still read this, even when I disappear for a while. It's always great to hear from you guys. To answer a few comments:**

**\- I think I'm leaning away from introducing Jake. It would introduce a lot of rather unnecessary complications, and I'm already having trouble condensing the story. Joe will probably be in the story later on though. My baseline for events is still Season 3 rather than Season 4.**

**\- I also think it would be interesting to see a rebellious Ryan, but in some ways I think it would be out of character for him to rebel too much. He's not exactly a normal teenager, he's experienced his parents leaving him and I think he values his relationship with his parents too much to jeopardize it. But then again, he **_**is**_** a teenager…**

**\- There'll be a small Sue/Shelby interaction in the next chapter, and yes, I think Sue will find it in the goodness of her heart to lend the Troubletones a few Cheerios. With a few conditions of course.**

**\- I've gotten a few suggestions for a pet for Ryan… interesting…**

**\- Don't worry about not agreeing with me for Ryan's casting, his face changes a lot for me. I do imagine him with Aaron Tveit's voice though, even before I read your review ;)**

**So, that's all for this update, I'll see you guys next time. The last two weeks have been absolutely crazy, but I may have more time to write soon. No promises though, I'm heading to South Korea for a conference in a couple of weeks so that'll take up some of my time. I'll do my best though. See you!**


	76. Chapter 75

"Okay, cut!" Artie called out, wheeling up the ramp onto the stage. "Mercedes, Ryan, can you come over here?" He looked at his two stars sternly. "This isn't working."

Ryan flushed slightly, shifting a little. He and Mercedes were rehearsing the _Tonight_ scene, and while he did have the entire thing memorized, the song was bringing up certain… memories… from the other day with Quinn. It was distracting to say the least. He did think it wasn't all his fault though, because he _was_ trying. Mercedes just wouldn't work with him.

"Artie, we've been doing this for almost two hours now," Mercedes huffed. "And there hasn't been any improvement. So how about we just take a break, come back fresh tomorrow, hmm?"

"But we still need to work on this scene," Ryan argued. It was still early, they could still do more. The show was next week, and they needed to get this down.

"If you want my best, I need my beauty sleep," Mercedes shot back. Ryan held back the rather uncharitable comment that it would take a lot more than sleep to cure her attitude.

"You know what, that might be best," Ryan conceded, scowling. Maybe some time to regroup was in order. And maybe to go find Quinn and a closet…

Artie shook his head. "Your chemistry is off. Actually, it's practically nonexistent. Do you have a problem with each other?"

Ryan held back a scoff, folding his arms. "Oh, I'm not the one with the problem."

"Wanna say that again?" Mercedes challenged. "Look Artie, let's just call it off for now, okay?"

Artie sighed. "Fine. We'll just do one of the other scenes. But I really need you to work it out, okay? Because right now, Tina and Blaine are doing a far better job than the two of you, and quite frankly, it might be a better decision to just stick with them." He wheeled himself back towards the director's table.

"I'm leaving," Mercedes said, striding off the stage. Ryan stood there for a moment before following her out of the auditorium.

"Mercedes, wait."

"What?" Mercedes snapped out. "Ryan, I'm tired, and I just want to go home."

"We need to talk," he said, planting himself in front of her. "We need to work something out, otherwise Artie's going to fire us. I would like to have at least one school production credit to my name by the time I graduate."

"Well, I want my time in the spotlight too," Mercedes answered, frowning. "But we need a break."

"You know, that's your problem," Ryan complained. "Every time things aren't going your way, you just give up. We need to rehearse, Mercedes, it's the only way we're going to get any better. Sometimes you need to push yourself to get results."

"Oh, don't you put this on me," Mercedes said aggressively. "It takes two people to make the scene work, and obviously you're not cutting it."

"_I'm_ not cutting it?" Ryan asked in disbelief. "I'm trying my best here! And sure, maybe there isn't any kind of spark between us" – and thank God for that – "but the least you could do is try to meet me halfway. Maria is supposed to be absolutely in love with Tony. You look at me like you can't wait to go home and watch TV!"

"Maybe it's 'cause I can't stand your voice anymore!"

Ryan clenched his fists, taking a moment before letting out a deep breath. He needed to calm down. "Okay, I asked Kurt this last week, and I'll ask you now. What exactly is your problem with me?" he gritted out. Mercedes scowled, but didn't say anything. "I understand that Kurt is your friend, but I don't understand why you're mad at me. And you know what? I don't think I particularly care. All of you seem to dislike me simply for being myself. But I can't and won't change myself just so I can ingratiate myself into your good graces. Now, Artie says we need to get it together, or we're out." He stared Mercedes straight in the eye. "So it's your choice. You don't have to like me, but you do need to work with me. I thought you wanted this chance to be in the spotlight." He raised his hands. "It's up to you."

He strode off, leaving the New Directions diva standing there in the hallway.

* * *

The bell finally rang for Shelby's last class before lunch, and she let out a sigh of relief. "All right everyone, I need you to turn in your essays by tomorrow. No exceptions. I'll see you… later in geometry," she finished a bit wryly, drawing a quick laugh from some of the students as they stood up and started ambling out of the room. It was a lazy day today, even getting out of bed had been a struggle. It had been raining all night, making for perfect bed weather, and she like all the students couldn't wait for the day to be over.

She refrained from rolling her eyes at Noah Puckerman, who shot her a wink as he passed her desk, instead giving him a rather patronizing smile. She suspected the teen had a bit of a crush on her. She'd dealt with her share of student crushes over the years, and while slightly uncomfortable, it wasn't really that big of a deal. She'd heard of Will's experience with a certain Suzy Pepper and the world's hottest chili pepper, but fortunately nothing quite as exciting had happened to her.

She glanced out the window at the rain. The dismal weather hadn't stopped since starting up last night. Her phone rang suddenly, and she picked it up, smiling when James' profile picture flashed on the screen. "Hey."

"_Hey Shelby. Am I bothering you?"_

"No, perfect timing, actually. I just finished class, I'm on break," she responded, picking up her file folder. "Why, what's up?"

"_Oh, nothing,"_ James said vaguely. _"I… guess I just missed you."_

"Something come up at work?" she asked, concerned. Sometimes the ambulance calls James received were emotionally taxing. DOAs were especially hard.

"_No, nothing like that…"_ James hesitated. _"You know what, never mind, it's nothing really. I'm not really sure why I called, to be honest."_

"Oh." Shelby sighed softly. Sometimes she could see more similarity between James and Ryan than just the color of their eyes. "Well, I miss you too. I'd rather be talking to you than grading these papers. You would not believe the stuff some of these kids think is fit to pass," she said lightly.

James chuckled. _"Oh yeah? Like what?"_

With her own laugh, Shelby started recounting some of the funnier things she'd seen some of her students pass as she headed back to her office, closing the door behind her as she sat down behind her desk. She checked her watch some time later. "I need to go soon. Are you sure you're okay?" she checked.

"_Yeah, yeah, I'm fine,"_ James assured her. Shelby hesitated for a moment. His voice did sound better than it had at the start of their conversation.

"Okay. I'll see you tonight, okay? There's a staff meeting later."

"_Okay."_

"I love you."

"_I love you too."_

Shelby smiled a little at the words as she disconnected the call. She'd ask what was really bothering him later. She glanced out her window. The rain was barely letting up, and she almost missed the quick rap on her door before it swung open.

"Good afternoon, Yentl," Sue greeted as she breezed in, making herself at home on Shelby's couch. "Lovely weather."

"I've seen better," Shelby answered, smiling nicely at the insane cheerleading coach. "Did you want something, future election loser?"

Sue sat up in mock outrage. "I'll have you know I'm leading in the polls. And thanks to this latest bout of voter fury, numbers are through the roof. Not to mention I ruffled Will Schuester's feathers by cancelling his doomed production of West Side Story. Even if he did manage to find a way around it."

"Yes, I heard about that," Shelby commented, leaning back in her desk chair. Ryan had been rather upset with the news that the musical was to be cancelled. Until of course Burt Hummel had managed to save the production by locating several investors. "Don't you think that was going a little too far?"

"Nope. And my little scheme may have been foiled, but it'll happen in the end. This week the musical, next week the glee club. Well, Butt-Chin's glee club, since apparently yours has been placed off-limits due to Al Motta's buckets of cash."

"Oh, we both know you could do something about that if you wanted to," Shelby said dismissively. She smirked. "But you won't."

"And why not?"

"You'd miss this," Shelby gestured between them knowingly. Sue studied her for a moment before leaning back as well.

"Hmm. I will admit you're a far more worthy opponent than Macaroni Hair. And if we have to have the arts, I suppose your group of mouth breathers would be an improvement over the last one. I half expected that bunch to kill each other within two months."

"You're actually right, I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did," Shelby admitted. She wasn't entirely sure how the club functioned with all its infighting and lack of focused rehearsals, but she put it down to just raw talent and dumb luck. She smirked again. "Did you just give us your blessing, Ellen?"

"Don't push it, Barbra," Sue warned. "But if you're going to go ahead with this madness that is glee club, you better win. You've got three of my Cheerios there, four if you count Q. Which I don't, by the way, girl's a disgrace to the uniform. But she can do the tricks. Not to mention you've got that dancing Asian kid. And from what I can tell your kid's no slouch either. And best of all, you're not hampered by the overwhelmingly clumsy jerking of the Teen Giant."

Shelby nodded, smiling indulgently. "For someone who doesn't care, you seem to have put a lot of thought into this."

"And it won't be pretty if anybody ever finds out."

"I'm sure it won't."

..

At the end of the day Ryan pulled up in his driveway after yet another rehearsal. Just a quick one this time, since Artie wanted to work on some of the Sharks' scenes. He turned off the engine after parking. He took another glance out the window, sighing as he decided that the rain wasn't going to let up anytime soon. He counted to three, then pulled the door open and dashed madly to the front door. Fortunately his rain coat had done its job, and he was still relatively dry underneath. He deposited the raincoat on the front porch – Shelby would kill him if he got the front hall wet – and let himself inside.

He frowned as he heard the TV playing lightly in the living room. No one was supposed to be home yet; he'd left his mom at school and his dad was supposed to be at work. He headed to the living room, and was surprised to find James sprawled across the sofa, dozing off as a rerun of Days of Our Lives played out on the TV. "Dad?"

James quickly woke up, disoriented for a moment before his eyes focused on Ryan. "Hey buddy." He yawned. "Is school over? What time is it?"

"Yes, school's over," Ryan answered. "It's 5:30, I thought you were still at work."

"I took a day off."

"Really?" Ryan looked at him curiously. "Why?"

James shrugged a bit uncomfortably. "Just not feeling that great today. It's nothing serious."

"Do you need anything?" Ryan questioned. "Is there anything I can do? Do you need medicine, or food, or something?" He scratched his head, unsure of what to do. He'd never taken care of anyone before.

James smiled slightly, straightening up with a slight wince. "No, I don't need anything. But if you want, you can just sit here with me for a spell."

Ryan frowned a little. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Okay," Ryan smiled, sliding down on the sofa next to James. "When Leroy or Hiram got sick they usually just wanted to be left alone," he said offhandedly.

"Well, I don't," James said firmly. "How was your day at school? Anything cool happen?"

"Just a rather dismal rehearsal for the school musical," Ryan grumbled. "Oh, hey, I just remembered," he brightened, digging around in his pockets and producing two pieces of paper. "I got you these," he said proudly, handing them to James. "They're tickets for the opening night of West Side Story. One for you and one for Mom."

James took them thoughtfully. "Hmm…"

Ryan's smile faltered. "You do want to watch, right? I mean, you're certainly not obliged to watch, I just thought that perhaps you'd want –"

"Hey, hey," James interrupted. "Of course I want to watch. I was just thinking you didn't get enough tickets. You need some for your grandparents too, and your aunt and uncle. I'm sure they'd love to see you in your first production too."

"Oh," Ryan said, relaxing. For a second there he'd thought his dad hadn't wanted to come. "I thought –"

"I know what you thought, and that's not it at all. You won't be able to keep me away," James assured him with a smile. "In fact, you can just go ahead and book a whole block of tickets when you get into your first show on Broadway, because we'll all be there." Ryan nodded wordlessly, touched by the sentiment and by his father's implied belief that he would in fact make it in New York. James nudged him lightly in the shoulder. "I wanted to talk to you too."

Ryan nodded again, happy to talk to his dad about anything. "Okay."

..

Later that evening Shelby opened the front door of the house, shrugging off her coat and hanging it up. She also picked up Ryan's coat, which was still on the porch, shaking it out and hanging it up as well, rolling her eyes at her son's mess. At least he hadn't let it drip on the entry hall's carpet. She went into the living room, a smile tugging on her lips at the sight of James and Ryan sharing a laugh on the sofa. "Hi guys," she greeted.

"Hi Mom," Ryan chirped happily. Shelby sank down next to James, settling against his side.

"Hey Shelby," he smiled as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Good meeting?"

"Uneventful, unless you count the free entertainment provided by Will and Sue sniping at each other like an old married couple." Sue's barbs and Will's weak retorts were actually rather amusing, providing a break from the monotony of Figgins' voice. "How about you? Good day at work?"

"Oh," James cleared his throat. "I took the day off."

"What? Why?"

"I'll tell you later," he said quickly. "Anyways, Ryan got us tickets for opening night. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah, it is," Shelby agreed, letting him change the topic. "How are rehearsals going, anyways?" she asked her son.

"They're… well, they're going," Ryan responded reluctantly. "We've been having difficulties expressing the correct feelings. And as you very well know, if we can't express the appropriate emotions then there's no way we're going to be able to move the audience with our performance."

"What seems to be the problem?" Shelby inquired. She knew he could act, it was slightly surprising to hear that he was having trouble.

"It's Mercedes," Ryan sighed glumly. "I suppose it wouldn't be entirely fair to put all of the blame on her," he conceded, flushing a little. "But we have no chemistry at all. And I thought it would be easy to formulate, I've had plenty of experience faking emotions after all. But she's not working with me at all. Maria is supposed to love Tony, not think he's a waste of space."

"You're not a waste of space," Shelby said automatically, frowning. "Have you talked to her?"

"I tried, but… she really doesn't seem to like me." Ryan glanced at his parents. "I don't suppose you have any useful advice?"

"I'm kinda out of my depth here," James said, amused. Shelby smirked. He wasn't much of an actor. "But I'm sure your mom has invaluable advice on the topic."

"Well," Shelby said slowly. "Portraying emotions believable is always hard. That's why not everybody can act. But I know you've got it in spades. I also know it's not easy when your co-star isn't cooperating. Unfortunately, you can't always pick and choose who you work with. Case in point," she said wryly. "What you need to do is think of something that draws up the feeling you want to project, and let that fuel you. You let the real emotion fill you up, so much so that you can't help but release it to the audience in your actions." She smiled at him. "The best acting is powered by true feeling."

"That's… very good advice," Ryan admitted thoughtfully. "I suppose I could try that."

"I do give good advice on occasion," Shelby deadpanned.

"Occasionally," Ryan agreed. "Mixing up the formulas for the area and circumference of a circle in geometry this afternoon however is not included in those occasions." Shelby reached over to swat him on the arm as James laughed.

"Sure, laugh it up," she grumbled. "There's a reason I didn't become a math teacher." She shook her head. "Now," she said lightly, switching topics. "Dare I ask what the two of you were talking about when I walked in?"

Suddenly Ryan's brown eyes were sparkling with contained mirth, mirrored perfectly in James'. The two of them looked at each other conspiratorially, making Shelby narrow her eyes in suspicion. "I think I'll let Dad answer that one," Ryan stated, smiling. James leaned over, giving her a quick kiss.

"And I think I'll let that wait for another time." He gave her a cheeky grin.

"That's not very comforting," Shelby said, disgruntled at being left out of the loop.

"Well," Ryan said, standing up. "I'm going to go upstairs. I have a massive amount of homework that I have to get to," he looked pointedly at Shelby, who smirked at him unabashed. She had been the one to assign the rather heavy essay he needed to write.

"Hey, I gave you guys two weeks to write it," she shrugged. "And you know I'm always available for consultation if you need it."

"How comforting," Ryan deadpanned before heading up to his room. Shelby and James sat there in the living room for a moment in companionable silence.

"So what's up with you?" Shelby asked eventually. "You don't usually take days off from work. Something wrong?" She looked at him questioningly.

"Oh," James blinked. He ran his hand through his hair. "My leg kind of hurts a bit. Old injury, I broke it in Afghanistan a few years ago, I told you, remember? It aches when it rains sometimes."

Shelby's eyes widened in surprise, her gaze flicking down to where his hand was rubbing at his left thigh. There was a scar there, she knew, she'd seen it the first time they'd slept together after he'd moved to Lima, and had asked about it the fifth time. He'd told her about a Humvee explosion in Afghanistan four years ago, but had left out the part where it still hurt him. "But you were here last year," she said slowly. "I distinctly remember there being a good bit of rain around this time, but I don't remember you saying anything."

James fidgeted. "It was easier not to tell you," he admitted. "We weren't living together, so I just hid out at the apartment whenever it was acting up. It's not that often, really. I mean, you know I can go on short runs with Ryan. There are just bad days sometimes." His eyes drifted to the window, rain still pattering against the glass.

"Do you need anything?" Shelby asked, unsure of what to say. "What?" She frowned a little when James gave her a crooked smile.

"Ryan asked me exactly the same thing earlier."

"Ah." Shelby was quiet for a moment. "So do you?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine. It'll go away eventually." He rubbed at his thigh, sighing a little. Shelby leaned her head against his shoulder, placing a hand on his. "How's the new glee club, anyways? I think Ryan's been really focused on the musical, he hasn't talked about your new group as much. The Troubletones, right?"

"Right," Shelby answered, smiling slightly. "Well, so far there haven't been any problems. We're having a meeting in a couple of days, I'm planning on getting them to do a group number, see how they all work together. There are some really talented kids in the group."

"Well, yeah, our kid's in it."

Shelby chuckled. "I meant besides him. Honestly though, the New Directions had a lot of talent, it's the only reason they managed to get to New York. Brittany Pierce and Mike Chang are amazing dancers, but severely underused. Santana Lopez's voice is great, I think she and Ryan would sound really good together, actually," she said thoughtfully. She did need a female lead after all. "Quinn's voice is good as well, but I suspect she'd prefer being in the background. And her range is specific. Tina Cohen-Chang is also good, I can tell she's had lessons, and she'd do really well with some more training." She hummed, thinking about the newer students. "Marley Rose could be something special. I don't think she's had much formal training though. Kitty…" She smiled a little. "Kitty is only on the team because of Quinn. She's got potential though. And Ryder is good as well, but also untrained." She leaned away from James, tilting her head as he smiled. "What?"

"Nothing," he answered, pulling her back towards him. "I just think it's great how much thought you're putting into this. You're really trying to get to know all of them, aren't you?"

"Well, of course," she replied. "It's important to know the talents of each member of the team, so that they reach their full potential. Something that Will Schuester doesn't quite seem to grasp," she added wryly.

James snorted derisively at the mention of the other teacher. "That man is a tool. He is," he insisted when Shelby slapped him lightly on the chest. "You were there, you saw how he treated Ryan."

"I know." She was quite annoyed with Will as well. "Don't worry, I already told him to stay away from Ryan."

"Is that so?"

Shelby could hear the smirk in his voice. Her eyes narrowed. "What?"

"I may have told him something along those lines as well," he said vaguely. "Might have made him shake a little while I was at it."

Shelby couldn't help her smile. "Interesting."

"Hey, nobody's getting away with messing with our son, especially not stupid teachers who never grew out of high school."

"I fully agree," Shelby nodded, smiling as she pressed a kiss to his jaw. "I love you."

"I love you too. Oh, that feels really good," he sighed as Shelby ran her hand over his thigh. She repeated the movement, pressing a bit more, and he let out a soft moan. She smiled, removing her hand and standing up. His eyes fluttered open, slightly disappointed. "Why'd you stop?"

She held out a hand. "Come on, let's take this upstairs. Maybe we can find a better way for your muscles to… relax," she said suggestively. James' eyes widened, and he smiled as he caught her meaning, quickly letting her pull him up from the sofa and up the stairs.

* * *

The next day, Ryan entered the Lima Bean after school, wanting a quick coffee before he headed to Burt Hummel's auto shop. He'd actually been spending less time there lately, a product of both his busy schedule and his lack of desire to interact with Kurt in any shape or form. He quickly placed his order, and while waiting, he heard someone call his name. He turned to see Blaine waving at him from where he sat at one of the tables with another guy in a Dalton blazer. Ryan picked up his drink and headed over to Blaine. "Hello Blaine." He glanced inquisitively at his friend's companion.

"Hey Ryan," Blaine smiled, also glancing at his table-mate. "Uh, this is Sebastian Smythe, he's from Dalton. I guess you can tell from the blazer."

"I see," Ryan nodded, offering Sebastian a handshake. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Sebastian said smoothly. He looked Ryan up and down. "This your boyfriend, Blaine?"

Blaine let out a nervous laugh as Ryan gave an amused one, shaking his head. "No, no, Ryan's – we're just friends," Blaine demurred quickly.

"Ah," Sebastian nodded, smirking slightly at Ryan. "Too bad, he's hot."

Ryan's eyebrows rose. "And you're forward."

"Guilty as charged."

"I've got a girlfriend."

"Ah. Got it."

"Okay," Blaine cut in, chuckling nervously. Ryan looked at him, curious. It was pretty obvious that Sebastian was gay, and even he could see that Sebastian was flirting. With both of them, no less. It was flattering, of course, and Sebastian was attractive enough with his cocky smile and easy manner. "Uh, so, Ryan, we were just, uh…"

"Blaine here came over to visit Dalton to invite the Warblers to your musical," Sebastian put in. "Good thing too, I was dying to meet him, the Warblers can't shut up about him. And I have to say, he's kinda lived up to the hype." He gave Blaine an appreciative glance, causing him to blush a little.

Ryan hid a smile under the guise of taking a sip from his coffee. His friend obviously wasn't sure what to do with such blatant flirting. From what Blaine had told him, he had been the one to make the moves with Kurt, it was probably a new experience to be on the receiving end. Sebastian seemed okay, maybe a little too smooth for Ryan. He did like his confidence though.

Suddenly Ryan spotted Kurt coming in through the coffee shop's glass doors, and he quickly picked up his drink. "I should get going," he said. "I was just heading to the garage. I'll see you tomorrow, Blaine. Nice meeting you, Sebastian." He stood up, heading for the doors.

"Ryan," Kurt said crisply as he passed.

"Kurt," Ryan returned evenly. Yes, he was avoiding Kurt, but only because he didn't want any more confrontations with him. He didn't have the time to waste on someone like him. He headed to the garage, putting it out of his mind.

He managed to spend a couple of hours at the garage, and was just about to leave when Blaine came in. Ryan glanced up, surprised. "Hi Blaine. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, actually," Blaine confessed. He sat down on a bench as Ryan put together his things. Blaine told Ryan about his conversation with Kurt and Sebastian at the Lima Bean after Ryan had left.

"So you're going to a gay bar?" Ryan asked incredulously. "With Kurt?"

"And Sebastian," Blaine nodded. "He invited us."

"And you accepted?" Ryan was skeptical about this, Blaine didn't seem like the type to accept an invitation to a gay bar. Not to mention there would be illegal fake IDs involved here, which did not bode well.

"Well, actually, Kurt's the one who accepted," Blaine admitted. "But it'll be fine. Besides, I need to get out there, live a little. Especially after what Artie said yesterday at rehearsals."

"Why, what did Artie say?"

Blaine fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, he kind of said my performance was lacking passion, and then he went on to say that I needed to think about my first time, and how it made me feel, but…"

"You haven't had your first time yet," Ryan realized. Blaine nodded. "That's okay, it's nothing to be ashamed of," he assured his friend. "Everyone goes about this at their own pace, and you need to make sure your first time is special, and that it's with a person you really have feelings for." He smiled a little, remembering his first time with Quinn. He also felt some amusement at the fact that he was repeating advice his own parents had given him.

"I know, that's exactly why I'm waiting," Blaine said, relieved that Ryan wasn't making fun of him. "It's just that Artie said West Side Story's about sexual awakening. And it's kind of hard to portray the right emotions if you haven't, you know, felt it yet."

"Well, it doesn't have to be completely about sexual awakening," Ryan said slowly. "The story is about, yes, awakening, but it's also about first love, and the power of that love to make you do anything, defy all rules and logic, just to be with the one you love. And you know how that feels," he continued. "I mean, didn't you leave Dalton just to be with Kurt? Logically, that doesn't make much sense, Dalton is a much better school than McKinley, you would have benefited more from staying."

"I suppose," Blaine hazarded. "It's just that I need to give an authentic performance, and how can I do that if I don't have any experience?"

Ryan ran a hand through his hair. "I don't exactly know," he admitted. Authenticity was of great importance to him after all, he would never want to give an inauthentic one. "Just… I don't think you should have your first time just for this performance." He paused for a moment. "My first time with Quinn was perfect," he said, smiling softly. "And I'm going to remember it forever. You don't want your first time to be… tainted," he added, remembering what Quinn had told him about hers. "If you're not ready, or if Kurt's not ready, then you shouldn't do it."

Blaine nodded. "Yeah. You're right."

"But… West Side Story, it's about finding that one special person, against all odds," Ryan said musingly. "And you know what that's like, right?"

The other boy sighed. "Well, we'll see what happens tomorrow night," he said unconvincingly. "It'll be fun."

"If you say so," Ryan said, smiling slightly. He didn't want to know what his mom would say if she caught him even thinking about going to a bar with a fake ID. It didn't even bear thinking about. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Oh, I will."

* * *

"Hello Mercedes," Ryan greeted as he sat down next to his co-star in the auditorium the next day. They were on break, having just finished a run-through of one of the earlier scenes. He was feeling a bit more optimistic about the musical today after his talk with his mom on how to act. "Are you ready for the next scene?" They were rehearsing _One Hand, One Heart_ next, and they really needed to be in sync for the scene to work.

"Oh, I'm ready," Mercedes said. "Question is, are you?"

"Yes, I most definitely am," Ryan answered gamely. "I was talking to Blaine yesterday," he commented. "And he told me Artie had spoken to him regarding his first time, in the context of using it to power his performance. Did he speak to you as well?"

"That's not really any of your business," Mercedes said snarkily.

"I was just asking," Ryan sighed. Maybe he should have just stayed quiet. He never could tell when it was the right time to shut up. "Because if you wished, I'm sure you could speak to some of the other glee girls about it. After all, I'm sure that you want this performance to be as authentic as possible, I know I do. I –"

"Look, Ryan, I know you want this show to be great, but how about we just keep this professional, m'kay?"

Ryan huffed. "Fine. I was just trying to help, but obviously my assistance is not needed."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

Just then Artie called them back. "Okay you two, let's get back to work."

Ryan stood up, sighing as he cleared his head, focusing on his performance. He looked at Mercedes, trying to fall into his character, the one who was completely in love with hers. Somehow it wasn't exactly coming to him. He shook his head slightly. He was an actor, he would one day be on a stage in front of hundreds of people portraying the full range of human emotion and making them feel every single one. He shook his head, closing his eyes as he thought back to his mom's words.

_Think of something that draws up the feeling you want to project, and let that fuel you._

Love. He needed to convince the audience that he was head over heels in love with Maria, ready to throw away anything and everything for even a chance at a life with her.

It was a no-brainer what he needed to fuel his performance.

..

Quinn stood in front of her locker late that afternoon, inspecting herself in the mirror attached to the door as she retouched her makeup. Ryan was due to finish rehearsals in a few minutes and they were heading to her house afterwards.

"Hey."

She looked up, eyes widening a little in surprise as she saw Mercedes watching her. "Hello Mercedes." She looked at the other girl for a moment. She'd thought that the two of them had become friends in sophomore year, when Mercedes had rescued her from Puck's basement by asking her to live with her family. The relationship had quickly vanished though after Beth had been born and Quinn's mom had reappeared, ready to make amends. Mercedes had barely spoken to her all of last year, and Quinn had not initiated anything either, irritated by Mercedes' dismissive treatment of Ryan. "Did you need something?"

Mercedes shook her head. "Nah, I'm good, momma."

"Okay." Quinn turned back to her locker. "Are rehearsals finished?"

"Yeah. Ryan should be out soon." Mercedes was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. "I messed up."

"Excuse me?" Quinn asked, looking at the diva in confusion.

"With the musical," Mercedes said unhappily. "Artie said me and Ryan aren't working, and if we don't get it together he's gonna just go with Blaine and Tina."

"Ah." Quinn knew that, mostly because Ryan had been railing about it just the other day. "What's your problem with Ryan, anyways?" she asked, genuinely curious. "He said you wouldn't work with him, or something like that. And I know he's trying."

"I… I'm not sure," Mercedes admitted. "I guess it's because I've been hanging out with Kurt a lot, he's my best friend."

"Ah." Quinn nodded, knowing very well how things stood between Kurt and Ryan. "Well, good luck with that. You might want to try letting up on Ryan in the musical," she said pointedly. "You're not doing anyone any favors by not working with him."

"You know what, that's exactly why I stopped talking to you last year," Mercedes finally burst out.

Quinn stared at her in bemusement. "Okay, I'm not following here."

"You bounced back so easily after Beth was born," Mercedes said. "You were a loser with the rest of us one day, and then the next you were back on top with the Cheerios and the perfect life and the boyfriend who thinks you're the best thing since Tater Tots. And it was just unfair."

"You think it was easy?" Quinn said in disbelief, remembering the crippling ache in her heart that wouldn't go away after she'd given birth, the distrust that she felt every time she looked at her mom, the struggle she'd gone through to get her life back to normal. "It wasn't _easy_. The only reason I got through it without cracking is because of Ryan."

"Exactly!" Mercedes nodded. "Anyone can see how great you two are together. I just, I want to have that moment, you know, when someone looks at you like you're the most amazing thing they've ever seen."

Then it clicked. "So… you're jealous?"

Mercedes nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess so. Not of Ryan, exactly, just… the idea that you've got a guy that can look at you like… you're everything. Like he sees you, and loves you, flaws and all. Like the way Ryan looks at you." Quinn didn't know what to say to that. "We were just in rehearsal, and the way he looked at me… I knew he was thinking of you. And… it was amazing. I want somebody like that for me."

"Aren't you dating Shane?" Quinn asked, referencing the large football player Mercedes was currently dating. Mercedes shook her head though.

"Shane's sweet, but… it's not enough."

"Maybe not right now," Quinn pointed out. "Maybe you just haven't been together long enough. Feelings like that don't just develop overnight." She sighed when Mercedes gave her a skeptical look. "You guys need to work for it. Like Ryan and I did. And if Shane's not your person… well, you'll find someone like that someday."

"I guess."

Quinn sighed again. "Look, you were my friend before. You let me live in your house. I get how you feel, but you can't take it out on me and Ryan just because you're not happy with your own relationship. Besides, you don't need a guy to define you. Just be you, the right guy will come along eventually." Mercedes nodded dejectedly. "And in the meantime, stop fighting Ryan in the musical, okay? This is really important to him."

Mercedes nodded again. "It's important to me too. I guess I'll try harder."

"Good," Quinn said. She reached out, touching Mercedes on the arm. "I'll see you around."

* * *

The next day was a Friday, and Ryan was at home after school with his mom in her home office. James was still at work, and Quinn was off on some kind of family dinner with Kitty's family, so he was on his own for the night. He was browsing through the TV channels when he heard the doorbell ring.

"Ryan, can you get that?" Shelby called from the office.

"Okay," he called back, getting up to open the door. "Mike?" he asked in confusion. He looked at his friend standing on the porch, looking slightly upset. "What are you doing here?"

"I –" Mike paused uncomfortably, hitching his backpack up on one shoulder. "I just needed somewhere to go. Can I come in?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Ryan stepped aside, letting Mike into the house and leading him into the living room. Mike sat down on the sofa. "What's up?"

"My dad found out about the musical." He took a breath. "And he said if I didn't quit… then I wouldn't be his kid anymore."

Ryan looked at him incredulously, not knowing what to say at all. "What?"

"Yeah." Mike looked down.

"What did you say?"

"I told him… that I guess I didn't have a dad anymore."

Ryan was silent. For all his experience with fathers walking out on their kids, he still didn't know how to react to this. "Does Tina know?"

"Yeah. She said maybe I should just go talk to my dad, get him to see reason."

"Maybe you should try that."

"It wouldn't work," Mike said vehemently. "He's stubborn, he doesn't listen to me! He just wants what he wants and it doesn't matter what anyone else says!" His voice rose a bit in agitation before it dropped again. "Tina doesn't get it," Mike said quietly. "Her parents are total art people, did you know her mom majored in Art Studies in California? And yeah, her parents are strict about grades too, but they'd never make her quit glee, or drop the musical." He grew silent.

Ryan sighed. "I don't really know what to say," he admitted.

"I…" Mike hesitated. "What happened with you, exactly? With… you know… your old parents?"

"Oh." Ryan tensed. "Well, it's kind of a long story."

"I've got time. But if you don't want to tell me, it's fine."

"No, no, it's…" Ryan ran a hand through his hair. "Well, you know the, ah, circumstances surrounding my adoption?"

"Yeah." Mike nodded, the Berrys were the only gay couple in town, and the story of how they had acquired their child had fueled the Lima gossip mill for ages.

"Hmm. Well, as it turns out, neither of them were my biological father, due to some rather mistimed events during their, ahem, transaction. James Walker is my biological dad. Anyways, my mom was legally obligated to refrain from contacting me until I turned eighteen, however she saw us at Sectionals two years ago, and we ran into each other again at Mr. Hummel's garage. Long story short, we figured out who we were to each other and we decided to pursue a relationship. Hiram and Leroy found out, and they were… upset. We had some quarrels regarding the whole issue. After some drama of telling her to stay away, they finally came to a decision." Ryan paused, looking down. "Anyways, I walked in on them telling my mom she could have me, because… because I wasn't their son."

"That's…"

"Well, it was actually true, and it wasn't really a surprise, because I'd figured it out myself a few years earlier. But… they were my parents," Ryan said quietly. "I don't think any child should have to hear that their parents don't want them."

Mike stayed quiet, digesting what Ryan had just told him. "I didn't know you were going through all that at the end of sophomore year."

Ryan flashed him a smile. "That's because I'm a very good actor." He had actively tried to keep people from seeing how everything was getting to him after all. His expression turned pensive. "And the real drama didn't happen until summer actually." The two were silent for a moment before Ryan spoke again. "Parents are important, they're supposed to be the ones who accept us for who we are, and hearing that they don't… it just feels like someone ripping a hole in your heart."

Mike just nodded. The description was very apt, actually. Hearing his father say that he wouldn't be his son anymore had hurt so much. He'd reacted to the pain by lashing out with his own biting disownment of his father, but it still hurt, badly. "Does it get better?"

Ryan shrugged. "My parents, my _real_ parents, helped. But I… I grew up with Hiram and Leroy, and I think there will always be a part of me that feels badly over their rejection. But I've put that in the past, because what I have with my mom and dad now is infinitely better than anything I ever had with Hiram and Leroy. I don't even think of them as my parents anymore." He glanced at Mike. "It's different for you though."

"Yeah. It is." He didn't think he could ever think of his parents as anything less than his mom and dad.

"Have you spoken with your mom?" Ryan asked, and Mike shook his head. He'd been too ashamed of what had happened. "You probably should."

"I guess." His mom supported his dancing. Mike had been so surprised the other day when his mother had shown up, asking why he hadn't attended his chemistry tutoring session. He'd explained himself, ready to defend his actions, only to be surprised by his mother's support and the revelation that she shared his own love for dancing. He didn't know how to face her after what had happened with his father though.

Just then they heard someone clearing their throat. The two boys looked around to see Shelby standing at the entrance to the living room.

"Mike," she addressed the Asian boy. "Your mom's here. She says she needs to speak with you." Mrs. Chang emerged from behind Shelby, her eyes fixed on her son.

"Mom?" Mike questioned, confused. "Why – how did you know I was here?"

"I asked Tina," Mrs. Chang replied. "She gave me Ryan's address, she said you might be here. She's worried about you. As am I."

Shelby cleared her throat again. "We'll just let the two of you talk. Come on Ryan."

..

"So would you like to tell me what's going on?" Shelby asked expectantly as they entered the kitchen. Ryan looked at her in confusion before belatedly remembering that she probably had no idea why Mike and his mother were currently in the living room having a serious talk. He quickly ran her through what Mike had told him about the situation. Shelby nodded at the end. "Why did he come here?"

"I…" Ryan faltered. "Because we're friends." Shelby gave him a knowing look. "… And because he wanted to ask me about what happened with, you know, Hiram and Leroy."

"I thought that might be it."

He shrugged. "I guess there are some similarities to our situations. I just can't believe Mike's dad disowned him because he wouldn't quit the musical. Can you believe that he wants Mike to actually give up dancing? He wants Mike to go to medical school or law school or something like that, but Mike doesn't want to. He told me he wants to go to LA, be a professional dancer." He sat down at the counter. "His dad told him performing wasn't a real career."

Shelby was silent for a second. "I hate to say it, but Mike's father has a bit of a point."

Ryan's jaw dropped, and he was speechless for a moment. "What?" he finally got out. "How can you say that? Performing is definitely a career, and it's a passion. You know how strong the pull of the stage is, and dancing for Mike is exactly the same as what music is for me! You can't ask us to give it up, it's not possible!"

"I know that," Shelby said placatingly. "And you're right, performing is a legitimate career, and I know how it feels to have that kind of passion for performing."

"But…"

"But life doesn't always work out the way you want it to," she continued. "I should know that better than anyone," she said pointedly. Ryan flinched slightly. "You know that not everybody makes it in show business. That's why actors have a day job when they start out. For dancers… it's the same, but in some ways it's worse. One injury can end their career just like that," she snapped her fingers. "One wrong landing, one misplaced lift, and everything you've worked for is gone."

"It's a risk, just like anything," Ryan argued. "Conventional careers have their risks too. Business ventures are inherently based on risk."

"That's right," Shelby nodded. "But when a business fails, it's possible to start again. Can you imagine what would happen if you lost your voice?"

"I…" Ryan faltered. He couldn't imagine not having his voice. That one week when he'd had laryngitis in sophomore year had been hell, especially when he didn't know if his voice would recover.

"Broadway wouldn't be an option anymore," Shelby said. "If it were bad enough, even acting would no longer be an option. And you don't even have to lose your voice. You could just… fail at the business. Like I did."

"You didn't fail."

Shelby smiled crookedly, reaching over to give his hand a squeeze. "Thank you for saying that… but we know it's true. I didn't get as far as I wanted to. But the point is, this business that we're in is very fickle. It's so easy to lose. Can you blame a parent for not wanting their child in a business so prone to failure?"

"Is this you telling me not pursue my dreams?" Ryan questioned.

"No," Shelby shook her head decisively. "That's something I'll never do. And I don't condone what Mike's father did. But I do understand his fears." She tilted her head at him. "My parents had the same concerns."

"They did?"

She nodded. "I was just like you. I had it all worked out – New York for college, straight into Broadway, Tony by twenty-five. But they were more realistic. Your grandpa managed to convince me to take up a degree in education, so that just in case everything didn't work out the way I wanted, then I would have something to fall back on." She smiled wryly. "And as it turns out, it was a good thing they did."

"I guess so," Ryan said contemplatively. "But they didn't disown you over it, did they?"

"No, they didn't."

Ryan was quiet for a while, thinking over their conversation. "Do you think you could have gotten further if you had gone to an actual performing arts school?"

Shelby hesitated, looking down for a moment before looking back at him. "I've asked myself that a lot," she admitted. "And the truth is… I don't know. Maybe it would have given me the edge I needed. Or maybe it would all have been moot because I just wasn't enough. At this point, it doesn't do us any good to go over 'what if's."

Ryan nodded after a moment. "I already told Mike he could stay here if he needed to," he ventured. "At least for tonight. Is that okay?"

"Yeah," Shelby nodded. "Yeah, that's okay."

* * *

**Wow, I have turned into a very slow updater. It's been almost a month, but I have been crazy busy. Work + graduate school is crazy. I just got back from a week in Seoul for a conference, which was all kinds of fun. I miss the cold weather and the functioning train system. So, I tried to have this out before I left, but I didn't want to release a poorly-written chapter. As it is, it turned into a sort of filler. Some family time, issues with the musical, and other things thrown in.**

**Anyways, thank you very much for all your reviews for the last chapter, they gave me quite a few ideas, some of which are written and will be appearing in the next chapter. I'm so glad a lot of people are enjoying this story and this world I've created.**

**To answer a few reviews, drama for Faberry might take a while. I think they're in a good place right now, and they probably have a lot of drama coming up with OMW, so they should probably enjoy themselves for now. I'm happy that Quinn as the sex monster last chapter worked, I thought it was pretty funny to have the tables turned. As for Kurt and Mercedes, yeah, they're purposefully annoying. I did try to see if I could give a reason for Mercedes acting that way here in this chapter though.**

**As for the other characters, Sugar can be grating, yes, but amusing at the same time. I could have gone either way with Rory, but I thought I'd put a different spin on him. He might still join TT, if I can think of a plausible way to do it. I didn't focus on the new kids this chapter, but they'll pop up again soon. They're an interesting aspect of the story to explore, but I think most of my focus will still be on Ryan, Quinn, and Shelby.**

**I promise will finish this story, but I have no idea when. I'm going on another work trip this weekend, so I won't have much time. The next chapter is in progress though, and I hope to have it up soon. Don't worry, if I ever decide to stop, I'll notify you guys, but that won't happen, so it doesn't matter.**

**Again, Glee is not mine, typos and grammatical errors are though. Now, I think not maybe much happened in this chapter but I kind of needed it to get into the swing of things again. Tell me what you thought, reviews make me happy and I'm 90% sure I failed the exam I took yesterday, so I need cheering up. See you next time!**


	77. Chapter 76

Mike ended up going home with his mom that night. His dad had been in his study when the two had gotten home. Mike Sr. hadn't come out, and Mike Jr. hadn't gone to look for him. He knew his parents had fought after he had gone up to his room, and early the next morning he'd gone out to go back to Ryan's house. He still wasn't sure how to talk to Tina about this. Fortunately Ryan was already up, and the two boys headed to the Lima Bean for some coffee.

"So you haven't been kicked out," Ryan checked.

Mike shook his head. "No. But my dad, he won't talk to me," he said, his voice pained. "And it's crazy tense at home. I know he and my mom are fighting about this." He put his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do."

"What did Tina have to say?"

"Just to stay strong, and not to give up." Mike sighed. "My mom and I talked, and I get why my dad doesn't want me to pursue performing, but… it's my dream. But I want them to be proud of me. Both of them." He thought back to last night.

..

"_We are proud of you," his mother insisted, sitting across from him in Miss Corcoran's living room. In another situation Mike would feel really bizarre, but not right now._

"_He isn't," Mike countered. "He wants me to become something I don't want to be."_

"_Just come home with me," Mrs. Chang repeated. "We'll talk things out with your dad, it will be okay."_

"_I don't want to talke to him! He said he wasn't my dad anymore. He doesn't want me unless I give up the musical, and I won't. And I am going to a real dance school, I told him I don't want his money."_

"_Michael…"_

"_You can't ask me to give it up either," he said, ignoring her. "You said you understood." He needed her to understand. He couldn't take losing the support of both his parents._

_Mrs. Chang took a breath. "I do. And I will not ask you to surrender your dreams," she promised. "But you must understand, your father only wants what is best for you. He doesn't know how to show it, but he does."_

_Mike faltered at that. Deep down, he did still believe that his dad wanted the best for him. But why couldn't he understand that he wouldn't be happy unless he went after his dreams?_

_His mom took his hand, sensing that he was about to give in. "You still have a home with us, all right? I will not let my husband kick my only son out."_

_He let out a small sigh. He couldn't deny that that was a relief. "I…" He did want to go home. "All right."_

..

Ryan kept quiet. After his conversation with Shelby last night, he too understood Mr. Chang's point of view. But he understood Mike's as well, and he understood the hardwired need for children to make their parents proud of them. He didn't know what he'd do if he disappointed Shelby or James somehow. "So what are you going to do?"

Mike let out a breath. "I'm still doing the musical. But… I'm going to have to think about college."

Ryan nodded. "My mom took a teaching degree as a backup," he offered. "This was before she went to New York. And it worked out for her. I mean, she's like famous in the show choir world by now after Vocal Adrenaline. Maybe you could do something similar."

"I guess so." Mike smiled slightly. "I do like teaching. I'll think about it."

"And you should go talk to Tina, Quinn said she's been blowing up her phone since last night." He smiled softly as Mike cringed. "Trust me, you'll feel a lot better after you talk to her. Talking does help, despite the fact that it can be rather uncomfortable at times."

That drew a laugh from his friend. Mike paused. "Thanks."

"No problem," Ryan smiled as well. He finished his coffee. "I should go, I wanted to go see if Mr. Hummel needed anything at the garage."

"Okay." Mike nodded. "I'm going to go meet Tina."

"Good. Don't worry, I'm sure everything will work out the way it's supposed to."

* * *

The next few days went by in a whirl of West Side Story rehearsals, and before anyone knew it, opening night was upon them. "Ready for the show tomorrow?" Quinn asked, smiling as Ryan snuggled into her on her bed the evening before the first show. He'd been a nervous wreck a little while ago but she'd managed to convince him to stop obsessing for a little while.

"You bet," Ryan grinned happily. "I'm glad I won the coin toss," he continued. He and Blaine had flipped a coin to see who would perform on the first opening night. "I know the second night would have sort of been my opening night if I had lost, but the very first show is still a different matter." He tilted his head at Quinn as she smiled. "What?"

"Nothing," Quinn said lightly. "Just wondering. I mean, if you're this excited over a high school musical, how buzzed are you going to be for your first opening night at Broadway?"

Ryan's smile widened. "I'm sure I'll be a nervous wreck," he answered. "But I'll be incredibly excited as well of course, since it's Broadway. And I imagine that I'll be incredibly nervous as I walk onto the stage, but the nerves will disappear as soon as the music starts." He looked at her thoughtfully. "You really think I'll be able to make it?"

"Of course I do." He was too talented not to.

His smile softened. "That really means a lot to me. It's one thing to believe in yourself, it's another to have someone believe in you just as much."

Quinn didn't respond, instead opting to tug him into a gentle kiss, eyes fluttering shut as he sighed softly, his hand caressing her cheek. They parted for air soon, and Quinn's breath caught at the adoring look filling her boyfriend's expressive eyes. She'd seen it before, but her heart still skipped every time he gave it to her.

"I've been meaning to ask," Quinn said a moment later. "How are you and Mercedes working?"

"It's actually going quite a bit more smoothly between the two of us," Ryan commented. "She's stopped bickering with me over every little thing. Well, there are still a few minor squabbles, but it's been harmonious for the most part. Why?"

"Oh, nothing," she said again. "I just talked to her last week. She told me some stuff."

"Ah." Ryan nodded. "Well, whatever you two talked about, it worked. Artie is much happier with our performances, as am I. It will definitely be plus on college applications to say that we weren't booed off the stage during our first show."

"Mmm," Quinn hummed in agreement. That brought a new question to mind though. "Have you settled where you're applying?"

"Well, NYADA for sure," Ryan said, sitting up, his eyes bright at the thought of the school. "You should have seen their campus Quinn, it's absolutely made for performers. Not to mention, it's pretty close to the theatre district, so auditions will be no problem."

"You'll be auditioning while studying?"

"Yes, I will," he confirmed. "I expect I'll get minor roles at first, but who knows, I could get a big break while still at school. Anyways, I'm also applying to NYU Tisch, and Julliard. They don't have a musical theater program, but their theatre course is excellent. I'm also thinking of applying to OSU as a backup."

"I see," Quinn said slowly.

"What about you?" Ryan asked curiously. "Where are you applying? You are applying to New York based schools, aren't you?"

"Yeah, definitely," she answered. She'd already started working on her college applications, as well as the scholarship applications Shelby had suggested. "I'm looking at NYU and Columbia."

"You know, I feel bad for not knowing," Ryan said slowly. "But what do actually envision yourself doing, as a career? I guess I've been so self-absorbed in my own career path on Broadway that I haven't really given much thought to what you want to do." He gave her an apologetic and slightly self-deprecating smile. Quinn chuckled.

"It's not really your fault," she admitted. "I guess I'm not really as open as you are about my desires for a career path. Honestly I wasn't even really sure until recently."

"And?"

"I considered drama for a while." She gave him a wry smile. "Half my life has been one great performance after all. I'm not the singer you are, but I think I'd do well in a theater program."

Ryan grinned. "I think you'd be a fantastic actress. You do have the looks for it after all. The leading lady to my leading man."

Quinn chuckled at him. "But I got to thinking… I think I want to be a writer. Not like journalism or anything like that, but… creative writing." She smiled softly. "I've always been fascinated by stories, ever since I was little. As evidenced by my room," she added wryly, gesturing at her large bookshelves overflowing with novels. "And I've been making up my own stories for a long time too." Her eyes flickered to a shelf dedicated to notebooks she'd filled with her work. "I just never really thought there was any future in it."

"Why not?"

"My father. He wasn't much of a reader, and he was always saying how all the 'artsy' careers weren't real jobs." Quinn shrugged. "And I didn't really think I was that good. It's different now though." She smiled slightly, thinking of how Shelby had told her that her work was good, and of how the encouragement had led her to send her work out to people who agreed with that opinion.

"Well, that's good," Ryan huffed, annoyed at both the mention of Russell and at the idea that the arts weren't real careers. "Because that is completely untrue. If we're going to use money as the metric of success, which as we know most people do, some of the richest people in the world are artists."

"Yeah," Quinn nodded. "Anyways, that's what I want to try to do. Columbia and NYU have great literature programs." She hesitated, looking down. "Would you be mad if I said I were thinking about applying to schools outside New York too?"

He was silent for a while, and Quinn took that to mean yes. "Well…" he said after a moment of silence. "I can't say that I'd be pleased at the prospect of spending four years apart." She nodded, she wasn't too enthusiastic about that either. "That said," he continued, "If you really think that would be best for you, then I wouldn't want to hold you back."

She let out a small breath, not knowing until now how much she really wanted his approval. Not that she needed it, of course, she didn't want herself to be defined solely by him, but it was good to know. And she didn't think he was the type who'd want to control her anyways. She wouldn't be with him if he were. "I want to apply to Yale, and Princeton."

"Wow," he said, smiling. "Ivy League. Impressive." He looked at her thoughtfully. "New Haven and Princeton. That wouldn't be too bad. I mean, it's not that far by train. And we could spend weekends together. Obviously it's not as ideal as living in the same city would be, but we could make it work."

Quinn chuckled. "Well, obviously I'd have to get in first."

"Oh, that won't be a problem. You'd get into anywhere you applied," Ryan stated confidently. "It goes both ways. I believe in you too."

"Thank you," she whispered, pulling him into a hug. Her eyes watered slightly, the simple words stunning in their profoundness. He smiled back gently, running a hand through her hair.

"I've missed your hair like this," he said abruptly.

"Glad you like it." Quinn had finally gotten around to bleaching her hair, getting rid of the pink dye job Santana had made her get after their little bet last summer. She reached up absently to touch a lock of hair. "I kind of missed it too."

"I still maintain that the pink hair was hot though," Ryan added, and Quinn rolled her eyes. "Seriously. I wouldn't mind seeing it again in the future."

"As a Halloween costume, but nothing more. I looked like a punk. All I needed was black eyeliner and some cigarettes and I would have passed as a Skank."

Ryan scoffed. "Please. You'd be way hotter than any of those Skank girls."

"That's really sweet."

Suddenly he sat bolt upright in the bed. "What am I doing? The show is in less than 24 hours, I have to rehearse, I have to.."

Quinn just sighed, rolling her eyes.

* * *

The next day Quinn headed to the auditorium with Ryan's parents. She'd had her last class with Shelby, and had accompanied her to her office to get James. The three of them were going to meet Shelby's family at the auditorium. "So, Quinn, how are your classes going?" James asked. "Is this one still a slave driver? Ow," he complained as Shelby elbowed him.

"Sorry, I slipped," Shelby said sweetly.

Quinn stifled a laugh. "I like her classes, actually, I'm learning a lot." She earned a smile from Shelby. "But yes, she can be a bit of a slave driver," she added, thinking of the massive writing assignment Shelby had assigned that week. The second bit earned her a laugh from James. Suddenly they crossed paths with none other than Sue Sylvester.

"Prego, Barbra, Mr. Barbra," Sue nodded at the three of them affably. Quinn rolled her eyes at her former coach's antics as James looked at her in some amusement.

"Strange," Shelby said ponderingly. "I didn't think you'd be here, Ellen. Aren't you campaigning against the arts?"

"You know what they say, know your enemy," Sue tapped a finger against her temple. "And yes, maybe the musical has come to fruition, but like Sun Tzu said in _The Art of War,_ 'Never give up, never surrender.'"

"That's from _Galaxy Quest,_" Shelby retorted with a sly smile. Sue rolled her eyes as she stalked off, and Quinn's eyes widened. She'd never known Sue Sylvester to let anyone else get the last word. Impressive. She'd always suspected that Sue and Shelby together could be something epic, and she'd just seen a hint of it.

The three of them stopped just outside the entrance to the backstage area, meeting up with Shelby's parents, her brother and his wife. "Is Ryan here yet?" Shelby asked.

Sarah shook her head. "He was out a few minutes ago but he said he had to go do something. He'll be right back out though. Hello, Quinn."

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Corcoran," Quinn said politely. "Both sets," she added wryly, not knowing how to address Ryan's aunt and uncle. Right on cue Ryan came out, grinning when he saw everyone waiting for him. Quinn let his family greet him first, standing back a little.

"Thanks for coming, everyone," he said gratefully.

"Told you we wouldn't miss it," James said, smiling.

"Couldn't miss your theater debut after all," Josh added. Sarah nodded, seconding the statement.

Ryan's smile widened. "I have to go in, we're starting soon. You should all get to your seats."

"Right. Break a leg, buddy," James grinned at him.

"You're going to do great, sweetheart," Sarah told him fondly. Ryan grinned broadly as Shelby gave him a hug, whispering something Quinn couldn't hear. Soon Ryan's family left, heading for their seats in the auditorium, and Quinn sidled up to Ryan, flicking her hands through his hair.

"How do I look?" Ryan asked, giving her a smile that barely contained his excitement.

"Very handsome, as always," Quinn smiled at him, straightening his jacket. "Ready?"

"Born ready." He leaned forward, giving Quinn a quick kiss. "You should go, you wouldn't want to miss the opening number."

Quinn nodded, squeezing his hand. "Break a leg." He grinned at her again before vanishing backstage. She left for her seat a moment later, ending up next to Ryan's dad. "Hi James."

"Hello Quinn," James smiled at her, his brown eyes identical to Ryan's. "Got your program?"

"It's called a playbill," Shelby corrected, and Quinn hid a smile as James rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.

"My mistake, my humblest apologies."

"Yes, I have my playbill," Quinn said quickly, unable to help her smile. She loved Ryan's family. They were so natural with each other, even Ryan's grandparents were awesome. And she could only hope that when she and Ryan were older they'd have the same chemistry and love that Shelby and James obviously had for each other.

Soon the curtains went up, the orchestra playing the opening music. Quinn found herself drawn into the musical, she had to admit that Artie had done a very good job directing it. She smiled during _America_, watching as Santana fell into her element, her performance perfect. Her best friend really was an amazing performer. Not that she'd ever tell her, of course, she could just imagine the catty smirk and the unbearable ego that would emerge if Quinn ever intimated such.

And of course, her boyfriend was perfect as Tony. He had the audience enthralled during his performance. She'd heard his rendition of _Something's Coming_ before – really, she'd heard every song in this musical more times than she'd care to recall – but this was different somehow. Right in front of her, he changed, truly becoming his character. There was one tiny break that she noticed though – right after the song, the applause was intense, and she saw him grin for a split-second, obviously basking in the applause. He was back to Tony a moment later though.

The rest of the musical was amazing. Mike was great as Riff, and it was almost poetic in a way, since Ryan and Mike were such good friends in real life, and it was heartbreaking when Riff died in the rumble, only for Tony to avenge his death moments later.

Mercedes made a very good Maria, although Quinn had had her doubts, and if there was any tension left between her and Ryan, it couldn't be seen. Quinn watched her boyfriend closely, and she saw it – the expression that Mercedes had told her about. She often saw it on Ryan's face, directed at her, and it never failed to take her breath away. She could understand what Mercedes meant about wanting that.

The end of the musical had the entire audience in tears as Tony died, and Quinn could hear quite a few sniffles in the room. Finally, West Side Story came to its conclusion, and the cast made their curtain call. The applause was loud, and when Ryan and Mercedes came out to take their final bows, the applause increased. Of course, none were cheering quite as loudly as the people in Quinn's row.

..

Ryan exited the backstage area just in time to see his family heading towards him. He grinned broadly as Shelby wrapped him in a hug. "Congratulations, sweetie," she told him, smiling brightly. James clapped him on the shoulder.

"What she said," he added, grinning.

"You were wonderful," Sarah said, giving him a hug as well. After everyone had given him their congratulations, Ryan just took a moment, smiling at the fact that his entire family had come to see him perform. It was more than he would have expected less than two short years ago, and it was almost overwhelming. "Thank you so much for coming. All of you."

"Wouldn't miss it," Josh smiled at him. "But what we might miss are our restaurant reservations. I think some of us should go ahead and get it settled while Ryan here meets more of his fans."

Ryan blushed slightly. Half of their group soon left, and Shelby and James headed to their car to wait for Ryan. He smiled happily as Quinn sauntered up to him. "That was an amazing performance," she told him, giving him a kiss. Ryan tingled in pleasure, both at the praise and at the kiss.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Yeah, it was awesome," Blaine grinned as he came up behind Quinn. "Congratulations."

"Why thank you, Blaine," Ryan smiled mischievously. "Do you think you can top that?"

Blaine laughed. "Well, it looks like my work's cut out for me, but I'll do my very best."

"You'll be great," Ryan said sincerely. He knew his friend was just as talented an actor as he was. "I look forward to tomorrow's performance."

About half an hour later, Ryan found himself in a very nice Italian restaurant with his family and Quinn, whom his parents had invited along. Ryan was very happy that his girlfriend got along with his parents, it made it that much easier to spend time with each other. She sat beside him, and he took her hand, pressing a kiss to the back and getting a small smile from her.

"Aww, that's so cute," Josh gushed, causing the two teenagers to blush. He lifted a glass of soda. "I'd like to propose a toast, in honor of my amazing nephew," he grinned. "To many, many more successful performances on much more prestigious stages."

"I'll drink to that," Shelby grinned. Glasses were clinked, the food arrived, and once more Ryan found himself taking stock of his surroundings. His life was amazing now, and he never wanted to forget a second of it.

..

Later that evening Ryan had finished with his evening routine, and was just sitting by his window, staring out at the sky. This was an important day, and he needed time to think. West Side Story was just a high school musical, but for him, it was his first theater performance on a real stage in front of a real audience. The stage was in a public school in Ohio, and the audience was mostly parents and local community, but a stage was a stage and even a small audience could react negatively.

But they hadn't. They had actually enjoyed his performance. The thought was exhilarating. He looked behind him as someone knocked on his door, smiling when he saw his mom peeking in. "Hi."

"Thinking about the performance?" she asked, coming into the room.

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. "Maybe tomorrow we could go over the performance, point out things that could be improved?"

Shelby laughed. "Sure." Ryan smiled, knowing that tomorrow, she'd be brutal in her critique. Tonight though, tonight was for celebrating. "So," his mom said, sitting down on the edge of Ryan's bed. "What did you think of your first real theater performance?"

Ryan stood up, coming to sit down next to her. "It was… breathtaking," he said softly. "It was amazing. Being up on stage, it's all I've ever wanted to do. And it was perfect. And the applause…" He laughed quietly. "I always say that I live on applause, like Tinkerbell. But being up there, having all those people cheer, laugh, cry, because of what I did…" He shook his head. "I don't have the words to describe it."

Shelby smiled, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I know how you feel."

Ryan just smiled, knowing that it was true. It was a sentiment they both knew, both experienced, and they understood each other, one performer to another. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being there. For supporting me."

Shelby laughed lightly. "I'll be there to support you every step of the way, all the way to the Broadway stages."

Ryan pulled back, looking at her. "Does it…" he hesitated. "Does it make you feel bad? Knowing that you weren't able to make it, but that I might?" It was a worry of his, that his mother might end up resenting him for achieving what she had never been able to.

She leaned back, ruffling a hand through his hair. "I suppose there will be regret," she admitted. "But I want you to succeed. I want you to be able to get everything I never did. And I know you will, because you are so much more talented than I ever was." She kissed him on the cheek, and Ryan smiled, reassured by her words. "I'm not going to be the only one who's a bit jealous about the things that you'll be able to do. But I'll be the one who's always cheering you on as well. I promise you that."

"Dad already told me to go ahead and book tickets to my first Broadway show for everyone," Ryan smiled.

Shelby nodded with a smile. "Just try and stop us."

* * *

The next evening Ryan tapped on one of the tables backstage. "Knock knock."

Blaine looked up from his makeup, grinning when he saw Ryan. "Hey."

"Looks like you're all ready to go," Ryan commented. He reached out, poking Blaine's cheek. "Maybe a little heavy on the blush though."

"Nah, it's fine," Blaine said dismissively. "Big audience out there."

"Yes, it is," Ryan agreed. He smiled innocently. "Not to mention you've got quite an act to follow after last night's performance."

Blaine rolled his eyes, smiling slightly as he returned his focus to his makeup. "I'm sure I'll do fine."

Ryan hummed in amusement. "There's a whole block of Dalton students out there," he mentioned.

"Yeah," Blaine chuckled as he applied his makeup. "I got them the tickets last week. I may not go there anymore, but they're still my friends."

"That's nice." Ryan was pretty sure the New Directions wouldn't have come for him if he had transferred. The Trouble Tones might though. "I've been meaning to ask, how did your evening at Scandals with Kurt and Sebastian go?"

Blaine's face reddened even more under the blush. "Oh, that. It went okay. It was kinda fun. I guess I got kind of wasted." He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Good think Kurt was only having virgin Shirley Temples the whole time."

"Was Sebastian flirting with you again?"

"Ah," Blaine shrugged. "Yeah, maybe…" He paused. "Kurt and I… we almost… you know."

"Oh. Wait, almost?"

"Almost. I… it didn't feel right. Not yet."

"I see. Well, if it didn't feel right, then it's good that you didn't. You'll be awesome as Tony either way." Before Ryan could say any more, Artie came in. "All right everybody, we're on in five minutes," he called, wheeling past them. "Blaine, tone down the blush."

Blaine rolled his eyes as Ryan laughed. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled.

"Well, I should go," Ryan told him. "Wouldn't want to miss the opening number. Break a leg, Blaine."

"Thanks."

..

"Blaine and Tina did really well, didn't they?" Ryan asked Quinn later as they left the auditorium arm in arm after the show. "Of course, I did find some sections that could have been stronger, for example…"

Quinn stopped him. "Hey, Ry, I just need to go to the ladies' room for a second, okay?"

"Oh, yes, of course. I'll wait."

"Thanks." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before heading into the ladies' room. She finished her business and checked herself in the mirror, nodding. Ryan was coming home with her tonight after all. She exited the restroom, Ryan smiling at her just as someone came out from the adjacent men's room. He was wearing a Dalton blazer, and he stopped and looked at Ryan.

"Hey," the guy gave Ryan a cocky smile. "Ryan, right?" Quinn's eyes narrowed a little at the flirty tone in his voice.

"Right," Ryan nodded, smiling faintly. "And this is Quinn, my girlfriend," he added, stressing the last part. Quinn smirked slightly. He'd obviously learned his lesson after that little misunderstanding they'd had over the girls throwing themselves at him last year.

"Lovely to meet you, Quinn, my name's Sebastian Smythe," Sebastian introduced himself. He offered his hand to Quinn, smoothly pressing a kiss to the back when she took it. "Ryan told me he had a girlfriend, but he didn't mention how gorgeous you were."

Quinn's eyebrow rose a fraction. "Thank you."

"And can I just say, you are one very lucky lady," Sebastian continued. "Everyone says Blaine is sex on a stick, but Ryan here comes pretty close."

Her eyebrow was joined by the other as Sebastian eyed Ryan appreciatively. Ryan had told her Sebastian was gay, but it was quite a new experience to have another guy hit on her boyfriend. She wasn't quite sure how she felt. No, that wasn't quite true. Jealous. She felt jealous.

"Well, as I've told you, I'm quite happily taken," Ryan told the other boy.

"And I'm very aware of how lucky I am," Quinn interjected, linking her arm with Ryan's in a silent claim as another shot of jealousy shot through her. Not that she thought Ryan would do anything, but he was hers and only she could flirt with him.

Sebastian looked at her, his head tilted, and she gave him her best HBIC glare. _Mine._ A second later, Sebastian backed off, smiling slightly. "That's good. You two look good together," he offered sincerely.

"An opinion shared by Patti LuPone when we met her in New York last year," Ryan smiled proudly.

"Aha. Of course it is." Sebastian shook his head in amusement. "Listen, I better get going, it's a bit of a trip back to Dalton. I'll see you two around." He gave Quinn a respectful nod that she returned, before he left. Maybe he wasn't so bad. As long as kept his flirting to himself.

"You didn't tell me you were friends with another Warbler," she told her boyfriend casually.

"We're not, really," Ryan replied as they got into his car. "Blaine introduced us last week when I ran into them at the Lima Bean. Anyways, back to the musical…" Quinn rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

..

A few minutes later the couple found themselves in Quinn's room, tangled together on the bed. Ryan pressed his lips against Quinn's throat, his hand roaming lazily under her top. "You know," he murmured. "I kind of wanted to do this last night – well, to be honest I kind of want to do this every night – but you know…"

"No, I get it," Quinn assured him, breath hitching as his fingers brushed across a sensitive spot on her ribs. "Your family was here. I wouldn't want to keep you away." She smiled slyly. "Tonight though…"

Ryan grinned happily, his face lighting up as he leaned in to kiss her. Quinn's eyelids dropped as his lips glided smoothly along hers, his tongue flicking out to trace her lips. She began to grow dizzy as he deepened the kiss, devouring her mouth as he moved to cover her body with his.

He broke the kiss a moment later, sending her gasping for breath. He looked down at her with a soft smile. "You're so beautiful."

Quinn smiled back, just gazing back at him, drowning in his warm brown eyes. He made her feel beautiful, something she'd never felt with anyone before. Everyone had always said that Quinn was beautiful – she could turn the head of any boy in McKinley – but she never _felt _beautiful. When Ryan said it though… she believed that he meant it, and it made her feel absolutely perfect. "So are you."

Ryan chuckled. "I don't really think so, but thank you."

She shook her head a bit sadly, knowing that years of constant mockery had hammered the idea that he wasn't attractive into his head. But he was. She'd always thought he was kind of cute, if a bit dorky. And as evidenced by the girls flocking around him last year, he wasn't entirely unattractive to other people either. Which reminded her of the way Sebastian Smythe had been eyeing him earlier that evening.

Oh, she knew he'd never do anything to hurt her. Still, she was allowed to have her fits of jealousy, right? "Ry?"

"Yeah?"

"You're mine, right?" She didn't doubt it for a second, but it was still nice to hear.

Ryan nodded fervently. "All yours, Quinn." He pressed a kiss to her lips. "Everything I am, all yours. I love you so much."

Quinn reached up, cupping the back of his neck to pull him back down to her, catching his lips in a searing kiss. She slid her hands into his shirt, starting to pull it off. "I love you too."

..

"Was that good?" Ryan breathed out an hour later, exhausted from their activities. Quinn laughed breathlessly, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. Her body felt like jelly and she almost couldn't move, but she felt amazing.

"Very, very good, Ry." She smirked. "Your performance as Tony was definitely good, but I'm pretty sure you topped it tonight."

He smiled happily, and the couple lay there trying to catch their breaths for a few moments. "Quinn?"

"Mmm?"

"I have a very important question."

Quinn huffed tiredly. "Ry, can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"No, it really can't."

She sighed. This better be good. She just wanted to drift of in bliss for a while. "Fine, what is it?"

"Did I play Tony better than Blaine?"

"Oh God."

* * *

A week later, West Side Story's run had ended. Shelby and James attended Ryan's last performance, heading home by themselves afterwards since Ryan was going to a dinner with the rest of the cast at Breadstix.

"I think this show went better than the first one," James commented, relaxing on the couch. Shelby nodded, sitting down next to him.

"Opening night is notoriously riddled with errors," she said wryly. "It's the first run, nerves are all over the place, everyone's excited – it all makes for a rather mistake-prone performance. The cast and crew usually take a few shows to get settled."

"Hard to imagine Ryan getting nervous," he chuckled. "The kid loves the stage."

"Well, no matter how much you love what you're doing, it's always nerve-wracking to get up there and expose yourself to the public eye like that. You're always thinking, 'What if I do something wrong?' or 'What if they don't like it?' or stuff like that."

"You two always make the stage seem natural though."

Shelby smiled a bit cockily. "That is a very nice compliment." She leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"I remember you were breathtaking as Maria in New York," James said softly. "That was the only time I ever saw you sing on a real stage."

"Well, thank you," Shelby said with a small smile. "I'm glad you enjoyed the performance. That was one of my favorite roles that I ever played. I mean, it's _Maria_. Being up on that stage felt incredible," she reminisced. "I wish I'd known you were in the audience."

James chuckled. "Would that have made a difference?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Shelby answered in amusement. "It probably would have made me even more nervous. It was December, remember, and I was already a bit messed up over Ryan." She glanced at him. "Do you remember we sang one of the songs in glee when we were in school?"

"Of course I remember," James agreed. "We sang _One Hand, One Heart_ for that duets contest." He smirked. "It's hard to forget when a certain someone made us practice for over four hours straight one afternoon."

"Well, we won, didn't we?"

"Yes we did." They fell into silence. Shelby slid her hand into James', intertwining their fingers as they just sat there in each other's presence. She couldn't help but feel a tingle of anticipation, as if there was something coming… She laughed in her head. She really was getting oversaturated in the musical.

"Do you think you could still sing it?" she asked curiously. He did have a good voice, but singing wasn't really his passion the way it was hers and Ryan's. James cleared his throat.

"Maybe. I'm a bit rusty though." He thought for a moment before starting to sing.

_Make of our hands one hand,__  
Make of our hearts one heart,__  
Make of our vows one last vow:__  
Only death will part us now._

Shelby listened to him intently, hear thrumming as his voice rumbled over her. He rarely sang anymore, in fact he'd only been in glee in high school because she'd pushed him back then, but she loved his voice. It never failed to soothe her, and now was no exception. She took a breath, continuing the song.

_Make of our lives one life,__  
Day after day, one life._

He joined in again, their harmony perfect as they sang in tandem, hands clasped together.

_Now it begins, now we start__  
One hand, one heart__  
Even death won't part us now._

He looked into her eyes as their song ended. Shelby stared back breathlessly, hearth racing at the intensity in his brown eyes. He never broke his gaze as he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small object. Finally he looked down, clearing his throat as Shelby watched. "I was planning something special," he said, smiling slightly. "Some kind of romantic date, and we'd do this at the end. But I think… I think now is the perfect moment."

Shelby fixed her gaze on him as he spoke, suspecting strongly that she knew what he was going to say, what he was going to ask. It was hard to believe, but he was right. This felt like the moment.

"We've made a lot of mistakes in the past," James continued. "Both of us. But I think our big mistake was that we gave up too easily back then. We were kids, and we didn't think we could do it. But we're not kids anymore. We lost a lot of time… but we still have a chance. So…" He let her see the small velvet box in his hand, opening it to show her the diamond ring nestled inside. Shelby's free hand went up to cover her mouth, the other still grasped in James' right. He smiled at her hopefully. "Shelby Corcoran, will you marry me?"

Shelby let out a watery laugh before leaning forward to catch his lips in a smooth kiss, her hand resting on his cheek as he responded. She drew back infinitesimally, her forehead resting on his. "Yes," she breathed out. "Of course I will."

She leaned back just in time to see the most brilliant smile spread across his face, and he surged forward to kiss her again. She smiled widely as she sensed the almost palpable delight he felt at her answer, his fingers tangling into her hair. He fumbled with the ring, removing it from its box before drawing back to take her left hand, sliding the ring onto her finger. He kissed her again, quickly, and Shelby laughed, lifting her hand to inspect the ring. It was a perfect fit, simple and elegant, and it suited her perfectly.

"Well?" James asked.

"It's perfect." Shelby pulled him into a hug, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her. She melted into him, fitting perfectly against him. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," he whispered, and Shelby felt the familiar thrill upon hearing the words from her special person. She'd never get tired of them. He pulled back, a goofy smile on his face.

"Does Ryan know about this?" Shelby asked, her attention drawn back to the ring. She looked up at him in sudden comprehension. "This is what you were laughing about the other day, isn't it?"

"Yeah," James nodded. "I asked him if it would be alright with him, and he was very enthusiastic. I had to tell him to keep it a secret," he added in amusement.

Shelby laughed. "Well, it was a secret very well kept." She looked at him, and their gazes locked again. He was right, they had lost so much time. But they'd gotten another chance. And this time they were going to get it right.

* * *

**Hi people. I've actually had this for a while, but my computer and I are in the 'hate' phase of our love/hate relationship. It hates me right now and is refusing to cooperate. Anyways, I am as always very pleased that you liked the last chapter, and that people are still interested in it. **

**I'm still crazy busy, but I'm trying to make time to write. Your suggestions are awesome, I was surprised to realize that Ryan's and Quinn's parents haven't really talked yet, even if the two of them have been together for quite a while now. A dinner between them would be cool. And the detention idea, I'll have to figure a way to work that in. Should have thought of that sooner.**

**So that's all I'll say for now, hope you liked this chapter, and I'll see you next time!**


	78. Chapter 77

"Good morning," Ryan greeted as he entered the kitchen fresh from his shower. He'd gotten back from his morning run to find his parents already in the kitchen, a rather unusual occurrence as they normally slept in on Sundays. "You're up early."

"We are, aren't we?" James commented, smiling brightly, glancing at Shelby who was sitting at the counter. Shelby just smiled happily from behind her steaming mug of coffee. Ryan tilted his head curiously.

"You also seem rather… happy." He wasn't sure he wanted to know what his parents had gotten up to last night to put them in such a good mood. "Did something happen?"

"Well, you should know," Shelby said lightly. James chuckled, coming over to stand behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders. "You were already in on it, as I hear." She put her left hand on top of James', and Ryan's eyes widened as a sudden sparkle caught his eye.

"You proposed?!" he exclaimed, looking between his parents in excitement. "And you said yes?!"

"Of course I said yes," Shelby said, smile widening as James laughed. "It's a very nice ring after all."

"Yeah, it was all about the ring, wasn't it?" James deadpanned.

"Yes, it was," Shelby returned, turning to pull him down into a kiss. Ryan hid his eyes behind his hands, peeking through his fingers as he smiled widely. It was obvious how happy they were, he could see it in their smiles, in their eyes, could hear it in their voices.

"Okay, I think that's good," he said eventually, having had enough of his parents making out in front of him. Thankfully they stopped, smiles never wavering as they gazed at each other. "Seriously though, I'm so happy for you." He came around the counter to wrap them both in a hug that they happily returned. "So, how did it happen? When did it happen? What did Dad do?"

His parents laughed again, and they told him the story of the previous night as they ate breakfast. "I wish I could have been there," Ryan commented. "Well, maybe not really, I mean I know it was an intimate moment for the two of you. But I'm sort of bummed out that I missed your duet."

"Of course that's the part you'd care about," Shelby said, amused.

"Well, of course I care that you got engaged," Ryan conceded. "But yeah, still bummed. I can't believe I haven't heard Dad sing yet. And overhearing you in the shower doesn't count."

"That's too bad, I'm sure some of my best performances were in the shower," James said dryly.

"So when's the wedding?" Ryan asked expectantly. "Are you going to have a band? Maybe the Troubletones could sing, like the New Directions did at Mr. Hummel's wedding –"

"Okay, okay, slow down," Shelby laughed. "We haven't talked about it yet, but I don't really want a big fancy wedding. That's not really my thing."

"Didn't think so," James commented. "The when of it is still up in the air though."

"Well, I was thinking maybe after the schoolyear," Shelby suggested. "I mean, we need time to plan it anyways, and Ryan and I are both kind of busy. It's your senior year, after all," she directed at Ryan.

"That's so far away," Ryan complained. So sue him, he wanted his parents together soon.

"It's not really a problem," James shrugged. "And it sort of makes sense, logistically. We're not really in any hurry. I mean, it's not like we've been going about this in the traditional way, is it?"

"I think we've been going at it backwards," Shelby quipped. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage. I think we may have gotten a couple of things mixed up."

Ryan snorted. "Just a couple?"

"Normal is overrated anyways," James said dismissively. "The important thing is that our wedding has you, me, your family, our friends, and of course," he grinned at Ryan's direction, lifting a glass of orange juice in a toast. "The best man."

"Me?" Ryan's eyes widened again, before he broke out into a smile. "Really?"

His dad smiled, clapping him on the back. "Of course, buddy. No one better."

"I'm honored." Ryan smiled, happy for his parents. He looked away as they shared another kiss, but the smile never left his face. He'd always wanted a family like this, a happy one, and while what they already had was amazing, this would make it even better.

* * *

"I just heard."

Shelby looked up just in time to see Sue Sylvester falling into stride with her as she headed to her classroom. "Sue. Nice to see you."

Sue just nodded at her left hand. "Congratulations on buying into the marriage craze that's been sweeping the world since the beginning of time. I hope you'll be happy with your ball and chain. Mazel tov. I'll be waiting for subsequent news of your epic divorce in, oh, ten years."

"Thank you, Sue," Shelby responded, smiling in amusement. "And how are you this fine day?"

"Pretty good, actually. I got to annoy Butt-Chin and the Golden Marmoset in the staff lounge, so my day is pretty much made."

They came to a stop outside of Shelby's classroom. "Hey Miss Corcoran," Puck nodded at Shelby, aiming a flirtatious smile in her direction.

Shelby nodded back. "Mr. Puckerman. You should get inside, the bell's about to ring."

"Sure thing, Miss C." He winked as he entered the classroom.

Sue narrowed her eyes at the mohawked boy's retreating back. "Well, well, well. It seems that someone has picked up a not-so-secret admirer. Any thoughts on that, Ice Queen?" Shelby gave her an unimpressed look. "You know, it's kind of surprising how this is the first student crush."

"Why Susan Sylvester –"

"Don't call me Susan."

"– Are you calling me attractive?" Shelby winked at her. "The compliment is appreciated." She waved her left hand. "Unfortunately for you, I'm taken. But you know, if I weren't sporting this rock…"

"Please, Barbra. As if you could handle the great Sue Sylvester. And wait. What do you mean by that?" Sue narrowed her eyes again. "Is our resident Broadway wannabe admitting to proclivities?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," the brunette smirked. "And I wouldn't say this is the first student crush."

Sue rolled her eyes. "All right, the first open one then. Anyone with eyes can see Boobs McGee's got the hots for you. But back to the point at hand. If you even consider falling for Puckerman I'll be sure to book you a private suite at the Lima Mental Hospital."

Shelby scoffed. "Please. I'm not a complete idiot. He's a student, not to mention he's the father of my son's girlfriend's daughter. I have no interest in being in a soap opera, thank you very much."

"Now that you mention it that would make for a fascinating TV show," Sue said thoughtfully. "A band of singing misfits who always miraculously come out on top with no preparation whatsoever, with a hodgepodge of vaguely incestuous romantic relations as a subplot."

"Only if the writing was fantastic. I bet it would go downhill after the first season or two."

"Right. Anyhoo, I should get going. Gonna be late for my campaign manager. The polls have me leading the race, so you are looking at the newest Ohio congresswoman, as soon as the votes get in in two weeks."

Shelby nodded. "Well, good luck with that."

Sue smirked as she walked off. "Won't need it."

..

Ryan offered his mom a smile as he slid into Geometry two seconds before the bell rang. Shelby sent him an admonishing look but made no comment, instead choosing to start the lesson. Ryan just smiled, settling down for another session of watching his mom fumble with the geometry lesson. It was kind of mean, but there it was. And to be fair, Shelby didn't do a completely terrible job.

He soon zoned out though, quickly grasping the concepts after a few examples, and his attention drifted to the other students in the class. Once again, Finn was staring cluelessly at the board, probably trying and failing to make sense of it all. Mike was doodling in his notebook; Ryan knew he was way ahead of the class already. Three people were asleep, and two were staring out the window. It was a nice sunny day, perfect for spending outside if one didn't have class.

Then Ryan tilted his head as he surveyed Puck, who was watching Shelby as she explained a problem. Something about Puck's stare didn't sit right with Ryan, and his eyes narrowed. Ryan started studying his mom as well, wondering if there was something he was missing. He couldn't find anything amiss though. Her clothes didn't have anything weird on them, and her hair wasn't messed up. She started writing something on the board, turning her back to the class, and Ryan looked back at Puck. The other boy's head tilted to one side, his eyes roving down –

Oh God, was Puck checking out his mom's ass?

Shelby turned back to the class, snapping Puck out of his daze. Ryan shook his head. He had to be imagining things, because there was no way – he shook his head again, a shudder running through him. It didn't even bear thinking about. It was just _wrong._

But now that the thought was there, it wouldn't get out of his mind. Ryan spent the remainder of the lesson watching Puck like a hawk. He wasn't sure if he was reading too much into it, maybe Puck was just paying attention to the lesson. Knowing Puck though that was extremely unlikely.

Ryan was pulled out of his reverie by the bell ringing, and he stood up, collecting his things. He nodded absently at his mom as he left the room before heading to his locker, still preoccupied – and not just a little disturbed – by what he'd just seen.

"Did you even hear a word I said, Midget?"

He blinked, looking up. Santana and Brittany were next to him, and Santana had apparently been talking to him while he'd been thinking. "Uh… what?"

"I was saying," Santana said slowly, as if she were talking to a stupid person, "that Britts wants to do this election thing later. Where the hell were you?"

"Where was who?" Quinn showed up next to Ryan, looking at him, Brittany, and Santana expectantly. Ryan blinked again, a bit disoriented. Right on cue, Puck walked by, swaggering over to his locker, Ryan staring at him the whole time.

Santana narrowed her eyes. "Why are you perving on Puck?"

"Have you noticed Puck being a little… weird, lately?" Ryan asked the three girls, his gaze still on Puck as he ignored Santana's question.

Quinn stared at him. "What?" She looked at Puck for a second, then back at Ryan. "No, I can't say that I have."

"What gives, Midget?"

Ryan tore his eyes away from Puck. "I was just in Geometry with Puck," he explained. "And my mom was teaching, and, I don't know, I think Puck was checking her out," he ended in a hushed voice. The three girls gaped at him for a moment before Santana spoke up.

"Well, I for one can't blame him. Your mom's hot."

Ryan let out a sputter. "Santana!"

"It's true," Brittany shrugged. "Santana said she'd totally hit that if she were like ten years older." She looked confused as Ryan and Quinn stared at Santana – Quinn in surprise and Ryan in a combination of horror and disgust. Santana meanwhile was looking at her in consternation. "Oh, is this one of the things that's just for us?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh." Brittany tilted her head. "But I think you'd totally have a chance with Miss C ten years ago, 'cause I'm pretty sure she's a bicorn. You know, like Ryan." That earned her some confused looks. Ryan was bewildered. What the hell was a bicorn?

"Never mind." Santana shook her head. "But yeah, Tiny, your mom's hot and your dad's smoking. It's kinda hard to figure out what went wrong with you."

Quinn frowned. "Not cool, Santana."

The Latina shrugged again. "Hey, just keeping it real."

"Can we stop talking about how my parents are hot please?" If this went on for much longer either Ryan's head was going to explode or he was going to throw up. Maybe both.

"Hey, you started it."

"Look this is so wrong on so many levels, I can't even begin to describe it," Ryan complained. "You guys know he calls himself a sex shark, and he preys on the older ladies at the houses where he cleans pools."

"You guys don't have a pool," Santana reasoned. Ryan gave her an unimpressed look. "What? Just saying."

"Look, Ryan, I'm sure Puck isn't going to try anything with Shelby," Quinn placated. "That would be gross, and even if he did, Shelby would probably shut him down so hard he wouldn't be able to look at another girl for a year. So it's fine, okay?"

"I guess…" That made sense, right?

Just then, Finn walked by with Rory Flanagan, and Santana snickered. "Hey guys, hurry and grab some wet towels, we have to keep Finn wet until we can roll him back in the sea!"

That got the two boys to stop. "Hey, you can't say that," Rory said in his thick accent. The Irish boy had quickly become friends with Finn, joining the New Directions after the whole leprechaun debacle.

"Sorry, I can't understand a word out of your potato hole."

"Santana, you don't have to get vicious," Finn said, frowning. "I get that we're competitors, but we can do it without getting mean. Come on, Rory." The two boys started on their way again.

"Oh, I'm just getting started," Santana called after them. She turned back to the other three. "What?"

"What was that?" Quinn asked suspiciously.

She shrugged. "He called Britts an idiot. So it's game on."

"That sounds ominous," Ryan noted.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Look, it's just a few digs, it's harmless. I do it all the time."

"Yeah, she's totally the best with her words," Brittany agreed. "Especially when we're on the phone and –"

Ryan quickly stopped her. "Okay, okay, I think we don't need to hear that."

* * *

A couple of days later, Shelby looked up from reading a paper in the teacher's lounge when she heard someone clear their throat. She found Will Schuester standing in front of her. "May I?" he gestured at the other seat at her table. She nodded, and he sat down. "Congratulations," Will said. "You know, on…" He gestured at her ring. Shelby smiled slightly.

"Thank you." She looked at him curiously. "How are you and Emma?" Will and Emma had gotten together before the schoolyear had started, and as far as Shelby knew they were good. Emma was nice, and Will could be sweet when he wanted to be.

"We're great, thanks," Will smiled. A mildly awkward silence fell before Shelby cleared her throat.

"Did you want something else?"

"Yes, actually," the Spanish teacher answered quickly. "I was just thinking. We usually do mash-ups around this time of year, boys against girls. It's sort of a tradition. And I thought, since we've got two glee clubs this year…"

"You thought we could have a contest of sorts," Shelby finished for him.

"Exactly," Will said, smiling. "Just a friendly scrimmage, maybe bring out the best in each other. A mash-off. Who knows, maybe it'll get everyone's creative juices going."

Privately Shelby knew they didn't need any help with their creativity, but that wasn't the issue. Will did have a point, she did believe in a little healthy competition now and then. She wasn't sure exactly how the kids would react to it though. "Well, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Tell you what, I'll see what the kids think, and I'll get back to you."

Will nodded. "Great." He started to stand when Shelby stopped him.

"What brought this about?"

"Well, I've just been thinking. There's already so little art around here, it seems stupid to waste time fighting. We should be helping each other. Like we did early last year."

"That was before you accused me of poaching one of your students for Vocal Adrenaline and before I saw you showing blatant disregard for my child," Shelby pointed out.

Will sighed. "I'll admit I made some mistakes last year. I'm sorry. I'm not saying we have to be best friends or anything, but we don't have to be completely hostile, do we?"

Shelby was silent for a moment. "I don't like how you treated my son," she said bluntly. "I stand by what I said before, you've been showing favoritism to select students, and I don't agree with that. That said, you're right. There's no need for hostility. We're colleagues after all, and I can work with you as long you don't interfere with my students."

Will nodded again. "Fair enough." He stood up again, and this time Shelby let him leave. She turned back to her paper, only to look up again when Will was replaced by Sue Sylvester.

"Did I hear right? You're friends with Macaroni Hair again? And here I thought you had half a brain."

"Well, if you were eavesdropping properly, you would have heard that we intend to work together, not have lunch dates," Shelby returned. "Besides, you know what they say. Keep your friends close…"

Sue was silent. "I take it back. You do have a brain somewhere in there." Shelby tapped the side of her head before returning to her paper. "Don't forget to vote Sylvester next week."

..

"All right everyone," Shelby announced as she entered the room for the Troubletones meeting that afternoon. "I have some news. Mr. Schuester just approached me this morning, and he suggested a contest between our teams. A mash-off to be precise."

She wasn't worried about competing, she was sure her team had plenty of talent, even if they were still a few kids short. She had to do something about that soon. Not to mention Ryan wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than a win. No, she was more worried about how the kids would feel about competing against their former teammates.

"We get to face off against Finnept and the Nude Erections? Oh it is so on!"

Maybe she shouldn't have worried.

"Santana's euphoric obscenities aside," Ryan commented, "I think it will be very interesting to pit our talents against our former teammates. Not to mention we have the advantage of knowing how they operate."

"We're gonna crush them!" Santana said gleefully.

"Your enthusiasm is astounding, Santana," Quinn deadpanned.

"Shut up, Blondie."

"Okay, wait, what's a mash-off?" Marley questioned. Ryder and Kitty looked equally confused.

"It's a contest where each competing group sings a mash-up of their choice," Ryan explained quickly. "A mash-up is a combination of two songs that shouldn't go together, but when you mash them together so to speak, they make something unexpectedly better."

"Right," Shelby cut in. "I'm glad you're so enthusiastic, but this scrimmage is just a side project. I've drawn up a schedule for us. We have a few weeks to get ready for Sectionals, so we need start getting ready. This week, we need to start brainstorming song ideas. The very first thing we need is our set list. So everyone can suggest songs, and the next couple of weeks we'll spend some time trying them out. The mash-off is next week, so that works out great."

The students immediately started whispering among themselves, excitedly thinking up songs that they wanted to sing. "Wait, wait, wait," Tina said, shaking her head. "You're letting us choose our own songs?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

"Mr. Schue generally sprung our set list on us a few days before the competition," Ryan interjected. "We didn't often have a say. Or only certain people did."

"Ah." Shelby nodded. "Well, I do maintain veto power and I won't be shy about telling you that your songs won't work, but everyone gets a say. Now, as I was saying, after we choose our songs and win the mash-off – because we will be winning," she added as the students cheered, "we'll decide on the arrangements and solos and whatnot, and we'll start on the choreography. Mike, I was hoping you could help with that." Shelby was pleased to see him nod happily. While competent, choreography wasn't her forte and she could use an assistant. This time around she had neither the desire nor the funds to hire Dakota Stanley. "Once we've got everything hashed out, we'll spend the remaining time polishing up our performances. Everybody got that?" She received a round of nods, and she walked over to the blackboard. "With that, you may start making suggestions."

"We only need three songs, right?" Tina questioned.

"Yes. And as far as I know, there isn't a theme this year." She had no idea what was going on last year with that anthem theme. "But actually, we will be making a backup set list, in case something goes wrong."

Santana raised her hand. "Who's getting the solos?"

"We will decide on that once we choose the songs, but they will be selected based on whose voice suits the songs the best." She needed to make that clear, she didn't want any infighting in the group. She received a round of accepting nods. An hour later, they had quite a good list of songs, ranging from Broadway (naturally) to rock to pop. "All right, I think that's good," Shelby decided. "Let's think about it for a bit, and if you've got any more suggestions, I'm more than willing to listen."

..

The group disbanded a few minutes later. Ryan stayed behind, helping Shelby straighten the room up. "Are we going to do Invitationals?"

Shelby shook her head. "I don't think so. Invitationals usually go on around this time, we didn't have the time for it what with West Side Story. Besides, they're optional. And it works in our favor too, we get to keep a bit of our surprise element."

Ryan nodded approvingly. "I'm glad we're starting to prepare so early. Mr. Schue never quite grasped the concept of polishing our performances. And he used to do competitions, like that duet contest last year. The winners got to sing the solos. And I have no clue where he pulled his set lists from."

"Well, I don't generally encourage competition inside the team, I've found that it can mess with team dynamics," Shelby said.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked incredulously. "VA had the most competitive kids in the state. From what little Jesse's said, they were all pretty much ready to kill each other over solos."

"And you should know not to listen to everything Jesse says," Shelby pointed out. "Didn't he tell you that we used a dead student as a prop?"

"I can't tell the difference anymore," Ryan grumbled. "I can't honestly say I'd be surprised if it were true."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Anyways," she continued pointedly. "I don't think pitting you guys against each other is a good idea. But a little healthy competition is good, that's why I agreed to our little scrimmage with the New Directions. VA used to do that with some of the neighboring high schools."

"Were those the same schools VA pranked?"

"I never advocated those pranks."

"Right."

"Okay, contrary to whatever you think, I didn't command my students to go forth and TP other people's choir rooms," Shelby snarked. "They did that themselves."

"And you knew absolutely nothing about it all?" Ryan questioned skeptically.

"Well of course I knew about it," Shelby said loftily. "But it wasn't my business. My job was to get the team to win. I don't encourage pranks, but I don't discourage them either. Like I said, a little healthy competition is good. I don't condone all-out property damage or physical assault though," she added grimly. Ryan gave her a small smile. They were quiet for a moment.

"So… if we were to hypothetically attempt to psych out the New Directions, you wouldn't have a problem with it?"

Shelby held back a snort. "Hypothetically, if the alleged prank didn't cause any permanent damage, no. Of course, that wouldn't be an issue, because if this hypothetical prank were done correctly, there wouldn't be any evidence to tie anyone to it. Did you actually have any proof that it was VA who trashed your choir room?"

Ryan opened his mouth only to shut it again. No, they really didn't, that was why they hadn't been able to go to Figgins about it. Shelby smirked at him triumphantly, and he huffed. "Fine." He finished straightening the seats as Shelby erased the board, coughing lightly at the chalk dust. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Ready to go home?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Several days later Ryan came across the New Directions' choir room, and as usual, they had left the door open. Ryan, like any fair-minded opponent, of course paused to listen in. Maybe he'd get a few clues as to their strategies for Sectionals. Not that he expected them to have one yet. Sure enough, what he got was Puck and some of the other guys singing a rock song. It was an okay cover, until he realized what the song was.

"All right, guys!" Mr. Schue exclaimed as the song finished. "That was spectacular! And I didn't even have to ask you to do it!" Ryan's eyes narrowed.

"Isn't the song kind of wrong for school though?" Mercedes questioned. "I mean, _Hot for Teacher?_ Really?" Ryan agreed 100%. This was a wildly inappropriate song for Puck to be singing, especially if Ryan's suspicions were correct.

"Well, it all depends on what Puck's intent was when he chose this song," Mr. Schue reasoned.

Ryan watched Puck closely as the other boy's gaze drifted to the window, and Ryan's jaw clenched as he saw Shelby standing there, consulting with a student. He glanced back at Puck just in time for him to answer, "I guess I just dig Van Halen."

"Well, all right then," Mr. Schue grinned. Ryan rolled his eyes at the teacher's obliviousness before hurrying to catch up to his mom. He turned the corner, quickly following her. She was wearing a rather form-fitting purple dress today with short sleeves, and Ryan had seen the way Puck had looked at her earlier.

Shelby looked up as Ryan fell into step with her. "Hi sweetie."

"Hi." Ryan looked at his mom suspiciously. "Aren't you cold in that?"

She looked at him strangely. "No," she answered in confusion. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing, I was just worried about you, the weather's getting colder after all," he said, quickly shrugging out of his jacket. "Here, take this. Can't have you getting sick after all, we need our coach to be in top condition especially during our preparations for Sectionals."

Shelby raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, what's going on?"

Ryan sighed. "Just – just – okay?"

"No, I will not _just just okay,_" Shelby told him sternly. "What's going on?"

Right on cue, Puck passed by, and Ryan's hackles rose as he saw him give Shelby a flirtatious smile. "Well, some people have apparently taken a less than appropriate interest in you."

"Oh, so you noticed that, did you?"

"You – what – it's true?" Ryan asked, aghast. He'd still been hoping against hope that he was just imagining things. "And you're not doing anything about it?" Dear God, this was so, _so _messed up. "How can you not do anything about it? It's wrong and – and not right – and it's just _wrong_!"

"Wow, I'm so proud of your vocabulary there, Ryan," Shelby said sarcastically.

"So that's just it? You're not going to do anything about it?"

"Sweetie, it's a just a teenage crush. It'll go away eventually. I'm sure you've had a few of your own."

Ryan sputtered. "Well – that's not the point! And even if I have had crushes before, they were never on my classmates' parents!" He shuddered at the thought. "You need to do something about this."

"Do I?" Shelby arched an eyebrow.

"Yes!" Ryan answered vehemently.

His mom rolled her eyes. "Okay, you need to get to class."

Ryan stared at her in consternation before throwing his hands up in defeat. "Fine. Whatever. I would just like you to know that this thing with Puck is completely disgusting, and while perhaps not completely your fault, is still very much horrifying and so completely –"

"Wrong, yes, I got that part."

Ryan gave his mother a glare before storming off.

..

That evening James came home from work to a rather quiet household. It was an unusual phenomenon, as his fiancée – he still smiled at the thought – and his son were both quite loud people. And that was putting it mildly. Someone was always singing or talking or making some kind of sound, and the quiet was rather unnerving, especially when it followed them to the dinner table. The three of them ate in a tense silence for a few minutes before James cracked. "Okay, what's going on?" he asked. "Did you two have a fight about something? Because this food is great, but it's getting kind of awkward around here."

Ryan studiously kept his eyes on his food. "Maybe you should ask Mom about it."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Your son is just overreacting about a little something he discovered at school, which quite frankly has been going on for a while now without any issues whatsoever."

"Wait, I thought this was a recent development, what do you mean it's been going on for a while?" Ryan's head whipped up. "And you haven't done anything about it? What is wrong with you?"

"It's not like this is the first time!"

"Oh my God!" Ryan covered his eyes with his hands. "I'm going to need therapy."

"I don't understand what's going on," James lamented.

"One of my classmates has a crush on my mother, that's what's going on!" Ryan exclaimed. "A classmate that's well known for his random hookups with older women, I might add. And now I find out that not only has my mother known about this for a while now, she hasn't done anything to stop it!"

"Oh." James' eyes widened in realization, and Shelby shot him a look that he couldn't quite interpret. "Well, people can't always control their crushes," he reasoned.

"But he was _flirting _with her! And for God's sake, he sang Van Halen's _Hot for Teacher_ in glee this afternoon!"

"Oh. That is weird."

"You too?" Shelby asked in exasperation. "Look, it's not a big deal, it's a student crush and it'll blow over soon. It's not like I'm thrilled about it either. But he'll realize soon that he's being an idiot, and it'll go away. In the meantime we'll just go about business as usual."

"Well, excuse me if I don't like the fact that 'business as usual' includes watching the school playboy flirt with _my mother_ in the hallways," Ryan huffed. "I'm going upstairs." He stormed out, and the two parents heard his door slam. Shelby rolled her eyes.

"He's overreacting."

"Is he?" James questioned.

"_Yes_," Shelby stressed. "This is only as big of a deal as we make it. I'm just ignoring it, and soon this kid will get tired and quit, just like the others."

James frowned, not liking the idea of teenage boys and their rampaging hormones having crushes on her. "How many 'others' have there been, exactly?"

"Wow, how about you wait here while I run upstairs and check my scorecard?" Shelby shot back nastily. "I'm a schoolteacher, sadly it comes with the job. Teenage hormones and all that. Besides, don't tell me you never had a schoolboy crush, I remember how you looked at that sub we had for English when I first started tutoring you."

She had him there. "Okay, fair point," James conceded. "Why don't you just tell this kid to back off though?" he wanted to know.

Shelby sighed. "Teenage crushes are… tricky. Sometimes they think it's the end of the world when they get shot down, and then the world's hottest chili pepper gets eaten and people get traumatized. The point is," she continued, ignoring James' confused look. "We need to handle these things carefully. And to be honest, this kid seems to be the stubborn kind who likes a challenge. If I shoot him down, he'll just come at me harder. Kids can be incredibly stupid sometimes, especially if they think they've got a chance."

"Does he?"

"Seriously?" Shelby gave him an annoyed look. James held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay." He leaned over, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Seriously though, do I need to go over and have a little talk with this kid?"

"God no. Look, I've handled this before. It's awkward, it's kind of uncomfortable, but it'll go away and it'll be fine, okay?"

"If you say so."

* * *

The fourth period bell rang the next day, ending Quinn's English class. She smiled slightly as she walked up to Shelby. "Hi Quinn, what's up?" the teacher asked.

"Nothing really." She tilted her head. "Just noticed that Ryan seemed pretty annoyed this morning."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Yes, that. He's just being irrational."

"Is this about Puck?"

"Does everyone know about this?" Shelby asked, frowning.

"No, but he's been ranting about it for a few days now," Quinn answered with a smirk. "I told him he was being stupid and that you could handle it."

"Thank you. I'm glad someone agrees with me."

"Besides, you and James are great together." Quinn knew about the engagement, Ryan had texted her with the news almost immediately. Her smile faded a bit. "I can't blame Ryan completely though. Puck can be very persuasive and charming when he wants to be." She should know that better than anyone.

"Don't worry, that is very much not going to happen," Shelby answered. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm over it." She'd made a mistake with Puck, and she regretted it. But there was no point thinking about it now. She'd grown as a person, and besides, that mistake had produced Beth and she'd never regret that. "Just making sure you know what Puck's like."

"Oh, I think I know. But the teacher-student boundaries are firmly established. Not to mention he bullied my son and played a part in his claustrophobia…"

"Wait, what?" Quinn looked at the older woman, startled. She knew Ryan was mildly claustrophobic, she'd seen it on the plane to and from New York, but he'd never mentioned why.

"He didn't tell you?" Shelby looked slightly guilty. "He told me Puck and David Karofsky managed to stick him in a locker in grade school for two hours. That's why he doesn't like closed spaces."

"Oh. I didn't know that." Yet another reason for her to dislike Noah Puckerman. "I should go."

"Quinn, I'm sure he wasn't trying to keep it a secret from you," Shelby told her. "When I asked him about it, it seemed like he was embarrassed about it."

Quinn softened. For someone so confident, she'd quickly figured out that her boyfriend had had rather low self-esteem before, and it had only improved in the last couple of years. It made sense, and it just made her want to give him a hug. "I know. Thanks."

Shelby nodded, and Quinn left the room. She headed towards her locker, lost in thought. So lost in fact that she collided with Marley Rose just as she entered the hall.

"Sorry, didn't see you there." Quinn glanced at the door the other girl had just exited. "I didn't know people were allowed in the kitchens."

Blue eyes widened. "I – uh – I was just –" Marley fumbled for an answer, only to be cut off by the kitchen door opening again.

"Marley, sweetheart, you forget your – oh." One of the lunchladies, the large one, came out, waving a sweater, only to stop when she saw Quinn standing there with Marley. The lunchlady looked between the two, eyes wide. Quinn looked at her in confusion, before her own eyes widened. Her gaze flicked between Marley and the older woman, and finally she understood that weird sense of déjà vu whenever the lunchlady smiled at her.

"She's your mom, isn't she?" Her suspicions were practically confirmed when panic appeared in two identical pairs of blue eyes. It looks like today was an information dump sort of day.

The lunchlady spoke first, her words hurried. "Oh, no, that's not –"

"Yeah, she is," Marley cut her off. She looked at her mom before straightening up and looking at Quinn almost defiantly. "This is my mom. Is that a problem?"

"No, of course not." Quinn glanced between the two of them again, watching as they relaxed. The lunchlady hesitated for a moment before nodding, handing Marley the sweater, and retreating back into the kitchens. Quinn and Marley stood there awkwardly for a moment before Quinn nodded. "Okay then."

She set off again, only to have Marley follow her. "Aren't you going to ask why I kept it a secret?" the brunette asked anxiously.

Quinn shook her head. "I think I know why." Of course she knew why. She knew firsthand exactly how merciless kids could be about appearances. She'd done everything to keep her own past a secret after all, until it had all come tumbling out thanks to Lauren Zizes. "Is it also why you switched schools?"

"Yeah."

Quinn nodded. She understood that too. They stood there in an almost awkward silence for another moment. "Are you going to tell anyone?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to tell anyone?"

Marley fidgeted a little. "No. I mean, I guess not."

"Then no. It's not my secret to tell."

"Thanks."

The two girls walked in silence before running into Ryan. "Oh, hi Quinn, Marley." He flashed them a smile. "Did you see Brittany? She's handing out Pixie Stix again." Quinn looked down to see that Ryan was in fact holding a handful of candy. She looked back up at her boyfriend's face, before pulling him into a hug. Ryan was surprised, but hugged her back after a moment. She pulled back after a moment, smiling slightly. "What was that for?"

Quinn shrugged. "Nothing."

A second later, Marley eyed the candy Ryan was holding. "Wow, Brittany's really taking this election thing seriously, isn't she?"

"As seriously as she can while pledging to go topless once a week," Quinn said dryly, clearing her throat. She'd forgotten that the freshman was there.

"Kurt's pretty desperate to win though," Ryan mentioned. "He's always working on his campaign when I see him at the garage."

"Well, I sort of think his platform's good," Marley volunteered. Kurt was campaigning to have better, more nutritious meals in the cafeteria. "I mean, obesity? It's kind of a big issue, right?"

"I suppose it is," Ryan nodded, his gaze flicking towards Quinn. "Good nutrition is important after all, especially for adolescents who are going through their growth spurts and whatnot."

"Well, I for one wouldn't mind getting actual food from the cafeteria once in a while," Quinn commented absently. She looked up as their small group was joined by Ryder Lynn. She hadn't interacted with him much outside of the Troubletones, but he seemed like a nice kid. He smiled at her and Ryan.

"Hi." His gaze fell on Marley, and Quinn had to hold back a smirk. This kid was obviously crushing on the brunette. Marley didn't seem to get it though. "Hey Marley."

"Oh, hi Ryder." Marley smiled at him. "What's up?"

"Nothing," the tall boy replied, his smile getting goofier. "You've got algebra next, right? I thought maybe we could walk to class together."

"Oh," Marley's eyes widened a little. "Oh, okay." She glanced at Quinn and Ryan. "I guess we should get going." She and Ryder headed off in the direction of the math class room.

Ryan looked at Quinn curiously. "What?"

"It's nothing." She reached up, giving him a kiss. He was really adorable when he was oblivious. He still couldn't completely understand flirting unless it was incredibly blatant like Sebastian's. It was okay in this case though, because he wasn't the one being flirted with. Ryan tilted his head, happily accepting the kiss as his hands settled on her waist, the Pixie Stix shoved into his bag.

"Get a room." Suddenly Santana appeared next to them. "Hey RuPaul, Tubbers. Me and Pyramid Nipples just got into it, so we're having a dodgeball match between the Troubletones and the Nude Erections later after school. Just thought I'd let you know so you can alert the troops."

"You what?" Ryan asked, gawking at Santana. Quinn simply glared at the Latina for interrupting was had been a rather nice kiss.

Santana shrugged. "I called Finn a –"

"Not that! You agreed to a dodgeball match between the Troubletones and the New Directions?"

"Oh yeah, that. Why, is there a problem?"

Ryan stared at her for another moment. "Don't you think that that was a bit reckless? I mean, facing our foes head-on with no adult supervision in a game as violent as dodgeball? Did you even ask anyone else if they'd be okay with this?"

"Britts seemed to think it was okay," Santana shrugged again. Quinn sighed. Of course she did. "Look, we can't back out now. We'll seem like cowards, so the way I see it is we all go to the gym after school, beat the crap out of those losers, and be on our merry way home before dinner. How does that sound?"

Ryan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. But I don't like this."

"Too bad. Besides, didn't you say your mom was okay with a little psyching out the competish? What better way than to cream them at dodgeball."

"Don't worry so much, Ry," Quinn finally said. "It could be fun. I wouldn't mind getting to throw a ball in Finn's face."

"You two seem very sure that we're going to win."

"Of course we're going to win," Santana said matter-of-factly. "We've got the Asian #2, the basketball star, and three Cheerios. Four if you count Q."

"Gee, thanks Santana."

Santana ignored her. "They've got Soft-serve, Lady Gay, a kid in a wheelchair, and the Talking Potato. Who do you think is going to win?"

Ryan sighed again. "Okay." Hopefully they wouldn't regret it. That malevolent grin on Santana's face didn't exactly fill him with confidence though.

..

"This doesn't seem like such a good idea," Marley said nervously as the Troubletones gathered in the gym that afternoon for the dodgeball game. "I hate dodgeball."

"Oh, suck it up," Santana said dismissively as the Troubletones congregated on one side of the gym. The New Directions were on the other side, and Ryan's eyes narrowed as Santana smiled evilly in anticipation. "We are gonna own them."

"I'm on Marley's side," Tina said irritably. "This game is stupid and needlessly violent. Whose brilliant idea was this anyways?"

"Mine, you got a problem?"

"Let's just get this over with with as little bodily harm as possible, okay?" Ryan huffed irritably as Santana smirked. She'd promptly taken on the mantle as leader of this little event, and Ryan had relented after minimal fuss. He agreed with Marley and Tina, he did not like dodgeball at all. He'd spent most of his elementary years getting pummeled at it by his larger classmates until he'd managed to get the hang of running around and dodging. Even then, getting hit hurt. A lot. "Just, try not to kill anyone, okay?"

Just then Finn blew on his whistle. "Okay! Let's roadhouse!"

"Oh, it is on, Finnsbury Dough-turd," Santana smiled maliciously as everyone got into position. She and Finn locked eyes, and a second later the game was on.

In the usual way of dodgeball, once the balls started flying, utter chaos reigned. Ryan wasn't sure how everyone was keeping track of who was out since they didn't have a referee. He was however sure that he saw Artie being used as a makeshift shelter, he was pretty sure that Rory had absolutely no clue what was happening, and he was extremely sure that Santana was having a little too much fun pelting balls at Finn. He saw that the non-Cheerio girls were doing their best to stay out of the action, but Quinn, Brittany, Santana, and even Kitty were having the time of their lives.

Santana had been right though. Slowly but surely the Troubletones managed to hit the New Direction guys until only Finn was up against Santana, Ryan having been hit by a grinning Blaine who had been quickly outed by Santana. Finally Santana managed to slam a ball directly in Finn's face, sending the tall football player reeling back with his face screwed up. Santana grinned victoriously as the Troubletones cheered.

"Okay," Finn conceded, after taking a second to clear his head. "Okay. You win. Good game." He grudgingly offered a hand. Santana simply smirked, and finally Ryan stepped forward, taking Finn's hand in a firm shake.

"Good game." Ryan took a second to look around. "Nobody needs to go the nurse, right?" Shelby would kill them if someone got hurt in this little show. When nobody spoke up he nodded, turning around just in time to see Santana winding up to throw another ball at Rory, who had just come up next to Finn. "Okay, I don't think we should do that," Ryan said, hastily grabbing the ball. "How about we all just hit the showers and we can call it a day, hmm?"

Santana rolled her eyes. "Fine. You're no fun."

..

The two teams disbanded a few minutes later, dispersing to the shower rooms. Ryan ended up in the boys' shower room. Almost everybody had left, and Ryan could hear the last shower switch off. Ryder stepped out in a towel, grinning at him. "Hey Ryan."

"Hi." Ryan smiled back as he pulled some clothes out of his locker. "Pretty good arm out there," he commented.

"Yeah. It was fun."

"Are you still interested in joining a team?" Ryan asked. "I know Coach Beiste is scheduling basketball tryouts in a week or two. You should try."

Ryder lit up. "That would be awesome." He finished dressing. "I'm totally in."

"Great." Ryan watched as Ryder left the locker room before turning back to his locker. Then he turned back around as he heard someone clear their throat. "Hey, you," he smiled as he saw Quinn in the doorway. She came in, setting the bag she was carrying down on the floor before shutting the door.

"Hey." She walked over, leaning up to press a kiss on his lips. "Showered yet?"

"Just about to, actually." He smiled as she ran her hands along his chest. "Something up?"

"Oh, just feeling energized from the game," she answered sultrily. "No to mention the high of winning. I thought maybe you could help work it off." She quirked an eyebrow at him meaningfully, and his smile widened.

"Looks like I'm the big winner of the afternoon," Ryan smirked. "Hold on though, I just need to take a quick shower, all that running around had us working up quite a sweat. Just give me five minutes and we can get going."

Quinn smiled, threading her fingers through his hair and pulling him down into a kiss. Ryan's eyes closed as her tongue darted out to swipe at his lower lip. Then she moved her lips away, trailing along his jaw to his ear, and he shivered as her breath ghosted along his skin. "Maybe we can both take a shower," she whispered, her voice smoky. "It would save time."

Ryan's breath caught, his eyes darkening at the suggestion. "But… oh…" He sighed as she attached her lips to his neck, her hand creeping under his shirt. He looked around helplessly. "What if someone comes in?"

"I locked the door," she breathed out, her fingers stroking along his stomach. He swallowed, already feeling his body reacting to her touch. "Besides, everyone's gone home already." She dragged her lips back up to his, pressing against him possessively. Ryan moaned as she dominated the kiss, helpless to stop his own arousal. He didn't want to be caught in such a compromising position, but he couldn't help himself. He pulled her closer, sighing as his erection pressed up against her thigh.

Suddenly Quinn drew back, pressing another kiss to his lips before stepping back and straightening his shirt. Ryan blinked in surprise at the abrupt stop. "What –"

"You're right, we might get caught," Quinn nodded. "But you know, Britts and San are in the girls' locker room, and I really don't want to be a part of that. So," she stepped back, smiling mischievously. "I think I'll just shower in here."

Ryan's brain short circuited as she sauntered away from him, her eyes fixed on her swaying hips – he swore she was doing it on purpose –

"Are you coming?"

His head snapped up at the question, and he almost swallowed his tongue when Quinn shot him a smirk before pulling her shirt off. That got him to move, and he hurriedly followed her. Then he stopped, turning back to his locker. He opened it, frantically searching his things. He knew he'd left some in here – yes. He finally found one of the foil packets he was looking for. He shut the locker door, almost slamming his fingers in it in his hurry, and stumbled after Quinn who had by now taken off her gym shorts.

The blonde's smirk widened as she slid her hands under his shirt, easily tugging it off and tossing it to the side before dragging him into another fervent kiss. Lost in a haze of lust, Ryan wasn't sure how she managed to unbutton his shorts and pull his pants down, but she did. He helped her drag them down, growling impatiently as they caught on his sneakers.

"Classy," Quinn snickered as he hopped slightly, trying to get his sneakers off. Ryan just glared at her. Finally he managed to get them off, and Quinn tugged him into one of the shower stalls. This time Ryan leaned down, attaching his lips to her neck as he pulled her towards him. Quinn reached behind her, twisting the tap on and sending water flowing over them. Ryan sputtered a little before recovering, only to lose it again as Quinn ground against him seductively.

He fumbled behind her back, clumsily undoing the strap of her bra before helping her out of it. The bra was followed by her panties and then his boxers, all tossed to a pile in the corner of the shower. Ryan took a second to step back, his eyes roving appreciatively over his incredibly hot girlfriend. He'd lost count of the number of times they'd had sex, but she still took his breath away every time, and the sight of her with water cascading all over was fantastic.

"Like what you see?" she inquired.

Ryan gave a strangled chuckle. "You have no idea." He surged forward, his lips crashing against hers. She kissed him back enthusiastically, and he stepped forward, pressing her back against the wall of the cubicle, water still pouring over them. Quinn's hands slipped up his abs before taking the small foil packet that was still miraculously in his hand.

"Very good foresight," she chuckled, tearing it open. Ryan's lips slipped to her neck, and she tilted her head to the side to grant him better access. He bit down lightly as she rolled the condom over his sensitive dick, before moving down to capture a breast in his mouth. "Oh God," she moaned breathily.

"Like that?" He suckled softly at the nipple before nipping, and her hands flew around his back to steady herself.

"Yes," she hissed. Ryan grinned as he palmed one breast, still sucking on the other. His other hand gripped a conveniently placed towel bar on the wall, keeping him from slipping on the wet floor. He let out a soft hiss as her nails dug into his back. "God yes."

He switched his mouth to the other breast, his hand slipping down to stroke at her entrance. "Hmm. Is this from the shower or is this for me?"

Quinn let out a moan, thrusting against his fingers. "Ryan, inside," she panted. "I want you. Now."

Ryan released her breast, moving up to look her in the eye. He almost passed out at the desire he saw there, and he nodded. He positioned himself hastily, before pushing his throbbing cock into her. Quinn bit her lip, whimpering softly as he bottomed out.

He looked at her anxiously. "Okay?"

She nodded after a moment. "Move. Please." Ryan nodded, moving forward to kiss her sweetly before pulling almost entirely out and slamming back in. Quinn's head fell back against the wall, her hands clutching desperately at his back. "Ryan!"

Ryan pressed his lips against her neck as he took a moment to steady himself, before setting up a fast pace. "God, Quinn, you feel so good," he panted. He was close, so close, but he wanted her to come first. She let out a loud yelp as he thrust particularly hard, and he covered her mouth with his. "Shh, someone will hear!"

"D-don't care," Quinn gasped out. "More, Ryan, I'm close –"

He nodded, moving his hand between them to toy at her clit, and she finally came apart, his name leaving her lips in a scream that he caught in a searing kiss. The sensation of her clenching around him triggered his own climax, and he grunted as he spilled himself into the condom.

The couple stood there for a few minutes, trying to catch their breaths as water continued to cascade around them. "How much time did we save, really?" Ryan questioned momentarily.

Quinn chuckled tiredly. "Not much, but it was so worth it." Ryan nodded, pleasantly exhausted himself. Keeping his balance on the wet tile while fucking his girlfriend was harder than it looked in the movies.

"Completely worth it," Ryan agreed, smiling as he kissed her on the lips.

* * *

**Hi everyone, an update, as requested. Took me a while, huh? Hope you guys liked it. Glad people liked the last chapter. About Ryan helping Santana into a college, I have some ideas for that. It'll be a while though. And another note, it's interesting though that people are assuming On My Way will be happening with Shelby and James' wedding. That would be rather predictable, wouldn't it? ;)**

**Not much else to say this time around. Reviews are highly encouraged, they've been pretty low in previous chapters so I appreciate every review you guys send. Mash-off's up next, and I welcome suggestions, even song suggestions that they could sing. Other than that, I claim all typos as usual, and I'll see you next time.**


	79. Chapter 78

"You're kidding me, right?" Ryan stared at his mom, her most recent suggestion still hanging in the air. "You want me to have a co-captain?"

"That's what I said."

Ryan's jaw flapped up and down as he tried to formulate his response. He and Shelby were alone in the choir room after a Troubletones rehearsal in which they'd finalized a mash-up idea for their scrimmage with the New Directions. "What makes you think that I need, or even want, a co-captain? Do you think I can't do it?"

Shelby fixed him with a look. "Basketball tryouts are next week, right?"

"What?" Ryan blinked, confused. He shook his head. "Yes, they're on Monday. That works out fine, because they'll be starting just after our rehearsals. That means after the tryouts I'll be free to rehearse Monday night and all of Tuesday for the mash-up."

"I think there's a little too much on your plate this year," Shelby told him. "You have the Troubletones, obviously. You're the captain. But you also accepted captaincy of the basketball team, which you know is going to take a good portion of your time. You also have your part-time job at the garage, not to mention your schoolwork."

"What are you saying?" Ryan frowned.

"I'm saying you might not have enough time to devote to the Troubletones because you have a lot of other things going on."

What? Of course he would have enough time to devote to the Troubletones. All he had to do was manage his time well. "The other guys on the football team manage being on the team and being on the New Directions."

"And how many rehearsals did they miss because they had conflicting schedules?" Shelby challenged. Ryan looked down, frowning. The football guys sometimes did have to choose one or the other. "I'm sorry to say this, but I didn't allow anyone on VA to be involved in any other teams that could conflict with our rehearsals."

"So – so what? You want me to quit the basketball team?"

Shelby shook her head slowly. "No. I just need to know that if it comes right down to it, you're going to prioritize the Troubletones. I need to know that you're going to be able to juggle the schedules of three extracurriculars in addition to your regular schoolwork, because I'm not just your coach, I'm your mom as well. And I won't have your grades flagging because you're trying to do too much."

"They won't!"

She sighed. "Okay. I'll believe you for now. But if your grades drop this semester, or if I feel that you're not as committed to the Troubletones as I need you to be, I'm going to have to ask you to drop something. And you need someone to assist you with the Troubletones."

"I don't need another co-captain!" Ryan seethed. He'd had plenty of that with Finn in the New Directions, and all that had happened was he'd been practically pushed aside while Mr. Schue and the others took Finn's every suggestion as gospel. Theoretically Ryan supposed he could understand the advantages of having a co-leader, but he still balked at the thought of sharing the top position with someone else.

"Regardless, as coach of the Troubletones, I'm going to have to insist," Shelby said. "You can talk to the others, so you have a say, but if you don't choose, I'll choose for you. And no, I would highly recommend you don't choose Quinn," she said, cutting him off when he started to speak. "That would hardly be productive because you two would just end up making out instead of working on the music."

"Fine," he gritted out.

"Good." Shelby gathered her papers. "Are you going home?"

"No."

Shelby rolled her eyes when no explanation was forthcoming. "Back by ten-thirty, got it?" Ryan rolled his eyes right back.

"Yes ma'am."

..

"She's being completely unreasonable!"

"No, I think she's right, we probably would just end up making out," Quinn said absently from her spot on the bed. Ryan had followed her home that afternoon and had proceeded to rant about his conversation with Shelby. As far as Quinn could tell Ryan was upset with Shelby's lack of action against Puck, her comments on his extracurriculars, and her decision to appoint a co-captain.

"That's not the point!" Ryan railed. "The point is, I didn't get a say in it, she just decided!"

"Yes, she's a horrible, horrible person," Quinn deadpanned, typing in another paragraph in the piece she was writing. "It couldn't be that she actually knows what she's doing, right? I mean, it's not like she's won a bunch of other National titles before…"

"Whose side are you on?"

"You know, you're the one who wanted her to coach us," she pointed out. "Now that she's doing it you're complaining?"

"Yes, but she was supposed to listen to what I wanted!" Ryan whined. Quinn burst out laughing at the pout on her boyfriend's face. "It's not funny."

"Oh, I think it is," she chuckled. Ryan rolled his eyes before flopping down on the bed next to her. "Did you two talk about the Puck issue yet?"

"No, because according to her, there is no issue," Ryan grumbled. "I don't see why she's being so cavalier about this with Puck's reputation."

"I think Shelby can handle herself. Do you really think she's going to pay attention to Puck, of all people?"

"Well, no, but –"

"See? Now you just have to admit that you're being a moron, and problem solved."

"But he's flirting with my mom!"

"And that is all kinds of gross," Quinn agreed. "But you really should not be taking it out on Shelby. Because A, she's not stupid, B, Puck is way too immature to ever get someone like Shelby, and C, do you really think your mom would cheat on your dad?"

"No!" Ryan frowned. "Well, I guess I see your point…"

"Of course you see my point, I'm always right."

"Whatever." Ryan craned his neck to see what Quinn was working on on her laptop, only to have her hastily slam the lid shut. "What are you writing?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," she mumbled. Ryan tilted his head. "Fine, it's a first draft of one of my college application essays, okay? It's not done yet, so you can't see." Even if she'd received some validation on her writing skills from Shelby and the contests she'd won, she was still a bit shy about showing people her work. Especially works in progress.

"Say no more," Ryan grinned. "I wouldn't want anyone to hear one of my audition pieces before it's polished to perfection after all." He leaned up to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sure you're going to blow the application people out of the water."

Quinn smiled, amused. "Thanks." The room was quiet again for a minutes as she typed in a few more sentences before she put her laptop aside. It was time for a break anyways. She stretched, leaning back as she turned to look at Ryan. He was flipping through a random novel of hers, and she smiled softly, just watching him for a moment before reaching over to the bedside table for her camera. She quickly snapped a photo, the click of the shutter causing Ryan to look up.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"What did you take a picture of?"

"You, obviously," she answered. She loved looking at him. And the camera loved him. Or maybe that was just her personal bias. "You look really good today." She leaned over to kiss him, taking her time as she drank him in.

He simply hummed in response, his lips sliding over hers. Slowly she slipped her hand under his shirt, moving so she was hovering above him. She smiled as she slid her hand over the smooth skin of his torso, toned muscles jumping under her fingertips. "Wait," he caught her hand. "Your mom's downstairs," he nodded at the open door.

Quinn shrugged. "She's busy." She kissed him again, frowning when he moved away. "What?"

"I don't know, I just wanted to talk to you about the other day, after, you know, after the dodgeball game," Ryan said, words stumbling slightly over one another. "I mean, I liked it, I liked it a lot. It just took me off guard I guess," he continued to ramble. "I didn't know you were into rather risky things like that. I mean, anyone could have caught us, so I was just wondering if there was something that spurred that little episode on."

Slowly, Quinn backed away from him, moving to a sitting position beside him. "Oh." She ran a hand through her disheveled hair. "I don't know. I just thought it could be fun. And I think it was." She smirked at him.

"Oh, it most definitely was," Ryan assured her, sitting up as well. "I was just kind of worried that… maybe… you were getting bored."

"Bored?"

"You know, with me. Or more specifically, sex with me." He fidgeted awkwardly. "I've heard that sometimes when a couple is together for a long time, the spark goes away and intimate relations become routine. And I thought that since we've been together for over a year now, maybe things were getting too predictable and that you were getting bored."

Quinn stared at him. "You're an idiot." His face fell, and she sighed as she took his hand. "Sorry. But you are. Look, you're right. We've been together for over a year. But I'm not getting bored, okay? I love you, and I love what we have together." She paused. "Speaking as someone who's had sex with someone else –"

"– Is this supposed to be helping?"

"– I can say," Quinn ignored him, "that it's the person who makes it special. And you make it special for me."

A small smile spread across Ryan's face. "Really?"

"Really." She leaned over to kiss him, and he accepted it, his lips moving rhythmically with hers as she cupped his cheek with her hand. He pulled away a moment later, his smile more sincere now. Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Was there something else?"

"Well," he began. "I thought maybe now would be nice time to talk about… things."

"Things like…"

"I've also heard that it can be rather beneficial for couples to take some time to discuss their sex lives," he said matter-of-factly. "It can be healthy for the relationship as well as enjoyable for both parties later on. For example, we can discuss things such as fantasies, preferences –"

"Okay, okay, hold on," Quinn held out her hands. "So let me get this straight. You want to talk about how we have sex?"

"Exactly," Ryan said, pleased. "We can tell each other specific things that we enjoy, or things that we'd like to attempt in the near future, with the end goal being that we both have a better understanding of how to please our partner."

"Okay, wait," Quinn almost begged, her ears starting to flush. She was open to discussing sex in the abstract, and she was obviously open to having it, but it still rankled her rather puritanical upbringing to talk about it so blatantly in the cold light of day. "I'm not sure if I can do that."

"Well, we obviously don't have to do it if you don't want to," Ryan allowed. "But I think it would be helpful. For example, I have a rather vivid fantasy of us doing it in the auditorium against the piano."

Quinn practically choked on her spit at the blunt way he phrased it. She didn't understand how the conversation had just gone from whether they were getting predictable to piano sex. "I – really?"

"Yes," Ryan confirmed. "Do you have any particular fantasies that we might be able to work on?"

"I don't – not really –" She sputtered a little. Okay, maybe the piano sex sounded a little hot, but she couldn't really think of anything she'd fantasized about. She'd always been taught that it was wrong – and yeah, premarital sex was wrong too – and she'd always cut off her fantasies in the bud.

"Really?" Ryan looked at her a bit skeptically.

"Really."

"Oh." He tilted his head at her. "You know I won't judge or anything, right?"

"I know." She hesitated. "Well, there is one thing." Ryan nodded at her. "I sort of like the times when you take the lead. I mean, I've noticed that a lot of the time you let me set the pace, and that's great. But I also find it… hot… when you take control." She started blushing. "Stop staring at me."

"Sorry," he apologized, smiling slightly. "Okay, duly noted. I thought that maybe you preferred having control, seeing as how you're so in control of all other aspects of life. And I find it very sexy when you're in control. But I'll keep it in mind in the future." His smile widened. "See? Isn't this productive?"

"Well, I think I've had enough productivity for now," Quinn said, still blushing as she picked up her laptop. Honestly it didn't make sense to her how she could instigate shower sex one day and then blush like a rose just talking about hypothetical sex, but there it was.

Ryan smiled crookedly. "Okay." He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "For the record though, it doesn't matter to me. I don't think I could ever get bored with you."

* * *

"How was that, Miss C?" Sugar asked excitedly as she and Shelby finished running through a set of exercises that weekend. Ryan paused outside the music room, listening as his mom talked to Sugar. They'd been having weekly sessions ever since the Troubletones had started up, and there had been a drastic improvement in the Sugar's singing abilities. If Ryan had ever had doubts that Shelby was a great teacher, they were all gone. He no longer wanted to rip his own ears off whenever Sugar opened her mouth. Add that to the fact that Sugar was actually a decent dancer, and she was a pretty good asset to the team.

Of course, Sugar's voice still grated a bit, and Ryan winced as she squealed happily. "This is so awesome! Daddy's going to be so happy when he sees us win Sectionals!" She calmed down a bit. "If he can make it, I guess."

That gave Ryan a bit of a pause, but he shook his head, knocking lightly on the door. "Don't mind me, I just need some sheet music."

"That's okay, we're done for the day," Shelby said. "You two can keep each other company while Sugar waits for her driver." Ryan merely nodded as Shelby left the room. The two students were quiet for a moment.

"You're getting a lot better," Ryan offered. Sugar smiled widely.

"Oh, I know. I mean, I was awesome to start with, but I got loads better, didn't I? Miss Corcoran's a really good teacher, even if she's kind of bossy, and her voice still has that nasally quality." She tilted her head. "You're lucky."

"Hmm. I know." Even as annoyed as he was with Shelby over the Puck situation and over the suggestion of getting a co-captain, he knew he was incredibly lucky to have her in his life. He knew what it was like not to have her and he knew he'd never want to go back to that. "If you don't mind my asking, where's your mom?" he asked a moment later. Sugar talked about her dad a lot, but she'd never mentioned her mom.

"Oh, she left," Sugar said casually. "When I was really little. I don't really remember her."

"You don't see her?"

Sugar shook her head. "She has a new family now. Daddy didn't tell me, but I saw some of his emails a few years ago."

"Oh." Ryan nodded, his hand running through his hair as pieces fell into place. He'd seen Sugar watching him and Shelby sometimes in the choir room, a sad expression on her face before she smiled and made an innocently obnoxious comment. Suddenly the girl's phone rang.

"Ooh, it's my driver. I have to go. Bye Ryan," she said, impulsively giving him a hug before skipping out of the room. Ryan sat there in the music room for a few minutes before following her out. He slowly made his way to his mom's office, tapping on the door. Shelby looked at him questioningly as he entered.

"It's been brought to my attention that I've been a bit of a moron with this whole Puck situation," he said stiffly. "As such, I would like to apologize. I realize that you should make the decision to handle this however you see fit. And though watching Puck make googly eyes at you makes me want to barf, I will henceforth defer to your judgement."

Shelby observed him for a moment. "And what made you arrive at this epiphany?"

He shrugged self-consciously. "Quinn said a few things that made me think."

"Your girlfriend is a very smart young woman."

"You don't have to rub it in," Ryan grumbled. "And… I think this is probably very uncool of me to say, but… I don't really like fighting with you."

Shelby chuckled before relenting. "Apology accepted. I don't like fighting with you either. You're right, I suppose this situation is a bit… squicky… for you. While I've dealt with quite a few teenage crushes, I've never my kid watching from the sidelines." She smiled slightly. "Actually, I should probably be thanking you."

"What?" Ryan tilted his head, confused. "For what?"

"For being so offended on my behalf, and for wanting to try to keep the… what was it… 'sex shark' away. Even if I am perfectly capable of handling this myself."

"Okay, don't ever say 'sex shark' again," Ryan shuddered. "And you're welcome." He sat down on the sofa. "It just pisses me off because he's so cocky, he thinks he's God's gift to women and it makes me so mad that he thinks he can get anyone he wants just by flashing that stupid smirk."

"It's not just that though, is it?" Shelby asked, tilting her head curiously.

"I just don't like Noah, that's all," he scowled. "Not after what he did to Quinn. What he did was wrong and immoral. He hurt her, and it's like he doesn't even care. He's an ass and I don't want him anywhere near anyone I care about."

Shelby just smiled, running her hand through his hair before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Have you given any thought to your future co-captain yet?"

Ryan sighed. "No. I still maintain that I don't need one. But if you insist, who do you suggest?"

"Santana Lopez."

Ryan's eyebrows rose at that. "Santana? Really?"

Shelby nodded. "I heard her last year, she has an excellent voice, one that I think would complement yours quite nicely. We'll see just how well with this mash-up. I believe she also has a good sense for music, and quite frankly I think that she will do good job of keeping you in line. Besides, I believe she proved herself a pretty good leader during your dodgeball game. She's the one who instigated it, wasn't she?"

Ryan stared at her. "Wait, you knew about that?"

"I have my sources."

"Okay…" He shook his head. "Wait, how is instigating a potentially violent game between rivals a good thing? Not to mention she almost smashed a ball in Rory Flanagan's face without warning, after the game, mind you!"

"That's why you're going to be co-captains. I suspect you'll rein each other in as necessary."

Ryan shot her an unimpressed look. "If you say so."

* * *

"Okay, everyone, that was good," Shelby called out as the Troubletones finished their last run of their mash-up the day before the contest. "But I still think there are some points we need to go over." She smirked a little as quite a few sets of shoulders slumped. She decided to give them a bit of a break. "But we'll go through them tomorrow." The relief from her performers was palpable, they'd been in here for a few hours after all. "I do expect you to practice on your own though. So if there aren't any questions…"

"Wonderful," Santana grinned happily. "Time for me to focus on my one one-sided battle of wits with the knuckle dragon."

"Don't you think you should focus more on our mash-up rather than trying to make Finn Hudson cry?" Ryan questioned.

"Yeah, as much as I don't like Finn right now, you should probably lay off," Quinn interjected.

"Oh, I'm just getting started."

"All right, that's enough," Shelby cut in. "Santana, I really think you should find something more constructive to do rather than use your admittedly impressive vocabulary to make people cry." She glanced at Ryan, who nodded grudgingly. "Which is why I would like to offer you the position of co-captain."

Santana stared at Shelby. "Wait, what?"

Shelby nodded. "Unless anyone has any objections, of course." She looked around expectantly. When no one protested, she nodded. "Good. Congratulations, Santana."

Brittany squealed happily before engulfing her girlfriend in a hug. Santana meanwhile gaped in shock for a few more moments before a tentative smile broke out on her face. Shelby smiled slightly. "And as a co-captain of this club, you need to focus on the fact that we want to win because we're better, not meaner," she said sternly. "So I don't want any more trouble with Finn, okay?"

"Well..."

"Come on Santana," Brittany wheedled her girlfriend as everyone looked at Santana expectantly.

"Okay, okay," Santana relented with a small laugh. "I'll play nice. Even cotton candy won't melt in my mouth."

"Good," Shelby nodded. "If there aren't anymore questions, I'll see everyone tomorrow."

* * *

"I got this for you. They were out of apples at the cafeteria."

Shelby glanced up from her record sheet to the miniature pumpkin that had appeared on her desk. From there, her gaze rose to meet Noah Puckerman's smirking visage. She looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Thank you."

"You doing anything later? Maybe you could, you know, tutor me or something," the teenager said casually, shooting her a suggestive look. Shelby hid an amused smile. This was either an attempt to get help with academics or a rather poor attempt to flirt with her. "Maybe you could give me a hand over dinner."

The latter then. She stood up to her full height. "Noah, if you're serious about the tutoring, I would be more than happy to organize a session during one of your study hall periods. I could even find you a peer tutor, if that's what you need. But let's not play games. I'm your teacher, and your flirting is highly inappropriate."

"I'm not some kid, I'm eighteen," Puck defended, dropping all pretenses. "I've already been with a lot of older women."

Shelby sighed. _Here we go._ "I'll be blunt. You have absolutely no chance with me. I am your teacher. I would lose my job."

"Only if I told. And I never would."

"I am also engaged."

"I've been with tons of married chicks."

Shelby shut her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose to try to ward off her building headache. This was going to be a lot harder than she'd thought. Did this child – and he was a child, she didn't care if he was of legal age – not have any sense of morality? "Look, Noah, I am over twice your age. And yes, I heard you when you said you've already been with older women," she cut him off when he started to say something. "But I am not going to be one of those older women. Do you understand?"

"Come on," Puck said cajolingly. "I'm hot, you're hot, it would be awesome. You know why I got to sleep with all those older ladies? Their husbands weren't getting the job done. I bet your fiancé isn't either."

"Okay, that is very much none of your business," Shelby shot him an icy glare. It would be rather immature to tell him that she and James had been up until two in the morning being rather loud. Fortunately her room was partially soundproofed and Ryan's room was about two rooms away. She folded her arms across her chest, looking at him seriously. "You're right, you're a legal adult now."

"Exactly –"

She silenced him with a glare. "Part of being an adult is learning to make good decisions. And pursuing women who are far older than you is not a good decision. Frankly, it's concerning that you've already been with older women. You may be legal now but anything that happened before could be considered as statutory rape."

Puck shrugged, giving her a wink. "Well, you only live once. I'm a badass, that's just how I roll."

She wasn't going to get anywhere here. She headed to the door before turning to face him again. "Look, you have a crush. Nothing will ever come of it. You will get over it." She gestured him out of her room.

"You know, this is probably gonna happen sooner or later," he said cockily, swaggering out of the room. "See you in English."

Shelby returned to her desk, fighting the urge to faceplant on top of it. She hated dealing with teenage crushes. Either they were so childishly shy that she felt sorry for busting them, like Joey Randolph three years ago, or they were so obnoxious like Puck that they wouldn't go away even if she tried fending them off with a baseball bat. She had a feeling this wasn't over yet. She heard her phone chime and she picked it up, smiling when she saw a text from James.

_10:08 AM From: James Walker – Ryan said he'll be out with Quinn tonight. You up for an encore of last night? ;)_

_10:09 AM From: Shelby Corcoran – I don't know, last night was pretty good, think you can top it?_

_10:10 AM From: James Walker – Challenge accepted. I bet we can double last night before Ryan gets home._

_10:11 AM From: Shelby Corcoran – And if not?_

_10:11AM From: James Walker – I'm sure we could think of an appropriate punishment…_

Shelby shook her head, putting her phone away. Not getting the job done indeed.

..

"So, what did you think?" Ryan asked Shelby as everyone left the auditorium after the New Directions' performance that afternoon. Finn had won rock-paper-scissors, and the New Directions had been the ones to hit the stage first. They had sung a mash-up of Hall &amp; Oates songs, with Finn and Rory singing lead. The only interesting thing to Ryan was that rather surprisingly, they had managed to rope Lauren back into the group. He'd thought she quit, but apparently he was wrong.

"What did _you _think?" Shelby countered.

"They were okay. Nothing spectacular. The costumes were okay, and the vocals were so-so. The songs suited Finn's voice, and I suppose Rory's. If they wanted something with more of a wow factor though they should have used Blaine as a soloist."

Shelby nodded. "You're right. Rory and Finn have decent voices but they don't have Blaine's training. Or his stage presence."

"There's a massive imbalance in the group. They only have two girls, and Lauren doesn't really sing all that well. So basically it's just Mercedes, and no matter how strong her voice is she's outnumbered by the guys. Though I suppose you could argue that Kurt's voice could be classified as a female register…"

"Very good assessment," Shelby said approvingly. She had thought it was a decent performance though there had been a mildly bizarre moment when she swore Puck had winked at her. "I made the same notes. Their song choice, while it suited them, isn't competitive enough. They didn't spend enough time on their choreography, and their vocal blending could have used some more polishing."

"They probably just came up with it last night," Ryan smirked. "Do you think they'll be hard to beat at Sectionals?"

Shelby tapped her pen against her notes thoughtfully. "Right now, I'd say no. They don't have enough members, and if Will continues his pattern of putting off preparations until the last minute, then they shouldn't be too hard to beat. Unfortunately, Will seems to have the Underdog Factor."

"The what?"

"It's a phenomenon where a team is the underdog, and you think they have absolutely no chance of winning. But then something happens, and through some bizarre set of circumstances, they win anyways. Will Schuester seems to have that in spades as evidenced last year. By all rights, you shouldn't have made it past Sectionals. You barely rehearsed, you sidelined your best soloist, and you were up against one of the best glee clubs in the state besides VA."

"Wow, thanks."

"Am I wrong?"

Ryan huffed. "Whatever."

"Look, I did call you the best soloist," Shelby pointed out. "The point is, we can't get complacent. Even if we think they will be easy to beat, we still have to give this everything we've got. Which is why after our mash-off tomorrow, we're going to really start preparations for Sectionals."

"Well, I think we're going to kill it tomorrow," Ryan said confidently.

Shelby smirked. "You better. I haven't lost a competition in five years, I'm not about to start now."

* * *

"Where's Santana?" Shelby asked the next day as the Troubletones were warming up for their performance. She'd just done a headcount, and the Latina Cheerio was missing. "Brittany?"

Brittany started to say something, only to be cut off by Santana's sudden entrance into the backstage area.

"There you are," Ryan said, his voice betraying his exasperation. "Where have you been? We're on in five minutes!"

Santana simply shrugged. Quinn frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Brittany started to say something again only to be brushed off by Santana. "It's fine. Nothing's wrong. We really need to start warming up now." She turned away abruptly, leaving Brittany looking rather lost and miserable. Shelby frowned.

"Ryan, start the warm-ups." She followed Santana, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder and pulling her gently to a secluded corner. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I told you. I'm fine."

Shelby studied her uncertainly. She wasn't fine, that much was sure. She took care to observe her students during rehearsals, trying to get to know them and how to get them to reach their potential, and the Santana Lopez she'd been seeing in Troubletones rehearsals was happy, uninhibited in her joy for singing, with a quick wit and sharp humor. This one was closed off, troubled. Hiding. "Santana…"

"Look, we're on in five minutes," Santana told her flatly. "We should get started."

Shelby stared at her for a few more moments before nodding. She wasn't going to get any more out of the girl right now, and they needed to get up onstage. She would get to the bottom of this later. "All right. Go warm up." Santana nodded, mechanically heading back to the rest of the team. "All right everyone," Shelby called out. "Just like we did it in rehearsals, got it? Break a leg out there."

Ryan gave her an inquisitive look, and she shook her head slightly. He frowned, casting a concerned look at Santana before getting everyone into line. Shelby meanwhile stepped out into the auditorium, taking her seat next to Will. "Everything all right?" he asked.

Shelby nodded absently. Will started to say something else, but then he shook his head and fell silent just as the curtains rose.

_She, she ain't real,_  
_She ain't gonna be able to love you like I will_

_She is a stranger,_  
_You and I have history,_  
_Or don't you remember?_

_Sure, she's got it all,_  
_But, baby, is that really what you want?_

Shelby's brow creased as Ryan started them off. Something was wrong. Not with Ryan, he was spot on as usual, but there was something off. Soon Ryan reached the end of his solo, his voice fading and ready for Santana's to continue the song.

Except she didn't.

Her breath caught as Santana stayed silent, missing her cue completely. If she hadn't been sure that there was something wrong before, she was definitely sure now. The Latina stayed frozen on the stage, a blank expression on her face as the silence stretched.

Just when Shelby was about to call the performance off, someone else started to sing. Her eyebrows went up as Marley Rose moved forward, perfectly belting out the next stanza just in time to cover for Santana.

_Bless your soul, you've got your head in the clouds_  
_You made a fool out of you_  
_And, boy, she's bringing you down_  
_She made your heart melt_  
_But you're cold to the core,_  
_Now rumour has it she ain't got your love anymore_

The coach in Shelby was pretty impressed at the freshman's voice. She'd heard Marley sing before, of course, but the girl was a bit hesitant in rehearsals, unsure of herself. Marley's voice was confident now though, clear and rich and, while different, a good substitute for Santana.

Speaking of, Santana finally seemed to snap out of her trance by the end of the stanza, her voice rising out over the chorus.

_Don't forget me, I beg_  
_I remember you said_  
_  
__I heard that you're settled down_  
_That you found a girl and you're married now._  
_I heard that your dreams came true._  
_Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you._

Santana's voice was different than it had been in rehearsals. True, she had been nothing short of wonderful while they working on the song, but this performance was just raw, visceral emotion bleeding out of the girl's voice. Under any other circumstances this would be the type of performance Shelby would want, but she could hear the hurt in Santana's voice and she needed to get to the bottom of this.

_Never mind, I'll find someone like you_  
_I wish nothing but the best for you too_  
_Don't forget me, I beg_  
_I remember you said,_  
_Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,_  
_Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead._

The song ended, and Shelby joined in with the applause offered by the New Directions. She had every intention of heading backstage to talk with her students, but all that was derailed by Santana striding off the stage and up to Finn, who was talking to Mercedes.

"What the hell did you just say to her?!" Santana burst out, getting up in Finn's face, which took on a bewildered expression.

"I was just saying you were really good –"

"No," Santana shook her head, her eyes sparking with rage. "You're lying!"

"Uh, calm down, Santana," Mercedes said uncertainly. "He really did just say you were great."

"Did you tell her too?!"

Shelby stood up just as Will did. "Santana –" he spoke, only to be overridden by the now-furious Latina.

"Everyone's going to know now, because of you," Santana continued, practically trembling now. Shelby frowned, utterly confused by what was going on. She glanced over at Ryan, who looked equally as bewildered by what was going on.

"The whole school already knows," Finn argued. "And you know what, they don't care!"

"Not just the school, you idiot! Everyone!"

"What are you talking about –"

_SMACK!_

The entire auditorium fell silent as Santana slapped Finn hard across the face. Shelby stared with the rest of them before finally reacting. This had to stop. She quickly moved over to the angry teen. "Santana, my office."

She took Santana's arm, pulling her towards her office and closing the door behind them. Santana shot her a glare before turning to leave. Shelby quickly grabbed her arm again, keeping her there. "Santana, stop."

"Just leave me the hell alone, okay?! I don't need your help!"

Shelby paused for a moment, bristling at the tone before shaking her head. She'd heard those same words from her own kid, and she knew Santana didn't mean them either. "Do you need me to call your parents?"

"NO!" Santana looked ashamed of her outburst for a split-second before her angry mask returned. "I don't need anyone, I just need –" She stopped short. "You know what, I don't know, okay? Just – just –"

The girl was slowly crumbling, and Shelby sighed. Santana was one of those people who were so incredibly tough on the outside, but her armor had been pierced and she didn't know what to do. "Look, I'm not sure what's going on," Shelby said without preamble. "But we both know you're in trouble for slapping Finn, and I need you to tell me what's going on so that I can help you."

"He outed me, okay?!" Santana finally yelled. Shelby stared at her, surprised as the dam broke and Santana spilled what had happened.

..

"_Hey Tubs!" Santana called out to Finn. He and the Irish kid – seriously, did that kid follow Lumps around like a puppy? – stopped, turning to look at her suspiciously. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"_

"_Hey listen here," Rory said indignantly. "You can't make fun of Finn anymore."_

_Santana rolled her eyes dismissively. "Shut your potato hole, I'm here to apologize, okay?" She turned to Finn, who stared at her in confusion. "I guess I haven't been fair to you. You're not fat. I should know, I slept with you." Finn nodded, about to say something. And Santana knew she should probably stop right there. But that stupid, constipated smile showed up on Finn's face again, and she thought of how he'd called Brittany stupid and how her girlfriend had been sad that night because of it, and she just couldn't help herself. "I mean, at one point I must have liked that you look like a taco addict who's had one too may back-alley liposuctions."_

_Rory's eyes widened. "Whoa."_

"_Please stick a sock in it, or ship yourself back to Scotland," Santana said nicely. Oh, she knew it was racist but right now she didn't particularly care. Her Snixx persona was coming out full force, and Santana just couldn't stop. "I'm trying to apologize to Lumps the Clown. I am sorry, Finn," she continued, turning to the tall quarterback again. "I'm sorry that the New Directions are gonna get crushed by the Troubletones. I'm also sorry that you have no talent. I'm sorry that you sing like you're having your prostate checked, and you dance like you've been asleep for years, and someone just woke you up. Have fun pumping gas at the station for the rest of your life, because you are going to be a Lima Loser forever."_

_She finally stopped, maliciously satisfied at the angry look on Finn' face. Maybe she'd been harsh, Snixx coming to the forefront, but she knew she was right. Finn Hudson was a selfish man-child who needed to grow up. She was done now though. Now that she'd gotten it out of her system, she'd be able to focus on kicking their asses at Sectionals. She moved forward, brushing past Finn. She was about six feet away when she heard it._

"_Hey Santana, why don't you just come out of the closet?"_

_As soon as the words clicked, Santana stopped dead in her tracks. The bustle of the hallways faded to an indistinct buzz as icy fear slid up her spine and kept her frozen to the ground; unable to speak, unable to react, unable to stop Finn as he continued talking, continued spilling her deepest hidden secrets in the middle of that hallway. He said something about her tearing herself down (no she wasn't!), and that she was scared that Brittany might not love her back (which was stupid because she did, right?) and how she was a coward (maybe she was)._

_Finally he stopped, but Santana barely registered it through the ringing in her ears. "See you at the mash-off." _

_He left, she could hear him leave, but she still couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. _

_Suddenly the bell rang, and time restarted. Santana chanced a look around, and everything was… fine. There wasn't anyone staring at her like she'd grown a third boob, there wasn't an angry mob chasing after her with pitchforks, there wasn't any sign an all that anyone had heard._

..

"But of course somebody heard," Santana said bitterly. "Some idiot heard and blabbed to her uncle or whatever, and now they're using the fact that I'm – that I like girls – against Coach Sylvester. So now all of Ohio is gonna know."

"Oh, Santana." Shelby sighed, not knowing what to say. This was huge. Santana obviously wasn't ready to come out, and Finn's words had just forced her out. "Do your parents know?"

"I haven't told them."

"I think you're going to have to," Shelby said gently. "They're going to find out eventually, and you're going to need them." Especially with the slapping issue, as Will was probably not going to let go of Santana slapping his prize student just like that. "What about Brittany?"

Santana's head snapped up, and Shelby couldn't help her smile. "I'm sorry, you two haven't exactly been discreet."

Santana looked like she was about to argue, but she deflated. "I told her what happened. And she said it was going to be okay, but she lives in a world where math doesn't exist and unicorns and rainbows do. She doesn't get that we're in fucking _Ohio_ and I can't –" She started to work herself up again. "I can't. I can't. I'm not ready. And it's not fair!"

No, it wasn't. But there wasn't really anything anyone could do at this point. Just then someone tapped lightly on the door, and Shelby saw Brittany peek inside, her face sad. "Brittany, come in," Shelby instructed. The blonde entered the office, and Santana wiped her eyes furiously as Brittany sat down next to her. Brittany wrapped an arm around Santana, and Shelby watched the angry girl relax, leaning unconsciously into the other girl.

"Are you okay, San?"

Santana nodded shakily. "Yeah. Yeah, Britts, I'm fine."

The blonde shook her head. "No you're not. But we'll be okay. Finn and everyone else left already. Except Ryan and Quinn, they're still outside. Do you want to go back to my place?" Santana hesitated before nodding. "You should go ahead, I'll catch up, okay?" Brittany gave Santana a quick kiss on the cheek. Santana blushed before standing and looking uncertainly at Shelby. "Thanks," she muttered, before making a hasty exit from the office. Shelby sighed, not knowing exactly what to do about this situation.

"Thank you."

Shelby looked at Brittany in confusion. "I didn't really do anything."

"You went after her. You listened to her. Mr. Schue didn't do that, and he knew what's going on."

"Ah." So that's why Will was fidgety earlier. Looks like they were going to have words. She sighed again, standing up. "Come on, we should go." The two of them headed out, finding Santana with Quinn and Ryan in the hallway. Santana and Brittany left quietly.

"Okay, what happened?" Ryan asked as soon as the two girls were out of earshot. "Brittany told us some of it, but it wasn't really clear. She was really upset about Santana."

"Can't really blame her," Quinn added.

"It looks like Finn outed Santana," Shelby said quietly. "The information made it out, and it's being used in a campaign ad against Coach Sylvester."

"What?" Ryan's eyes widened. "But that means –"

"That means that she's going to be outed to all of Ohio," Quinn surmised. Shelby nodded.

"I have to talk to Sue," she said. "What happened after we left?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Well, after Mr. Schue made a big deal out of the handprint Santana left on Finn's cheek, but after that, nothing." She paused significantly. "Nothing yet."

Shelby nodded. The teenager was right. Nothing had happened yet, but things would get worse. "I have to talk to Coach Sylvester."

..

A short walk later found Shelby at Sue Sylvester's office, where she found the cheerleading coach staring out the window. "Barbra. You're late."

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Let me see that video."

Sue nodded, picking up the TV remote. The video wasn't even two minutes long, but it unequivocally outed Santana to anyone who watched it. Shelby clenched her jaw as she pressed the eject button on the VCR and tossed the tape onto Sue's desk. "This is wrong."

"You think I'm not incredibly pissed about this too?" Sue's voice was calm. "Even under those gravy-filled boobs and the inane obsession with show choir, Santana Lopez is a good kid. She doesn't deserve this. Heck, no one deserves this, and I can't even begin to articulate how sorry I am that she was dragged into this. But there is literally nothing I can do."

"Isn't there some kind of ruling for dragging minors into public ads or something?"

"Santana's birthday was a month ago. She's eighteen, which makes her perfectly fair game. She can sue Salazar, but it won't matter because that ad will run regardless." Sue removed her glasses, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She leaned back in her seat, arms folded across her chest. "I know you know why I'm tough on my girls. Kids are lazy and annoying and they need a good kick in the rear to get them to produce. But at the end of the day, I care about my girls."

Shelby nodded. "I know that." It wasn't always obvious, what with the way Sue acted, but deep down she did care.

"Will Schuester isn't going to help either," Sue continued. "Not after McTits slapped his prize student."

"Fantastic." Shelby was not looking forward to the next day. She was sure Will would bring this up to Figgins, which was why she needed all sides of this story now.

"She's not going to let me help her. So you're going to have to," Sue informed Shelby. "I've known these girls for close to four years, and Santana's going to need all the help she can get. But she's not going to like it. She's going to fight everyone like a bull in a bullfight. But you need to help her regardless."

Shelby nodded. "I never intended anything else."

* * *

**Hello everyone! Boy, am I late. I've been working on this for a while now, but other things have gotten in the way. Just a quick note for now, I'm a bit jetlagged, but I'm on vacation for a couple of weeks, so hopefully I'll have the next chapter out soon. Don't forget to leave a review if you've got time!**


	80. Chapter 79

"I didn't do it."

"Santana, we all saw what happened," Will said sternly. "You slapped Finn in the face, unprovoked."

Shelby held back a sigh, folding her arms. After yesterday's slapping incident, Will had taken it upon himself to call a meeting with Principal Figgins. That was why everyone's Thursday morning was now being spent in the principal's office, listening as sides were explained. For now, she was content to listen to Santana explain herself, but was ready to step in if needed.

"No, you don't get it," Santana argued. "When I get really pissed off, Santana gets taken over by my other evil personality. I call her Snixx. She's kind of like the Incredible Hulk, you can't blame me for anything Snixx does."

"I'm suspending you, and this _Snixx_, from all extracurricular activities for the foreseeable future," Figgins said. "That includes Cheerios and the glee club."

"What? If you do that I won't be able to compete at Sectionals and I won't be able to beat Grimmus and Mr. Schue's butts! Miss Corcoran, I highly recommend you do something about this." Santana shot Shelby an almost imploring look. Shelby knew how important glee was to Santana, even if she rarely showed it.

Will folded his arms. "Santana, Sectionals is important, but you need to be punished for what you did."

Shelby stared at him incredulously. Where had this almost sanctimonious conviction been when Finn had all but jumped Quinn onstage in New York? Oh, right, it had been directed at Ryan… "All right, time out. While it is true that Santana slapped Finn – which I do think warrants some consequences – I think that's a little harsh, especially considering that she was provoked."

"Provoked? Finn was just sitting there," Will argued.

"Are you seriously going to gloss over the fact that Finn outed her to practically all of Ohio?"

"Actually, Miss Corcoran, there is no concrete evidence that Mr. Hudson was… was the one who… leaked that information…" Principal Figgins' voice trailed off meekly at the glare Shelby shot him.

"Exactly," Will jumped in. "And besides, it's already out there. Violence isn't the answer, we all know that. And the sentence is reasonable, you're the one who suggested it for Dave Karofsky and Azimio Adams last year."

"Okay, first, everyone knows it was Finn," Shelby said curtly. "Let's not pretend otherwise. Second, a slap is complete different from a two-on-one physical assault. And third, you aren't allowed to dole out punishments this severe without calling in the parents of the students involved. Since I highly doubt Mr. and Mrs. Lopez are hiding under the seat cushions, you can't go that far." Not yet anyways.

Will sighed. "Then we'll call them in."

"No!" All eyes turned to Santana at the outburst. "You can't call them." She looked pleadingly at Shelby. "I haven't told them yet."

Shelby softened at the almost panicked look in the teenager's eyes. "Santana –"

"She didn't slap me."

This time, everyone in the room turned to Finn in surprise. Even Santana was staring at him in confusion. Will cleared his throat. "Finn, we all saw it."

"I know it looked and sounded like she did, but she didn't. It was – what's it called when you pretend to hit someone but don't?" Finn asked.

"A stage slap?" Shelby asked slowly.

"Exactly," Finn agreed, smiling. "It was a stage slap."

Will almost growled. "What is your angle here, Finn?"

"The truth! If she didn't hit me, she can't be suspended, right?" Finn asked the principal hopefully.

"No…"

"Then that's what happened."

Everybody stared at Finn, totally confused. After a moment of utter silence during which everybody tried in vain to puzzle out what had just happened, Figgins let them all leave. Shelby watched as Finn followed Santana out of the office, her suspicion growing. Something was going on here, she just didn't know what. She quickly caught up to Will just as he headed towards his office. She pulled him around to face her. "What is Finn doing?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Will answered honestly. Shelby studied him closely, but couldn't see any sign of deception. It was obvious when they were in the office that he had been just as baffled by Finn's actions as all of them. That wasn't the only issue she had with him though.

"I know what you were doing."

Will looked at her, his face a mask of confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about." This time Shelby could see the lie.

"Oh please. Playing dumb doesn't suit you," she glared. "You were practically gunning for Santana to get suspended. And I know that it's because you think having her off the Troubletones is going to raise your chances of winning Sectionals."

The guilty look that flashed across Will's face was more than enough confirmation. He had no poker face. "I –"

"Save it." Shelby shook her head. "When I first started here last year, I tried to keep my mind open, I gave you a chance. But we as teachers are supposed to push our kids to become better, to succeed." She smiled crookedly. "You know, it's sad, because you have the gift of being able to inspire your students. And you can be a good teacher sometimes. But you only do it for select students, and it's unfair. We are not supposed to tear them down, we are not supposed to play favorites, and we are most certainly not supposed to want them to get suspended."

"I wasn't trying to get her suspended! She did something wrong, she needs to know that it wasn't okay!"

"Then why weren't you calling for disciplinary action against Finn for outing her?" Shelby challenged. "You know what Finn did was wrong."

"Yes, maybe it was," Will admitted. "But I know he's sorry."

She shook her head. "If he is, then that's good. But that doesn't change the fact that he forced Santana out before she was ready, and that is not okay. The way things are here, this will have an enormous effect on her life. There comes a point where apologies can't fix everything. I understand your desire to protect your student, but kids need to grow up. They need to learn that their actions have consequences. He's not going to have you around to fix things forever, and he needs to learn to deal with his mistakes."

"I'm just trying to help him, he can't deal with this on his own."

"What you're doing isn't helping him, it's hurting him. He's a senior, he's legally an adult. He needs to understand what he's done."

"It was an accident. I'm sure he didn't mean to out Santana just like that."

"That's exactly the problem," Shelby stressed. "He doesn't know how to control himself. We saw it when he kissed Quinn at Nationals, and now this. He needs to learn to control himself, and you are hindering him from learning by removing the consequences of his actions." She shook her head again. "We're talking in circles. I'm not going to be able to convince you. But I think you need to take a step back and really consider what you're doing, because right now, you aren't helping anyone."

..

Ryan stared at Santana, jaw hanging in disbelief at his co-captain's statement. "We're going to what?"

"You heard me," Santana said, not bothering to face him as she organized her locker. "We are going to spend next week with the New Directions. Finnept has some kind of lesson plan and he needs us to join in."

Ryan shook his head, trying to process the latest development. He'd gotten the abbreviated version of events from Shelby yesterday, and the complete version from Brittany this morning, and he did not know why Santana was going with Finn's request. "Since when do you care what Finn wants?"

Santana slammed her locker shut, finally facing him. "Since the Hamburglar kept my ass from getting suspended from glee, okay? So now, let me say this in simple words. We need to make nice for one week, otherwise he's going to take that stage slap garbage back and get me suspended, not to mention he'll get me banned from the Troubletones, which means I won't get to sing at Sectionals."

"But that's blackmail!" Ryan exclaimed. "We need to tell someone!"

"You think Figgins and Mr. Schue are going to believe their precious Finnocence is capable of blackmail? They think the sun shines out of his ass, and they think I'm the devil incarnate. Who do you think they're going to believe?" She shut her eyes briefly, turning to look at him with her binder clasped defensively in front of her. "If Finn tells on me they're going to call my parents."

"So?" Ryan stared at her, confused. "That's good, isn't it? They might be able to keep you from being suspended, because they'll know that he leaked…" He stopped as he realized what was wrong. "They don't know yet."

"Right in one," Santana replied sarcastically. "And they are not going to find out. Not like that."

"You know they're going to find out eventually," Ryan said softly. Santana merely shook her head, and he sighed. "Fine. We'll play it your way. I'll tell everyone else. Don't worry, I won't tell them about… the rest of it. Just about the lessons with the New Directions."

* * *

"This week," Finn announced, "the Troubletones and New Directions will both be singing music created by ladies and for ladies."

Santana scowled. "Oh, hell no."

Finn continued regardless. "Next week, all of us will be going to Sectionals, and one of us is probably gonna win. But, Santana, we're worried about you."

She shot him a glare. "Worry about yourself, fetus face."

The quarterback frowned, but soldiered on. "Glee's about learning how to accept yourself for who you are, no matter what other people think. And that's what this music is all about."

"So, wait, I don't even get a say in this?" Santana questioned. "Not cool."

Finn stepped closer to Santana. "Everybody in this room knows about you and Brittany. And we don't judge you for it. We celebrate it because it's who you are." He went on with some spiel over the people in this room accepting her for who she was or some such crap, but Santana zoned out, unwilling to listen to any of Finn's babble anymore. She was still so incredibly mad at him, both for outing her and for blackmailing her into this stupid joint session, that she didn't even know how to express it. Soon Finn finished whatever garbage he was spouting, and his place at the front of the room was taken by Blaine and Kurt.

"Santana, we've got a song we like to sing to each other in the car," Kurt began. "And we'd like to sing it to you."

"Well, while there's nothing I'd love more than having two Pretty Ponies serenade me, I think we'd get further staging a gel-ervention for Blaine than singing lady music."

Kurt shot her a look. "I know it's hard. It was hard for me, too. But you can get through this."

At this point Mr. Schue intervened. "Kurt, Blaine, why don't you kick us off with what you got?"

Santana watched impassively as the WonderGays performed a rendition of _Perfect,_ complete with showboat-y choreography and barely tolerable rapping. The New Directions burst into applause at the end, but Santana was gratified when the Troubletones only gave token claps. She gave the duo a fake smile. "Thank you, guys," she said sincerely. "Thank you, Finn, especially. You know, with all the horrible crap I've been through in my life... now I get to add that."

Finn stood up. "Santana –"

"You know what, I'm trying to deal with this," she cut him off. Brittany put a hand on her arm, but she shrugged it off. "I don't need you to tell me I've got people who care, because I know who those are, and they sure as hell aren't you. And you," she rounded on Kurt and Blaine. "Are you seriously trying to make this _okay_ with a song? I didn't see anyone parading your sexuality all over national television when you came out. Of course, they obviously didn't have to, since your sparkly outfits and garish bowties already speak for themselves. I am so incredibly sorry that I'm not out and proud, and that I'm not delighted that Teen Giant just threw my life out there for the world to see. This was supposed to be _my _choice." She stood up, barely noticing through her anger that Brittany had stood up along with her. She glared at Finn before letting Brittany pull her out of the choir room.

..

Shelby watched Brittany tug Santana out of the choir room before shaking her head and standing up. "I think we're done here for today." Will nodded his assent, and the students started to leave the room.

"I'm surprised you approve of these lessons," Will commented, just before Shelby could exit the choir room. "From what I've heard of Vocal Adrenaline, they don't seem to be your sort of thing."

"I don't approve," Shelby told him bluntly. "I think they're taking up time that could be spent for Sectionals, but if this is what Santana needs right now, we'll make the time." Ryan had come up to her yesterday evening and told her in no uncertain terms that the Troubletones needed to spend this week with the New Directions, 'in the hopes of rebuilding ties with our former teammates and to assist Santana in coping with this difficult time,' as he'd put it.

"I see," Will nodded. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow."

Shelby nodded curtly before leaving the choir room. She had someone to talk to. "Santana," she called, spotting her target at her locker. "I'd like to see you in my office for a minute."

Santana looked around. "I have class."

"It'll just take a second." Shelby led the student to her office, shutting the door behind them. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Besides that display by Gayz R Us? Nope."

Shelby huffed in amusement. Santana Lopez certainly had a flair for insults. "We don't have to do the joint lessons if you don't want to," she said, cutting to the heart of the matter.

"Yeah, we do."

"Is Finn blackmailing you?"

Santana started at the blunt question, blinking wordlessly at the teacher. "How –"

"I'm pretty sure you've expressed your disdain for the New Directions in no uncertain terms," Shelby said wryly. It hadn't been altogether that hard to put together. "And the only reason I can think of for you to voluntarily push us to have joint lessons is if someone were coercing you. Add that to the fact that Principal Figgins would have suspended you from glee and the Cheerios if Finn hadn't told that ridiculous story…"

The Latina folded her arms defensively. "It's just one week."

Shelby shook her head. "It's the principle of the thing, though."

"Would you rather I got suspended?"

"Obviously not." Shelby studied her for a moment. "Unfortunately, I couldn't quite convince Principal Figgins to level disciplinary action against Finn. But I've spoken with him, and he wasn't quite sold on the slap story either." Santana tensed up. "But after a quick chat, I've convinced him that if Finn ever does retract his 'stage-slap' story that suspension is too big of a sentence. He's agreed that if it comes down to it, you will be serving three weeks of after-school detention."

"Wait, what?" Santana gaped at her. "How did you do that?"

"I simply reminded Mr. Figgins of the rather numerous physical altercations that have slipped by over the years," Shelby said vaguely. She had also subtly reminded him of the rather sizable donation Al Motta was making to the school because of the Troubletones. If there was anything the principal understood, it was cash. "The point is, you don't have to go along with Finn if you don't want to."

"I…" The girl seemed to be at a loss for words, and Shelby hid a smirk. "Thanks, I guess."

"So do you still want to continue the joint lessons?"

Santana thought for a few seconds. "If it's okay… yeah. I mean, as god-awful as that performance was, it kind of distracted me. And I really don't want those detentions." She shrugged. "And it keeps them from planning their set list for Sectionals. We have. The way I see it, we've got a head start."

Shelby nodded. "All right then." The lessons served as a sort of amusement anyways, and it gave her more insight into how Will worked, which could help her strategize how to beat them. The bell rang, and Shelby quickly signed a hall pass for Santana. "Off you go."

* * *

The next day found the Troubletones and the New Directions all together in the choir room again. Once more there was a clear divide between the two groups. Ryan knew that the Troubletones were all behind Santana one hundred percent, even the newbies. Shelby had told him that she had given Santana an out though, and he was slightly disgruntled that they were still wasting their time on Finn's 'lessons'.

"Santana so owes all of us for this," he grumbled to Quinn, who just smiled as she rubbed a hand along his back. He sighed when Puck went up to the front of the room carrying his guitar. He started playing the introduction to Melissa Etheridge's _I'm the Only One_, and Ryan wasn't entirely sure how this was supposed to make Santana feel any better.

_Please baby can't you see_  
_My mind's a burnin' hell_  
_I got razors a rippin' and tearin' and strippin'_  
_My heart apart as well_

Ryan rolled his eyes as Puck smirked at Santana, whose face held a mixture of boredom and confusion. Then Puck moved, leaning in towards Quinn, and Ryan frowned. Quinn for her part just stared at him impassively, leaning slightly towards Ryan and away from Puck. Unfazed, Puck continued singing to each of the girls in the room. His gaze kept returning to one person in particular though, and Ryan's eyes narrowed as Puck sang to Shelby.

_Please baby can't you see_  
_I'm trying to explain_  
_I've been here before and I'm locking the door_  
_And I'm not going back again_  
_Her eyes and arms and skin won't make it go away_  
_You'll wake up tomorrow and wrestle the sorrow_  
_That holds you down today_

He was not seriously doing this, was he? Ryan's jaw clenched as Puck swaggered across the room, his smirk fixed on Shelby as he strummed his guitar. He'd told his mom that he'd let her handle this, but really. Ryan turned to look at Shelby just in time to see her fidget uncomfortably, and okay, that was just not cool. A rush of protectiveness flowed through him and he was about to stand up when Quinn put a hand on his arm. He sat back reluctantly, folding his arms across his chest with a scowl. Fine, he'd wait for the song to finish.

_I'm the only one_  
_Who'll walk across the fire for you_  
_I'm the only one_  
_Who'll drown in my desire for you_  
_It's only fear that makes you run_  
_The demons that you're hiding from_  
_When all your promises are gone_  
_I'm the only one_

Shelby folded her arms across her chest a bit defensively as Puck practically sang the song at her. True, she'd had quite a few student crushes before, but none quite so forward as this one, and it was extremely uncomfortable. She tried to keep her expression as neutral as possible, not wanting to make a scene. Ryan was about ten seconds from making one of his own though, if the murderous look on his face was anything to go by. She'd seen him almost stand up a minute ago, only to be stopped by Quinn.

Finally – _thank God_ – the song came to an end, and Will and most of the students in the room cheered. Ryan looked furious though, and Santana remained mostly unimpressed. "That was for you," Puck smirked, looking at Shelby, whose eyes widened in dismay before he swung his gaze away, "… Santana. I know I was just a phase, but whatever. Happy to oblige. Always."

Once again Ryan started to get up, obviously more than ready to lay into Puck, but this time it was Shelby who put a restraining hand on his shoulder. Will said something about them all meeting again the next day, quickly dismissing the students. Ryan sat in his chair seething silently as the rest of the two glee clubs exited the choir room in two's and three's. Quinn was the last to leave, shooting him a look as she shut the door behind her, leaving him and Shelby alone. As soon as the door clicked shut, Ryan shot up, rounding on her. "Why did you stop me?"

"Ryan –"

"I'm not stupid, did you see the way he was looking at you?!"

Shelby sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yes, I saw." She would have had to be completely blind and obtuse to miss it. "But it doesn't matter, I told you, nothing is ever going to happen."

"That's not the point," Ryan argued. "He thinks it's _okay_ for him to act that way towards you, and he needs to know that it's not!"

"I've already made it perfectly clear that he has no chance with me." As uncomfortable as it was, it was something she'd dealt with before. There wasn't really anything to be done. She'd asked Emma Pillsbury to talk to Puck the other day, but obviously it hadn't done any good. Not that she blamed the guidance counselor; Noah Puckerman seemed to be too stubborn for his own good.

"Obviously your reprimand hasn't had the desired effect," Ryan scowled. "He practically sang the whole song to you!"

"I know," Shelby sighed. "But there isn't much else I can do besides keep rebuffing him. It will pass. And I don't want you getting in trouble over this. You know how Principal Figgins almost suspended Santana over a slap. I don't want to have to talk another student out of a suspension, okay?"

He maintained his scowl for a moment before his expression softened. "He made you uncomfortable, and that's not okay. Not if I have anything to say about it."

Shelby smiled slightly, feeling a sudden wave of affection for him as she moved forward to give her son a hug. Ryan wrapped his arms around her. It was so sweet of him to be this protective of her, and it honestly wasn't something she'd really had in the past. She was used to taking care of herself, and it was a nice feeling to know that now she had Ryan and James to take care of her too. "I know, sweetie," she whispered. "And I love you so much for that. But I can handle this myself, and I do not want you getting into trouble over this. Okay?"

Ryan sighed reluctantly, tightening his hug for a moment before releasing her. "Okay."

..

Ryan was still slightly angry with Puck as he left the choir room, heading to his locker. If Puck wanted to hook up with the housewives of Lima, far be it from him to get in the way, even if he thought it was sleazy and disgusting and so completely wrong. But this was his mom, and even if he knew Shelby wasn't going to let anything happen, it still rankled that Puck didn't have the basic respect to back off when she told him _no._

Suddenly he spotted Puck taking some things from his own locker. Ryan thought for a moment before purposefully striding towards the other boy. Shelby had said she didn't want him getting into trouble. She hadn't said he couldn't talk to Puck though. He stopped right beside Puck, clearing his throat. Puck stood up. "What do you want?"

"I've noticed your rather inappropriate actions towards my mother," Ryan said clearly, his stance bordering on aggressive. He didn't want a fight, but he couldn't help it.

"Good for you."

"Excuse me?" Ryan stared at him. The gall of this guy! He shook his head. One more shot to keep this civil. "You know that nothing is going to come of this. I'm going to have to ask you to cease and desist your pursuit."

Puck shrugged. "She's a grown lady, I'm a grown man. Nothing in the rules against that."

Okay, fuck polite conversation. "Oh please, you think you constitute a man, Noah?" Ryan hissed, irked at the other boy's flippant response. "A real man takes responsibility for his actions. A real man wouldn't take advantage of an inebriated girl and then lie to her about using protection. A real man would have taken care of said girl after getting her pregnant. A real man would actually give a damn about his kid, not just go back to his irresponsible way of life as soon as she was out of sight, out of mind. And a real man would understand that no means no. So no, Noah, you are nowhere near being a man. You are an immature ass."

Puck suddenly lunged forward, shoving Ryan back. Ryan simply glared back as he righted himself. "Careful there, you wouldn't want to violate your probation," he said evenly. "You stay away from my mom, got it?"

Puck glared back at him for a moment before smirking. "I don't answer to you," he said slyly, before turning and swaggering off down the hall. Ryan was just about to go after him when he heard his name. He turned around to see Quinn approaching him.

"Ry, I need you to come with me."

Ryan looked at Quinn, concerned. "Is everything okay?"

Quinn bit her lip, shaking her head. "Someone slashed the tires on Santana's car."

He stood there for a moment, conflicted, before sighing softly, his anger regarding Puck draining from his mind. He needed to take care of Shelby, but he needed to take care of his friends too. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't expected this a little. There had been plenty of hate crimes against Hiram and Leroy over the years, and he wasn't stupid enough to expect this to be too different. "Just let me pick up my stuff and let's go."

He quickly collected his things from his locker. "Is Santana okay?" he asked as Quinn led him to the parking lot.

"What do you think?"

"Right."

The couple found Brittany and Santana sitting on the hood of the car, the blonde's arm wrapped around the brunette's shoulders. Brittany smiled sadly, spotting Ryan and Quinn first. She nudged Santana, who looked up as they approached. "San, look, Ryan's here. He's gonna fix your car."

"That's what I'm here for," Ryan nodded. "Are you all right?"

Santana shook her head. "Yeah. I'm fine." Brittany just watched her helplessly, and Ryan glanced at the car, which had all four of its tires flat. He kicked one of the tires lightly.

"I can change these, easy, but between us we've only got two spares. I can get some from the garage though." He glanced between the three girls. "I can take you home first and then pick up the tires, if you want," he offered. "I'll come back here and change them too."

Santana nodded, not meeting his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, thanks." She turned, heading in the direction of Ryan's car. Ryan exchanged a look with Quinn before following her and Brittany to the car. This was turning into a long week.

..

"Thanks." Ryan took his receipt for three coffees from the Lima Bean counter later that afternoon, having stopped by on the way to Quinn's house from the garage to return Santana's car with its fresh tires.

"Hey."

Ryan turned around, smiling when he saw Blaine waving at him from a table. "Hey! Nice to see you here. You okay?" he asked, moving over to sit down while he waited for his order.

"Hmm. Yeah, it's nothing," Blaine shrugged. Ryan could see he looked a bit down though.

"Doesn't look like nothing."

Blaine sighed. "Just everything with Santana, I guess. I can't imagine what she's going through." He smiled wryly. "I mean, it's not like my coming out ended particularly well, right? I guess it's just bringing up some bad memories. You know, I didn't agree with this whole lady music assignment thing Finn came up with."

"You didn't?"

"No. Santana's right. It's like we're forcing her to be okay with what happened, but… it's not okay. I don't think even Kurt gets that. I mean, yeah, he went through that stuff with Karofsky, but he didn't have any problems accepting it about himself, you know? And his dad's a hundred percent accepting, and it's like he thinks everyone's parents are like that."

"I know what you mean." Ryan also knew that Blaine's dad did not approve of his sexuality, and that things between them had been strained for a long time. "Why did you sing that song yesterday?"

Blaine shrugged. "Kurt asked me to. And to be honest, I kind of miss performing. Finn still hates me for some reason, and I'm trying to deal, but it's just so frustrating. It's like every time I open my mouth he gets this look, like, 'what does he think he's doing?'"

"Oh, I know how that feels," Ryan said wryly.

"I mean, I know what I'm doing," Blaine continued, scowling. "And to top it off, Finn gave the lead in the mash-up to Rory, 'cause he's the new guy. I'm new too! I mean, it's not like I need a solo, but it's weird, you know? I went from head of the Warblers to the guy swaying in the background." He sighed again. "Don't worry about it, it's just an adjustment period, I guess." He propped his chin up on his fist. "Is it wrong that I'm kinda pissed at Kurt for not saying anything?"

"I was just going to ask about that," Ryan chuckled just as a barista deposited his orders on the table. He could stay a few more minutes though.

"I mean, I get that Finn's his stepbrother, but I'm his _boyfriend_. The least he could do is maybe get Finn to ease up a little. It's like he doesn't even notice. Whenever I try to talk to him about he just brushes me off. He doesn't want to talk about _anything _except his NYADA application and the student council elections. It's like talking to a wall sometimes."

"Well, well," a cocky voice spoke up. "Trouble in paradise?" Ryan turned around to see Sebastian Smythe standing behind him, a smirk on his face. "Hello, boys," he said brightly.

Blaine smiled slightly. "Hey, Sebastian." Ryan just nodded, watching as Sebastian easily slid into one of the chairs at their table. "And no," Blaine added. "Just a little venting, that's all."

"Ah." Sebastian nodded knowingly. "Well, seeing as I'm still very much single and available, I don't have anything to say about boyfriend stuff. But I will say that you two seem to get cozy a lot over here. Are you sure there's nothing going on between you two?" He gestured suggestively between Blaine and Ryan.

"Sebastian, you know very well that we are both in serious, committed relationships," Ryan chided.

"Right, the blonde Ice Queen," Sebastian nodded again, holding up his hands placatingly when Ryan frowned. "I meant that in the nicest possible way, Romeo. If I were straight I'd be all over that. As it is though…" He eyed Ryan appreciatively.

Ryan tilted his head. "You have no shame whatsoever, do you?"

"Left it with a male model back in Paris a few years back," Sebastian winked. "But since you're obviously not into driving stick, I'll move onto greener pastures." He turned to Blaine with a salacious smile. "How are things with you and Kurt?"

"Oh, they're, they're fine," Blaine answered, stuttering a little over his words. Ryan hid a smile, he couldn't particularly blame him what with the smoldering look Sebastian was sporting.

"That Finn guy still being a jealous dick?"

"Unfortunately, yes. We've kind of become online chat buddies," Blaine added in response to Ryan's questioning glance.

"Did you think about my offer?" Sebastian asked. "Scandals is half-off tomorrow. You could bring Kurt." He smirked at Ryan. "You'd be more than welcome too."

"I think I'll pass."

"Yeah, we're kind of busy rehearsing," Blaine said vaguely. "We just finished the mash-off this week…"

"Oh, right," Sebastian nodded. "I heard about that." He looked speculatively between Ryan and Blaine. "So who won? Can't really tell who'd win between the two of you." He smirked again. "But obviously if I were in the running…" Blaine and Ryan scoffed at the same time. Sebastian grinned. "Aww, that's adorable." He checked his watch. "Unfortunately, I have to run. See you two around." He stood up, quickly exiting the café.

Ryan watched him go before turning to look at Blaine. "So, online chat buddies?"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "It's harmless."

"Right." Ryan stood up. "I should go too, I need to get to Quinn's house."

..

"_Sue Sylvester wants to represent Ohio. She says she shares your values. If that's true, boy do we have some questions. If you're so into family values, why did you promote a lesbian to be your head cheerleader? And when –" _

Quinn grabbed the remote, turning the TV off. It was too late though, Santana had retreated into herself and was picking at her nails, a nervous habit she'd had ever since Quinn had known her. They both wished Brittany were here, but the blonde had had to leave a few minutes ago. "San?"

"Papi's got the night shift," the Latina said quietly. "And Mami has some kind of dinner thing with her friends. My Abuela only watches those Spanish telenovelas, so we're good there."

Quinn nodded. "I really don't think you have anything to be scared about."

"You don't know that!" Her friend's anger spiked. "How do you know they won't kick me to the curb as soon as they hear it? It's not like your parents had a problem doing it to you!" She grabbed a pillow, hurling it across the living room. Quinn simply watched impassively, letting Santana vent. "Goddammit! It's not fair!" The brunette collapsed onto the sofa, head buried in her hands. "Why do I have to be so fucked up?"

"Stop, okay?" Quinn said sharply. "You're not fucked up."

"Of course I am! Everyone thinks so, I mean, look at what happened to my car! And the commercial literally just came out! I never wanted to be gay in the first place!"

"What about Brittany?"

"What about her?"

"Do you think she's fucked up?"

"No!" Santana shot her a venomous glare. "She's perfect, and amazing, and everything good in this world and I don't fucking deserve her because I'm a coward who can't even admit that I'm gay!"

Quinn ignored her little rant. "So liking girls doesn't make someone fucked up? If liking you doesn't make Brittany fucked up, then why does it make you fucked up?" Santana remained silent, unsure of what to say. Quinn reached out, gently placing a hand on Santana's back, relieved when it wasn't shaken off. "Look, I have known your parents for years, and I know that they love you."

"What if they change their minds?" Santana's voice was so small it could barely be heard. Quinn sighed. She suspected that Dr. and Mrs. Lopez already knew, but she wasn't completely sure and Santana might be right after all.

"Then I'm not going to lie. It's going to hurt like hell if they do," she said frankly. "But if they do, then it's their loss because there will always be people who love you. You've got Brittany, and Ryan. And me, I guess." That got her a small smirk. If Santana were more herself, she would have expected a comment on how wanky that was. "But what if they don't change their minds? You'd be so much happier."

Santana was silent for a moment longer. "I don't know how."

"Does that mean you'll think about telling them?" Quinn received a nod. "Good."

"Sorry." Santana looked down. "For bringing up that crap about you getting kicked out. I guess that was out of line."

"I'll let it pass this time," Quinn decided. They sat there quietly for another minute before she nudged her friend. "Now quit moping. Santana Lopez is a badass, not this crying puddle on my sofa with smeared raccoon eyes. Coach Sylvester would be ashamed."

Santana laughed, wiping a hand across her face. "Shut up Fabray, you're not my captain anymore." She looked at Quinn. "Thanks."

Quinn nodded, squeezing her friend's hand. "Anytime," she answered, just as Ryan rang the doorbell.

* * *

Santana listened blankly as Finn sang a slow, heartfelt version of _Girls Just Wanna Have Fun_ to her the next day. She'd left her car at home today, opting to hitch a ride with Brittany and her mom. Oh, her car was fine, just like Ryan had assured her. Knowing the Midget it probably ran even better than it did before. But it didn't change the fact that she'd been right. This wasn't supposed to happen, she was supposed to come out when she was good and ready, not like… this.

Finn wrapped up his song, practically invading her personal space as he looked at her expectantly. Santana just gazed back. Yes, the song had been heartfelt, but it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"Santana?" Mr. Schue prodded. She ignored him for a moment, resentment bubbling up as she thought of how he was protecting Finn, even when she was the wronged party. She debated staying silent, but the air was getting weird.

"One song doesn't make everything better," she said finally.

"What do you want from me?" Finn asked in frustration.

"An apology," Santana said frankly. "During all this crap about accepting myself, did it ever once occur to you to apologize for blabbing my personal shit in public?" She scoffed. "Of course not. Because you don't understand that what you did was wrong." She shrugged offhandedly. "Maybe you're right, maybe having my guts spilled out national TV will be good for me, who knows? Maybe Lima, Ohio will just roll out the glittery rainbows and sparkly unicorns in honor of me. But it was _my_ choice to make, not yours."

Kurt stood up. "Look, I get that you're scared. Especially after what happened yesterday. But lashing out at us isn't going to help."

"Well, I'm trying not to, but your hideous fashion sense is distracting me," she snarked. She turned back to Finn. "You told me this morning that you cared about me because I was your first," she continued, referring to that morning when Finn had cornered her at her locker to ask what she thought of the week's assignment. "If you cared then you would never have outed me. And if I recall, you said that you didn't feel anything, because it didn't mean anything." She wouldn't admit it, but that had stung two years ago.

After another awkward silence, Mr. Schue finally dismissed the meeting, and Santana headed mechanically to her locker, only to have Brittany take her hand. "Yeah Britts?"

"C'mon."

Santana sighed, reluctantly letting her girlfriend lead her to the room where the Troubletones held their rehearsals. To her surprise, the rest of the group was there, waiting for her. "Uh, what the hell is this?"

Ryan stepped forward. "Santana, Finn was right about one thing," he said. "You've got people who care about you, who accept you for who you are." He looked around. "Everybody in this room still thinks you're the most badass chick from Lima Heights Adjacent who can out-insult anybody, any day."

Kitty shrugged. "You're still the best Cheerio on the squad, even if it's weird to say."

"You're an amazing singer," Marley added. "I tried to save your solo at the mash-up but I don't think it was anywhere near as good."

"Yeah," Sugar agreed. "You're awesome. Not as awesome as me though."

Tina was next. "Santana, when you first joined glee club you were a total bitch. Now, you're still a bitch, but I also know that you're a great friend, and we all know that you'd do anything for the glee club."

"We know there's nothing we can do to make what happened okay," Ryan said softly. "But we just want you to know, we're here if you need us. We want you to be happy, and we want you to be proud of who you are. We know you're having a hard time, but all of us know that you're strong."

"We all think you're awesome, Santana," Brittany said, smiling. "And we know Finn and that Sauce guy hurt you with what they're saying, but you're way better than them. And you've got your own vicious, vicious words." She stepped closer, speaking quietly so that only Santana could hear. "I know you're scared about telling people. But I know you can be brave, Sanny."

Ryan nodded at Shelby, who started playing the piano for them. He took the first verse, his voice soft and gentle.

_You can be amazing_  
_You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug_  
_You can be the outcast_  
_Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love_  
_Or you can start speaking up_

The song was quieter than the original, like Finn's version of _Girls Just Wanna Have Fun_ earlier, but different, because Santana knew that the Troubletones meant every word they were singing. Brittany sang the next part, her voice blending with Quinn's before the whole group was singing in a perfect, beautiful harmony.

_Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do_  
_When they settle 'neath your skin_  
_Kept on the inside and no sunlight_  
_Sometimes a shadow wins_  
_But I wonder what would happen if you_

_Say what you wanna say_  
_And let the words fall out_  
_Honestly, I wanna see you be brave_  
_With what you want to say_  
_And let the words fall out_  
_Honestly, I wanna see you be brave_

Santana swallowed softly, looking from one person to another. Brittany first of all, because of course. Quinn, whom she hated off and on, but had always been there in some form or another. Ryan, someone she'd never in a million years thought would ever be her friend. Miss Corcoran, who was finally a not-insane (hi Coach Sylvester) adult presence who actually gave a damn what went on in this school. Chang-squared, Sugar and the rest of the newbies… she could see the same acceptance in all of their faces, and she embarrassedly wiped away a tear.

Quinn smiled at her knowingly, and she rolled her eyes as Brittany wrapped her in a hug. Soon Quinn was joining in, and a minute later the whole group was wrapped up in a huge, gay group hug. And for the first time this week, Santana felt like it was okay.

..

That evening she fidgeted nervously as she and her parents sat down to dinner, her father home on one of his rare nights off. She squirmed throughout the whole meal, working up her courage. She'd considered telling them before dinner, but had decided that if she needed to make a hasty exit she'd rather be full. Of course it was proving to be a moot point as she could barely stomach anything anyways.

"You okay over there?" her father asked, giving her a curious look. "You look like you swallowed some butterflies."

"Uh, yeah, I'm good." She shifted again. _Be brave._ Finally... "Actually no. I… I wanted to tell you something."

"Sounds serious," her mother said. "So, spit it out already."

Santana took a deep breath. She'd rehearsed this in her room, she was going to ease them into it, nothing abrupt and shocking… "I'm in love with a girl."

She mentally facepalmed. Way to go, Santana.

She stared down at her plate, wishing the ground would swallow her up already. Well, no, not really, she'd told Britt she'd call later.

"Santana." She flinched a little when her mother said her name. She looked up cautiously, only to be completely confused by the amused smiles on both of her parents' faces. The next words sent her mind spinning even further. "We know."

"You – wait, what? How do you know?"

"Mija, you haven't really been discreet with Brittany," her dad said, smirking. "We're not blind."

"Or deaf," her mom said wryly. Santana flushed, thinking of all the times she and Britts had made out in her room. "We've been waiting for you to tell us."

"O-oh." Santana hesitated. "So… you're not mad?"

Mari shook her head. "Of course not. We love you so much, baby." She exchanged a glance with her husband. "We really wish you hadn't waited until that ridiculous ad came out, of course."

"You know about that too?!"

"Believe it or not, we do watch TV," Tiago said, frowning. "And we're going to have to discuss whether we should take legal action. But your Mami is right. We love you, no matter what."

"Oh, baby," Mari reached out, brushing a tear from Santana's cheek. She hadn't even noticed she was crying. Soon she found herself engulfed in a hug from both her parents. It literally felt like a great big weight had been lifted, and she just let herself relax into them, feeling so much better than she'd felt in a long time.

* * *

That didn't last too long though. The next evening Santana knocked three times on the front door and waited for it to open. She zipped up her jacket, glaring at the door. It was an October evening in Ohio, and it was getting chilly, and where the fuck was he?

Finally the door opened. "Santana?" Ryan looked bewildered, which was fair enough, Santana conceded. God knew she would have laughed herself silly if she told her younger self that she'd ever show up on RuPaul's doorstep voluntarily. But desperate times…

"You gonna keep doing your fish impression, or are you gonna let me in?" she asked. Ryan gave himself a shake before stepping aside to let her in. "Thanks." She let herself into the living room, sitting down on the couch.

"Okay, not that you're not welcome here, because you are, but… why exactly are you here again?"

"Because Brittany's at a dance class, Quinn's got a dinner thing with her clone-cousin's family, and I want to watch a movie." She picked up the remote, flipping the TV from the theatre documentary garbage it was currently playing and trying to find a decent show.

"I was watching that…"

"Where are your parents?"

"They're out," Ryan answered, finally sitting down on the other end of the couch, seemingly resigned to whatever Santana picked out. Finally she stopped at some kind of generic action movie. Ryan disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a bag of chips. Santana smirked. Quinn did the same thing whenever Santana showed up at the Fabray house wanting to 'watch a movie'. Obviously she was rubbing off on Ryan (wanky). Not that she was complaining; the familiarity was kind of comforting. Which was good, since 'watching a movie' was sort of their code for 'talk about some really deep shit'.

Right now she just wanted to think though. True, going to the babbling Hobbit's house might have been a poor choice, but for once he stayed quiet. Today had been busy, what with the student council elections and the state elections going on in their gym at the same time. She was sure Brittany had won class president. No one wanted to hear Lady Gay preach about healthy cafeteria food, and 'the Stick' was just stupid.

Finally, half an hour into the movie, she was ready to talk. "I was just at my abuela's house."

"Oh." Ryan glanced at her sideways. "How did it go?"

"Oh, it went down great," Santana said sarcastically. "Just like the Titanic." She told him all about how she came out to her grandmother, and how one of the most important women in her life never wanted to see her again because she loved Brittany.

Ryan quietly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever." She felt a little better having told someone, but it still fucking hurt that her abuela hated her now. She took a deep breath, trying to make the ache go away. Ryan gave nice hugs. Nowhere near as nice as Brittany's, but he'd do for now.

"You know we're all still here for you, right?"

"Yeah." She pulled away from him. It was getting too sappy. "Finn said something yesterday," she said softly. "Some crap about how I attack other people because I'm angry, and that someday that wouldn't be enough and I'd end up attacking myself. Then he said something about those _It Gets Better _videos and how one of the kids who made one killed himself."

Ryan stilled, eyes trained on the TV. "W-what did you say?"

Santana snorted. "That it wasn't gonna happen; I'd miss me too much." Her eyes flickered down. "But when she was saying all those things to me… like she was so ashamed of me… and maybe I got why that kid offed himself. My abuela is one of the most important people in my life. And if that's what she thought of me…" she shrugged. "I thought for a second maybe it _would_ be easier."

"No. It wouldn't." Ryan turned to look at her, and Santana was surprised by the intensity in his eyes. "You have too much going for you. You have Brittany, and your parents, and me and Quinn and all your friends, and you can't just end it like that," he said fiercely. "You don't even know what your life's going to be like next week, or next year, or ten years from now. Who knows, maybe she'll change her mind. Maybe she just needs time to process it." He was rambling now, standing up, and Santana's reflex was to roll her eyes, but he was getting agitated and it probably wasn't a good idea. "Your life might seem crappy now – which it doesn't to me – but if you end it, you have no idea what you could be missing, or – or who you could hurt because you didn't stick around, and –"

"Okay, chill," Santana said frowning up at him. Ryan blinked in surprise. "I said I just thought it for a second, okay? I wasn't actually gonna do it, I just got why people would do it." Her eyes narrowed, calculating, before it clicked. "Oh my God. You've thought about doing it, haven't you?"

"What?" Ryan chuckled nervously. "N-no, I –"

"Bullcrap. You have." She was alert and completely distracted from her shitty evening now. "What – when? Why?"

His eyes darted around for a second before he sighed, sitting down again. "Freshman year. As to why… I'm sure you can figure that out."

Santana flinched at that, remembering how she and everyone had treated the singer for years. He'd been a social outcast since they had first met all the way back in kindergarten. Or course, the Midget had been smaller than Polly Pocket back then – duh, that's why she called him that in the first place – and he was as annoying as a mosquito, so it was really sort of inevitable. She shifted, a tiny pang of guilt niggling at her. "How can you even look everyone in the eye after what we did to you?"

Ryan shrugged. "It's too hard to carry a grudge like that," he said slowly. "I can't live my life like that. So I decided that I'd use it. I'd just prove that I _was _worth something. I just needed one person to believe that, and I found one. Besides," he smiled. "It's good practice for all the critics I'll have to face once I get to Broadway."

"Of course that's what you'd think about," she snarked. What he'd said gave her a lot to think about though. But really, she'd had enough of this deep, heavy shit for one night. For a whole year, actually. But knowing this school… "You know, I'm glad you didn't."

Ryan cocked his head. "Really?"

"Really." Santana nodded sincerely. Otherwise no one would have helped pull her head out of her ass about Brittany, and he was kind of cool sometimes. And he _was _talented, even if she wouldn't really come right out and say it. She smirked. "Otherwise who'd be around to drive me home after this movie?"

"Oh, so I'm driving you home?" He smiled in amusement, and Santana was surprised at how happy she was to see it. Really, it was ridiculous. Instead, she nodded.

"Yep."

"I don't suppose I have a say in this."

"Nowhere near, Hobbit."

* * *

"Good morning Brittany," Ryan smiled at the blonde as she came bouncing up to him on Friday morning. "I hear congratulations are in order, Madame President."

Brittany beamed at him happily. "I know, it's awesome, right? Of course, I knew I was going to win. Even if I lost."

"Oh?" Ryan looked at her curiously. "How's that?"

"Because Santana voted for me," she answered easily. "Just like she won last year at prom. She lost prom queen, but she says she totally won because she got my vote." Suddenly Brittany wrapped him in a hug. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"She said you talked to her last night. And that it helped. And for San to say something like that, she really meant it. And 'cause your mom got Josh Coleman suspended."

"Did she?" Ryan's eyebrows rose. Josh Coleman was the captain of the rugby team and had come on to Santana saying she just 'needed the right guy to straighten her out.' He'd summarily been scared off by the rest of the glee girls, but Ryan hadn't known that anything else had happened. "And how do you know it was her?"

"Jacob Ben Israel saw Josh leaving Figgins' office with her and Coach Sylvester yesterday. He overheard that he's the one who slashed her tires too."

"How did they prove that one?"

"Oh, Coach Sylvester has the whole school bugged."

Well, that was mildly frightening. "I see."

"I'm glad you're our friend now," Brittany said sincerely. "It was kinda hard for me to stay quiet this week, but Santana needed to do this for herself. It would be different if someone talked for her instead of her talking for her, you know? It's why I don't stop Lord Tubbington from talking to his dealers. He needs to break the addiction himself. Otherwise it's not worth as much."

Ryan managed to keep up, but barely. "Well, I'm glad I could help."

..

"As the son of Ohio's recently-minted Congressman," Kurt announced later that day in their final joint lesson, "and to dispel any lingering clouds of suspicion, I would like to personally and publicly congratulate President Brittany." The room applauded. After the most elections, Burt Hummel was now Ohio's new congressman.

Santana stood up. "I'll just say a few things to close off our magical Lady Music Week," she said with a touch of sarcasm. "I thought this lesson was a dumb idea. But I learned a few things." She glanced around. "I've learned that I need to be myself, and that I've got people rooting for me. And I learned that I should speak up, be brave and say what I have to." That got her a few smiles from the Troubletones. "Not just insults like how Finn still looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy." She shook her head. "The struggle goes on… but I've got things to keep me going." Her gaze flicked to Ryan, who offered her a small smile. "So I picked a song that gives me strength and gets me through."

She nodded at the band guys, and the introduction to _Constant Craving _started to play. Ryan listened to her sing with a faint smile. He was glad he'd been able to help her, even if it was just a little. He wrapped an arm around Quinn, who was pressed up against him, also smiling at her best friend as she sang.

He'd spoken to Shelby before the meeting, and she had neither confirmed nor denied that Coach Sylvester had indeed managed to capture footage of Josh Coleman slashing Santana's tires, and had also skirted around the question of whether she and the cheerleading coach had in fact gotten him expelled. Which pretty much meant that they had.

Ryan was very happy that he wasn't on either of their bad sides right now.

* * *

**Hey, look, I got one out in one week! Vacations are great. Hopefully I can squeeze another chapter in before I have to go back to work. This was actually kind of a hard chapter for me to write, mostly because I thought that the way it was handled in canon sucked, and I've been trying to do it justice. It's not perfect, but hopefully I succeeded. If not, try not to flame too badly :) Again, anything you recognize isn't mine. Except for typos. Those are mine. See you!**


	81. Chapter 80

"Your mother is insane."

Ryan rolled his eyes at Santana's pronouncement. He was sitting at the Lima Bean with the Unholy Trinity, nursing a coffee after yet another Troubletones rehearsal during which Shelby had nitpicked their performances to death. They had a little less than three weeks until Sectionals, and they needed to get cracking. "She's not insane, she's just trying to get us to the top of our game." He fully supported his mom's drive, even if he was absolutely exhausted.

"She's kind of like Coach Sylvester without the megaphone and the insults," Quinn commented, taking a sip.

"I like it," Brittany said.

Santana rolled her eyes even as she smiled a little at the blonde's pronouncement. "Of course _you_ do, you've got, like, eternal batteries or something."

"Wouldn't it be weird if people really ran on batteries?" Brittany asked thoughtfully. "And then when they ran out, they'd just sit there until someone came to change the batteries." Then she looked sad. "What if they didn't have anyone to change their batteries?"

"Don't worry about it, Britts," Santana said comfortingly. "If that ever happened, I'd change yours every time. Promise."

That brought a smile to the blonde's face, and she gave Santana a hug. Ryan smiled in amusement, exchanging a glance with Quinn. After that week when the now-infamous ad had run, Santana had slowly been getting better than she had been before. Yes, she was still upset that she'd been outed without her permission, but now that the secret was out she seemed lighter. Brittany brought it out in her.

"Well, if it isn't Ryan Corcoran."

Ryan turned around, a smile appearing on his face when he saw a small, pale brunette in a beret smiling at him. He quickly stood up. "Harmony! So nice to see you again!" He gave the girl a quick hug, and Quinn narrowed her eyes. Ryan turned back to them. "Guys, this is Harmony Pearce, I met her last summer at a theater workshop. Harmony, these are my friends and fellow glee clubbers – Brittany, Santana, and that's my girlfriend, Quinn."

"So nice to meet all of you," Harmony said brightly, as Ryan pulled a chair from a nearby table and offered it to her. "I've heard quite a bit about the New Directions, but the Troubletones are obviously new. I'm actually the lead singer of the Unitards."

"Wait, isn't that the group we're competing against?" Santana asked. Shelby had told them that the Troubletones were up against the New Directions – because of course they were – and an unknown group called the Unitards.

"I know, isn't it such a coincidence?"

"We've never heard of you guys," Quinn noted. "At least, not until Shelby told us you were the other team we were up against at Sectionals."

"That's because this is our first time competing on the circuit," Harmony explained. "You see, I'm a sophomore. Last year the Unitards were rather uninspired and as such we weren't able to reach the requisite number of members to compete. However, thanks to my tireless campaigning we've managed to reach the quota. We've also acquired a decent vocal coach, though nowhere near the caliber of one Shelby Corcoran." She turned her smile to Ryan. "I've said it before, I'm extremely jealous that you have her as your personal vocal coach, and now your glee club adviser."

"I'm lucky that way," Ryan grinned. "So tell me, do you have anything exciting planned for Sectionals? I'm sure you've already started preparations as we have."

"Oh, Ryan, you know I can't tell you anything about that," Harmony replied coyly. "But if you offer some information on your performance in exchange, perhaps we can negotiate an agreement…"

"I think we'll keep our element of surprise," Ryan said lightly.

"How is your friend, Kent, was it?"

"It's Kurt, and I suppose he's fine. He's on the New Directions though, and I don't see him nearly as much anymore."

"Well, I'm sure he remembers me, after our little performance at the NYADA mixer," Harmony smiled innocently. "And if not, I'm sure he'll remember me as the baby on the Gerber commercial."

"Totally recognized you from that," Brittany suddenly commented, and Harmony's smile widened even further. Quinn hadn't thought it was possible, but apparently it was.

"Why thank you," the brunette gushed happily. "I've been performing since I was a fetus, literally. A sonogram of me was on an episode of _Murder, She Wrote._" Suddenly she looked up. "Oh, my parents are here. Nice to meet you everybody, and I'll see you at Sectionals. Bye!" The Unholy Trinity stared at Harmony as she power-walked out of the Lima Bean.

"Wow," Quinn commented. Santana just nodded at the sentiment.

"I suppose she can be a little intense," Ryan chuckled.

"Intense?" Quinn scoffed in disbelief. "She's you, pre-Shelby. Borderline glee club fanatic, aspiring Broadway star, talks a mile a minute – she's exactly you during sophomore year."

Ryan gaped at her in surprise. "You – I wasn't – really?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded exaggeratedly.

"She's like a girl version of you," Brittany agreed. She tilted her head. "Though I think if you were a girl you'd be pretty tiny. Like, even tinier than Harmony. And you'd have crazy thick eyebrows. And a bigger nose."

Ryan shook his head, touching his nose self-consciously. "Whatever."

"Don't worry, Ry," Quinn smiled, reaching out to brush his hand away from his face. "I like your nose."

That pulled a smile from him. "Thanks."

* * *

"Again!"

The Troubletones groaned as they took their positions for yet another run at their Sectionals set list. Shelby watched them critically, constantly jotting down notes for improvements as they performed. Fifteen minutes later she called another halt.

"Okay everyone. Marginally better, but we've still got a lot of improvements that we can make. Take five, and then we'll start from the top. Go drink a Red Bull." She waved them off the stage, hiding a smirk when a few of them opted just to flop down where they were on the stage.

She quickly went over her notes. The group was improving at a remarkable pace. They didn't quite have the borderline insane drive of Vocal Adrenaline, but they were talented. She was still having issues with the choreography though; there was an imbalance of boys versus girls, which was throwing quite a few things off. She'd been careful to select an equal amount of male and female performers in Vocal Adrenaline, but she hadn't quite had that luxury here. It was really sinking in how different this environment was from Carmel.

"Hi Mom." Ryan landed in the seat next to her in the audience area, looking rather exhausted.

"Hello, Ryan. Where's your Red Bull?" She'd tried a variety of different energy drinks on her VA kids over the years and had found Red Bull to be the most effective one available over the counter.

Ryan raised a can. "So, um, the others were wondering. How many more runs are we going to make today?"

"As many as we need until we get the song right. I have the auditorium booked until seven." She saw him glance surreptitiously at the wall clock. "Problem?"

"Uh, no… just, we're all getting a bit tired…"

"I see." She checked her watch. Raising her voice, she called out, "Okay everybody, back onstage! You too," she added, giving Ryan a bit of a push. He sighed but obeyed, and she followed him onto the stage. She surveyed her performers, most of whom looked exhausted. The Cheerios seemed less so, but they looked a bit tired nonetheless.

"It's been brought to my attention that people are getting tired?" she questioned, getting a round of nods and hopeful looks. "Well, that's too bad. I thought you guys wanted to win. We less than two weeks left until Sectionals, and we need to perfect these performances if we want to win. Now, places everyone, from the top!"

Several runs later, she waved them to a stop. "All right, that's enough." She sighed. "This choreography isn't working for me. Mike, Brittany, any suggestions?" Her two main dancers shrugged. They'd already talked about the imbalance, and they couldn't really do much more. "Okay. I think that's enough for today."

With the speed the stage emptied, Shelby would have believed that there was a fire.

..

"You're home early," James noted as Shelby and Ryan came into the house. He gave Ryan a quick hug before moving over to kiss his fiancée. "I thought rehearsals were running until seven."

"Change of plans," Shelby said vaguely. "I need to rethink our choreography."

"Thank God for that," Ryan grumbled. "She's a slave driver."

"Excuse me, who campaigned for me to lead this glee club again? You should have known what you were getting into."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "I'm going to take a shower." He left, heading upstairs.

James just smiled in amusement. He knew how much of a perfectionist Shelby was. He put his hands on her waist, pulling her close. "So, how was your day?"

"It was pretty good," Shelby answered, unable to help her smile as she reached up to kiss him again. "You?"

"Nothing too exciting." He let her pull away, helping her out of her jacket. "You have any trouble with that Puckerman kid again?" Shelby and Ryan had finished up their little spat regarding Puck's amorous advances, but he knew the kid was still at it. Ryan liked to rant about it, and Shelby told him things sometimes too. And while he didn't like the idea of the teenager flirting with her, he wanted to respect her decision to deal with it herself.

Shelby sighed. "Oh, it wasn't anything. Just the usual flirting. Nothing to worry about."

He hesitated. "Are you sure you don't want me to go over there and talk to him?"

"Thank you, but no." She reached up, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be fine. Besides, I think one bodyguard is enough, don't you?" James smiled a little. Ryan had taken to following Shelby around between classes whenever he had the chance, glaring holes at Puckerman whenever he came close. He was so proud of his kid.

"If you're sure. Just say the word and I'll have a little chat with him."

"I'll keep that in mind." She headed to the dining room, settling down in one of the chairs, stretching out with a yawn. James moved behind her, absently putting his hands on her shoulders to help rub some of the tension out. "Ohh, that feels really good." She tilted her head, reaching up to pull him down for a kiss just in time for Ryan to freeze in the doorways.

"Oh gross."

* * *

"Good morning Barbra," Sue Sylvester greeted Shelby as she breezed into the latter's office, making herself at home. Shelby barely looked up from her work.

"What do you want, Sue?"

"Why, I'm offended by that harsh greeting. Shouldn't you have more sympathy for the woman who lost the special elections just a few short weeks ago?"

"Well, maybe if you haven't been milking it ever since it happened…" She rolled her eyes. "What happened to your boytoy? Cooper, or whatever?"

"Cooter the football recruiter, and he's off with Beiste, most likely devouring the entire fowl menu of Breadstix," Sue answered nonchalantly.

"I'm sorry."

"Ah, don't be," Sue waved her off. "The man smelled like aftershave and sweaty gym socks, she can keep him. Whacha got there anyways?"

"Choreography sheets for the Sectionals performance," Shelby answered absently. "I can't get them to look right. I don't have enough dancers."

Sue smiled, leaning forward and tapping a finger on the sheets. "Well, put your little Broadway-obsessed mind to rest, Streisand, because I, Sue Sylvester, am here to save the day."

"Are you sure you're not just here because your Cheerios passed out from exhaustion?"

Sue ignored her. "After my campaign against the arts was brutally cut short after my devastating 16% third-place loss at the special elections, there isn't really much for me to do besides yell at my girls and ruin Will Schuester's life. And since destroying his glee club is the shortest path to that, I have decided to bestow upon you four of my lifters."

Shelby looked at her skeptically. "Your lifters."

"It's been brought to my attention that you are four male members short of having an even, marginally talented group of mouth-breathers. To that end, I am magnanimously going to let you borrow four of the boys who serve as props for the real stars of the Cheerios – my girls. I'm going to lend you –" She paused. "I can't be bothered to remember their names right now, but nobody's going to remember them anyways."

"Hmm." This would actually solve a lot of the Troubletones' choreography issues, not to mention put them over the required quota of members. "Can they sing and dance?"

"I don't really give a hoot about them singing. But I make sure that everyone on my Cheerios can cut a rug."

"What's the catch?" Shelby asked suspiciously.

Sue put on an exaggeratedly offended expression. "Barbra, I'm again offended that you think I'm doing this out of anything other than the goodness of my heart." Her face sobered. "But four of my girls are on your ridiculous team, and I still owe Li'l Miss Sandbags for dragging her into my election war."

Shelby studied her for a moment before nodding. "Okay. Deal." She put out her hand, which Sue shook briefly. "Thank you."

"You can thank me by kicking Butt-chin's butt out on that stage. Well, I suppose that would be technically kicking his chin then."

Shelby smirked. "Oh, you can bet we will."

..

"Are you sure this isn't some ploy by Coach Sylvester to ruin our chances at winning Sectionals?" Ryan asked doubtfully when Shelby announced the latest development at the Troubletones rehearsal that afternoon. "She has been known for her blatant sabotage of the glee club's prospects after all."

"Well, she hasn't said anything about it to me or Britts…" Santana said slowly.

"It's perfectly fine," Shelby placated. "Sue has assured me that there are no ulterior motives to her offer whatsoever, and I'm inclined to trust her for now. Besides, we don't really have much of a choice right now. If you haven't noticed, we are still undermanned, and Sue's extras will put us over the quota."

Ryan jumped up. "That's something I wanted to discuss with you all, actually," he said brightly. "And now seems to be the perfect time. As has been pointed out, we are sorely short of members, and while borrowing some of the Cheerios will help, it's only a temporary fix. We need more members who can actually sing and not just sway in the background."

"Your point?" Santana drawled.

"It's not exactly easy to bring in new members," Tina pointed out. "We're lucky we got any at all." She smiled happily at the new members.

"Exactly," Ryan said. "Which is why… I think we should at least consider the possibility that after we win Sectionals, some of our former teammates on the New Directions may express an interest in joining the Troubletones." He braced himself for a violent outburst, and he was not disappointed.

"Oh hell no, Frodo!"

"You can't be serious!"

"They have no sense of talent, or fashion!"

Shelby whistled loudly, getting the whole group's attention. "Quiet!"

Ryan shot her a grateful look. Mr. Schue would never have intervened, and everyone would have probably started tossing insults at him until he gave up and sat down. "I'm not proposing that we automatically let everyone in," he said, once the furor had died down. "But we do need to take into account that there are some good singers on the New Directions who could be good assets at Regionals and Nationals."

"I thought the point of forming the Troubletones was to get away from certain people," Quinn pointed out.

"Which is why I thought that in the event that we win Sectionals, we could hold auditions," Ryan interjected. "If any of the New Directions wanted to join, they would first have to pass the audition, and we could decide whether or not accept them. Maybe through a vote, or a calm, _rational_ discussion," he said, pointedly looking at Santana.

The group was quiet as the proposal was considered. "I kind of think it's a good idea," Mike said slowly, much to people's surprise. He was normally very quiet. He shrugged a bit self-consciously.

"What if people like Finn auditioned?" Tina questioned.

Ryan faltered. "Well – we'd obviously have to discuss that with the people here who have grievances against them. We'd have to ask if Quinn and Santana would be comfortable with singing with Finn, for example."

Santana snorted. "Snowballs in hell before I sing with the Hamburglar."

"What about you?" Brittany asked Ryan curiously.

"What about me?"

"Wouldn't you get a say?"

"Well, yes," Ryan admitted. "But for the good of the team I think that I would defer to the decisions of more involved people. Again, in Finn's case, Santana and Quinn." Quinn frowned a bit, leaving Ryan slightly confused. "But anyways, it's something that we can think on and decide on later."

Shelby cleared her throat. "Does anyone have anything else to say?" When no one spoke, she continued. "I do think we should consider Ryan's idea. There are many talented singers on the other team, and we could use them. Of course, if we do decide to hold auditions, everyone will get a fair say. Okay? Now, let's vocalize."

..

_Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes_  
_Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear_  
_Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes_  
_How do you measure - measure a year?_

Ryan jolted awake, startled by his ringtone and his phone vibrating in his pocket. For a moment he was disoriented, before he registered his limbs tangled with someone else's, his face buried in a golden cloud. Right, he'd gone over to Quinn's place after Troubletones, and they must have fallen asleep. He carefully extracted his arm, trying not to wake his sleeping girlfriend, picking up his phone, which was displaying an unknown number. "Hello?"

He waited for an answer, frowning as he was met with silence. "Hello?" he tried again. Suddenly he heard a beep, followed by the dial tone. He shook his head, mildly annoyed. It must have been a misdial. He was soon distracted by Quinn shifting next to him. She never failed to distract him, and he had no idea how long he spent watching her before her eyes fluttered open.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, voice raspy with sleep.

"You," he replied simply.

"Mmm," she chuckled. "Like what you see?"

He smiled. "Very much." He moved forward, catching her mouth with his in a soft kiss that slowly turned heated. Their bodies, already intertwined, pressed insistently closer as they strove for as much contact as possible. Ryan ended up hovering on top of her before pulled back for air, watching Quinn as she fought to catch her breath, eyes glazed over. Slowly her hands reached up, sliding along his chest. A thought suddenly occurred to him though, and he caught them, easily pinning them above her head, his weight holding her down.

He craned his head back, surveying her curiously, pinned down underneath him. She was absolutely beautiful, her golden hair haloed around her as she stared back up at him, slightly surprised. She squirmed, trying and failing to dislodge him. He licked his lips as she started to flush with a combination of struggle and arousal, the thought of being in control turning him on even more. He leaned back down, his lips brushing softly against her neck. "Is this okay?"

He felt as well as heard her release a breathy moan as she nodded. "Yes," she breathed out, arching against him as he pressed light kisses against her neck. "God, yes."

Ryan smiled as he let his lips ghost along her jaw, pressing his hips down against hers and enjoying the small whimper it drew from Quinn. Leaning in, he pressed a soft, teasing kisses against her lips, drawing back whenever she started getting into it then moving back in, kissing her in light, fleeting touches. Quinn raised her head slightly, chasing after him. He stayed slightly out of reach though, smiling as she strained to reach him before giving up and collapsing back against the bed. She huffed in frustration, eyes dark with arousal. "Ry, stop teasing."

"Hmm." He moved back down along the column of her neck. "I'll think about it."

He heard her breath hitch, before his eyes widened as she rolled her hips up, rubbing perfectly against his own arousal in a way that made his brain fizzle. She looked up at him challengingly. "Think faster."

He stared at her, mouth agape for a moment before managed to get himself back together with a small smirk. "Okay." With that, he dived down, devouring her mouth with his, swallowing her deep moan as his tongue delved into her mouth. He let himself go, completely dominating the kiss as she struggled weakly under him. She gasped desperately as he released her for a moment before capturing her mouth again, simultaneously thrusting his hips against her center in a way that made her release a sharp cry.

Suddenly a knock sounded on the door, sending Ryan practically flying away from Quinn with a strangled yelp. Considering what had happened last time someone had walked in on them here, he thought he had the right to react that way. Quinn swallowed a few times, trying to catch her breath. "W-what – what is it?"

"Quinnie, dinner's ready. You and Ryan can come down anytime."

"Okay, thanks Mom!"

"Thanks, Judy!"

"Oh, and Ryan, your parents are here," Judy informed them through the door. "I invited them over for dinner, hope you don't mind."

"Oh," Ryan said, unsure of what to say. "Oh, yes, that's perfectly acceptable. We'll be right down." They heard her leaving, and they collapsed back into the bed. "Well, that was… a bit awkward."

"I didn't notice," Quinn said testily. "And your parents are here? She couldn't have given us more than five minute's warning? 'Meet the parents' never goes well, not even in movies."

"Technically it's not a 'meet the parents' dinner, I mean, we've already met each other's parents," Ryan reasoned, trying to get his body under control. "It's more like a 'parents meeting the parents' dinner. Sort of like the in-laws meeting."

"Uh-huh." Quinn shook her head, unimpressed. "And how does that usually go?"

"Well, I don't have any prior experience, but it can't be worse than your other 'meet the parents' nights, can it?"

"Considering the first and last one included Finn revealing my pregnancy through song and ended with my getting kicked out of the house, I highly doubt that that's saying anything."

Ryan wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Nobody's getting kicked out this time around," he promised lightly. "It'll be great. My parents love you. And I'm sure your mom loves me, I'm quite charming, if I do say so myself." Quinn snorted derisively. "Hey, I didn't hear you complaining earlier," he defended.

"Whatever you say, Ryan."

..

Unfortunately, Quinn's negativity proved to be prescient, as the couple arrived downstairs to find Judy, Shelby, and James giggling like schoolchildren over a photo album. Quinn approached warily. "Uh, Mom, what is that?"

"It's a photo album, Quinnie, what else would it be?"

"You were an adorable little girl, Quinn," Shelby grinned. Ryan moved behind the sofa, smiling when he saw a picture of a tiny Quinn sitting on a swing.

"Oh, you're so cute!"

"Yes, that's one of the few pictures we could get of her where she was wearing actual clothes," Judy smiled fondly. "Quinnie here was always running around in the nude when she was little –"

"Oh my God, Mom, stop." Quinn flushed as everyone let out a laugh.

Judy gave her an unapologetic grin. "Remind me to take out the 1995 photo albums after dinner."

"I will most definitely do that," Ryan smiled mischievously. "Ow!" he grumbled as Quinn punched him in the arm.

"You're supposed to be on my side."

"But baby pictures!"

"You're not being a very good boyfriend right now…"

He leaned in close. "Well, maybe I can make up for it later tonight," he said, voice low. He smirked, voice returning to its normal modulation. "I mean, you do enjoy running around naked, according to your mom…"

"Okay, keep it PG, kids," James interjected. Quinn just groaned, burying her head in her hands.

"Don't worry, Quinn, remind me to show you the picture of Ryan with a diaper on his head," Shelby put in.

That drew another laugh, even a grudging one from Ryan. "Well, in my defense, I think I was about three in that picture," he said ruefully. "It's actually surprising that there aren't more pictures like that. The Adventures of Captain Diaper-Head were a pretty interesting figment of my imagination."

"I'll bet they were," Quinn snickered, feeling a bit better. "We should probably go eat before we spontaneously combust from embarrassment."

"Of course, dear," Judy smiled.

..

Later that evening – after dinner and another round of embarrass-the-children – Judy found herself in the kitchen with Shelby, preparing a pot of coffee. "We should do this again sometime," Shelby said lightly. "Thank you for the invite, Judy."

"My pleasure," Judy smiled. "It's actually a surprise that we haven't done this before."

"True," Shelby nodded.

Judy smiled. "You know, I never really got to thank you."

"For what?"

"For what?" the blonde laughed disbelievingly. "Well, getting me to wake up and see what was going on with Quinn, for one. For taking her in last year, after Russell. For everything you've done for Quinn. She said you inspired her to take up her writing again. That child always made up the most fascinating stories. Fantastical, at times, but very interesting."

"She's very talented," Shelby nodded.

Judy smiled proudly. "She is." The smile faded. "I just wish I could have done more."

"From what Quinn says, you've been doing great," Shelby offered. "You two seem a lot better now than you did the first time we spoke. She's a wonderful girl."

"In spite of me."

"Don't sell yourself short."

"It's hard not to." Judy nodded. "Seriously though, Ryan has been so good for her. She practically lights up when he enters the room."

"Oh, she's been good for him too," Shelby smiled, before grimacing. "I've cautioned them to be careful though, I don't think I want to end up as a grandmother just yet."

"Oh, I hope not," Judy laughed a bit nervously. "One's enough for now."

..

Ryan and Quinn ended up on the front porch late that night. Shelby and James had gone home earlier, and Judy had retired to her room, admonishing the teens not to stay up too late. "So, that went well," Ryan said conversationally.

"Please," Quinn rolled her eyes. "If Mom whipped out another photo of my Lucy Caboosey years I was seriously considering setting myself on fire. Or, more accurately, I would have set those pictures on fire."

Ryan chuckled. "They weren't that bad."

"Just because we didn't have any embarrassing pictures of you on hand…"

"You're lucky your mom remembers so much of your childhood," he said wistfully. She smiled at him a bit sadly. His smile turned mischievous. "Especially since she has stories like the one of you parading around the house at three wearing one of your mom's bras."

Quinn groaned. "I'm never going to live this down."

"Nope." He checked his watch. "Too bad we don't have time to go upstairs."

"Yeah," Quinn said regretfully. He had his curfew, and it really was getting late. Still… she tugged him towards her, catching his lips in a deep kiss, one hand fisting in his hair and the other in his shirt as he moaned helplessly. As much as she had enjoyed what he did earlier in the evening, she still loved being able to reduce him into a speechless puddle. She tilted her head, tongue dipping into his mouth before she let him go, sending him gasping for air. She reached up, bringing her lips to his ear and making him shiver.

"You should probably get going," she whispered, stepping away. Ryan blinked at her. "You've got that basketball game tomorrow, right?"

"Oh." Ryan shook his head quickly, trying to clear it. "Right. First game of the season, and all that." He laughed, running a hand through his hair as he composed himself. "I should probably go home… get some rest…" Quinn smirked as he seemed to fumble for something to say, obviously still dazed. "Do you still miss it? Cheerleading, I mean," he clarified, finally recovering.

Quinn hummed. "I miss some parts of it. But no, not really. Crazy schedules, crazy workouts, crazy coach… I think I like my senior year a little less intense." She quirked a smile at him. "Disappointed you won't have your own personal cheerleader this season?"

"Oh, no, I've got Santana and Brittany, we'll barely miss you," he said casually. Quin pushed him in the arm, and he offered her a conciliatory smile. "Sorry. But you'll still be cheering for me, right?"

"I'll have to think about that," she answered acerbically.

"Quinn!"

Relenting, she nodded. "Of course I will. Just in the stands, and not in a uniform."

He beamed widely. "I thought about that, and that's why I want you to have this." He shrugged out of his letterman jacket, offering it to her. She looked down at it in surprise, before looking back up. He shrugged. "I understand it's tradition for high school athletes to give their partners their jackets or their jerseys to wear at the games, right? You didn't need it last year, since you had your own, but this year…"

Quinn took the jacket, shaking the red material out and tracing a finger over his last name on the back. Ryan smiled hopefully, and she couldn't help smiling back as she pulled the jacket on. It was big on her, but it was warm and cozy and it smelled like him.

"It looks good on you," Ryan grinned, leaning forward to press his lips against hers.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "You just want your name on me."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to make sure everyone knows that you're taken," he said innocently. She rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She reached up to give him a kiss. "Love you."

He smiled. "Love you too."

* * *

"Okay, people," Shelby called as the bell rang, ending her class. "Don't forget, papers are due tomorrow, no exceptions."

She received a grumbling acknowledgement as the students noisily packed up their belongings and shuffled out of the room. She stayed at her desk, finishing up a few more notes, only to look up just as Puck entered the classroom, closing the door behind him. She eyed him suspiciously. "Noah, why are you closing the door?"

He flashed her a smile. "So the chemistry doesn't get out." He produced an apple, setting it on her desk. "Got the last one in the cafeteria."

Shelby sighed, standing up as she started erasing the board. "Noah –"

"Come on, hear me out," Puck wheedled. "Now, you said we couldn't be together because of the age difference."

"Among other things…"

"But there are loads of couples who make it with huge age differences, just look at Ashton and Demi! Plus," he added flirtatiously. "Remember that chick April Rhodes? She's about your age. We totally got it on in the locker rooms. Most of the football guys did. So see, it's fine."

Okay, that just ensured that she was never entering the locker rooms, ever. She put down the eraser, dusting off her hands. "That is completely irrelevant, and to be honest, morally and probably legally wrong." She'd always known April had a few screws loose. She shuddered at the thought of her and Ryan – no. Not gonna go there. "Regardless of what has happened between you and any other women, this thing you think that's here?" She gestured between them. "It doesn't exist, and tt's never going to. So I suggest you turn your attentions to someone more appropriate."

She started to turn away, only to freeze when Puck moved into her personal space. "I don't want anybody else," he stated, his voice deep.

Shelby's jaw clenched, alarm bells going off as she found herself backed up against the blackboard, the tall teenager uncomfortably close. Her gaze flicked towards the closed door, then to her phone that was lying within reach on her desk. _Calm down. Don't panic._ She stared him unflinchingly in the eye. "Mr. Puckerman, you need to back off. Right now." She pushed as much authority into her voice as possible, needing to gain control over this situation.

"You should really listen to her." Quinn suddenly appeared next to Puck, leveling a cold glare at him. Shelby had been so focused on Puck she hadn't even noticed her come in. For a second, Shelby thought he wouldn't, but then much to her relief, he backed down, shrugging as a smirk played on his lips. He raised his hands in surrender before backing out of the room. Quinn watched him leave, folding her arms. When the door closed behind him, she turned. "What was that about?"

Shelby took a breath, letting it out. "He was flirting, as per usual."

Quinn studied her curiously. "Why do you keep stopping Ryan? I'm sure he'd be more than willing to get Puck to back off."

"I know that." Shelby didn't look up. "But I don't want him getting into trouble because of this, or God forbid get hurt because he got into a fight for me."

Quinn let out a soft laugh. "You two are exactly the same."

"I'm sorry?"

"You and Ryan," the blonde clarified. "You're both so willing to go all out to protect everybody else, but you won't do a thing to help yourselves. You heard him the other day; he doesn't want Finn on the Troubletones because he thinks it'll hurt Santana or me, but he didn't think for a second that everyone on the New Directions – hell, half the people in the Troubletones – has made life miserable for him one way or another. And you… you go ballistic when someone messes with him, but you won't do anything to Puck when he's making you uncomfortable."

"This is different," Shelby protested, starting to put her things together. "I'm supposed to be taking care of Ryan, not the other way around."

"Then tell James." She smiled slightly. "You must drive him crazy. I know it makes me nuts when I remember how Ryan just used to take all the crap we threw at him." She paused again, tilting her head. "You're worried."

Yes. No. Maybe. She hadn't been, she'd deemed it as a simple crush, but he had been way too close earlier. "How far would he go?" she asked abruptly. "Hypothetically."

She watched as Quinn hesitated. "I… I don't know." She paused, looking out the window. "Did Ryan tell you what happened with Puck and me? You know, with Beth?"

"I know that Puck is the father," Shelby answered. "And I know you two were drunk."

"He got me drunk on wine coolers," Quinn said flatly. "I tried to leave, but I was feeling fat and he kept saying all these nice things, and he kept giving me those drinks. We ended up in the bedroom, and the rest is history."

"He took advantage of you."

Quinn shrugged. "Not completely. I think I consented."

"If you were drunk that wasn't consent," Shelby's eyes flashed at the thought of Puck taking advantage of the girl in front of her. Quinn smiled again.

"See what I mean?"

That made Shelby stop short. She was angry with Puck for what he did to Quinn, was more than ready to march up to him to give him an earful and maybe a slap or two if only it were legal, but she wasn't willing to do it for herself. And she realized that Ryan was in fact the same way; Puck had hurt him too in the past, but Ryan hadn't truly been angry at Puck until now, when he'd come on to Shelby.

"Anyways, I should go," Quinn continued. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Shelby nodded absently. "Thank you."

..

That afternoon James came into the house after work, hanging up his jacket in the hall closet. "Hello?" He could hear the TV in the living room but wasn't sure who was home. Their schedules were rather variable now, what with his shifting work schedules and Shelby's rehearsals and Ryan's other extracurriculars. They did make it a point to spend several dinners a week together though, a proposal put forward by Ryan.

Entering the living room, he found Shelby curled up on the couch, watching a black and white movie. "Hey. What are you watching?"

"Casablanca," she said absently. "It's really sad."

James chuckled. "I know." She'd made him watch the movie when they were teens, smacking him in the arm several times whenever he'd started to doze off. He sat down next to her, and she stretched out, her legs landing in his lap. They sat there quietly for a moment. "What's up?"

"What do you mean?" she frowned. "Why would something be up?"

"You're watching a movie in the middle of the afternoon," he pointed out. "Usually you're still at school, or working on something for your glee club."

She turned down the volume on the TV. "Noah Puckerman came onto me again today."

"Ah." He frowned a little. Then she continued, telling him what exactly had happened that afternoon, and his frown deepened, angry at the thought of that punk kid getting close enough to Shelby to scare her. "Okay, I know you said that this would blow over, but this is getting out of hand. You need to report him," he stated. She shook her head. He stared at her incredulously. "Why the hell not?"

"Because there's no proof," she said sharply. "This will turn out to be my word against his, and in these cases, the teacher never wins. Not against a student. No matter if the student is at fault, bias will always be against the teacher for the corruption of a minor."

"That's –"

"Ridiculous? Yes it is. But it's what happens." She glanced at James. "I've already checked Sue's footage. There's nothing there that can be used as evidence, because he hasn't actually done anything besides flirt and be generally inappropriate."

_Yet,_ James thought darkly. She was right though. He'd seen plenty of sexual harassment cases when he was in the Army. Without proof, it could go either way. And more often than not, blame was shifted onto the figure in authority, which in this case was Shelby. He ran a hand through his hair. "So what are we supposed to do? Wait for him to actually do something?" Like hell was he going to let that happen.

"I… I don't know."

James looked at her, tiredness suddenly evident in her voice, and his face softened as he took her in, lying there on the sofa with a worried expression on her face. He reached over, taking her hand and pulling her against him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she settled into him. She was normally so independent, projecting an aura of confidence that made everyone believe she wasn't to be messed with. But she wasn't invincible. She just hid her vulnerabilities really well, and he counted himself lucky that she trusted him enough to let her walls down around him like this. She sighed softly, her head fitting into the crook of his neck. "I'll handle it," she murmured. "It'll be fine."

Which brought him right back to the fact that there was something – or rather someone – that was causing her to be this upset. And he needed to fix it, because even if he trusted that she could handle it by herself, it didn't mean she had to. He turned his head, placing a kiss on hers. "You're right. It'll be perfectly fine."

* * *

"Ten seconds left on the clock, and it looks like McKinley's first game of the season is a real nailbiter!" Jacob Ben Israel announced over the loudspeakers. "And after last year's decent season, the Titans are under a lot of pressure to keep up! Can they do it?"

Ryan rolled his eyes, ignoring Jacob's commentary. Too bad they couldn't find anyone else willing to do it. He caught the ball, quickly running it across the court, only to find himself blocked. Apparently the Truman Tigers had been studying tapes of last year's games and had been all over him the whole game. Making a quick decision, he passed the ball to Ryder, who was wide open. The startled freshman caught the ball, holding it in surprise for a second before shooting it through the hoop just as the whistle blew.

"And McKinley wins by a margin of three points!"

"Yes!" Ryan jogged over, thumping Ryder on the back as the crowd turned chaotic. "Great job!" Anything the younger boy had to say was lost as he was swarmed by the rest of the team. Ryan himself was pulled around, finding himself in a deep kiss with his girlfriend, her hand fisted in his jersey.

"Very good job," she grinned as she broke away, wrapping him in an enthusiastic hug. "Even if you are sticky."

She kissed him again, only to stop at the sound of Santana fake gagging next to them. "Could you two stop the tonsil hockey please? Someone might slip on my vomit."

"Whatever you say, Santana."

"Come on, San, I think they're cute," Brittany said brightly.

Ryan beamed. "Thank you, Brittany." He gave Quinn another kiss. "Just let me go shower, and then we can head home, okay?" He smirked, leaning over to whisper in her ear. "No following me."

A mischievous smile played across the blonde's lips. "If you say so."

Santana shuddered. "Get a room!"

Fifteen minutes later Ryan came out of the showers, heading over to his locker to pull out his clothes. "Hi Ryder," he greeted the freshman, who had just finished dressing. "How did you find your first game?"

Ryder grinned at him happily. "It was awesome! We did good, right?"

"Seeing as we won, we did very well, I think," Ryan chuckled. "Very nice shot there at the end." Ryder grinned happily, before adopting a hesitant look. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Ryder shook his head. "Finn was talking to me the other day about maybe joining the football team. I think he was maybe trying to get me to move over to the New Directions too."

"Oh?" Ryan looked at him appraisingly. "What did you say?"

"I said I was good in the Troubletones," the freshman shrugged. "And besides, what he did to Santana totally wasn't cool. I get that."

Ryan nodded, happy with the answer. He hadn't thought that Finn would try to poach people from the Troubletones, but it was good to know that it wasn't working. He pulled his shirt on.

"Hey, Ryan?"

"Hmm?"

The younger boy shrugged awkwardly. "Just wondering. Do you think Marley's, you know, interested in anyone?"

"Marley?" Ryan frowned. He wasn't really sure. He knew Marley was rather shy, though she was starting to speak up more in glee, but he wouldn't know if she was interested in anyone in particular. "I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"I was kinda wondering if maybe she'd go out with me. You know, if I asked her."

"Ah."

"And I was kinda wondering if maybe you've got any tips," Ryder ventured.

"Tips?" Ryan looked at him, surprised. The only time he'd ever been asked for advice in the romance department was when Puck had asked him about wooing Lauren. That hadn't gone over too well, though he rather thought it was Puck's fault.

"Yeah. I mean, you got Quinn Fabray to be your girlfriend, you must be doing something right, right?"

Ryan smiled despite himself. Even after over a year he was still in awe that someone like Quinn would give him the time of day, but Ryder was right, maybe he was doing something right. "Well, my advice is to just be yourself, and… I guess just to be there for her. Quinn and I became friends first before we started dating. We were both going through a lot of difficult stuff, and we helped each other through it."

Ryder smiled a bit ruefully. "I don't think she really notices me. Marley, I mean, not Quinn," he tacked on hurriedly.

"Well, Quinn practically hated me at first, so you're already ahead of me," Ryan said encouragingly.

"No way."

"It's true." He smiled at the younger boy. "Just be her friend. Things will fall into place."

Ryder nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

Ryan left the locker room as soon as he was dressed, heading over to the parking lot to meet Quinn. "Hey," he smiled, getting into the passenger seat of her car and leaning across to give her a kiss. "Did you enjoy the game?"

"Hmm." She put her hand on the back of his neck, bringing him in for another kiss, letting her tongue swipe teasingly at the seam of his mouth. "I like that you guys won." She kissed him again. "But I'd like it better if we celebrated your win over at my house." She smirked. "Preferably in my bedroom."

"I think I'd like that very much as well," Ryan smiled, letting his gaze rove over her. It hadn't escaped his notice that she was wearing his jacket. He hadn't been lying, it did look good on her. And he did like seeing his name on her, in a sort of primal, possessive way. He wouldn't mind making it permanent in the future either. In the far-off future. People didn't get married in high school anyways.

"Did Shelby go home yet?" Quinn asked as she pulled out of her parking space.

"Um, yes, she did," Ryan nodded. "She said she wasn't feeling too well, I think her asthma's acting up again. But she said she'll be fine, as long as she takes her meds."

Quinn nodded. "Okay. Good." She nodded at a pickup parked a few cars down. "Puck's still here."

"Oh, I think Puck will be stopping his misguided suit rather soon," Ryan said airily. Quinn looked at him for a moment as she left the parking lot.

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing." He glanced out the window. "We should hurry, it looks like it's going to rain." The weather had been threatening a downpour all day, and sure enough, just as he said it raindrops started to fall.

..

About half an hour later, at the McKinley High parking lot, Noah Puckerman dashed through the rain towards his beat-up pickup truck. The New Directions had just finished up a session during which Finn and Mercedes had tried out a few songs that even Puck knew weren't right for Sectionals, and had ended with the Warbler kid walking out in frustration. Everyone knew they were pretty much screwed unless someone did something. He hurriedly unlocked the door to his car and hopped in, dripping all over the seats.

"Your car smells like weed."

"Holy shit!" Puck almost jumped out of his skin as he saw someone sitting in his passenger seat, watching him. "Who the hell are you?!"

"I suppose it's not that surprising you don't remember me," the stranger nodded. "You were pretty drunk when we met."

Puck stared for a moment before remembering. "You're Ryan's dad."

"Right," the man nodded. "James Walker."

"And what the fuck are you doing in my truck?" Puck asked angrily, before it registered. James Walker was Ryan's dad, so that made him Miss Corcoran's… shit.

"Yeah," James nodded, seeing the realization play out on his face. "We're going to talk for a spell, got it?"

The way he phrased it wasn't really a request, and Puck hesitated for a moment, debating whether to just jump out of the car and into the pouring rain. He'd had little 'chats' with pissed husbands, and they never ended well. "So is this the part where you mess me up about going after your girlfriend or whatever?" His mom was going to be pissed if he ended up at the hospital…

James shook his head. "No, so you don't need that false bravado," he said dryly. "But we are going to talk. You've obviously figured out who I am, and you know that this is about your… shall we say, _infatuation_ with Miss Corcoran."

"Yeah, well, nothing happened," Puck said defensively. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"I know that nothing happened," James acknowledged. "Because you have absolutely zero chance with my fiancée." He gave the teen a hard glare. "But you did do something wrong. I know that she has made it clear that she does not appreciate your advances, but you can't seem to take no for an answer." Puck looked away for a second before looking back defiantly. She was just playing hard to get, he was confident he could charm his way into her good graces sooner or later. Obviously he hadn't counted on an angry fiancé, but whatever. "You know, Ryan told me about you," James mused. "He said you have a bit of a rep for going after Lima's older ladies."

"So what?" Puck snapped. "That's totally none of your business. But yeah, I'm a stud. Always have been. Can't help it."

"Do you like having random flings with the owners of the pools you clean?" the older man asked curiously.

Puck scoffed, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned back. "Heck yeah. Best part of my day."

James snorted. "Kind of sad, if you think about that."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," James nodded. "Are you going to be doing that for the rest of your life? Cleaning pools in Lima and hooking up with everything that breathes?"

"Nothing wrong with that." Puck smirked. "Why? You scared that I'll succeed with Miss C? I mean, I _have_ sawed my way through a bunch of poolhouses." He was satisfied when James' mouth tightened. It was shortlived however.

"What's your daughter going to think about that?" Puck's head whipped up, startled. "I know you have a daughter. You think when she grows up, she's going to be proud of a father stuck in a dead-end job and whoring himself out to just about anyone?"

Puck couldn't speak past the anger rising up in him. He wasn't supposed to bring Beth into this! "Don't you dare –"

"Grow up, boy," James told him sharply. "This isn't the playground anymore. You obviously want to play dirty, and I'm not scared to hit you low if that's what it takes to get through to you." His voice darkened. "You think your child's going to be proud to know that her dad is a loser who can't take no for an answer? Tell me, would you like it if someone went after her, not listening when she told him no?"

"You don't know anything." Puck glared, unwilling to admit that the words were getting to him. He hadn't thought about Beth in ages, not since he'd seen her for that brief moment last year. It hurt too much. Of course he wanted her to be proud of him! And the thought of anyone pushing her made him sick.

James stared at him. "It's your life. Not like I can do anything to stop you from doing what you want. But your passes at Miss Corcoran, they're going to stop. Right now." His glare was hard and it was cold and it promised very dark things if the order wasn't obeyed. "Understood?"

Puck found himself nodding, intimidated by the older man's eyes. They were identical to his son's, but Ryan's had never held that forbidding intensity he was seeing now. This was a whole different level, one he wasn't ready for.

"You get one chance, boy," James told him darkly. "I hear anything about you so much as breathing wrong around her, I will find you. Ryan's about ready to murder you, but he'll be nothing compared to what I can do to you. Just remember, I'm military and paramedic."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

James chuckled humorlessly. "It means I can beat your ass up to hell and back, and then fix it so I can do it all over again. You stay away from my fiancée." He opened the passenger door. "Oh, by the way, you may want to see if this truck still works. Ryan was pretty pissed at you. Not as much as me, but you might want to call a tow truck."

With that, he exited the car, leaving Puck speechless inside.

* * *

The next evening Shelby came home late from a staff meeting, heading over to the living room where Ryan and James were settled in watching TV. "I still think it would have been better if they hadn't rebooted the show," James was saying. "The original was loads better."

"Yes, but everything was so outdated," Ryan answered. "I think the reboot gives a fresh spin on things while making it more accessible to the newer generation." He looked up. "Hi Mom."

"Hi sweetie." She sank down onto the sofa, squishing herself between the two boys and throwing an arm loosely around each of them. James smiled, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi Shelby, how was your meeting?"

"Oh, the usual, Figgins being incompetent, Sue and Will sniping at each other," she said airily.

"That's nice," James smiled.

"Dinner's ready, if you're hungry," Ryan offered. "We were waiting for you. We heated up that casserole you made the other day."

"In a while." Shelby settled herself between the two guys. "I had a very interesting day today."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact. For once, nobody flirted with me in class today, or in the hallways. Which is sort of surprising, seeing as the flirting has been going on for a while now. In fact, Noah wouldn't quite look me in the eye all day. Any idea what that was about?"

"Nope," James said innocently. "Absolutely no idea."

"But that's very good news," Ryan chimed in. "I suppose he's finally understood that he doesn't have any semblance of chance and has simply given up. Which is a relief, since I think we may have had to resort to drastic measures if he hadn't come to this realization."

"Well, speaking of that," Shelby drawled. "There was also quite the buzz in the faculty room this morning about a rather spectacular car blow-up yesterday in the school parking lot. If my sources are correct, there was a bit of a smoke column in the engine of someone's pickup truck. In fact, someone called the fire department over it."

"Really?" Ryan's eyebrows rose in interest. "I do recall hearing something to that extent this morning."

"Yes," Shelby nodded. "The way I heard it, the damage almost seemed… deliberate. A bit dangerous, if you ask me."

"Hmm, well, if it were, then I'm sure the perpetrator made sure that the damage was fairly safe," the teenager said sagely. "If it were a prank, I'm sure the damage would be rather costly to repair though. But of course, that's only hypothetically speaking."

"Of course."

"So a very eventful day, all in all?" James questioned.

"Mmm-hmm." Shelby looked from one to the other. "So you two wouldn't happen to know anything about these incidents, would you?"

"Of course not."

"Most definitely not."

"Okay. Just making sure." She gave first Ryan, then James, a kiss on the cheek each before standing up. "I think I'm ready for dinner now." She started towards the kitchen. "And guys?" She glanced back at them with a small smile. "Thank you."

Ryan and James exchanged a look, before smiling back at her. "You're welcome."

* * *

**Hey guys, I guess I didn't quite manage to push through with another update before my vacation ended, my bad :P But I did manage to get this one done, so I hope you like it.**

**Anyways, I'm really happy people enjoyed the previous chapter, it was both easy and hard to write – easy because I always thought there were so many better ways to handle IKAG than they did in canon, and hard because I really wanted to get it right (haha).**

**This chapter is sort of between IKAG and Hold on to Sixteen, I just wanted to wrap up the Puck/Shelby storyline and set up for some future events and stuff in a bit of fluff. So we'll probably see Sectionals in the next chapter. Glad to hear that my writing style is appreciated, I'm always working to improve so the affirmation is great.**

**Now, time for me to shut up and start working on the next chapter :) Hope to hear from you guys, your feedback is always invaluable and inspiring. Ignore typos, I'm running on caffeine and if I spot them later on I'll fix them, and I'll see you next time!**


	82. Chapter 81

It was less than two weeks before Sectionals, and the Troubletones rehearsals were getting lengthier and more difficult. Nobody had actually burst into tears yet, but the difference between Coach Corcoran and Mr. Schue were now very evident. Ryan didn't mind though, it was a good thing. They needed to win this, it was his senior year after all and his last chance to win a Nationals title.

Today was a break day though. It was Sunday, and the group would be back to rehearsals again tomorrow, but today was free. Ryan had picked up the mail on his way into the house after his run. He'd flicked through it, and his attention had been caught by a rather unusual item.

Which was why he was now upstairs in his room, wide-eyed as he looked through the latest copy of the Victoria's Secret lingerie catalog. He had no clue why it had appeared in the mail, but it had caught his eye, and sure, he probably shouldn't have been as interested in it as he was, but he was a sixteen-year-old male, and the underwear was sort of getting him hot, especially when he imagined some of the pieces on a certain blonde of his acquaintance. His girlfriend didn't own anything as quite as racy as any of the things being advertised on the catalog – at least not that Ryan had seen – and he was getting more than a little turned on at the thought of her wearing –

"What are you doing?"

Ryan practically jumped off the bed, looking around wildly before focusing on Quinn, who was standing in the doorway watching him. His eyes wildly flew between his magazine and his girlfriend, completely flustered. "Quinn! I – uh –" He swallowed as the blonde came towards him, plucking the magazine out of his hands.

"A Victoria's Secret catalog?"

"Um…" Ryan ran a hand through his hair, his expression sheepish. "Okay, for the record, that is not mine."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "So it just magically appeared here in your hands?"

"No," he defended. "It… it came in the mail."

"Uh-huh."

"It's the truth," he argued. "I brought the mail in this morning and it was in the mailbox. I don't know why; I guess the company's trying to increase sales by sending catalogs out. Christmas is right around the corner after all…" he trailed off, watching his girlfriend carefully, trying to gauge how mad she was. Meanwhile Quinn was flicking through the catalog. "What are you doing over here anyways? Did you need something?"

That was obviously the wrong thing to say. Unfortunately his blood supply was rather occupied in places other than his brain. "Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to come over," Quinn said coldly. "My mom's out for the day. But you've obviously got better things to do."

Ryan cringed. "Quinn –"

She tossed the book back, the catalog hitting him in the chest. "Enjoy your magazine."

Ryan caught the catalog, belatedly standing up. "Quinn, wait –" He wasn't fast enough though, and he saw her car leaving just as he opened the front door. "Shit."

"Problem?"

He spun around to see his dad standing behind him. He just shook his head, stalking back to the living room. James followed him though, his eyes landing on the underwear catalog that was still in Ryan's hands.

"Oh, there it is. I've been wondering if that arrived yet."

Ryan stared at him in shock. "It's yours?" He shook his head. "So this is all your fault!"

"What's my fault?" James stared at him, bewildered. "I was going to look for –"

"Oh God, stop!" Ryan practically yelped. "I don't need or want to know why you have a catalog for women's lingerie, okay? But you have just messed a lot of things up for me with this stupid magazine, okay?"

James looked at him knowingly. "Quinn catch you looking?"

"Yes, and now I look like a pervert! Tell me how to fix this!"

Just then Shelby entered the room. "Fix what?"

Ryan groaned, storming out of the living room after shoving the accursed catalog at his father.

* * *

On Monday, Santana sauntered through the halls, looking for some entertainment. Britts wasn't here yet, she'd gotten stuck at home, something about Lord Tubbington almost setting the place on fire with his cigarettes. Santana loved the blonde, but sometimes she had absolutely no fucking clue what was going on. She tilted her head curiously as she saw Ryan heading slowly towards Quinn. Something was off though, an observation the two quickly confirmed.

"Quinn –"

"Save it, Ryan, I'm not in the mood," Quinn barked, her best glare in place. It worked, and he slunk off miserably. Santana crept up to Quinn, leaning casually on the lockers. The blonde glared at her. "What do you want?"

"Ooh," Santana winced dramatically. "Bitch Quinn is out to play. Why's Loverboy in the doghouse?"

Quinn blushed slightly, keeping her glare on Santana, who simply gave her a _bitch, please_ look. The blonde huffed, pushing her books into his locker. "Fine. I caught him… reading a magazine."

"A magazine?" Santana's brow furrowed. "Why would…" Suddenly a huge smile spread over her face. "Was Ryan Corcoran looking at a porno?"

"NO!" Quinn shut her eyes at the yelp that escaped her, Santana sniggering as a shit-eating grin appeared on her own face. Flustered Prude Quinn was absolutely precious. Quinn looked around self-consciously before sighing. "It was a Victoria's Secret catalog, okay?"

"All right, not as juicy, but good for him," Santana nodded. She'd have given him major props for looking at a real girly mag, but this was close enough. "So what's the problem?"

Quinn gaped at her. "What do you mean, what's the problem?" she asked incredulously. "He was looking at an underwear catalog! There are all sorts of… _pictures_… there –"

"Yeah, they're kind of awesome," Santana grinned, evilly, delighting in making the other girl squirm. "Me and B love watching the Victoria's Secret fashion show too. It gets her all kind of hot, and I don't mind it either…"

"Oh God, ew."

"Oh, don't be such a prude, Quinnie-bear, it doesn't suit you," the Latina rolled her eyes. "I know what you did in the boys' locker room after the dodgeball game. I have a third eye, remember?" she added, cutting off Quinn's indignant sputter. "Besides, maybe he was looking for a present for you."

"What?" Quinn shook her head. The idea of wearing such racy lingerie such as those advertised by Ryan's magazine had never occurred to her. "No, he wasn't," she said certainly.

Santana shrugged. "Can't really blame him either way, those models are _hot. _Britts and I gets our mack on real hard after those fashion shows." She cocked her head, smirking. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

"No," Quinn defended. "I just don't like him looking at other girls. I mean, he's not supposed to be looking!"

"Oh please, he's got it bad for you. But he's committed, not dead."

"Why was he looking in the first place?" Quinn almost whined in frustration. "Aren't I enough?"

Santana's face softened as she heard the tiny quiver in her friend's voice. Great, now she felt kind of bad. She sighed. "Look. You know I don't do feelings and shit like that. Not my thing. Go talk to him, ask him straight up if you have to. If I were you, I'd go remind him that he's got you. You are crazy hot, and if you weren't straight as the yardstick up your ass I'd prob'ly be all over that." She smirked teasingly. "Britts would totally be into it if she got to join in."

"Santana!"

The Latina ignored Quinn's yelp, enjoying how riled up she was. She hadn't been lying, Q was pretty hot. "So all you have to do is go over there and make him forget all about those hot underwear models. Comprende?"

Quinn arched an eyebrow at her, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Santana huffed. "Go fuck his brains out. Whatever you do, just make nice fast, can't have the hobbit all frustrated and sad and shit at Sectionals."

"Ugh." Quinn just rolled her eyes, slamming her locker shut before stalking off. Santana shrugged. It was great advice, in her opinion.

..

Later in the day, Ryan entered the locker rooms morosely after basketball practice. Troubletones rehearsals was in a few minutes, but he was still a little upset over Quinn. She'd been avoiding him all day, shooting glares at him whenever he tried to talk to her. This was going to require some thought.

He was distracted from his problems though by the sounds of someone whaling on one of the school punching bags. Heading over, he was surprised to find that it was Blaine. He cleared his throat. "Hey."

The former Warbler looked up, pausing for a moment before returning to the punching bag. "Hey," he grunted out between jabs. "Thought the place was cleared out already."

"I just went over a couple of plays with Coach Beiste," Ryan replied. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Blaine gritted out. "Absolutely fantastic." He slammed his fist hard into the bag sending it swinging. Ryan moved over, steadying the bag as Blaine wiped sweat from his face. Blaine took another few jabs at the punching bag, Ryan bracing it to give it some extra weight. "Did you hear about our latest addition?"

Ryan glanced at him curiously, feeling Blaine's hits reverberate through the bag. "No. You have a new member? That's rather surprising, seeing the intense lack of interest in the arts at this school." Wonderful. More things to worry about.

"Well, technically he's not from this school. It's that guy Quinn did the duet with at Sectionals last year. Sam Evans."

"What?" Ryan blinked in surprise at the news. "I thought he and his family moved to Kentucky."

Blaine nodded, taking a break. "Finn and Rory drove four hours down there and convinced him to come back. Said we needed _star power._"

"Star power?" Ryan almost laughed. Sure, Sam Evans had a good voice, but he wasn't _star power_. Well, maybe he was still biased against the blonde guy for trying to kiss Quinn, but he liked to think that he was mostly over it.

Blaine's shoulders sagged for a second. "It wouldn't be so bad if they actually let me do anything besides sway in the background. They never listen to anything I have to say, but that would be fine since I'm the new guy. But Rory's new too, and they've already given him a freaking solo!" He smashed his fist against the bag again.

Ryan just listened to him rant, remembering well the feeling of being undervalued and completely unappreciated in a group. He couldn't imagine going back to that now that he'd had a taste of being in a group that actually paid attention to what he had to say, and it had to be pretty much the same for Blaine, who had been the Warblers' lead singer. "What does Kurt have to say about all this?"

His friend scowled. "A big, fat nothing. Doesn't say anything when Finn snubs me, didn't react when I walked out of rehearsals the other day. It's like he doesn't even care," he lamented sadly.

Well, that was just wrong. Ryan knew if anyone disrespected Quinn he'd be on them in a second, and if she ever walked out, he'd be right on her heels. He didn't really want to talk about Kurt though, so he quickly switched the topic. "Did you know your great leader's been trying to poach members?"

Blaine glanced at him, surprised. "No. What happened?"

"Nothing, really. Ryder just mentioned in passing that Finn was trying to sway him to move to the New Directions. Ryder turned him down, obviously."

Blaine huffed. "Not really surprised about that. If you haven't noticed, we aren't exactly swimming in members. I think we're just filling up the quota with the band members."

Ryan nodded. "Hey, listen. We've been talking in the Troubletones, and we were thinking that after Sectionals, if we win – and I stress _if_," he emphasized, "that perhaps we would hold auditions for any of the New Directions that would like to join us. It's still up for discussion, but if we did hold auditions, would you consider trying out?"

"If we lost, then yeah, definitely," Blaine nodded. "In fact, if it weren't for Kurt I'd probably be trying out right now. I can't stand most of the New Directions. You guys seem loads happier. Plus you've got Miss Corcoran, which pretty much guarantees you guys a Nationals title right there."

The compliment to Shelby had Ryan beaming. He was insanely proud of his mom and the reputation she'd garnered, and was ecstatic that she was coaching them. "Well then, I'll expect you to be first in line at the auditions after we win Sectionals," he said cheekily.

Blaine gave Ryan a crooked smile as he started unwrapping his hands. "With the way things are going, I think you'll definitely be having those auditions. We don't even have a set list yet." He glanced at Ryan. "How about you, you okay? I saw Quinn giving you the stink-eye earlier."

"Oh, that." Ryan winced. "We're just having a bit of a misunderstanding right now. It'll blow over." He hoped.

"Well, if it's anything like one of Kurt's snits, good luck with that."

"Thanks." He was probably going to need it.

* * *

Lunch the next day found Quinn brooding at a table by herself, still in a bad mood. No one was quite brave enough to sit with her while she was stewing until an also disgruntled Tina showed up, depositing herself across from Quinn. The blonde arched her eyebrow. "Something up?"

"It's Mike," she grumbled. "He says he's applying to Stanford and Harvard, pre-med."

"Okay…"

"He doesn't _want_ to be in pre-med," Tina argued. "He wants to go into dance. He's only doing this because his father wants him to, and he's scared of disappointing him, but I just know it's the wrong decision and he won't let me say anything about it!"

"Oh." Quinn nodded. She didn't really have this problem; Ryan already knew what he wanted to do, and wasn't afraid to go for it. "Well, speaking as someone whose parents had unrealistic expectations, it's hard to defy them."

"You did," Tina pointed out.

"Spectacularly," Quinn agreed, "but I didn't exactly do it on purpose. And look how that turned out."

"I guess." Tina sighed. "I just know he's going to be miserable for the rest of his life if he does this for his dad, and I don't want that for him. I was thinking maybe I'd go talk to his dad, get him to see reason."

"Maybe." Quinn had never met Mike's father, but hopefully he was nothing like Russell. If he was then Tina would have a chance.

"So what's up with you?" Tina asked eventually. "I saw you sniping at Ryan this morning."

"Oh, that." Quinn frowned briefly before deciding to tell Tina. Telling Santana hadn't exactly helped, and it would be nice to have someone to vent to who wouldn't make all sorts of inappropriate innuendos.

"Yeah, I've been there," Tina said sympathetically when Quinn finished telling her about the issue. "Boys can be pigs. When we were dating Artie used to make all these comments about how hot other girls were. With me standing right next to him! Mike's not as bad, but he still looks sometimes."

Quinn just sighed. "You're telling me, I dated Puck for a week, remember?" Ryan wasn't nearly that bad, but he still had his moments, like now.

"You should go tell him how you feel," Tina said encouragingly. "I told Mike off after I caught him staring at one of the Cheerios back when we first started dating, and he tries not to do it anymore." She chuckled. "They kind of can't help it sometimes though. Like, he has this crush on some girl from this sci-fi how he watches. It's annoying, but it makes it all the more fun to wipe that bitch's name from his mind when we get to my room."

Quinn barked out a short laugh. "I guess so." Maybe she had overreacted. "Santana told me to, and I quote, 'fuck his brains out.'"

"Crude, but that works too, as much as I hate to agree with Santana," Tina snickered. "The important thing is, at the end of the day, he wants to be with you, not some random floozy on a catalog, right?"

She hummed in agreement, feeling quite a bit better. "Still, we're allowed to bust them when we catch them, right?"

Tina smiled broadly. "Most definitely."

..

That afternoon Ryan fidgeted outside the front door of Quinn's house, getting ready to knock. He'd gotten a text from Quinn telling him to show up, and show up he did. He quickly knocked on the door, and soon Quinn appeared. Ryan swallowed, faced with his apparently still pissed girlfriend. "Hi."

"Hi." She turned around, heading up to her bedroom. Ryan followed on tenterhooks, unsure of how to act around his rather volatile girlfriend. She closed the door behind him, and Ryan turned to face her.

"Look, I've been thinking about it, and I am really very sorry about our situation," he said nervously. "I realize that I was in the wrong, I shouldn't have been looking at the catalog. In my defense, it wasn't mine, it was my dad's, not that I want to know what he was doing with it, and –"

Anything he had to say was cut off when Quinn moved forward, crashing her lips against his, her fingers threading through his hair as she kissed him roughly. He moaned helplessly into her mouth, unable to move away as she completely stole his breath. Finally, when he was almost ready to pass out, she tore her lips away, shoving him onto the bed as he fought for oxygen. Any breath that he caught though was quickly gone again when Quinn started taking off her clothes, landing on his lap in only her underwear.

"W-what are you doing?" he moaned, voice cracking a bit as she ground onto his lap, sending half his blood supply rushing south. "I – God – I thought –"

"You thought I was mad that you were looking at those lingerie models?" she husked into his ear, pressing her chest against his. Ryan shuddered, her voice only increasing his arousal as he leaned back on his elbows. "You're right, I am." She slid her hand under his shirt.

"Then why –"

"Because," she rasped, easily yanking his shirt off. "I'm going to make you forget all about those models." She pulled him in for another kiss, forcing his mouth open. Ryan whimpered as she bit down on his lower lip, his hands rising up on her body only to be pushed away. "Oh no. You don't get to touch."

"But –" He yelped when she ground down again, making him lose what little focus he had. Quinn shoved him flat onto the bed, deftly unbuttoning his pants, and wrapping a hand around his dick and squeezing. Ryan almost choked on his breath, hands fisting into the sheets. "God, Quinn –"

She fell forward on top of him, smirking. "That's right, say my name," she husked, her voice sending shivers down his spine. "I'll make sure it's the only one you remember." She squeezed again, stroking him roughly. He gritted his teeth, bucking up into her hand, but he could get enough leverage with the way she was straddling him.

Her hand sped up, faster and faster as she nipped at his pulse point. His eyes screwed shut. "Q-Quinn, I'm going to –"

Suddenly she stilled, sitting up on his lap, her hand stopping short at the base of his dick. His eyes flew open, staring at her wildly. He was so close he couldn't think. Quinn arched an eyebrow at him. "Maybe you should get one of your underwear models to finish you off."

Ryan whimpered. Was she kidding him right now? He swallowed, his nearness to orgasm fading. "Quinn, I told you, I'm sorry about that –" He gasped as she gave him another slow stroke, just enough to send him pulsing again.

"Sorry about what?"

"About – about –" He could barely think with the light patterns she'd started tracing over his stomach, her other hand still gripped around his dick. He could barely form a coherent thought. Suddenly he hissed as she raked her nails down his abs. "About the magazine," he rushed out, arching against her hand. "Sorry for looking." He looked at her pleadingly.

"Good." The hand around his dick started to stroke again, slowly. Ryan tried to touch her again, only to have his hands slapped away. "I told you, no touching."

Ryan moaned as he collapsed back onto the bed, his brain completely falling apart. "Ohh – God, Quinn –"

"That's right, Ry," she almost purred. "Say my name." She smirked as he practically convulsed when she pumped him hard, eyes flying open to meet hers, completely dark and glazed over. She wasn't quite sure that Santana was right about this being the way to resolve the issue, but she was right about the fact that fucking his brains out really did make her feel a lot better. She knew he loved her, but a girl was allowed to feel insecure sometimes, and having him look at her like she was the only person in the world made her feel pretty damn secure right now.

He keened almost pathetically as she pinched the head of his dick, starting to play with his balls with her other hand. That was probably enough. She was achingly wet now too, and she wanted him inside her. She shifted carefully, taking off the rest of her clothes as she kept her hand wrapped around her boyfriend's pulsing cock. Fumbling in the bedside drawer, she pulled out a condom, quickly rolling it on.

Ryan watched her, mouth slightly parted as he fought to breathe, squirming at the almost painful throbbing in his dick. She kept their gazes locked as she guided him in, slowly sinking down onto him. She bit her lip against the delicious stretch, smiling at the deep moan he released.

"Q-Quinn…" Ryan's head fell back as Quinn shifted forward, breasts pressing against him as she pressed a kiss to his jaw.

"Hmm?" She hummed teasingly, mischief in her voice as she rocked against him. He bucked up into her, desperate for friction. She placed a hand on his stomach though, keeping him down as she refused to speed up, content to rock back and forth on top of him. "Did you want something?"

"Quinn, please," he rasped. "I – I need –"

"What do you need, Ry?" She nipped at his earlobe, her husky voice nearly sending him into another convulsion.

Ryan couldn't think clearly, he just knew he needed to get off before he went insane with his beautiful goddess intent on torturing him. "I need you," he choked out, hands twisted tight into the sheets, her heat around him driving him crazy. "Please."

"You need me, do you?" She licked at his ear. "Not those pretty models in your magazine?"

"W-what?" Ryan could barely even remember what she was talking about, brain completely clouded over until the only recognizable thought was of her. "Quinn, _please._" He didn't care if it was pathetic, he just needed her.

Quinn smiled. "Okay." She pressed one more teasing kiss on his neck before rising up off of him. He whimpered in protest, only to gasp as she dropped back down. She shut her eyes, vision swimming in pleasure. She wasn't going to last long, and neither was he. "You can touch now."

Ryan's hands were immediately on her hips as though magnetized, helping her find a rhythm. From there it was hard and fast, and sure enough soon both of them were coming hard, Quinn biting back a scream as she rode out her climax, collapsing on top of Ryan as she floated back down.

..

A few minutes later the two of them were snuggling under the blankets, basking in the afterglow, both of them quiet. Quinn was the one to break it.

"Why were you looking at the catalog anyways? Were you…" She hesitated. "Are you getting bored with me?"

"No, no, of course not," he assured her, guilt lacing his voice. "I wasn't… I don't…" He shook his head, obviously still in a bit of a daze. Quinn bit back a reluctant smile. "I had a whole speech ready before you went and did this," he grumbled playfully. "Not that I'm complaining." Because he really, really wasn't.

"Let's hear it, then."

He nodded, taking a breath. "First, I'd like to start with the fact that I'm very sorry. I didn't intend to look at those lingerie models, I simply got caught up in them. It's not really an excuse, but I sort of lost track of time, and you surprised me." He winced at her unimpressed expression. He hurried on. "Second, I would like to point out that the catalog was not mine. It belongs to my father, and quite frankly I don't intend to find out why he has it. Thirdly, I realize that perhaps looking at those photos may be construed as a sign of infidelity, and I would like to assure you that I am still very much committed to our relationship. I was most certainly not fantasizing about any of those models, because I am completely happy with you. Lastly," he hesitated. "I'm really sorry." He smiled, pleased with himself for remembering all that.

Quinn arched an eyebrow at him. That wasn't encouraging. "Aren't your first and last points the same?"

He was confused for a moment. He couldn't quite remember why that was… stupid post-orgasmic haze… oh, right. "That just emphasizes how much I mean it."

"How long did you think that speech up?"

Ryan frowned. "A while. Are you not mad anymore?" He kind of thought maybe she wasn't, after that explosive sex earlier, but he wasn't sure.

She pursed her lips. "I'm still annoyed. But… I guess maybe I overreacted a bit. It's just…"

"Just what? Come on, you can tell me," he coaxed.

Quinn took a deep breath, looking up. "It just sort of freaked me out that you were looking at those other women, okay? Because even after over a year together, sometimes I still think that maybe I'm not enough. Maybe you'd want something else. Some_one_ else."

"I thought we were over that now. I love you so much, I don't want anyone else."

"I know, I know, it's just…" She rolled her eyes self-deprecatingly. "It's like sometimes I still see myself as – as Lucy, and I look at myself and I think that I'm too fat, or too messy, or too _something_ that's going to make you think I'm not… not attractive."

Pain lanced through Ryan at the vulnerability in his girlfriend's voice. "Hey, stop that," he chided gently. "Listen. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I think you are perfect just the way you are. I don't care whether you look like Lucy, or if you look like Quinn. I love _you._ And I will always be attracted to you."

She rewarded him with a small smile. "So… the catalog?"

"I wasn't even thinking about, you know, the models," he admitted. He shook his head. "Yes, they were attractive, but I'd like to think I'm not so shallow as to just care about looks. I think you're absolutely beautiful," he said sincerely. "But as I've told you, that's not the only thing I love about you. You're the only one I think about that way."

Quinn nodded. "Okay." She sighed. "It's been a weird few days, I guess. We've been so busy with preparing for Sectionals, and I've been finishing my college applications… and I guess was just feeling a bit fat, and I overreacted to the magazine."

"Actually," Ryan said slowly. "I really wasn't looking at the models… I was kind of more interested in the actual underwear…"

She arched an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're thinking about crossdressing."

"No, of course not!" He cleared his throat. "I was kind of imagining them on…"

The other eyebrow went up as well. "On me?"

"Can you blame me?" he asked innocently. "You are so sexy. I wouldn't mind seeing some of those numbers on you. If you were ever comfortable enough to do that, of course. I think you look perfect in anything." His smile turned sly. "Or out of anything, for that matter."

She blushed slightly, and Ryan's smile widened. He found it adorable how she couldn't quite seem to decide between following her more conservative nature and her wildly sexy side. "Sorry about pretty much jumping you just now."

"Oh, I'm definitely not complaining," Ryan assured her, a goofy smile spreading across his face. "I thought it was amazingly hot. Trust me, I definitely enjoyed myself. I've read in my research that buildup makes the release that much better, and you've pretty much proved it."

"Wait, research?" Quinn's eyes narrowed. "What research?"

"I've just been looking into little ways that we can experiment with the physical nature of our relationship," he answered. "There's actually quite a few things –"

She reached over, putting a finger on his lips. "Okay, less talking, more basking."

"Okay." They lay there in contemplative silence for a moment.

"And Ryan?"

"Huh?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "Next time I catch you ogling girls other than me, it's not going to be as pretty."

He gulped. "Yes ma'am."

* * *

One week before Sectionals Shelby led the Troubletones in some vocal exercises in preparation for their rehearsal. They were in their unused classroom, since the New Directions had the auditorium now. Shelby suspected she could have easily blocked off the auditorium schedule so that Will and his team couldn't rehearse, but there wasn't much fun in beating a team who hadn't prepared. Sue thought she was being stupid, but she didn't care.

"That's good everybody," she said. "Quick break, and let's start with the Adele mash-up." They had elected to keep their mash-up in the set list, with several improvements to the arrangement. Even if the New Directions had already seen it, the judges hadn't.

"What do you want?"

Shelby looked up at Santana's suspicious bark, finding Blaine Anderson standing in the doorway. He sent Santana a mild glare before clearing his throat. "I heard you guys rehearsing."

"Well, Gay #2, this is a closed rehearsal and you're the enemy, so go away," Santana bit out.

"I'm afraid Santana is right about the closed rehearsal part," Shelby said. "You're going to have to leave."

Blaine took a deep breath. "I'm leaving the New Directions. I'd like to join the Troubletones, if you guys will let me."

Silence greeted his words. Shelby cleared her throat. "Could I ask what prompted this decision?"

"They made some decisions that I don't agree with," Blaine said shortly. "I don't think that my talents are really being used there, and I don't like the environment."

"What does Kurt have to say about it?" Tina asked curiously.

A scowl crossed Blaine's face briefly. "This isn't his decision." He turned to Shelby. "I'm fully willing to audition, of course."

"I think we should let him join," Ryan spoke up. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Of course you would."

"Stop," Shelby intervened before the two co-captains could get into a full-blown argument. She looked at Blaine. "Sectionals is this week. We've been working on our songs for over a month now, not to mention choreography. You might not have enough time to get everything down in time." Blaine deflated, but nodded in resignation. "However," she continued, "if you would like, I'll allow you to audition. If we decide to accept you, you can join our rehearsals. But you won't be guaranteed a spot at Sectionals. I'll decide at the end of the week if you've learned our numbers well enough to join." She glanced around at the rest of the group. "Is that agreeable to everyone?"

Slowly, the students started nodding, following Ryan's lead. Santana was the last, finally assenting with a touch of reluctance. Shelby nodded, looking at Blaine. "Do you have your music?" Blaine nodded back, pulling some sheet music out of his bag. "Do you need an accompanist?"

He shook his head. "No, I can play." He moved over to the piano, settling down in front of the keys.

Shelby nodded approvingly, sitting down near the back of the room. "All right, let's hear what you have."

Blaine nodded. He took a second to compose himself, before straightening. "Good afternoon everybody," he addressed the Troubletones. "My name is Blaine Anderson, and I'll be singing _Teenage Dream_ by Katy Perry." He started to play a gentle, acoustic version of the pop song, his voice joining in moments later. His rendition was wistful, longing, and by the time he played the last note had the whole group in thoughtful silence. Shelby stood up. "Thank you, Blaine," she said, smiling at him. "That was beautiful. If you'll just go outside for a little while, we'll discuss your audition."

He nodded again, gathering up his sheet music and moving to leave the room. Ryan shot him an encouraging smile before he left, then turned to his team and announced, "He has my vote."

"Ours too," Tina agreed, Mike nodding beside her.

"I thought he was great," Marley said, echoed by Ryder a second later.

"Yeah, whatever," Kitty said dismissively. Slowly the group was in consensus, except for one person.

"Santana?" Shelby prompted. The girl folded her arms. "Care to share why you don't want him in the group?" When she wasn't forthcoming, Ryan cleared his throat.

"If this is about that song he sang with Kurt during that Lady Music Week debacle," he said tentatively, "he told me he didn't agree with their performance. He completely disagreed with what Finn did, and he only sang that song for Kurt."

"Oh, so he's a sheep then," Santana snarked. "That's way better than being a jerk, I guess."

"Santana, come on."

Brittany took the Latina's hand. "Come on, Sanny," she wheedled. "He's cute, kind of like a puppy. And he sings really good."

"Besides, we'd sort of be sticking it to Finn and the others if we took him," Quinn added with a small smirk. Soon everyone was joining in, cajoling Santana into her decision, and finally she broke down, unable to help her smile.

"All right, all right, fine," she relented. "He can join. But he says something I don't like, Snixx is going after him."

Shelby smiled, clapping once. "Looks like we have a new member, then."

* * *

"You are a no-good glee club poacher."

Ryan shut his eyes, taking a breath before turning away from his locker to face the speaker. He knew this would happen sooner or later. "Kurt."

"I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to take yet another of our members," Kurt seethed. "You already Pied-Piper'ed half the New Directions, would it kill you to leave us some people? And if you had to poach someone, why did it have to be my boyfriend?"

"I did not steal anybody," Ryan shot back. "Quinn and everybody else joined the Troubletones of their volition." So maybe he'd nudged them into joining, but it wasn't like he'd blackmailed them into it or some such nonsense. "And you're one to talk, I know Finn was trying to convince Ryder and Kitty to move. And you know what, maybe if you actually paid attention to your boyfriend once in a while instead of taking every single word from Finn's mouth as gospel, then maybe he wouldn't have felt the need to leave!"

"That's not fair, Finn's my brother, and he's the team captain; of course I have to listen to him!"

"I used to be a co-captain, that didn't get any of you to listen to me."

Kurt snorted. "Sure, make it all about you."

"It's not my fault Blaine wants teammates who listen to what he says and a coach who can actually teach him something!"

"Oh yes, and let's not forget your all-powerful mother," Kurt scowled. "You know, if she weren't here this whole mess wouldn't exist in the first place!"

"What?" Ryan stared at him. "You know what, you're insane. I've been trying so hard to understand what is wrong with you, but I just can't."

Suddenly Kurt's face straightened. "You know what my problem is?" He let out a humorless laugh. "You have everything I want."

"Excuse me?" Ryan's confusion only grew, morphing into anger. "So the reason you've been such an incredible jerk to me is because you're jealous? I don't even know what you're jealous of!"

"Don't you get it?" Kurt was getting agitated. "You have everything. When we were younger, and I was figuring out that I was gay, I was so jealous of you because you were a straight guy who was close to my dad. He says he doesn't care, but I know he always wanted a straight son, that's why he and Finn have bonded so much."

"That's –"

"– Only the beginning," Kurt interrupted. It seemed that now he'd started, he wasn't about to stop. "In glee, you always got the solos. We have the same amount of talent, and you are annoying as hell, but you still got made captain."

"Co-captain," Ryan frowned.

"My boyfriend admitted he has a crush on you," the other boy continued. "You had two dads who cared about you. But even now, your real dad is there for you. But you know what I'm most jealous of?" Kurt paused. "I thought we were the same. We both understood what it was like to grow up… without a mom."

Finally it started to click. Now that Ryan thought about it, Kurt had grown more and more antagonistic ever since he had started building a relationship with Shelby. Kurt used to talk to him in the garage, would sometimes say hello to him in the halls – they'd never been friends, but they hadn't been enemies like they were now. But since Ryan had found his mom, Kurt had stopped talking to him, and had slowly become more and more spiteful until they had reached this point.

"It's not fair." Kurt's voice had dropped to a whisper. "I was – am – so jealous that you have your mom back, when I have absolutely no chance –" He cut himself off. "Carole is wonderful, but she's not my mother and she never will be." He took a breath. "And that's what I hate about you so much."

Ryan stared at the other boy, completely at a loss for words. He could understand how Kurt felt. He'd felt it for years before he'd met Shelby – watching his other classmates with their own mothers, knowing that he would never have that. And he couldn't imagine how he would feel if he ever lost her like Kurt had lost his. He took a deep breath, looking at Kurt. "I'm sorry that you feel that way. I'm sorry for what happened to your mom, I am. And I'm sorry that you can't have her back. But I won't apologize that I have mine."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

"You know, it's kind of ironic that we've both been so jealous of each other."

Kurt scoffed softly. "And what could I have that you could possibly want?"

"Don't you wonder what happened with Hiram and Leroy? Why I moved to live with my mom? If they were loving parents, do you think that I would have left them just like that?"

"Well, I'm sorry that I never thought to puzzle out your motivations for moving," Kurt said a touch sarcastically.

"They were never there for me," Ryan said bluntly. "I can't even remember the last meaningful conversation I've had with them. They never came to any of my school events, they never made any effort to spend time with me." He smiled wryly. "And then there you were. I would watch you and Burt at the garage, I saw how he loved you so much. Even before you came out to him I knew he knew, and I knew he didn't care. I saw you blow him off when he wanted to spend time with you and I would wish so badly that my own parents would do the same."

"I didn't know that."

"I used to think we could be friends," Ryan continued. "As you say, we have a bit in common. We're both talented, we both have an affinity for the stage… we're both rather misunderstood by our peers." That drew a bit of a smile from Kurt. "You were never receptive to my advances though. And I guess now I know why."

"Yeah," Kurt nodded. "You do. And I know you're right. It's not your fault you got your mom back. But I can't help how I feel. And now Blaine's jumped ship over to you."

"That's not my fault either."

Kurt merely nodded again. "I don't know if I can be friends with you."

"Okay." He wasn't sure he could be friends with Kurt either, not after the way Kurt had treated him. "But I would ask that we remain civil with each other. We're getting to old for petty squabbles."

"Agreed." Kurt was silent for a moment. "Do you think Blaine will forgive me?"

"Probably. He loves you. I just don't understand why you could stick up for him. He'd have done it for you. He _has _done it for you."

"I think that's something I'll discuss with him, if you don't mind."

"Fair enough." Ryan stood up. "Will you be alright here?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then." With that, he slipped out of the room.

* * *

"Good afternoon, and welcome to this year's Show Choir Sectionals Competition!" the loudspeaker blared. Ryan peeked out of the curtains, watching as the audience settled into their seats. McKinley was the host for the competition this year, and the auditorium was packed. He scanned through the audience, looking for a familiar face. Suddenly he jumped as someone poked him in the side.

"Looking for someone?"

Ryan half glared at James, who grinned back at him unapologetically. "You're lucky my theater experience kept me from yelling into the audience," he said severely.

"Thank goodness for that." James smirked. "Just came to wish you luck. Did you find your grandparents?"

"Yeah," Ryan smiled happily. His grandparents had arrived from Akron that morning to watch the competition, and had already wished him and Shelby luck before they'd headed into the auditorium. "You should really be getting out there, they're introducing the judges."

"Oh please, like I'd want to see a clown and a couple of government employees," James said dismissively just as Shelby came up to them.

"This is ridiculous," she grumbled. "What would a clown know about this?"

"Exactly my thoughts," Ryan agreed.

"Don't worry, I doubt the clown is going to come anywhere near you," James said comfortingly, kissing Shelby on the cheek. She scowled as Ryan looked at her in confusion. "Your mom has a bit of clown phobia," James said. "When we were in high school we went to this fair and –"

"Okay, don't you have a seat to get to?" Shelby interrupted. James stopped, smiling nicely at her. Ryan stared between the two.

"But wait, I want to hear –"

"No you don't," Shelby cut in. "And look, the Unitards are here." Sure enough the glee club from Defiance, Ohio arrived in the backstage area, getting ready to take the stage.

"I'll get going," James said. "Good luck." He gave Shelby another kiss on the cheek, clapping Ryan on the back as he mouthed, _I'll tell you later._ Ryan grinned at the prospect just as he saw Harmony bossing around some of her teammates. He headed over, causing the girl to squeal and give him a quick hug.

"Ryan! So nice to see you!"

"You too, Harmony," Ryan grinned. "I'm looking forward to this competition."

"I'm looking forward to that trophy," Harmony replied brightly. Ryan laughed.

"Of course. Well, break a leg out there."

"Oh, we will," she winked at him just as the announcer called them up. Ryan just shook his head as she and her team headed onto the stage.

..

"They were great," Marley said after the Unitards' performance. They had congregated in their dressing room during the intermission after the Unitards, and they were up next in about ten minutes. "Kind of scary, actually."

"Don't worry about it," Ryan said easily. "They were good, but they were being carried by Harmony. The backup vocals were mediocre at best, and we can easily match their dancing. Plus we have better choreography." He shot a smile at Mike, who smiled back briefly.

"Don't be too concerned about the other performers," Shelby advised. "What matters is that we do the best that we can. Focusing on the other acts will only make you nervous. Now, we're going to go over to the New Directions to wish them luck."

"Why on God's green Earth would we do that?" Santana wondered.

"Yeah, I don't want them to have good luck," Sugar added. "I want them all to break a leg. Literally."

"Because it's good sportsmanship," Ryan interjected, rolling his eyes.

"And because it'll psych them out," Kitty said astutely. "The Cheerios do it all the time." Shelby smirked. That was exactly what she was going for. And the good sportsmanship part too, she supposed, as she led them to the classroom the New Directions were using as a dressing room.

She cleared her throat. "Hey Will."

Will turned around from where he was nervously flicking through some sheets at the piano. "Hey," he answered. "Looking good," he offered them a friendly, if slightly forced, smile.

Shelby smiled back. "We just came to say may the best glee club win."

"Yes, and in case that glee club is us," Santana said smugly. "We've decided to consider a contingency plan."

"In the events of a New Directions loss, we've voted to let any of you audition so you can join us at Regionals, with a few minor conditions," Shelby continued, mildly amused at the fact that Santana was doing half the work of psyching the other team out. The group had finally come to a consensus that the New Directions members could audition after the competition, with the whole team voting on who got in.

"You're welcome," Sugar piped up. She was still rather sore with the New Directions for turning her down – a wrong move on their part, as she had turned into a rather decent singer with Shelby's coaching. Not to mention she had quite a talent for costumes.

Will's face tightened even more, his smile dropping. "Excuse me?"

"That's incredibly rude," Finn accused.

"We're trying to be nice," Santana said innocently. "It would be rude if I followed you around and every time you took a step I'd play a note on a tuba. Besides, if you want to talk about rude, you could start with the amount of hair gel Kurt's wearing, it's a fire hazard."

"Well, you stole one of our members, so I'd say we're even," Kurt retorted nicely. Blaine opened his mouth but was cut off by Will.

"That's enough," he stated, moving forward, leveling Shelby with a look he probably thought was intimidating. She matched it coolly, not backing down. "Thank you for the offer, Miss Corcoran, but we're going to concentrate on winning this."

Shelby could see Ryan bristle at the mildly insulting tone the other teacher used, but she was used to it. Will didn't have a patch on some of the other choir directors she'd faced off with. She simply nodded back at him professionally. "Good luck everybody," she said. "See you on the ice." She waved a hand, signaling the Troubletones to enter the backstage area. She followed them, gathering them together. "All right everybody, you heard them, they think they're going to win this." She received a derisive laugh from some of the kids. "You've all done wonderfully in rehearsals. You know every part of our routines inside out. You've got this."

"And now, please welcome McKinley High's very own Troubletones!"

"Break a leg, guys!" she said encouragingly as the team walked onto the stage to take their places. Shelby took a deep breath. She was always excited whenever her team would go out to perform, but this was particularly nerve-wracking since it was the first competitive performance by the Troubletones. With Vocal Adrenaline she was sure that they were a well-oiled, if soulless, machine, but these kids were different.

The music for the mash-up of _Rumor Has It _and _Someone Like You _started out, and just like last time, the group totally killed it. Shelby watched them from the wings, smiling smugly at the hard faces of the New Directions in the audience as the Troubletones sang it even better than they had at the mash-off, the endless hours of rehearsals evident in the performance.

The first number ended to much applause from the audience, and the band quickly began the next song, Lady Gaga's _Telephone,_ with Santana starting them off.

_Hello, hello, baby_  
_You called, I can't hear a thing_  
_I have got no service_  
_In the club, you see, see_  
_Wha-wha-what did you say?_  
_Oh, you're breaking up on me_  
_Sorry, I cannot hear you_  
_I'm kinda busy_

Shelby had wanted a more upbeat number that they could choreograph to, and this fit the bill. Shelby arranged it in a way that all of them had a solo, with everyone harmonizing perfectly on the choruses.

_Stop callin', stop callin'_  
_I don't wanna think any more_  
_I left my head and heart on the dance floor_  
_Stop callin', stop callin'_  
_I don't wanna talk anymore_  
_It's got my head and my heart on the dance floor_

The second song was received even better than the first, and Shelby's smile widened. Sure, the team was small, but it had heart, something Vocal Adrenaline fell a bit short of. The crowd cheered even louder as the opening notes to _Titanium_ started, Marley Rose soloing. The freshman, while lacking training, had a very good voice, and while Shelby wasn't always inclined to let newbies solo, she thought this was a good fit. And it wasn't as if she was spoiled for choice with less than a dozen members.

_You shout it out,_  
_But I can't hear a word you say_  
_I'm talking loud, not saying much_  
_Ryan took over, voice smooth and clear as he sang._  
_I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet_  
_Shoot me down, but I get up_

The pair of them started to harmonize as they entered the chorus, voices complementing each other quite well.

_I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose_  
_Fire away, fire away_  
_Ricochet, you take your aim_  
_Fire away, fire away_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_

The music picked up, the more intricate choreography starting up, led by Brittany and Mike. Thank God Sue had let them borrow a couple of bodies, otherwise this wouldn't have worked out nearly as well. Shelby could actually see the cheerleading coach in the corner of the auditorium, watching critically as Santana picked up the bridge.

_Stone-heart, machine gun_  
_Firing at the ones who run_  
_Stone heart loves bulletproof glass_

The entire group returned for the last chorus, vocals and choreography perfect after hours and hours of rehearsals.

_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_  
_I am titanium_

The crowd exploded into applause as the final note died away, and Shelby grinned broadly, more than pleased with their performance. She could see Will and the New Directions looking highly worried, and she knew it would carry over into their own performances.

They had this in the bag.

..

An hour later, all three show choirs were up on the stage with their respective directors, awaiting the final decision of the judges. Shelby stood confidently in front of the Troubletones, who were pretty confident. The New Directions had gone with a Michael Jackson lineup that had the potential to be great, but with only about eight members actually singing and less than a week to perfect their numbers, they had ended up less than perfect. Shelby had spotted quite a few flaws in their performances that could either be attributed to lack of practice or nerves. Ryan had also spotted the errors and had gleefully pointed them out into her ear in a real-time commentary from his seat just behind Shelby.

Finally, one of the judges came out from stage left, and Shelby flinched. _Oh fuck, the clown was giving the awards._ She moved as far away as possible. She caught Ryan smirking at her, and she shot him a nasty glare.

"As an award-winning clown, I'd like to say that it's nice for once to be working with kids who are just sick with talent." He pulled the results out the envelope. "Third place… the Unitards!"

The crowd cheered nicely as Harmony bounced forward to claim their trophy, hugging the clown with enthusiasm and beaming at the audience. Shelby shuddered again, hoping to God that she didn't have to deal with the clown. She skipped back towards her team, pausing to say a few words to Kurt Hummel that left the boy looking vaguely horrified. Shelby also saw her aim a distinct wink at Ryan, though she had no idea what that was about.

The stage was thick with tension, both teams obviously wanting this win badly as the clown spoke again. "In second place…" He paused for effect. "The New Directions, which means your winners are McKinley's very own Troubletones!"

Shelby grinned broadly as her team burst into excited cheers, the audience clapping its own approval. Ryan reached forward, wrapping her in an exuberant hug as he cheered happily. She indulged him for a moment before breaking away, pushing him towards that stupid clown to take the trophy. Ryan excitedly took the large trophy, carrying it over to her with a triumphant grin on his face. "We won!"

Santana took the trophy from him, yelling wildly in excitement through the confetti streaming around them. Tina and Mike were hugging, the new kids cheering hard. Shelby simply smiled at the whole team, giving them her own round of applause. She was so proud of them.

* * *

**And there you have Sectionals. Here's hoping you guys liked it. I've been swamped with work, mostly teaching, but I wanted to get a chapter out. Credit to dgronison for the Victoria's Secret idea, just modified a bit. Just a short note this time, I don't really have a lot to say. Plus I'm sleepy, and I don't think I proofread this properly, so ignore my typos. Leave a review though, they motivate me when I'm feeling stuck, which may mean more chapters ;)**


	83. Chapter 82

A week after Sectionals, Shelby sat in her office finishing up the end of term papers for her students. The Christmas break was starting that week, and she was more than ready. She had decided not to get into Troubletones recruitments just yet. That whole can of worms could wait until January. A tap sounded on her office door, which then opened. Sue Sylvester breezed in, and Shelby hid a smile. "Good afternoon, Billie Jean, what can I do for you?"

"Well, hello to you too, Yentl. And you're right, I am in fact here for a reason." Sue made herself comfortable in the chair in front of Shelby's desk. "Yule is upon us," she stated solemnly. "The time when – wait, are you Jewish?"

"Half," Shelby deadpanned. It was sort of true, her grandparents had been Jewish, but her own parents hadn't quite followed the religion. She and Josh had been brought up with Christmas trees and reindeer, courtesy of her father's Christian background.

Sue nodded. "The time when Jewish kids feel slightly uncomfortable, and dwarves get jobs as Santa's helpers in demeaning non-union commercials that make them quietly die inside." Her smile faded as she looked down at her hands. She sighed. "Look, can I be honest? This is my first Christmas since Jean died."

"I'm sorry."

"So," Sue pressed on, "I've just been trying to keep myself occupied. I made plans to shoot reindeer from a helicopter with Sarah Palin but she cancelled. Apparently Todd gets fussy when she misses his ballet recitals." She looked out the window. "I usually spent the holidays at the nursing home."

"You could still do that," Shelby suggested. "As a volunteer this time, not as a family member."

"No, I can't go back there. Not without her."

That was understandable. Shelby looked at her thoughtfully, turning over an idea she'd had a few days ago. "Maybe you'd like to spend a day giving back anyways. Not necessarily at the nursing home," she qualified when Sue frowned. "Christmas is a time for giving back, after all. At least you're not trying to trash the choir room this year."

Sue's lips quirked up at the memory of last year's Christmas. "Good times. Do you have any suggestions?"

"I'm thinking of taking the Troubletones to the Lima Children's Home for a day," Shelby told her. "I haven't brought it up with them yet, but I think they'll agree." The group was still high on their win at Sectionals the other day – Shelby still thought it had been a no-brainer – and she was sure they wouldn't miss the chance to show off for a good cause. And these kids actually had hearts – not like her VA kids. "You could come, if you wanted to."

This time Sue was the one with a thoughtful expression on her face. "I hate kids."

"Not true," Shelby disagreed. "If you did, would you really be teaching at a high school?"

"Touche." The cheerleading coach leaned back, studying Shelby. "I'll think about it. Good thing you won, otherwise I might have ended up at the homeless shelter with Macaroni Hair and his squawkers." They were quiet for a moment. "So who'd you get as your Secret Santa?"

Shelby smirked. "If I told you that, it wouldn't be a secret."

"Ah, who cares," Sue shrugged.

"I don't suppose you rigged it again?"

"I never repeat myself, Streisand, and you'd do well to remember that." She checked her watch, standing up. "Time to go. The girls should be finishing up their laps."

Shelby eyed her suspiciously. "It's snowing outside."

"Eh, it builds character," Sue shrugged. "You better make up a bang-up Christmas set list for the kids, or I'll never let you live it down. And no Jingle Bells, it makes my ears bleed."

"Duly noted."

..

"Okay, guys," Shelby called out later at the Troubletones meeting, shaking a Santa hat. "Since you performed spectacularly at Sectionals, we're going to take a bit of a break for Christmas. We'll discuss our auditions for the New Directions after Christmas break. For now, I thought it would be fun for you guys to have a Secret Santa." The kids cheered happily at the idea as they started picking names out of the hat.

"What if –"

"If you get your own name, you have to put it back."

Santana sighed as she returned the slip of paper. "Rats."

"Where?" Brittany asked, confused.

"Okay, now that that's done," Shelby continued, "Next point of business. I thought it would be a good idea for the glee club to sort of give back to the community. So on Christmas Eve, we're going to be volunteering at the Lima Children's Home. We'll sing the kids some Christmas carols, give out a few presents and whatnot. Is everybody okay with that?"

"Sure."

"Sounds okay."

"I for one think that's an excellent idea," Ryan enthused. "I'm sure there are a lot of people who need some holiday cheer, and what better way than with the gift of music?"

"Exactly," Shelby nodded. "So for the rest of our meetings, we'll just be practicing some holiday songs."

..

"So, who did you get?" Quinn probed as she and Ryan gathered their things after their rehearsals. Ryan tilted his head.

"I thought the point of Secret Santa was to keep it a secret?" he asked innocently.

Quinn studied him. "I don't think it's me…" No, it wasn't, his expression didn't flicker at all. She hesitated for a moment. He was a very good actor after all…

"No, it isn't," he smiled in amusement. "I'll tell you, but only because it's probably prudent for me to get some advice on what to purchase for my Secret Santa. I wouldn't want to disappoint after all. I got Marley."

"What a coincidence. I got Ryder."

Ryan chuckled. "I think the best present you could give him would be a date with Marley. He's crazy about her, he was asking the other day if I thought she'd go out with him if he asked."

Quinn pondered that. "I actually think there's a pretty good chance," she said. "That makes things easy. We'll get him a Breadstix coupon or something and tell him to man up and ask her." She'd probably get him a real present too, but he really needed a push. His puppy eyes were getting pathetic.

"What do you think I should get Marley?"

"Get her a nice sweater or something," Quinn advised. She knew Marley and her mom were pretty hard up, and things like new clothes were a luxury. Nothing against them, but Quinn could tell most of Marley's clothes came from the thrift shop. Ryan nodded in agreement.

"Not that knowledgeable about clothes, but you're right. I suppose Marley's mom doesn't have the biggest salary, what with being a lunch lady."

Quinn looked at him in surprise. "How did you know that?"

Ryan frowned. "I don't know, I guess I just knew," he said thoughtfully. "They have the same eyes. I told you, I see things about people sometimes. I might be a little bit psychic." He tilted his head. "How did _you_ know?"

"I caught the two of them together some time ago. Marley was coming out of the kitchens, and it sort of just clicked. You're right, they have the same eyes. I'd been having crazy deja vous for weeks whenever I saw Mrs. Rose in the cafeteria." The couple headed out of the classroom, Quinn's hand tucked comfortably in Ryan's arm. "Any plans for your birthday?" Quinn asked casually.

"Nothing solid," Ryan replied, smiling. "My grandparents are coming over for dinner, I think, but other than that, nothing else. It's a school day after all."

"Do you still go running in the mornings?" Quinn asked curiously. "Gotta be hard with three feet of snow."

"No, I usually dispense with that ritual in the winter," Ryan answered. "Fitness is important, but hypothermia would tend to counteract that." His phone rang suddenly, and he picked it up. "Hello?"

Quinn frowned as he hung up in irritation. "Who was that?"

"That's just it, I don't know," Ryan grumbled. "It's the same number, and whoever it is has been calling sporadically for the past few weeks. But they never say anything, and they hang up a few seconds later."

"Have you tried looking up the number?"

"Yes, but I didn't come up with anything. I tried calling it too, but no one picks up." He pocketed his phone. "Don't worry, it's probably nothing."

..

That evening James was at home, watching a movie as he played with a squishy stress ball, tossing it in the air and catching it. It had been cold out today, and some of his old injuries were aching a bit. And they'd gotten a bad call that morning to a pretty grisly car accident. The snow always increased accidents around this time. He turned his head as he heard someone come in, and a second later Ryan appeared. "Hi Dad."

"Hey." James smiled as Ryan settled down beside him. Being around his family was always relaxing. "Good day?"

"It was okay. Mom just announced that we're going to be spending Christmas Eve at the Lima Children's Home."

"Is that so? Well, that's good." He glanced up again as Shelby entered the room, sitting down on his other side. "I hear you're spending Christmas Eve at the Lima Children's Home."

"Ryan tell you that?" She gave the teenager a look. James nodded. "Is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay," James answered sincerely. "Those kids will definitely appreciate any kind of Christmas spirit you can give them. I know I did." Ryan looked sharply at this father. "I spent a few Christmases at group homes and orphanages when I was a kid."

"I didn't know that." Ryan's face fell. "I guess I should have, I knew you moved around a lot," he said self-deprecatingly. "I guess it never occurred to me."

"Don't worry about it," James assured him. "But speaking from experience, if the orphanage doesn't have a lot of money, if donations are lean, Christmas is a bit like any ordinary day for the kids." He sent a questioning look at Shelby. She nodded.

"I found a letter from the Children's Home," she said a bit guiltily. "I didn't read the front so I thought it was mine. Still not used to having other people's mail mixed in with mine. It was a thank-you letter for your donation."

James nodded. "I usually donate some to the local orphanage wherever I get assigned."

"That's… that's nice," Ryan said absently. "Can you tell me about one of your Christmases?"

"Okay," James agreed readily. "When I was ten, I had to leave my second foster home because they had to move out of state. So I got transferred to St. Michael's Orphanage in Canton in early December. It wasn't in a rich district at all, practically no funding except for donations from the church. Cash didn't really get too far with thirty or so kids. I spent a rather miserable month there. But on Christmas Eve, a group of volunteers came over with a tree. They helped us decorate it and everything, sang some Christmas carols. They gave out a bunch of presents, nothing really big, but for kids who've lost everything… it was a lot." He smiled softly, looking at Ryan. "You'll make a lot of difference to those kids by just singing to them."

Ryan looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before nodding firmly. "Okay. This is going to be the best Christmas those kids have ever seen."

"Good." James gave him a hug. Shelby smiled.

"Remember that Christmas when we volunteered at the orphanage in Akron?"

James nodded, smiling in remembrance. "Yeah."

"What happened?" Ryan asked.

"Well, your mom had this brilliant idea when I was in junior year to go volunteer at the local orphanage, in Akron," James started. "It hadn't even been a year since I had moved in with my final foster home."

"And he got mad," Shelby said in amusement. "Like, raging mad. We had this big blowup over it. But when we made up, I found out that he'd stayed there for a few weeks before he'd moved into his foster home."

"Right," James said ruefully, running a hand through his hair. "I guess it was stupid, but I really did not want to go back there."

"But anyways, I brought up the idea again the next year, right before he decided to enlist," Shelby continued. "I brought it up more carefully that time, didn't I?"

"Yeah," James acknowledged. "And we went that time." He hadn't wanted to go before because it was hard to be reminded of his past, and seeing the kids who were in the same situation as he had been was too vivid a reminder. But he'd felt at peace enough with his past that he'd been able to go and give back a little to kids who were in the same situation as he had been. It had been a healing experience.

"You were really good with those kids," Shelby reminisced. "They connected with you really well. I remember thinking that you would have made a great social worker, or a counselor, or something along those lines."

"Maybe in another life."

Shelby smiled at him gently. "You could come with us, if you wanted to."

James nodded. "I'll think about it."

Ryan looked between his parents, giving them a hug. "Thank you for telling me that."

* * *

A thin layer of snow covered everything early on December 18th, and the weather was close to freezing as a car drove slowly through the frozen streets.

"You owe us so fucking big, Quinn Fabray," Santana grumbled, not bothering to hide her yawn as she snuggled against Brittany in the backseat of Quinn's car.

"Yeah, yeah," Quinn said dismissively as she made the turn onto Ryan's street.

"I think it's sweet," Brittany offered, wrapping an arm around Santana. She snorted.

"You better get the best fucking lay of your life out of this, Quinnie-pooh."

"Santana," Quinn growled, turning to glare at her as she threw the car into park in front of the house. Santana merely stuck her tongue out at the embarrassed blonde. Okay, so maybe it was kind of sweet of Quinn to try serenading the Midget on his birthday. But it was freezing, and the snow was fresh, and Santana was just about ready to have words with Miss C about giving birth in the middle of fucking December.

"Let's get this show on the road." She got out of the car, only to stop short at the cold that greeted her. She absolutely _hated_ winter. She was wrapped up in a gajillion layers and she was still cold. She followed Quinn as she walked up to the second-story window that she knew was Ryan's.

..

Upstairs, Ryan was just getting dressed for the day, pulling a thick sweater over his head. He hummed softly as he got ready, excited to see what this year's birthday had in store. He headed to the mirror, only to turn his head at a sharp tap against his window, breaking the silence. Frowning, he moved towards the window just as a small pebble rapped up against it.

Curious, he opened the window, shivering a bit at the cold breeze. He smiled as he caught sight of three girls standing on the lawn outside, bundled up against the weather. He leaned out. "What are you doing?"

"Hell if I know," Santana complained loudly, wrapping her arms around herself. Quinn shoved her.

"You are this close to getting a handful of snow down your back," she said nicely.

"No violence," Brittany cut in. "Happy birthday, Ryan!" she chirped happily. Ryan's smile widened as he leaned onto the windowsill.

"Thank you, Brittany," he called down. His gaze turned to his girlfriend, who smiled up at him crookedly as she fiddled with her phone. Ryan watched curiously, repeating his question. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see," Quinn answered, finally pocketing her phone and pulling out a set of portable speakers. Suddenly music started streaming from the speakers, and Ryan grinned crazily as Quinn began to sing.

_I don't know_  
_But I think I may be fallin' for you_  
_Dropping so quickly_  
_Maybe I should keep this to myself_  
_Waiting 'til I know you better_

_I am trying, not to tell you_  
_But I want to,_  
_I'm scared of what you'll say_  
_And so I'm hiding what I'm feeling_  
_But I'm tired of holding this inside my head_

_I've been spending all my time_  
_Just thinking about ya_  
_I don't know what to do_  
_I think I'm fallin' for you_  
_I've been waiting all my life_  
_And now I found ya_  
_I don't know what to do_  
_I think I'm fallin' for you_  
_I'm fallin' for you_

Ryan listened, entranced by his girlfriend singing to him as two of their best friends provided backup vocals. It was a perfect start to the day, and he couldn't help but smile at the effort Quinn had obviously gone to in order to do this. She wasn't exactly a morning person.

_I can't stop thinking about it_  
_I want you all around me_  
_And now I just can't hide it_  
_I think I'm fallin' for you_  
_I can't stop thinking about it_  
_I want you all around me_  
_And now I just can't hide it_  
_I think I'm fallin' for you_

The music faded out, and Quinn smiled up at him hopefully. "Happy birthday, Ry!"

Ryan felt his heart flutter at the gesture, and yeah, so it was conventionally the male who serenaded the female in heteronormative relationships, but he didn't care. He hadn't thought it would be possible to fall even more in love, but obviously he was wrong. "Wait right there!"

He was dressed in record time, and he hurried downstairs only to be met by Quinn in the living room. She smiled shyly. "What did you think?"

"You can be such a dork sometimes," Ryan teased. Quinn blushed, and he chuckled, taking her hands and pulling her close. "I thought it was adorably perfect. I love you so much. Thank you for the serenade. No one's ever done anything like that for me."

"I should hope not," Quinn grumbled playfully through her smile, wrapping her arms around him as she kissed him briefly. "After all that effort you'd better appreciate it."

"I loved it," Ryan assured her, smiling at her teasing tone. For all the songs he'd sung for others, very rarely had he himself been sung to. His mom had, but that was about it. And for someone to whom music was such an important form of expression, Quinn's gift was a big deal. And of course, he'd always considered music to be the best aphrodisiac. He leaned down, pressing his lips against back hers.

"Yo, if you two are gonna get wanky, you should probably get a room," Santana butted in, suddenly appearing next to Ryan. She leered. "Or me and Britts could always watch, maybe join in…"

"Shut up, Santana," Quinn said dismissively. Ryan sighed regretfully as he broke away from her. It probably wasn't the best idea to get all hot and bothered in the living room anyways, especially not with a whole bunch of other people in the house. Brittany bounced into the room.

"Miss C says we can stay for breakfast," she announced happily.

"Awesome, let's get our eats on," Santana approved, following her girlfriend into the kitchen. Ryan and Quinn soon followed. Shelby and James looked up as they entered, smiling widely.

"Happy birthday," Shelby sang out, giving Ryan a hug. James gave him one as well, and everyone started to dig into breakfast. Ryan smiled happily as he looked around at his family and his friends. Just like last year, he couldn't help but make a comparison to the birthdays he'd spent with Hiram and Leroy. "So Ryan, how did you like the performance?"

"It was awesome," Ryan smiled adoringly at his girlfriend. He looked back at his mom. "Did you know about it?"

"I helped a little," she nodded. "And I was supposed to keep you upstairs in case you tried to come down early. Fortunately the ladies were early."

"Too early, if you ask me," Santana grumbled.

"Shut up, you're being fed," Quinn told her. The Latina simply shrugged and continued with her breakfast.

"How come you don't do stuff like this for me?" Brittany pouted. Santana glared at Quinn.

"Thanks a lot, Fabray."

"Obviously my son is a very lucky boy to have so many ladies crowding around him," James chimed in mischievously. "I could only dream of having such when I was his age."

Shelby turned to him, eyebrow raised. "And did you dream of such when you were his age?"

James smiled charmingly, answering without missing a beat. "No, because I had you."

Santana and Quinn snorted into their waffles. Brittany let out an _aww _as Ryan snickered. "Smooth, Dad, real smooth."

"I try." James placed a swift kiss on Shelby's lips as she smiled reluctantly.

..

Later that afternoon Ryan bounced up to Quinn's locker, wrapping his arms around the blonde's waist. Quinn squeaked in surprise before relaxing, just as Ryan placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek. She smiled, rolling her eyes. "Having a good day?"

"Yes I am," he answered pleasantly, resting his chin on her shoulder. It was a great day so far, and he was sure it could only get better. He had free period up next, and then glee rehearsals. He let Quinn go, and she turned around, smiling at him with a glint in her eye.

"Come with me." She took his hand, pulling him into the New Directions choir room. It was totally empty, and she closed the door behind them with a click before sauntering forward and pulling him towards her.

"Not that I'm complaining, but don't you have class?" Ryan asked, confused. Quinn waved him off.

"No one cares at this point, everyone's just waiting for the final bell so we can all leave," she said dismissively. "Besides," she said slyly, running a finger down his chest with a smile. "I think I'd much rather be in here with you."

Ryan smiled as she pressed herself against him, his hands wrapping around her waist. "I think I very much prefer that as well," he agreed, tilting his head down to capture her lips. The kiss started out gently, but soon morphed, hotter and hotter until their lungs began to burn. Ryan broke away reluctantly. "Don't start something we can't finish."

Quinn smirked, pulling him back towards her. "Who says we can't finish?"

She crashed their lips back together, and his mind spun again as she delved into his mouth. "Wait, wait," Ryan gasped out a minute later. "What if someone comes in?"

"I locked the door." She stepped forward, pressing him back until the back of his legs hit something, sending him backwards onto the piano bench. Quinn lost no time straddling his lap, hands curled firmly into his sweater. Ryan groaned, burying his face into her neck as he tried to curb his desire, a futile endeavor when his girlfriend was practically writhing in his lap. "Do you want to stop?"

Ryan shook his head. "No. God no." He wanted her so bad. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was worried they'd get caught, but in some other part of himself he found it sort of exciting. He shuddered as Quinn's hand crept into his shirt, her lips wreaking havoc against his earlobe.

"Good," she husked. "Because there's a perfectly good piano right here, and it's sort of the perfect time to try out one of your fantasies…"

"Oh God." If he hadn't been aroused before, he definitely was now. He stood up abruptly, hands wrapped around Quinn's thighs. She let out a yelp as he picked her up, clutching at his shoulders as he power walked towards the piano and set her down on the closed lid.

He backed up for a second, looking at her before surging up and devouring her mouth with his, stepping between her legs and pulling her towards him. She let out a low moan as his left arm snaked around her back, holding her firmly against him. He angled his head, deepening the kiss more and more until she finally tore away, chest heaving as she fought for air. He moved down her neck as his right hand slid teasingly up her leg, inching under her skirt as she arched forward with a moan. "Ry, come on," she panted.

Ryan simply smiled, taking his time as he planted soft, searing kisses against the column of her neck, dipping down towards her chest before kissing back up, all as his hand slipped slowly up towards her center. Quinn's head tilted, giving him better access, a whimper escaping her as his hand finally hit her underwear. "You're so wet."

"I know," she rasped. "Do something about it."

He let his hand start to slip under the drenched panties. He drew his lips away from her neck, quickly pulling them down her legs before giving her a slow kiss, his left hand cupping the back of her neck as his right started to draw light circles on her clit. He leaned his forehead against hers as he broke the kiss, his fingers stilling. He waited for her to open clouded eyes, his own locking with hers before nodding. "Okay."

With that, he plunged two fingers into her tight channel, watching intently as her eyes widened, keeping her gaze locked in his own, her mouth falling open in pleasure. He pulled out only to thrust back in, and she jerked against him, letting out a choked moan. He started to build up a rhythm, his fingers slipping easily in and out of her, and he licked his lips, entranced by the sight. Her hazel eyes were unfocused now, and he knew she was close from the way she was shaking and the way she was meeting his fingers. Three thrusts later she was clenching around his fingers, and Ryan watched in fascination as she fell apart in front of him. He never got tired of seeing her this way.

Slowly, she started to recover, meeting his gaze with almost golden eyes. Slowly she unwound her hands from where they were clenched in his sweater, and he withdrew his fingers, still slick with her fluids. He slowly brought them to his mouth, sucking them dry as she watched, breathing heavily. She reached out, pulling him towards her and smashing her lips against his. Ryan complied eagerly, reveling in the taste of her as her hands drifted down, fumbling with his belt. She rapidly unbuttoned his jeans, and he hissed as his zipper ran down his throbbing erection. Quinn kissed him forcefully as she shoved her hand down into his boxers, pulling him out. Ryan let out a soft grunt as she stroked him once before she put her hands on his ass, pulling him roughly against her. She broke the kiss. "Ry, inside, now."

Ryan quickly positioned himself at her entrance. "Okay?" he asked, forcing himself not to simply pound into her like he wanted. At her nod, he pushed forward, his head falling onto her shoulder as he tried to keep himself from blowing at the sensation of her tight, wet heat. He could dimly hear her gasping as she adjusted, her hands tight on his back.

"Move," she gasped out, and Ryan nodded, moving out slowly before thrusting back in, and he groaned at the incredible feeling. He'd fantasized about this setting for a long time, even before he and Quinn had gotten together, and it was even better than he'd ever dreamed. He started pushing into her faster, harder, and when she started getting more vocal, he pressed his lips against hers, catching her screams in his mouth.

It didn't take Quinn very long to reach another climax, shaking in his arms, and Ryan quickly followed, barely able to hold himself up as he recovered. "Wow."

Quinn chuckled tiredly, leaning forward against him. "Yeah." She looked up at him. "So was it good?"

"It was wow." He finally started to recover enough to straighten, his arms braced against the piano as he gazed at Quinn. "I love you so much, you know that?"

She reached up to kiss him quickly. "Love you too." They stood there for a few more minutes, trying to breathe. "Help me down."

Ryan nodded, stepping back to let Quinn hop down from the piano, only to reach out automatically as she wobbled, her legs still shaky. He smirked lazily. "That good, huh?"

"Shush, you." She reached out, tucking him back into his boxers and redoing his belt. "I think I need some water. Where did you put my underwear?"

"Oh. Uh…" Ryan looked around the room. "There they are." He ambled over to a music stand where Quinn's panties had somehow draped themselves. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Quinn drawled. "I don't think I'm ever going to look at this room the same way again."

Ryan smiled reluctantly. "You might be right about that."

..

Fifteen minutes later the couple headed into the Troubletones' rehearsal room hand in hand, both of them with wide smiles on their faces. Santana narrowed her eyes as they entered. "Looks like someone gots their mack on."

"I'll let that crude comment pass, Santana," Ryan said airily, sitting down on his usual seat beside Quinn. Soon the rest of the group had assembled, ready to start when Tina stood up.

"I know it's rehearsal time," she started. "But we thought we'd take a few minutes to sing something to one of our members." She glanced at the door, and her smile widened. "Happy birthday, Ryan!"

Ryan's eyebrows rose as Marley and Kitty came in, carrying a cake with a lit candle on it. The rest of the Troubletones started singing _Happy Birthday_, and Ryan just sat there in speechless wonder. The song tapered off, and he looked around at this teammates. "How did you all know?" He hadn't advertised it, and last year nobody had remembered until Brittany had blurted it out.

"Well, you did say you didn't want to be greeted just because you reminded people that it was your birthday," Quinn shrugged. "So I took the liberty of reminding them for you."

"And the cake?"

"Birthday cake is awesome," Brittany said. "We should totally have it every day." She turned to Santana. "Do you think one of my presidential decrees could be that we have to have birthday cake every day?"

Ryan smiled widely at his friends. "This was amazing, you guys," he said sincerely. He didn't have the words to say what he felt. This was the first time he'd had friends who'd sung Happy Birthday to him, the first time he'd gotten a birthday cake from people his own age, and it was almost overwhelming. "I just…" He cleared his throat. "Thank you. I love you guys so much."

"Aww." Sugar was the first to bounce forward, wrapping him in a hug. Brittany was next, and soon all of them were clamoring for hugs, the group devolving into a laughing, chaotic mess. And Ryan wouldn't give up one second of it for anything.

* * *

Finally, the last day of school for the calendar year was over, and the Troubletones spent their last meeting giving out their Secret Santa presents. Quinn leaned her head against Ryan's shoulder as the group went around, exchanging presents. She straightened as Ryan bounced up towards Marley, handing her his Secret Santa present. "Merry Christmas," he said happily.

"Thanks, Ryan," Marley grinned, quickly tearing into the package to pull out a very stylish sweater. "Oh my God, it's from Benneton's!" she squealed. "Thank you, Ryan!" She gave him a quick, unexpected hug.

"You're very welcome," Ryan chuckled. "Though you should probably be thanking Quinn for that, since I am still rather hopeless at shopping."

"I can vouch for that," Shelby commented wryly as Ryan stuck his tongue out at her. The gift giving continued on, until finally, "So Santana, who did you get?"

She smirked, nodding at Quinn. "Merry Christmas, Quinnie-bear." Quinn rolled her eyes as she meticulously started unwrapping the present. Santana rolled hers as well, and Ryan thought not for the first time that it was a wonder neither of them had developed permanent eye strain. "Come on, I'm getting old."

Quinn seemed to slow down, if only to piss Santana off even more. Fortunately she soon reached the thin, flat box, and her eyebrows rose as she found a high quality set of sketching pencils and a nice drawing pad. "This… is actually really thoughtful, Santana."

"What did you think I was going to get you?"

"I don't know, anything that would embarrass the hell out of me comes to mind," Quinn said dryly. "Thanks, San."

"You're welcome," Santana smiled. "Check the bottom of the box."

Quinn glanced back down, lifting the sketch pad to look underneath. Suddenly she slammed it back down, her face flushing red. "Santana!" she hissed.

Ryan started to peer over curiously. "What is it?"

"Nothing!" Quinn exclaimed as she hastily repacked the box. "It's nothing!"

Santana favored him with an innocent smile. "I got her a – _ow_!" She yelped as Quinn elbowed her hard in the ribs. "Bitch, you're gonna pay for that!" She lunged forward only to have Brittany catch her.

"Sanny, come on, it's Christmas," she told her girlfriend soothingly. "No violence."

"Tell that to Bony-Elbows over there," Santana snarked. She settled back though, quickly returning to her old mood. She smirked at Quinn again. "Have fun."

"Okay, and with that, let's move on," Tina said hastily. "Quinn, who's your Secret Santa?"

"Ryder," Quinn answered quickly, more than happy to get on with this. Seriously, she could not believe that Santana had the audacity to give her… no, wait, it was Satan after all; there probably weren't a lot of things she wouldn't do to embarrass her. She shook her head, thrusting the gift at the freshman. "Merry Christmas."

..

"Okay, spill," Ryan said expectantly that afternoon. He and Quinn were in her bedroom, and Ryan picked up the box Santana had gifted Quinn with. "What did Santana get you?"

Quinn snatched the box away from him. "You saw what she got me."

"I highly doubt drawing materials would be able to induce quite that shade of red on your face, Quinn," Ryan stated. "So what was it?"

Finally Quinn huffed, handing him the box. "See for yourself."

Ryan took the box, opening it to find the set of pencils and the sketchpad he'd glimpsed earlier. "What's wrong with these?" As far as he could tell, these were pretty tame for Santana. He would have expected a sex toy or something.

"Look under the pad."

Obliging, Ryan finally saw what had caused Quinn's rather violent reaction in the classroom. Staring him in the face was a pair of padded handcuffs. His eyes widened. "Oh." Well, at least he'd been proven right.

"Oh? Is that all you have to say?" Quinn glared.

"Well, I suppose it's about par for the course, considering that it's Santana," he ventured, sitting down on the bed next to Quinn.

She stared at him. "Don't tell me you're okay with it."

"Well, why not?" Ryan asked pragmatically. "The sexual aspect of our relationship deserves some focus as well, and there's nothing wrong with a little safe experimentation. We haven't really discussed the introduction of sex toys yet, but I think it would have come into play eventually. This is just… hurrying it along, so to speak."

"Would you like to be handcuffed?"

Ryan glanced at her thoughtfully. "I wouldn't be opposed to it. In the name of experimentation, of course." His smile turned mischievous. "You might enjoy it too, you do like it when I top you after all." His head tilted slightly as he envisioned her cuffed to the bed, spread out for him. He licked his lips before shaking himself out of his fantasy. "Of course, this would be subject to a serious discussion of our limits."

"Naturally," Quinn deadpanned. Ryan fancied he could see a hint of interest in her eyes though. He set the box aside, leaning in to kiss her. Quinn met his kiss, lips moving languidly against his. Slowly she shifted against him, forcing him back against the bed until he was lying down, her body sprawled across his. She leaned back, hazel eyes locking with his.

"What?"

She simply shook her head. "Nothing." She moved back towards him, claiming his lips with hers, and Ryan moaned softly as he felt her breasts pressing into his chest. He craned his neck up, trying to deepen the kiss, but she drew back, nipping teasingly at his lower lip before dragging her mouth against his jawline. Ryan just let his head fall back onto the pillows as his hands roamed along Quinn's back. He felt her smile against his neck. "Okay?"

He nodded rapidly. More than okay. He swallowed thickly as her tongue darted out, licking lightly against his pulse point as her hips started rocking lightly against him. His hands slid down onto her ass, helping her along, and she slipped one hand under his shirt, nails scraping lightly against his stomach in a slow, teasing exploration that was slowly driving him insane. The room was getting hotter and hotter, he felt so good, and he arched up into her, pulling her against him, needing more, needing to be as close to her as possible.

"Well, well." Suddenly the door swung open, and Ryan would have jumped if Quinn hadn't been right on top of him. Leaning casually against the doorway to Quinn's room was her sister, Frannie. Ryan blinked in confusion, still lost in his haze, before snatching his hands away from Quinn's ass as if burned.

"Um…" He looked helplessly at his girlfriend, who was torn between embarrassment and annoyance. "Uh, hi Frannie," he said, offering the older blonde a hopeful smile.

Frannie turned her smirk on her little sister. "Hi Lucy, Ryan." She eyed them. "Looks like we're having fun." Quinn finally pushed herself off of Ryan, and he couldn't help but feel relieved. Frannie was sort of intimidating, and he was in a bit of a compromising position. Quinn fumbled for something to say.

"I – uh –" She shook her head. "I didn't know you were coming this year," she said lamely.

Frannie's smile turned genuine. "I wanted to surprise you and Mom."

"Pretty sure you did that," Quinn grumbled, smacking Ryan on the arm when he chuckled nervously. "Did you see Mom yet?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's downstairs with –" The older blonde halted. "There's actually something I wanted to tell you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Think you could come downstairs for a sec?" Frannie's smirk returned. "Unless of course there's something you needed to finish up here…"

"Shut up," Quinn said, embarrassed. She sat up. "You go ahead, we'll be right down."

"Don't take too long," Frannie teased, leaving the room. Quinn sighed, running a hand through her hair, setting it on end. Ryan smiled, amused at her distraction.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she answered grumpily. "Couldn't she have waited half an hour?"

Ryan smirked. "If you'd like, we could keep going," he suggested, sitting up and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind as he pressed a kiss against her neck. "Bet we could finish in ten minutes." It wasn't impossible, so far his record for getting her off was eight minutes and forty-three seconds.

"Cocky, aren't we?" For a second Ryan thought she was going to agree, but then she pushed him away. "No. They could walk in any second."

"You didn't seem to mind it at school," he pointed out.

Quinn fixed him with a look. "This is different.

"Okay," Ryan relented, smiling as he released her. "I love you."

Her lips quirked up into a smile. "Love you too. Come on, let's go downstairs. Maybe we can get this over with quick so we can get back down to business." She stood up, moving to her dresser and starting to smooth out her messy hair. Ryan watched, smiling softly. She was so beautiful, despite – or maybe because of – being rather ruffled. It was kind of sexy. She turned around, rolling her eyes as she looked at him. Ryan looked down at himself. His shirt was rumpled, a couple of buttons undone, and he supposed his hair was standing every which way. "Come here."

He obligingly moved in front of her, and she quickly redid his shirt, smoothing it down his chest. She reached behind her, picking up a comb. Ryan took it from her with a theatrical sigh. "You know, this is your fault," he said as he quickly flicked it through his hair. He reached over to the bed, picking up the handcuffs. "What do we do with these?"

Quinn groaned, snatching them away from him and shoving it deep into one of the drawers of her dresser. "There."

Ryan was unable to hide his smile. "Okay. But just remember, any time you're up for some exploration…"

"Just get downstairs."

..

The two of them headed out of her room, entering the living room only to stop when they found not just Judy and Frannie, but a handsome dark-haired young man. Frannie stood up as soon as they came in. "Quinn, Ryan," she smiled nervously. She glanced at the stranger, who stood up next to her.

"Who's that?" Quinn asked.

Frannie glanced back at the man. "This is Cooper," she said, smiling as she took his hand. "He's, um, he's my fiancé."

Quinn stared at the couple for a moment. Her gaze darted to Frannie's hand, wondering how she had failed to notice the shiny rock on it earlier. Of course, she'd been rather distracted, but still. "Oh," she said after a while. "Oh. Okay." She nodded slowly, extending her hand. "Hi. I'm Quinn."

"I know," Cooper said smoothly, sending her an easy smile as he shook her hand. "Frannie's told me a lot about you."

"Has she?" Quinn smiled nicely. "Unfortunately, she hasn't returned the favor." She sent her sister a look. She knew that Frannie had been seeing someone, but she hadn't known it was this serious. Frannie shrugged. She turned back to Cooper, gesturing at Ryan. "This is my boyfriend, Ryan."

"Actually, we've already met," Ryan said, shaking Cooper's hand. Cooper tilted his head.

"Have we?" he asked. Quinn raised an eyebrow at Ryan as well.

"It was a long time ago, and only for a few minutes," Ryan clarified. "I used to go to singing lessons with your brother. Blaine."

"Oh, I see." Cooper snapped his fingers. "Ryan Berry! Yeah, I remember now," he said enthusiastically. "You spent that afternoon at our house that one time. I think your dad couldn't pick you up or something. Blaine was always mad when you used to win the competitions. But then he'd get over it really fast."

Quinn simply watched their interaction, Cooper's identity falling into place. He didn't look exactly like Blaine, but there was enough resemblance. "Small world," she commented. "And you met out in California?"

Frannie and Cooper glanced at each other. "No, actually," Frannie admitted. "We met last year in Akron, at a New Year's Eve party. Remember, I went to a friend's party while you spent New Year at Ryan's place?"

Ah, yes. Quinn remembered now. She'd opted out of spending New Year's Eve with her sister and her friends from Fairbrook. "I thought you went to Fairbrook?"

"I went with my friends from Fairbrook," Frannie corrected. Quinn nodded. Fairbrook was right up against Akron's city line, so that sort of made sense. Another reason she'd opted not to go; apart from not knowing anybody, she hardly wanted to be reminded of Lucy Caboosey. "Anyways, we met in Akron, then –"

"I tripped over a carpet and spilled my drink in her lap," Cooper interjected ruefully. "Not quite my most graceful entrance, but certainly well worth it."

"We found out we both lived in California," Frannie continued. "Cooper graduated UCLA a couple of years ago."

"What did you major in?" Quinn asked.

Cooper answered, "Acting."

Ryan lit up at that answer. "Really? Have you been in anything yet?"

"Not yet, but I just booked a real estate commercial," Cooper said proudly. "It's going to be filming this January. I've been in a few school productions but this is my first professional job. The casting calls should be flooding in soon."

"That's incredible," Ryan said. Quinn hid a smile at the awe in his voice. It was obvious her boyfriend was completely sold, and Cooper did have a lot of charisma.

"Thank you," Cooper preened. Frannie poked him in the side.

"Don't let it get to your head. It's big enough already."

"Yes dear." He gave her a kiss on the cheek before returning his attention to Ryan. "You still into singing?"

"Of course," Ryan said eagerly. "I've sent my application to NYADA in New York, as well as Julliard and NYU. I'm set on performing in theatre though, I think it's a purer form of the acting experience than film."

"True," Cooper conceded. "But there's a lot to be said for film as well. You know, I've got a few college buddies in New York, I could totally hook you up next year if you want."

"Looks like you two are going to get along wonderfully," Frannie commented. Quinn agreed, slowly starting to warm up to the idea. It had been a surprise, but at least Frannie had told them instead of just eloping and coming home married. She'd reserve judgement until she could get to know Cooper better.

Judy meanwhile was content to simply watch her two daughters with their partners. It was almost amusing, she thought. Her children definitely had a liking for dark-haired, talented performers. Cooper seemed like a nice young man, a bit over the top, but from what she'd seen Frannie balanced it out a bit. Ryan was the same way. But the thing Judy liked the most about the two young men was the way they looked at Frannie and Quinn. Russell had been sweet in his own way occasionally, at least in the early years of their marriage, but he had never looked at her like she was the only person in his world. But she'd seen Ryan look at Quinn that way, and in just an hour of knowing him, she'd seen it in Cooper as well.

Her girls had done very well, in her opinion.

* * *

Christmas Eve was soon upon them, and Quinn found herself riding with Ryan on their way to pick up Brittany and Santana. "You okay over there?" Ryan asked, glancing at her as they pulled up to a red light.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Quinn looked out the window at the falling snow. She'd been quiet most of the day after receiving a few pictures of Beth in the mail from the Watersons. She was getting so big now; she couldn't believe the girl was almost two and looking more and more like her every day. She had Puck's nose though, which wasn't so bad, she supposed. "Mom's going crazy over Christmas lunch prep."

"Are Kitty and her family coming over?"

"Just like last year," Quinn nodded. "At least they're not staying over this time." Kitty was actually doing pretty well on the Cheerios, much like Quinn had in her freshman year. She wouldn't be surprised if her cousin made captain next year. "You know, I had the option of just giving Beth up without finding her a family first," she said abruptly. "You know, just sign her over to the state and let them figure it out. Would have been much easier."

"But then you wouldn't get to see her," Ryan answered gently.

"I know," Quinn agreed. "And I guess I sort of got scared, you know, that she'd get stuck without getting adopted. Or that she'd go somewhere that wasn't good for her. I couldn't do that to her." She hadn't wanted her baby to become like the kids they were now going to visit.

Ryan smiled, taking her hand across the console. "I know. That's what makes you a good mom. And I know what you're going to say, you're not really her mom, but you're still a part of her, and she's still a part of you. Trust me." Quinn smiled briefly. "Now," he continued. "I think this is going to be quite an enjoyable exercise."

"Of course you do," Quinn teased as they pulled up to Santana's house.

..

An hour later, the Troubletones plus Shelby, James, and Sue were in the Lima Children's Home. Their arrival had been met with quite a bit of enthusiasm by the kids, especially once they had spotted the eight-foot Douglas the boys carried in. The glee club was busy helping the twenty or so kids decorate the tree. "Brittany, Sugar, what are you doing?" Ryan asked, laughing at the two girls who had managed to get a little four-year-old girl tangled up in a mess of tinsel.

"I don't know, she just started rolling around in it," Sugar shrugged, giggling. Brittany nodded.

"Yeah. Lord Tubbington does it too. He wanted to come, but there was a police raid on one of his drug warehouses."

"Okay…" Ryan turned back to the lights he was helping thread through the tree, only to be distracted again, this time by the sight of Quinn digging through a box of donated ornaments with a few of the kids. He knew this wasn't exactly easy for her. True, she could handle being around children now, thanks in part to her time spent helping Sam with his siblings. But he knew that the pain over giving up her own child was still there. Not as fresh at it had been a year ago, but it was there. He smiled softly as he watched her. He knew she would make a wonderful parent someday; and maybe, just maybe, it would be with him.

Brushing off thoughts of the distant future, he turned his attention to his own mom, who was standing off to one side with Coach Sylvester. Shelby was the best mom he could ask for. Yes, he'd dreamed of his birth mom being Patti LuPone or Bernadette Peters, but Shelby was so much better because she was real and she was here. Watching her, he wondered if this trip wasn't hard for her as well. He knew she regretted not being there for his own childhood, not that he blamed her. But he also knew of the surgery that precluded her having any more children besides him, and maybe it hurt her, like it did Quinn, to be around children, to have the reminder of what she didn't have.

"Ryan, could you loop this over there?"

He shook himself out of his thoughts, turning to his dad. "Yeah, sure." His dad seemed pretty happy today too. Ryan didn't really think about James' childhood, but the story he had told the other day brought it into focus. He shook his head. Yes, it was sad, but he had Ryan and Shelby now, and together, they were the best family Ryan could ask for. They were happy. And it wasn't like before, when Ryan had desperately tried to convince himself that he and Leroy and Hiram were happy. No, this new family that he had now were truly happy.

..

Later that evening Shelby sat down next to James on a sofa, carrying a plate of food. He glanced at her. "Thanks for doing this," he said quietly. He was enjoying himself, and seeing these kids smile, even in their circumstances, was amazing. It had been so long, but he still remembered how it felt to have nobody. A smile tugged at his lips though as he looked at the person beside him. He had everything now. Shelby just smiled back, leaning against him. They sat there quietly, the air filled with the clamor of the children.

"Ever think about adopting?"

James chuckled at the surprising question. "No, never had enough stability to consider that." He glanced at her. "I know you did though."

"Yeah."

"Does Ryan know?"

Shelby shook her head. "I haven't told him. Quinn knows though, maybe she told him at some point."

James gave her a curious look. "You told Quinn but not Ryan?"

"Yeah, it was at the hospital, Quinn had just had her baby after going into labor right after their Regionals performance. It was all pretty dramatic," she smiled wryly. "Anyways, it was just the two of us at one point, and she mentioned that she'd seen my name on the adoption agency's list of prospective parents."

"Did she ask you to take her baby?"

She shook her head again. "No, I think that would have been too weird. She and Ryan weren't together then, but I'm pretty sure there was something there already. And it wouldn't have been fair. I was just getting to know Ryan, it would have been too complicated to throw another kid into the mix." She chuckled. "Besides, if that had gone through, how exactly would we be able to explain it? 'My daughter is the biological daughter of my son's girlfriend.' Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue."

"I see your point," James said. "Plus, Ryan would basically be dating his sister's mom."

"Ew." She glanced around watching as the Troubletones students interacted with the orphanage kids. Mike and Ryder were busy playing on an old game console with a few boys, and Santana and Brittany had started up a card game with some of the older kids. Shelby smiled when she spotted Quinn busily engaged in a game of Jenga with a few kids, Ryan coaching her from behind. She'd been a bit concerned about Quinn handling being around so many kids, but it looked like she was doing great.

"They'd make great parents someday," James commented. Shelby glanced at him, seeing him glancing at Quinn and Ryan as well.

"Yeah," she said thoughtfully. "Though hopefully not anytime soon."

James laughed. "Not ready to be a grandparent yet?"

"Nowhere near."

..

The rest of the evening passed by quite quickly, and soon the younger orphanage kids were up in bed, with some of the older ones helping the Troubletones clean up the place. Sue Sylvester sat off to the side, watching. The lackeys could do the busywork, she would simply supervise. Besides, she had done her part reading to the kids and handing out presents. And if she'd enjoyed herself in the process, she wasn't about to tell anyone.

Suddenly Shelby appeared next to her. "You okay over there?"

Sue looked up. "Yep, just fine, Barbra. You?"

"Can't complain." She sat down next to Sue, watching as the kids went on with the cleanup.

Sue cleared her throat. Might as well get over the obligatory chitchat. "Thank you."

"For what?"

Sue rolled her eyes. "This again? Can't you just take the immensely generous expression of gratitude without asking if I have an ulterior motive?"

Shelby smirked. "Nope."

"That's probably smart," Sue conceded. "Fine. In case it wasn't glaringly obvious, I needed the distraction from the holidays." She let her gaze turn inward, looking at old memories. "Jean loved Christmas. She loved all the holidays, but Christmas was special of course. All the lights, the decorations, the snow. We spent a lot of time in the snow when we were younger." Not that she wasn't young now, but the events of recent years, especially Jean's passing, had started to drive home just how old she was.

"You loved her a lot."

"I did. She was the most important person in my life. Right up to… well." The cheerleading coach glanced down briefly. "Our parents weren't in the picture much, too busy hunting Nazis in Peru," she said, a touch of bitterness seeping into her tone. "But we had each other, so it was okay." Her mind drifted over to the kids living here in the Children's Home, who didn't have anyone… God, she really was tired, she was getting sentimental.

Shelby studied her. "You are… surprisingly good with kids." Sue had spent quite a bit of time reading stories to some of the younger kids.

Sue shrugged. "It was kind of like being with Jean again. Little Red Riding Hood was her favorite." She nodded at James, who was helping clear up the leftovers. "Mr. Barbra okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. Why?"

"Just thought he might be affected, with his history."

Shelby tilted her head. "How did you know about that?"

"Oh please, of course I ran a background check on him," Sue said dismissively. "Right after that little showdown in Figgins' office. Anyone who can match you glaring down the Butt-Chinned Wonder warrants investigation." She looked around. It was sort of inspiring, how these children could lose everything and still keep going on. It was annoying too, because she just wanted to be annoyed on principle. All right, enough weepy things. Her time of 'giving back' was over, and it was time to get back to real life. She stood up, and Shelby understood that the conversation was over. "C'mon crybabies," Sue called out. "Pack up faster! Let's get going!"

..

"So, that was fun," Ryan said lightly as he pulled up in front of the Fabray house that night to drop Quinn off. He quickly exited the car to open Quinn's door for her. She sent him a small smile as he walked her up to the porch.

"Yeah. It was." She'd enjoyed herself. She did like children, before Beth. She wasn't particularly good with them, she didn't think, but she wasn't bad either. Ryan was great with kids though. He'd make a perfect dad. And while she wasn't anywhere near ready to even think about having a child again, maybe in the distant future he'd be the perfect dad for her kids. She looked down as he pushed something towards her. "What's this?"

"A present," he answered drolly.

"Well, obviously," she replied in the same tone. She took the package, glancing at it for a moment. "Wait here." She entered the house, quickly picking up her present for him in the living room before hurrying back out. "Here."

"Thanks," he smiled. He nodded at the gift in her hands. "Same time?"

"Okay," Quinn agreed. She opened the wrapping to find a beautiful leather-bound journal inside, accompanied by an expensive-looking pen. She opened it to the first page, where a note was written.

_For all the beautiful thoughts flitting around that magnificent brain of yours. – Ryan*_

"Ry, it's beautiful. Thank you." She looked up to find him smiling gently at the album she'd composed containing pictures of him that she'd taken over the past year with his family, his friends, and a few of the two of them together.

"I love this, Quinn," he said, moving forward to kiss her. "Thank you."

She wrapped her arms around him, his warmth perfect against the cold December night. "Merry Christmas, Ry."

* * *

**I'm back! Sorry for disappearing on you for a month, but I haven't died yet. So here I am with a new update. I had a really busy month, so I'm not sure how this turned out. Hopefully it works. **

**Anyhoo, thank you for your comments on the previous chapter, I'm glad it worked out more or less. I took a few suggestions from walkonthesunshine and dgronison for this chapter, so credit to them for the serenade scene, and Santana's present to Quinn. Someone suggested a pregnancy scare to me, and I think I remember getting that suggestion some time ago too. It's actually an idea I've thought about, and it may or may not come up sometime. Of course the Troubletones were going to win. As for the clown phobia, I'll probably let you guys dream something up for yourselves ;)**

**That's it for now, hopefully you enjoyed the latest chapter. I had a bit of writer's block along with the busy schedule, so my writing might be a bit rusty. Typos are mine Tell me what you thought, and I'll see you next time.**


	84. Chapter 83

Ryan shut the door of his locker on the first day back at school. The break had been fun, but it was now time to get back to high school life. Quinn wasn't here yet, she'd gone with Frannie to have one more breakfast before Frannie returned to California, leaving Ryan by himself. He spotted Blaine at his locker and strode over to say hello. "Hi Blaine," he greeted. "Good break?"

"Hey Ryan. It was good," Blaine answered, smiling back as he slicked some gel onto his hair, checking his reflection in the mirror attached to his locker. Ryan couldn't help but notice the lack of pictures of Kurt inside.

"I saw your brother just before Christmas," Ryan commented with a grin. Blaine smiled reluctantly.

"Yeah. Cooper told me about that. I didn't know his fiancée was Quinn's sister until we all had dinner together before he left. Small world, huh?"

Ryan nodded. "When's the wedding, anyways?"

"They're not sure yet," Blaine answered. "It's pretty recent, and from what I gather they're both pretty busy. Cooper's got this real estate commercial coming up or something. They said they wanted to have the engagement party here though."

"Must be nice, having siblings," Ryan commented a bit wistfully. He'd often imagined what his life would have been like if Hiram and Leroy had gotten it into their heads to have another child. Maybe he wouldn't have felt as alone as he had. On the other hand, there might have just been more of them living miserably.

Blaine smiled crookedly. "Oh, you'd be surprised," he mumbled, shutting his locker. "Anyways, what's the deal with glee? Are we holding auditions again?"

Ryan brightened. "Yes, we are," he nodded. "I've spoken with my mom, and she's agreed to put up a sign-up sheet and hold auditions next Monday. Now, since you were recently on the New Directions, would you have any idea if any of them would be interested in taking up our offer?"

"Oh. Well, to be perfectly honest, I didn't really get to know any of them that well," Blaine said vaguely. "They weren't too receptive to the former enemy joining the team, and I was only really there for Kurt, and well."

"How are you doing about that?" Ryan asked sympathetically.

"I'm okay." Blaine shrugged. "The break gave me a chance to clear my head a little, I guess. Kurt came around a few times."

"And?"

"And… and nothing. He's still mad at me for joining the Troubletones."

"Do you think he'll audition?"

"Maybe. I don't know. One thing I can say is that they love singing. I think they'll audition, but they won't be happy about it." Their conversation was cut off when Ryan spotted Quinn heading in their direction.

"Hey," Ryan greeted his girlfriend. "How did breakfast with Frannie go?"

"It was good," Quinn answered lightly. She held out a cup of coffee.

Ryan smiled. "For me?"

"Mhmm."

He took the coffee, pleased with the sweet gesture. "Thank you." He took a sip, his smile widening as he tasted his favorite coffee order. He leaned down, giving her a quick kiss before she turned to Blaine.

"Hello, future in-law," she said drolly.

"Right back at you," Blaine responded with a smile. "Frannie's leaving today, right?"

"Yeah, we just had time for one last breakfast." She looked past Blaine, and Ryan followed her gaze, finding Kitty, who was standing behind Blaine trying to get Quinn's attention. "Yes?"

"I left something in your car, can I borrow your keys?" the freshman asked as Blaine said his goodbyes and headed to class. Quinn sighed, digging in her purse for her keys and handing them over. Kitty quickly took them and headed back down the corridor.

"You're welcome," Quinn called after her, rolling her eyes.

"Something wrong with her?" Ryan questioned.

"Oh, so many things," she smirked. "But I'm sure she's fine. Walk me to class?"

Ryan grinned, holding out his arms. "It would be my pleasure."

..

The bell rang loudly, ending fourth period. Shelby glanced up at the clock as her English class filed out. Thankfully Figgins had managed to locate a geometry teacher, taking that nightmare off her hands. She had just finished erasing the board for her next class when she was met with an irate Spanish teacher.

"You're seriously holding auditions?"

"Hello Will, nice to see you, how was your Christmas break?" Shelby drawled, dusting off her hands. "And as for auditions, why wouldn't we?" She looked at him evenly. "We told you that in the event that we won, we would be offering the New Directions a chance to try out for the Troubletones. Since we did in fact win Sectionals…" She smiled slightly. "Is there a problem?"

"The New Directions hasn't been disbanded," Will said, folding his arms. "The kids can't be part of two groups at once."

"No, they can't," Shelby agreed. "They'll have to choose. But if they want to perform in subsequent competitions, then the choice is made for them."

"The New Directions may not be able to compete, but we can still perform."

"That is true. But like we said, if the kids want to audition, we're ready to listen."

Will scoffed. "Like any auditions you hold would be fair."

Shelby's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're already biased against some of my students, are you really going to let them in your club?" Will challenged.

"I've already spoken with the Troubletones, and we'll be voting on who gets in," Shelby answered, refusing to rise to his bait. "I'll have a vote, of course, but in the end they'll be the ones to decide."

"Then that's even worse," Will argued heatedly. "This isn't going to be about talent, it's going to be a popularity contest!"

Shelby almost laughed out loud. Did he even know how hypocritical that was? "This from the man who lets popular vote decide on soloists," she commented. Ryan had told her plenty about those votes for solos where no matter how well he performed, he wouldn't win because everybody liked his opponents more. "The Troubletones are a team, and the best way to get a team to work smoothly is by making sure that everyone feels their voice is being heard," she continued pointedly. "Look, I don't really want to rehash this argument, Will. Frankly, it's unprofessional and it's a waste of time and energy. I've already given you my position on some of your more questionable decisions. Let's just leave it at that and attempt to coexist peacefully, okay?"

"You're trying to steal more of my members! Blaine's already moved to your group!"

"Is that my fault?" Shelby questioned. "From what I gathered, he didn't feel welcome in your club. And I hardly forced him to jump ship, just like I'm not exactly forcing any of your current students to audition. It's their choice." The bell rang again. "I have to go, and you should get to your class." She turned, leaving Will fuming in front of the board.

She entered her office, sitting down at the desk and straightening the stack of papers she'd collected from the students. She was just about to look for her lesson plan for the next class when she heard a knock on the door, followed by Sue Sylvester coming in.

"Auditions for the glee kids? Have you lost your mind?"

"Hello to you too, Sue," Shelby said absently, opening one of the desk drawers. "I see manners have gone out of style over the break."

Sue rolled her eyes, settling down in front of the desk. "Who do you even want to join? I mean, beyond Aretha and maybe Blonde Bieber, the rest of them are useless. Gigantor would be too busy tripping over his own feet, that Mohawk kid would be too busy making googly eyes at everything in a skirt, and Wheels? Good luck trying to choreograph that."

"Oh Sue, I always knew you cared," Shelby smiled in amusement. "Yes, we're holding auditions, and the New Directions kids are welcome. We're still short on members after all. But don't worry, we'll be very selective."

Sue leaned back. "Did you hear about the blitz proposal in the lounge this morning?"

"Yes, I did." Apparently Emma Pillsbury had suddenly popped the question to Will Schuester in the faculty lounge before emitting an 'eep' sound and retracting it before retreating.

"There seems to be an epidemic in the romance department, and you should know, I blame you for this."

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "How exactly do you figure that?"

"Well, Barbra," Sue smiled. "You were the first one in this sad little tribute to human learning to get engaged. And now, I have just received the news that Michael Chiklis in a wig has gone and eloped with one Cooter Menkins, which explains why he hasn't been calling for the past few weeks."

"I'm… sorry?"

"Don't worry, I've already been in contact with David Boreanaz's agent, I'll be hearing back any day now. But now, what should I hear but that our resident Golden Marmoset is just about ready to jump on the Macaroni-Haired Wonder and ask him to mate with her? Imagine my horror."

"I thought you told Emma to go ask Will to marry her. So if you're encouraging this behavior, why is this my problem again?"

"Oh please," Sue waved her off. "I only did that because the pheromones she was emitting would have soon caused the zoo's entire monkey population to descend on McKinley High. They'd blend right in with the students and we'd have to cart them all off to the zoo. Now, onto the real reason I'm here."

"Oh, the suspense" Shelby noted, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"I am going to have a baby."

That earned a double-take. "You what?" Shelby stared at the cheerleading coach in surprise. "You're pregnant? What? How?"

"Oh, relax, I'm not pregnant. Yet. But I've been thinking about it over the break, and I have decided that it's time for me to start a family." Sue leaned back, looking at Shelby. "You know, you're a little to blame for this too. You were right, about what you said before we went to the Children's Home. I don't hate kids. And I have maternal instinct; I had it with Jean, I have it with Becky Jackson…"

Shelby was still processing the fact that Sue Sylvester wanted to have a child. "How old _are_ you?" she blurted out.

"None of your business, but that's not a problem since I had some of my eggs frozen in the late 70's."

"I'm pretty sure the first oocyte cryopreservations were done in the 80's." She'd researched pretty much everything on the topic of assistive reproductive technology prior to conceiving Ryan. It never hurt to be have thorough background knowledge after all.

"I know, and that's why I did it myself. The good people at Kroger has been storing a box full of my championship-winning ova in their meat lockers."

"Okay…"

"So," Sue straightened up. "Do you have any advice?"

"Advice?"

"Well, seeing as you've already done this once before, maybe you've got some insight that might actually be useful. It was either you or Quinn Fabray, and unlike Butt-Chin, I actually have adult friends."

"Oh." Shelby looked at her blankly. "Uh… well… are you going for IVF?"

"It would appear so."

"Um… you just take the injections on schedule… the doctor's going to give you all the instructions anyways." She tilted her head, still trying to regain her balance from this rather bizarre news. "Who's the father going to be?"

Sue shook her head. "Don't know yet." She stood up. "Well that's it, I just thought I'd inform you, I'm sure you'd have found out anyways." She started out of the office before pausing. "You're the only person I've told, so if you could keep it on the down-lo…"

Shelby quickly nodded. "Of course."

"Good." Sue left the office, leaving a very confused Shelby behind.

* * *

At the end of the first week back at school, Ryan found himself standing in front of the extracurriculars billboard, gazing thoughtfully at the Troubletones sign-up sheet. Someone came up next to him, and he glanced sideways to see that it was his mom.

"No one's signed up," Ryan commented, nodding at the sheet. "I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Schuester and Finn were trying to prevent any of the New Direction members from leaving. The usual spiel about them sticking together as a family."

Shelby let out a small snort, echoing Ryan's own sentiments. That group had never felt like what a family should feel like, not for him anyways. His mom turned, surveying him curiously. "Do you want any of them to audition?"

"Of course I –"

"I don't think you do." Ryan stared at her, and she continued. "I think you don't want to be on the same team as any of them, but you feel obligated because we're short on members and you think it would be best for the group as a whole, even if you'd rather not have them. How am I doing so far?"

He reached up, running a hand through his hair. "Some of them are really good, we could use them."

Shelby nodded. "That's true. But you and some of the others are on the Troubletones because you didn't like the toxic environment in the New Directions. And if having them on our team is going to be a problem, then we'll just have to muddle through without them."

Ryan looked back pensively at the sign-up sheet. He'd thought about it a lot, actually. He knew letting the New Directions into the Troubletones would be inviting a massive headache. He'd left the New Directions because of their contemptuous attitude towards him. But on the other hand, Shelby was a far better adviser than Mr. Schue, and Ryan knew she wouldn't let any of the students get away with anything. He sighed, still conflicted. "Let's just see if anyone shows up."

..

Meanwhile, Quinn was heading to her locker, intent on picking up her books for her next class when she sensed someone behind her. She looked up to find Mercedes standing there awkwardly. She stopped at her locker, glancing up at her friend. "Hey Mercedes."

Mercedes looked around. "Can we talk?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Quinn nodded, checking her reflection in her mirror and straightening her hair. "What's up?"

"Are you guys still having auditions?"

Quinn looked at the other girl strangely. "Well, if no one was going to sign up, then there wouldn't really be a point. Why are you asking? I know you didn't sign up." She'd seen the sign-up sheet along with the rest of the Troubletones. Sugar had said quite firmly that if nobody signed up then they were idiots.

Mercedes sighed. "Do you… do you think that if I auditioned, I'd have a chance of getting in?"

"Oh." Quinn looked at her thoughtfully. "Well, I'm sure you'd kill your audition."

"But that's not the only deciding factor, is it?"

"No, it's not," Quinn admitted. "We're all supposed to vote on who gets in after the auditions, and judging by past ballots, we're not going ahead with anyone unless everyone agrees."

Mercedes' shoulders slumped. "Then that's a no. No way Ryan's gonna want me with you guys. Not after how I treated him in West Side Story."

"Can't say I'm delighted with that either," Quinn arched an eyebrow. "But if it's Ryan you're worried about, I think he'll vote yes. You've treated him like crap since freshman year, but then… so did I. And I know he thinks you're really talented."

"That's a surprise," Mercedes noted. "I didn't think he noticed anyone but himself."

Quinn closed her locker, sending her sometimes-friend a frosty look. "You know, it's the little comments like that that are really annoying. He's not nearly as self-centered as you people think he is."

Mercedes looked surprised for a moment before taking on a guilty expression. Quinn softened slightly. Mercedes sounded sincere, and she still held a soft spot for the girl. Mercedes could be kind when she wasn't too busy being a bitch. "Look. The way I see it, we're growing up. In a few months, we're all going to be out of here. We've all made a lot of stupid decisions, but we've got our whole lives ahead of us. You want to be in the Troubletones? Then don't be too stubborn to make the most of the time we've got. Understand?"

"Yeah." Mercedes. "Yeah, I understand. You're right, and I'm… sorry."

"I'm not the one you should apologize to."

"Right." Mercedes sighed again. "I really am sorry, you know? After West Side Story I really got to thinking about why I've been so down on him, and the truth is, I don't know. I guess I was…" She snorted softly. "Kind of jealous. You know, 'cause… you just know he's going places. Everybody knows that, even if they don't like him. And I guess it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Anyways, I know it was wrong."

Quinn nodded. "Just tell him that."

"I'll give it a try." Mercedes smiled, bumping Quinn's shoulder gently. "Thanks."

"Sure." Suddenly her interest rose when Mercedes' head turned. Quinn looked in the same direction to see Sam Evans shooting Mercedes a winning smile and a wink. She looked back at her friend, surprised to see her flustered. Only one thing could have caused that. Quinn looked at Mercedes, amused. "You and Sam?"

Mercedes groaned. "It was just a summer fling, okay? And I'm with Shane now."

"Looks like Sam hasn't gotten the memo."

"It's not weird, is it?" Mercedes asked. "You know, after he almost kissed you last year and there was that time everyone thought you two were having an affair."

Quinn rolled her eyes at the memory. "No, it's not weird. If he makes you happy, then go for it." Not to mention it would keep her from having to worry about Sam making a move on her. "I think you'd look surprisingly good together. But if you do, then a bit of advice. Break it off with Shane first. Cheaters never prosper, trust me."

Mercedes laughed a bit. "You should know, huh?" Quinn smiled, not taking offense. "I'll think about it."

..

One class later, Quinn was heading to her next class when she nearly collided with someone as they exited the bathroom. "Watch it," she said sternly, before noticing that it was Marley.

"S-sorry," the girl mumbled. Quinn frowned. Marley was looking a little pale.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?" The brunette blinked. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She mustered up a smile. "I, um, I'm just gonna go. You know, to class." She stood there awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm going." She hurried off. Quinn watched her go, confused. Something seemed… off with the freshman. She wasn't able to puzzle it out further though because suddenly Sam appeared beside her, falling into step with her. "Hello, Sam."

"Hey, Quinn," he grinned boyishly. She smiled slightly. He'd lost the Bieber 'do, which was an improvement, and his hair was back to its natural darker blonde, non-bleached shade. Her lips quirked up suddenly as she recalled a comment Ryan had made about her and Sam looking enough alike to be siblings.

"If you're looking for Mercedes, she's probably on her way to homeroom."

Sam's eyes widened. "Wait, she told you?"

Quinn smirked. "She said you had a summer fling, and that it's over and she's with Shane."

"It wasn't just a summer fling," Sam argued. "We had something special."

"Well, it's not really me you have to convince, is it?"

"I just thought, since you two were friends, and we're friends, maybe you could put in a good word for me?" he said hopefully. "And listen, I know she's thinking about joining the Troubletones. You should really take her, I mean, her voice is out of this world."

"It's sweet that you're talking her up, but you don't really need to," Quinn told him. "I'm pretty sure that if she auditioned she'd get in."

"Do you think I would?" He faced her as they came to a stop in front of her locker. Quinn glanced at him, mildly amused at how people were approaching her about joining the Troubletones. She wasn't even a captain. But she supposed they were too scared of Santana and too... uncertain... with Ryan to approach either of them. Sam continued, "I've been thinking, and I like being back here in Lima. And I love performing, and it kind of didn't work out with Finn and the other guys. So if you guys would take me, I'd like to join."

"That depends, are you going to try to kiss me again?"

Sam held up his hands in alarm. "No! God no. I totally messed up on that, not that you aren't hot or anything, you totally are, but I get that you're with Ryan."

Quinn glanced at him as she opened her locker. "Well, can't promise anything," she told him. "But auditions are on Monday. You should come."

He nodded. "Okay. I'll be there."

* * *

The next Monday the Troubletones assembled in the auditorium, waiting for whoever was going to audition. "Is anyone really coming?" Sugar asked. "I mean, they're all probably embarrassed about losing."

"Yeah Miss C," Santana said. "We all saw the sheet, no one signed up."

"Well, we said we'd hold auditions at four, so that's what we're doing," Shelby said, writing down something. "If no one shows up by four-thirty, then we can go. But until then, keep yourselves busy."

"I think people will still show up," Quinn spoke up from her seat beside Ryan. He looked at her curiously.

"Do you have something you'd like to share?"

"Nope."

Any answer Ryan was going to make was cut off by a person walking onto the stage. Mercedes Jones moved to the center of the stage, stepping up to the mic. "Hey everybody. I'd like to audition for the Troubletones, if that's okay with you guys."

Ryan's eyebrows rose, but he stayed quiet as Shelby nodded. "Of course, Mercedes. Whenever you're ready."

Mercedes nodded. The music started, and just like always, Ryan had to admit that Mercedes' voice was impressive. This time was no different, and the Troubletones easily gave her a round of applause when she finished. Shelby cleared her throat, and Mercedes looked at her. "You didn't sign up beforehand. Could you tell us why you decided to audition?"

"I…" Mercedes paused. "I just love glee, Miss Corcoran. And I want to graduate high school with a Nationals title, with my friends." She glanced at Ryan and the other kids. "I know I haven't really been a good teammate, but I'll do my best this time."

"Thank you Mercedes," Shelby answered. "We'll be in touch with our decision."

Mercedes nodded again. "Thanks." She left the stage.

Ryan looked at Quinn. "You knew she was going to audition, didn't you?"

His girlfriend shrugged. "She may have spoken to me about it." She paused. "I really think she's serious this time. Has she talked to you?"

"No." He was about to say more when another person walked onto the stage. This time it was Sam Evans. He tapped the mic awkwardly, wincing at the feedback before leaning down to talk into it. "Uh, hey. I just wanted to audition for the Troubletones, so… yeah. Here I am."

Shelby smiled slightly. "Yes, there you are. Go right ahead."

After Sam's audition, Rory showed up, then Artie, then Kurt, and then finally… "Oh hell no."

Brittany rubbed Santana's arm at the exclamation, glaring at Finn Hudson, who stood awkwardly on the stage. Ryan scowled, an expression that was mirrored by pretty much everyone on the Troubletones. "What are you doing here, Finn?"

"Well, you're having auditions, right?" Finn asked defensively. "You said anyone on the New Directions was welcome. I want to be in glee."

Santana growled. "You can just shove –"

"Enough," Shelby said sharply, stopping any further argument. "You're right, Finn, we said everyone was allowed to audition. So anytime you're ready." Santana stared at Shelby in frustration as Finn began to sing. The coach ignored her though. When the song ended, Shelby nodded. "Thank you. Is anyone else auditioning?"

Finn shook his head, and Ryan smirked. Looks like Puck was still too shaken up to audition. Good. That bastard had scared his mom, he had better stay away.

A few minutes later the Troubletones filed into their classroom from the auditorium after the auditions, most of them still in shock. "No way is Finnept getting in," Santana immediately stated. "Why did we even let him audition in the first place?"

"So that when he eventually goes to Mr. Schue and Mr. Figgins to complain, we'll be able to say we gave him a fair audition," Quinn said astutely.

Shelby nodded. "Exactly."

Ryan pondered that. "I suppose it makes sense."

"Whatever," Santana grumbled, settling down next to Brittany.

"Okay, here's how this is going to work," Shelby announced as they got settled. "We're going to go down the list of people who auditioned, and if anyone has any comments, then we can air them out. Then we'll vote. If the person gets seven or more votes, then they're in." The students assented, and she started down the list. "Mercedes Jones."

"Well, Wheezy did have a decent audition," Santana said grudgingly. "But if she's going to be demanding solos left and right, Imma cut a bitch."

Ryan cleared his throat. "I think we're going to have to make it clear to all of the new members that our acceptance of them does not automatically mean that they'll be featured," he said diplomatically. "That said, I think Mercedes has, um, matured a bit since last year, and I think we should give her a chance. She's got a powerful voice after all."

"I think we should take her," Quinn voted. "I talked to her the other day, and I think she does want to be here."

"Okay," Shelby nodded. "All in favor?" Mercedes was voted in unanimously, which wasn't a surprise. She had in fact given an amazing audition. Shelby made a note to keep an eye on the girl's diva tendencies though. Shouldn't be a problem, she'd dealt with plenty of baby divas. "All right, next. Sam Evans."

This time Ryan was the one to frown in censure, while Santana shrugged. "I don't mind. Trouty Mouth can sing, plus he's got those stripper dance moves. He even had my lady bits tingling for a second at Sectionals."

Ryan made a face. "Overshare."

"But yeah, he dances pretty well," Mike agreed. "And he's kinda cool."

Ryan glanced at Quinn, who nodded. "I think I'm okay with it," she decided. After a moment Ryan nodded as well. He knew for sure that Quinn had no interest in Sam whatsoever. Sam was talented and if Quinn was okay with it, Ryan didn't mind him being in the group, as long as he kept those trout-lips to himself. And from what Quinn had mentioned, Sam was infatuated with Mercedes anyways.

"So is Sam in?" Shelby asked. After no one raised any objections, she noted it down. "Artie Abrams."

"Hell no," Santana barked immediately.

"Well, Artie's got a good voice," Tina said quickly. "And it was a good audition."

As it turned out, Artie only received four votes, and they moved on to Rory. "Well, I just thought I'd let you all know my position on this," Santana said nicely. "He tried to trick Britts into going back to the Nude Erections by pretending he was a leprechaun, not to mention he tried to get into her 'pot o' gold', and no, I don't mean coins. If that doesn't scream 'I'm a dick' then I don't know what does."

The information was news to Shelby and most of the other students, and no one was surprised when Rory was not voted in. "Next is Kurt."

"I thought he was good," Tina said. "I mean, he's my friend, he's got my vote."

Sugar nodded. "He's kind of funny-looking, and his voice is really high, but I kind of like it."

Ryan glanced at Blaine, who had a conflicted expression on his face. "Blaine?" he prompted. "Any thoughts?"

The former Warbler and New Directioner sighed. "I know he really wants this. But I don't know."

"What about you, Ry?" Quinn asked. "Do you want Kurt here?" Shelby watched Ryan closely. She knew of course about her son's tumultuous relationship with Kurt Hummel. He merely shrugged, face straight.

"If you guys want him on the team I can live with it."

Quinn huffed in exasperation. Shelby frowned, also displeased with the answer. "Let's vote."

"Now hold up," Santana cut in. "What's your problem with Porcelain, Hobbit?"

Ryan stiffened. "I'd rather not say."

"Did Kurt do something?" Tina pressed. "He's my friend, but if he did something…"

"Let's just vote," Ryan said quickly. He didn't want to get into it. No, he didn't want to work with Kurt, not after everything that had been said between them. But if the rest of the team wanted him in, then he could be a team player and suck it up. After all, that's what he'd always been accused of, wasn't it? He'd deal with it. "All in favor?"

To his surprise, the rest of the students glanced at each other for a moment before resolutely shaking their heads. He looked around, confused. Shelby cleared her throat. "No one?" Several people shook their heads again. "Tina, Sugar, why didn't you vote for him?"

Tina looked slightly uncomfortable, but Sugar shrugged. "If Ryan doesn't want him here, I don't want him here either. We won Sectionals without him, we can win Nationals too."

Ryan shifted. "If you're not voting because of me –"

"Well, duh, of course we're voting because of you," Brittany said simply. "Kurt can be kind of mean, and I know you don't like each other. I think he said something to hurt your feelings. You didn't vote for Rory since he was mean to me, so I won't vote for Kurt because he was mean to you."

The rest of the students started nodding and Ryan couldn't speak. Sugar spoke up. "Glee is supposed to be happy. I haven't told you guys this, but I'm really happy in here, not like in my old school where everyone was either super nice because I had cash, or a bitch 'cause they were jealous of my talent. In here, I know you're all my friends. I want everybody to be happy here too. So since you don't want him here, we won't vote."

Ryan swallowed, smiling softly at the warmth he felt from the fact that these people, his friends, were all so ready to protect him, keep him happy. "I… thanks." He nodded. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, I just don't want him whining and bitching all over the place," Santana shrugged.

That got a laugh from all of them, including Shelby. Finally… "Finn Hudson."

"I think I speak for everybody when I say that that's never going to happen," Ryan stated. Everyone nodded firmly, and Shelby smiled.

"I thought that might be the case." She looked at her list. "Looks like we only have two new members. Fortunately, that brings us nicely over the 12-member quota. Are there any last minute comments? No?" She glanced around expectantly. "Then I'll post our announcement later this afternoon. Thanks, everyone."

..

Later that afternoon a new announcement went up on the board.

_The following have been accepted into the Troubletones:_

_Mercedes Jones_

_Sam Evans_

* * *

The Troubletones started congregating in their designated choir room the next afternoon after school. Ryan was involved in a discussion with Mike about the merits of various performing arts schools when conversation stopped. He looked at the doorway and saw Mercedes standing there, Sam just behind her. "Can we come in?" she asked tentatively.

After a moment of silence, Ryan glanced at the other Troubletones before nodding firmly, a show smile appearing on his face. "Of course. Welcome to the Troubletones, Mercedes, Sam." He ushered them in. "Feel free to find a seat, or engage in conversation with anyone in here while we wait for our coach to arrive."

Mercedes nodded. "Thanks." She headed over to where Quinn was chatting with Tina, and the two girls easily pulled her into their conversation. Ryan stood there awkwardly with Sam.

Sam offered him a conciliatory smile. "Thanks for letting us in. You know, after the auditions."

"Everyone voted, but you're welcome."

"Right." Sam hesitated. "Hey, I'm glad you're still with Quinn. You two are good together."

Ryan looked at him for a moment before relaxing. He could recognize the olive branch, and he was willing to accept it. "Thanks." He trusted Quinn, and when he and Sam nodded at each other, he understood that Sam would not be a threat. "I'm glad you decided to audition," he offered.

Sam's smile widened. "Yeah. You guys were great at Sectionals. We were kind of bummed out at losing, but fair's fair."

Suddenly Mercedes came over, drawing Ryan's attention. "Hey. Can I talk to you?"

Ryan glanced back at the rest of the students. Quinn gave him a small smile, and he turned back to Mercedes. "Yes, of course." He looked at Sam, who had wandered over to talk to Mike. Ryan followed Mercedes just outside the room. "Is there something wrong? I hardly think I'm being too bossy given that we haven't even started rehearsals yet."

She gave a small snort. "No, it's not that." She sighed. "I… I wanted to apologize."

His eyebrows rose. "Apologize?"

"Yeah." She looked down. "I wasn't very nice to you back in West Side Story. And in the New Directions. Or even before that, really. Don't get me wrong, I still think you were crazy bossy, and arrogant, and all that stuff, but… I was out of line, and I'm sorry for how I treated you."

Ryan fumbled for something to say. "… I see." He paused unsurely. "Can I ask what prompted this sudden turn of events? If it's because you wanted to be accepted into the Troubletones, you already were."

Mercedes shook her head. "It's not that. I just figured out that it was stupid. You aren't as annoying or arrogant as before –"

"– Wow, thank you so much –"

"– And I was talking to Quinn, and she made me realize that we're almost out of high school. Soon we're gonna be in the real world, and I want to make things right. Starting with this."

Ryan stared at her, processing. Not many people had apologized to him for how they had treated him before. Quinn, yes. Santana, in her strange way. He wasn't sure how to react, but he nodded, smiling slightly. "Okay. You're forgiven. Quinn's right, I'd like to make things right too. When the New Directions started, the thing I liked most about the idea was that maybe I'd have some friends," he admitted. "Yes, I wanted to perform, but I just wanted to be friends with you all. Maybe it's not too late."

Mercedes returned his smile. "Maybe not. I really am sorry. I guess I was sort of jealous, 'cause everybody knows you're going to be something big."

"Don't sell yourself short, Mercedes," Ryan encouraged, even as he smiled at the surpriseing compliment. "You're incredibly talented yourself, and I'm sure you'll conquer the music industry in no time." His smile widened. "Okay. I'm going to hug you now." He moved in, giving Mercedes a gently hug that was accepted, before pulling away. "Let's go back in."

She nodded, and he followed her into the room, meeting Quinn's questioning gaze as they entered. He gave her a smiled, and she smiled back at him before returning to her conversation with Tina.

Suddenly Finn barged into the room, followed by Kurt and Rory. "What the hell is this?" Finn asked, holding up the sheet of paper with the names of the new Troubletones members.

"We want to know why we didn't get in," Kurt said bluntly. Ryan started to stand up only to have Santana wave him off.

"I'll handle this," she told him, turning to the newcomers. "All right, Beanstalk, Auntie Smurf," she addressed Finn and Kurt. "Think you could tell us why exactly you think you've got the right to waltz on into a private rehearsal and start screaming up a storm?"

Finn glared at her. "You know why. You can't keep us out just because you don't like us!"

"This has nothing to do with not liking you," Ryan started.

"Even if it's true," Santana interjected. "We just think you're talentless little sad-sacks who'll drag us down and keep us from reaching Nationals. Now, we did a fair vote, though I don't know why since you never had a chance to begin with, and the only ones to get enough votes were Wheezy and Trouty Mouth. So everyone else can just go on right back down the yellow brick road, got it?"

Ryan sighed in exasperation. "Finn, Kurt, we operate as a team here," he said. "Santana's right, we performed a fair vote, and neither of you were able to garner enough to join the Troubletones."

"Hey, hey, what's going on in here?" Shelby entered the classroom, causing all the students to look at her.

"Well, Porcelain and the BFG over here think we hate them because we didn't vote them in," Santana explained nicely. "And now they're throwing a hissy fit."

Suddenly Mr. Schuester appeared behind Shelby. "Guys, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, good, Will, you're here," Shelby nodded. "Your students seem to be crashing my rehearsal."

"Which is what I came to talk to you guys about," Mr. Schue responded. "Don't you think it's a bit unfair to let some of the kids in but not others? You know they all gave good auditions."

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I have to explain our acceptance process to anyone," she said calmly. "Now, I'm sorry that you weren't accepted," she addressed Finn and Kurt, "but it was a decision made by the team." Ryan had to hold back a grin at how easily Shelby had dismissed Mr. Schue.

"Wait," Quinn said suddenly. She quickly went up to Shelby, whispering something into her ear. Shelby listened, thought for a moment, before nodding. Ryan looked at them questioningly just as Quinn explained. "We might reconsider our acceptance… if you can issue a sincere apology to whoever you offended on the Troubletones."

Ryan's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He hadn't really thought about that, but now that it had been brought up, maybe he'd be amenable to the idea. Mercedes' apology just now had gone a long way into convincing him that they'd made the right decision. Santana barked out a sharp laugh though. "Like that's ever going to happen," she sneered.

Finn whirled on Mr. Schue. "Mr. Schue, that's totally unfair!"

Ryan scowled, opening his mouth to argue, only to be quelled by a sharp look from his mom. "Unfair or not, that's the only way we'll reconsider," Shelby said firmly. Mr. Schue's glance hardened, and he nodded.

"We'll see." He turned, leaving the choir room. Rory looked at Troubletones uncertainly before following him. Kurt stayed for a moment longer before nodding.

"Come on, Mercedes." He turned to go, only to pause when Mercedes didn't move. "Mercedes?"

She looked at him guiltily for a moment before looking away. "Kurt, I'm sorry, but I want this. It's our last year, and I want it to be special." She looked back at him. "Do you understand?"

Kurt glared back coldly. "Oh, I understand," he bit out. "You're choosing them." He turned, flouncing out of the room. Mercedes watched him go morosely.

After a moment Shelby clapped. "Okay, now that the drama's over, let's get down to business. Today, we're going to start brainstorming ideas for Regionals, and possibly Nationals."

..

Ryan followed Quinn out of the classroom after their brainstorming session, ready to go home. He waited patiently as she opened her locker, rummaging around for something. "Where did you get that idea of making them apologize?"

Quinn shrugged. "Snap idea, I guess. Maybe I just wanted to see if they were actually capable of apologizing." Her mouth twisted into a sly smile. "And this way, it's their fault they didn't get in. If they're too stubborn to apologize, we can't exactly be held responsible for that, can we?"

Ryan smiled reluctantly. "I never thought of that." He looked at her. "You know, sometimes I forget how diabolical you are." He smiled slyly. "It's hot. You –" He was interrupted by his phone ringing. He glanced at it, rolling his eyes.

"Your mystery stalker again?" Quinn raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I haven't bothered answering it in a while." Actually, the calls had petered off over the holidays, and this was the first in a couple of weeks. Quinn peered at the screen, pulling out her own phone. "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer him, instead dialing out the unknown number on her own phone and pressing the call button. She held it to her ear for a while, before huffing and ending the call. "No answer. I thought maybe if we called from a different number…"

"That he'd pick up and we'd catch him," Ryan caught on. "Well, it was good idea," he offered. "A lot of people don't answer calls from unknown numbers though."

"Hmm."

"Anyways, where were we?" Ryan smiled, pocketing his phone and putting the matter out of his mind. "Oh yes, we were talking about how I find your diabolical nature to be something of a turn-on for me."

Quinn rolled her eyes in amusement as she shut her locker. "Come on, take me home."

* * *

The next morning, there was a small meeting in Principal Figgins' office. "I don't even know why you're making a federal case about this," Shelby said, frowning at Will, who was sullenly sitting in front of Figgins' desk like a misbehaving student. "Weren't you just saying the other day that the New Directions was still intact and that I shouldn't hold auditions?"

"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist," Sue advised from her seat on the sofa. "Butt-chinned man-children can't be expected to make big decisions, whether it's deciding to propose to certain bird-boned elves, or figuring out when it's time to give in."

"What are you even doing here, Sue?" Will glared at the cheerleading coach.

"No need to be rude, William."

The principal sighed softly, thankful for the protection his desk offered. He hated refereeing between the faculty members. It used to be just Sue that he was afraid of, but these little spats between Shelby and William were just as bad. He couldn't understand why Will wouldn't just let things be. Figgins suspected that Will would be hard-pressed to win an argument against Shelby Corcoran, and when she teamed up with Sue Sylvester… well, it was best to just let them duke it out and not get involved.

"Look, I still think that my students don't need to join the Troubletones, but it's the only way they'll get to participate at Regionals," Will admitted grudgingly. "And you can't keep kids out of a group because you don't like them. This is a school club, everyone should be included."

"No," Shelby cut in. "Everyone should be given a fair chance to enter. And we did. Unfortunately for you, everyone besides you knows that just because you audition doesn't automatically guarantee you a spot."

"We –"

"Oh, please, William, you are the only teacher in the history of the United States of America who's desperate enough to let anyone who auditions onto your little club," Sue interjected. "Let me break this down for you. Your students are a bunch of whiny, self-entitled pansies who happen to be able to carry a tune."

"Sue," Shelby gave her a look, and the cheerleading coach shrugged. Shelby turned back to Will. "You're right, the kids can sing. But I need members who are able to work together as a team. We're not going to get anywhere if everyone's busy tearing each other down all the time. Maybe you can work with that kind of environment – God knows it happens enough in the New Directions – but I won't. And unless your students can convince me that they can play fair, then they're out."

"All right, enough," Figgins spoke up at last. "William, Shelby is correct. She is the faculty adviser for the Troubletones, and she has final say over who is accepted. The New Directions may still continue operations, as long as you produce your own budget. Now, I suggest everyone get to their classes." He held his breath as Will debated for a moment whether to contest the ruling, then released it as the Spanish teacher finally nodded. "Wonderful."

Shelby nodded as well. "Thank you, principal. Will, I'll see you around."

..

Later that evening, Ryan hopped down the stairs from his room, having just finished his homework. "Hi Dad," he grinned, finding James slouched down on the couch, his leg propped up on the coffee table as he shuffled a deck of cards absently. "What are you watching?"

"Resident Evil." James smiled at him as he sat down next to him. "So how was your day?"

"It was okay. You really like watching TV, don't you?" Whenever he came home, James was usually watching some TV show or movie or documentary. His dad shrugged.

"It helps me relax, I guess. A hobby of sorts. Gets me out of my head sometimes."

Ryan nodded. Music did that for him. Shelby was in her study, grading a set of papers. They were quiet for a while, with the sounds of movie zombies in the background. Ryan nodded at the pack of cards. "What games do you play?"

"Hmm?" James glanced down at the cards he was shuffling. "Solitaire, I guess," he chuckled. "No, back in the Army we played a lot of poker. Honestly, being deployed was a lot of boredom mixed with sudden bursts of panic and adrenaline. Now I play with some of the guys at the hospital after work sometimes."

"I see." Ryan tilted his head, reaching over to take out the pack of cards from his father's hands. He moved back along the sofa, leaving space between him and James. He started to deal them out, picking up his cards. He nodded at James with a smile. "Let's play."

James studied him for a moment before slowly picking up his own cards. Two tens, three of diamonds, ace and two of spades. He looked up at his son, who was studying his own cards with a slight crease in his brow. "What are we playing for?"

Ryan glanced around before grabbing a can of peanuts that was sitting on the coffee table. He shook out a small pile for each of them and looked up at his father expectantly. "You first."

James smirked, and the game was on. He was surprised when Ryan won the first round with a rather impressive bluff. "You're good."

Ryan smiled as he raked in the small pot. "I played poker with some of the glee kids at a party a couple of years ago," he related. "Apparently my acting skills give me a bit of an advantage."

"No kidding." The cards were dealt again, and this time James made sure to watch his kid's face for any sign of a tell – there it was. He was unable to help his broad smile when he realized where he'd seen that exact same tell before. "Call."

The teenager sighed in defeat, flipping over his rather weak hand. James smiled victoriously. After three more rounds, Shelby came into the living room. "Hey," he grinned at her, earning a smile.

Ryan smirked. "Mom had another fight with Mr. Schue."

"It was hardly a fight," Shelby sniffed, sitting down in an armchair to watch the boys' game. "He didn't have a leg to stand on. If it was a fight, I won. Soundly."

"I'm sure," James nodded. He pushed a few of peanuts into the pile. "Call, I raise you five peanuts."

Ryan hesitated before shaking his head. "Fold." He turned his cards up to show a pair of aces. "What do you have?"

"Two pair," his dad smiled, flipping his cards up and pulling the small pile of peanuts towards him. "Shelby, want us to deal you in?"

Shelby thought for a moment before nodding. "Why not?" She moved over to the coffee table, and James started dealing out the cards. The three of them picked up their hands. James glanced mischievously at Shelby.

"He has a tell," he confided.

Ryan glared at his dad over his cards. "Hey! You're not supposed to gang up on your only son!"

"We're not?" James feigned surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Ha ha," Ryan deadpanned, turning his nose up. "You'll regret this someday when you're old and gray and I'm the one who pays for your nursing home."

James grinned at his son's dramatics before his smile turned genuine. He was definitely looking forward to growing old with his soon-to-be wife and their son. A few of rounds later, Ryan folded. "Okay, I'm out." He'd admittedly won a couple of rounds, but his tell was apparently causing him to lose. "Just you wait, I'll figure it out sooner or later." He flounced up to his room, leaving his parents grinning.

James took the cards, putting the deck together. "Just us, then?"

Shelby shrugged. "Why not?"

He started shuffling the cards. "He has the same tell you used to."

"I did not have a tell," she shot him an offended look. "I don't have any tells."

"Not anymore," James conceded. Years of acting experience had definitely taught her how to control even the minutiae of her expressions. "But remember, when we were in high school, your mouth did this thing whenever you were bluffing –"

"Wait, wait, wait," Shelby held up a hand. "So that's why you kept winning whenever we played?" He smirked. "You are despicable," she accused as she picked up her cards. "You should have said something!"

"We were playing strip poker, I was hardly going to sabotage myself," he pointed out, reminiscing fondly over their games. His teenage hormones had definitely been very thankful for Shelby's tell. He smiled wickedly. "Maybe we can up the ante a little. Just like old times."

"We are not playing strip poker in the middle of the living room, mister."

"It would be fun," he wheedled. "Just like high school."

"If you want a reenactment, we could always head out to the park and do it there," Shelby said dryly. "And, no, that was not an invitation," she added when a sly smile appeared on her fiance's face.

"Up in our bedroom then?"

Shelby stared at him before smirking coyly. "Get ready to lose."

* * *

**Hi everybody! Here is the latest chapter, it's sort of the obligatory chapter to see what happens when ND tries to merge with TT. Hopefully it worked out, I'm aware that I cannot please everybody with regards to who gets into TT, but all I can say is that there is always room for character growth. With that, hopefully you enjoyed the chapter.**

**So, on to your reviews. So happy you enjoyed last chapter – and look, I'm a bit faster this time, I updated in less than a month! It was mostly a fluffy chapter, and I'm happy it worked out.**

**Anyways, there seems to be some concern over Ryan's anonymous caller. We'll probably get around to that in a few chapters, I like the buildup. But I should tell you, it's nothing as drastic as an axe-wielding psychopath, so don't get your hopes up. I'm trying to keep things realistic here. **

**Another common thread I've seen is that Sue and Shelby are pretty popular with you guys, huh? I can't blame you, I surprise myself with their chats sometimes. I enjoy building up the characters' relationships little by little.**

**I've had several calls for a time jump. As much as I love the idea of future!Faberry and Faberry babies, I'm not yet inclined to write them in yet. I would like to, of course, and I've had several ideas for them. But I'm sort of worried about boxing myself in, so to speak, therefore they will remain as drabbles in my hard drive for now. We'll probably get there eventually.**

**Someone asked about the car crash. Hmm. It happened after Regionals in canon, which is a few episodes away from where we are (we're at Yes/No as of this chapter). I might do it, I might not, we'll just have to wait and see. Even I don't know yet.**

**We probably won't be sticking too closely to Season 3's canon for the next few chapters, since most of that was concerned with the ill-conceived storyline of the teen wedding which obviously isn't happening here. I am however open to incorporating some of Season 4's events. We'll see how it plays out. **

**And as a guest pointed out, we're almost at our two-year anniversary, and about 70 reviews away from a thousand! Congratulations to all of us, and thank you all for sticking with me this long. So that's all for now, and I will see you when I see you!**


	85. Chapter 84

**Hi guys, I'm here again! Don't worry, there isn't a cliffhanger at the end. I just wanted to put up a warning for possible triggers in this chapter. That's all, so I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

"You know, I still think the only way the New Directions even got second place was because they did Michael Jackson," Santana commented. Quinn took a sip of her coffee, content with listening to the group discussion on the Troubletone's Regionals set list. She was in the Lima Bean with Santana, Brittany, Tina, Mike, Blaine, and of course Ryan. They had tried out _Wanna Be Startin' Something_ that afternoon with Blaine leading, and it had turned out admittedly well. The group had been interested in doing a Jackson set list for Regionals after seeing the New Directions do it.

Ryan disagreed though. "While I think Blaine was amazing this afternoon, I think we should keep our options open. Michael Jackson's just another artist, I don't see what the big deal is."

"What? Come on, dude, MJ is awesome," Mike grinned.

"Yeah, you've got to have a favorite Michael Jackson memory," Blaine agreed.

Ryan shrugged. "I don't know, I just never really connected with him the way I did to either of the Stephens. Sondheim, Schwartz," he clarified when he received several confused looks. "I never really got what he was about."

"Okay, I'd throw this hot mocha in your face, but it isn't nearly scalding enough," Santana told him.

"Try it and die, Satan," Quinn said lightly, not quite as invested in the discussion as the others. She appreciated MJ, but there were plenty of other artists they could pay tribute to. "Besides, don't you guys think it's kind of a rip-off to do the same idea New Directions pulled off?"

"Oh please, they did not pull it off," Santana rolled her eyes. "They barely gave it a tug."

"Well, since you're obviously all so jazzed about him, I'm sure we could make room in our Regionals set list for a Jackson number," Ryan nodded. He was open to all forms of music of course, and he had to admit that there were several good Jackson songs.

Suddenly they were joined by a new voice. "If it isn't my favorite rival glee club." Sebastian Smythe had appeared. Ryan wasn't sure if he was still surprised, the Warbler had the strange habit of showing up whenever he and Blaine were at the Lima Bean.

"Do you live here?" Ryan asked Sebastian curiously. "It seems as if you always somehow appear out of thin air." Either that or he was stalking one of them…

"It's a magic trick," Sebastian winked, sliding smoothly into a chair. "Maybe I'll even tell you sometime. Of course, I've got other tricks you might be interested in…"

"And who are you again?" Santana narrowed her eyes.

"Sebastian Smythe," the Warbler said smoothly, reaching over to grab her hand and give it a quick kiss. "And I'm the new captain of the Warblers. Let me guess… Santana Lopez," he smiled charmingly, before looking at the rest of the people there. "Brittany Pierce, Mike Chang, Tina Cohen-Chang, Quinn Fabray – lovely to see you again – and of course Ryan Corcoran and Blaine Anderson." He winked at Blaine.

"Impressive," Quinn noted dryly. "Stalking us?"

"I do my homework."

Blaine intervened. "I may have told him about you guys."

Brittany smiled happily. "San, he's kinda cute."

"I don't know, Britts, he kind of looks like a meerkat," Santana said nastily. Sebastian just smirked.

"Come on, admit it, I'm hot," he said cockily. "And if you're up for a threesome, I can definitely oblige…"

"Okay," Ryan said hastily. "Did you want something, Sebastian?"

"Just wanted to say hi," Sebastian grinned carelessly. He turned his smile onto Blaine. "I'm so sorry to hear about your breakup, Blaine."

"I'll just bet you are," Ryan murmured into his coffee, low enough for only Quinn to hear from her position pressed up against him. She let out a small snort. It was obvious Sebastian was into Blaine. And Ryan. And maybe even Santana. God that boy was a flirt.

"Thanks, Sebastian," Blaine nodded. "I don't really want to talk about that right now though."

"Fair enough," the Warbler agreed. "But if you ever need to talk, I'm right here." He glanced around affably. "Congratulations on your win at Sectionals. Of course, it was kind of an unfair game, with both Ryan and Blaine here on the same team. Can't wait to see what you've got for Regionals. I'm sure we'll wipe the floor with you, of course, but you'll be a worthy opponent."

"Excuse me?" Ryan narrowed his eyes. "We have every intention of winning Regionals, and Nationals as well. If anyone's going to be doing any floor-wiping, it will be us with you."

"Ooh, feisty," Sebastian grinned. "I approve. If you ever get tired of blondie over there, give me a call."

Now Quinn narrowed her eyes, but Ryan simply smiled, pulling her closer into his side. "Not a chance." She smiled in satisfaction, rubbing hand against his nicely defined upper arm. He'd taken to accompanying James to the gym once or twice a week, and it definitely showed.

"Clearly so," Sebastian conceded. "I've gotta go. Blaine, I'll be online later, if you're up for a chat. Break a leg, everyone." He stood, clapping Blaine on the shoulder before swaggering out of the coffee shop.

..

After the group dispersed Ryan escorted Quinn back to her house. "My mom won't be home until later," Quinn said as they entered the house. "She's got a work thing."

Ryan nodded. "Do you mind if I have a drink?"

Quinn chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you're here enough that you don't need to ask anymore." They headed to the kitchen where Quinn poured him a glass of water.

"Thanks." Ryan took it as Quinn picked up an envelope from the kitchen table. "What's that?"

"I don't know," Quinn frowned. "It's addressed to me though." She turned it over, freezing when she took in the logo. "It's from Yale."

"Yale?" Ryan repeated. Quinn nodded, and he looked at her excitedly, the water forgotten. "Well? Aren't you going to open it?"

"Yeah. Yeah, of course I am." She took a breath before opening the envelope as Ryan watched. It was kind of nerve-wracking. Sure, she'd applied to various schools, but this was the first letter to arrive. She unfolded the letter with trembling fingers and quickly skimmed over the words.

"Well?" Ryan prodded. A slow grin spread across his girlfriend's face, quickly mirrored on his own. "You got in?"

She nodded, looking up at him in elation. "I got in."

Ryan immediately engulfed her in a hug, lifting of the ground for a moment, both of them laughing in delight. "I knew it!" he exulted. "I told you you'd get in!"

"I can't really believe it," Quinn said, looking back at the letter.

"They would have been crazy not to accept you," Ryan said adamantly, smiling as he gave her a sweet kiss. "I'm so proud of you."

Quinn reached forward to give him another hug, his arms automatically wrapping around her. "I couldn't have done it without you."

Ryan grinned happily, utterly proud of his girlfriend. She totally deserved it, and he quickly brushed aside a twinge of doubt. NYADA was scheduled to send out shortlist letters this week, and he still hadn't received one. He shook his head though. "We should totally celebrate. We can go out for dinner, if you want," he offered.

"Maybe." Quinn smiled slyly, hooking a finger under his collar. "I was thinking of something a bit different though…"

"Hmm, I think I like the sound of that," Ryan chuckled, quickly picking up on her mood. Quinn's smile widened as she fisted his collar and tugged him down, pressing her lips against his. Ryan let her lead, eyes falling closed as her tongue invaded his mouth. She nipped at his lower lip, and he let out a yelp as her hand slid suddenly into his pants to cup his crotch.

"Too fast?" she asked innocently. He shook his head frantically. With her hand still gripping the front of his shirt, he wouldn't have been able to back away if he'd wanted to. He hardly wanted to though. She never failed to get him hot in zero seconds flat, and he was more than eager to have her touching him. She smirked. "Good."

She stepped forward, one hand still firmly on his collar and the other in his pants, forcing him to step back until she pushed him back to sprawl back across the couch. Ryan blinked dazedly, dizzy with anticipation as she lost no time in removing her underwear from under her skirt and mounting him. He sucked in a deep breath as she pressed up against his dick. "Here?" he questioned. "In the living room?"

"Relax, nobody's going to be home for hours," Quinn smirked sexily, and Ryan bit down on his tongue to keep himself in control. She shook her hair out, mesmerizing him with the flowing gold. She paused for an instant. "Only if you're up for it."

Ryan smirked now. "I am definitely up for it." He thrust upwards lightly for emphasis, pressing his erection against her, only to have the tables turned once more when Quinn slipped her hand back into his pants to squeeze him lightly.

"I can tell."

He let out a soft moan as she flicked the button on his pants open, tugging him out. He started to slip his hands up her thighs, rucking her skirt higher. He slipped one hand up to test her core, grinning at the wetness he found and the moan he pulled out of her. She started to pump his cock faster, and he let his head fall back at the sensation.

"Condom?" she breathed raspily.

Ryan's eyes flew open, and he struggled for a moment before wriggling a hand into his back pocket and producing one. Not willing to waste any more time, Quinn rolled it onto him and lifted herself up slightly, positioning him at her entrance before slowly sinking down. Ryan bit his lip, willing himself to stay still as she adjusted to him. "Good?" he asked, voice a bit strangled.

Quinn let out a sort of cross between a sigh and a moan. "Good." She opened her eyes, rocking forward and sending all of his thoughts scattering to the winds. "You?"

"C-can't complain," he squeaked out. "I – oh God…" He groaned as she leaned forward to press her chest against his, the new angle squeezing his cock even tighter. He bucked upwards, unable to help himself, drawing a gasp of pleasure from Quinn.

"Yes," she hissed, starting to set up a rhythm between the two of them. "Just like that." She rocked forward, crushing her lips against his as he grabbed her hips, helping her to fuck herself on top of him. "Oh God Ryan!"

He grunted as he thrust up into her, pulling her down onto him by her hips, watching her hungrily as she bounced on top of him, ecstasy written on her face. He loved that he was the only one who saw her like this. Slowly but surely he felt himself coiling, and he knew Quinn was close too. Several thrusts later she rocked back down, kissing him fiercely as she came with a violent shudder. The feeling of her lips on his was enough to trigger Ryan's own climax.

"That was awesome," Quinn breathed out a while later, slumped on top of Ryan as they basked blissfully in the moment.

Ryan hummed in agreement, running a hand up her back. Neither of them wanted to move, so they lay there happily on the couch, Ryan's now-soft cock still inside Quinn. He breathed deeply, still intoxicated by her scent all around him, all concerns about the future forgotten for the moment as the young couple enjoyed the present.

* * *

Quinn told Shelby the good news after her Honors English class the next day. "That's amazing Quinn, I'm so proud of you," the teacher gushed sincerely, giving Quinn a hug. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Quinn smiled shyly. "And I'm the one who should be thanking you. I wouldn't have even considered applying if you hadn't said what you did about my work. Not to mention that awesome recommendation letter you sent."

"It was your talent that convinced them, Quinn," Shelby assured her with a smile. "But I was more than happy to help." She genuinely liked Quinn and was impressed with her work, plus she strongly suspected that Quinn would one day become her daughter-in-law.

"Thank you."

"So, New Haven, huh?" Shelby surveyed her. "Pretty far from New York."

"Yeah." Quinn looked at her anxiously. "I applied to Columbia and NYU too, but I really want to go to Yale." She especially wanted to have a good look at the Beinecke Library, which housed one of the largest collections of rare books in the country. But as Shelby had pointed out, there was quite a distance between New Haven and New York. And Ryan was dead set on attending NYADA.

"Then you should definitely go," Shelby told her. "Ryan wouldn't want you to hold yourself back," she added with a knowing smile. Quinn blushed at her own transparency. "Besides, it's just a few hours by train. I'm sure you'd be able to make it work."

"I guess so." Quinn offered her a smile, glad for the advice. "I should get going. Thanks again." She left the classroom and headed for the ladies' room. After doing her business, she headed to the sink.

Suddenly she froze as she heard the unmistakable sound of someone's lunch making a reappearance into a toilet bowl. She shuddered as the sound quickly called back memories of days when she had been desperately trying to lose the last few pounds before she started school as Quinn instead of Lucy.

A flush sounded, and Quinn turned around to see Marley stepping out of the stall, stopping short when she saw Quinn. The blonde raised an eyebrow curiously. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Marley answered feebly. "Just… guess the cafeteria food didn't agree with me."

That wasn't too much of a surprise, since the school cafeteria was still pretty hit-and-miss with its lunches. Still, there was a nagging suspicion in the back of Quinn's mind. "Do you need to go to the nurse?"

"No!" Marley said hastily. "No, I'll be fine." She offered Quinn a smile before hurrying out of the bathroom. Quinn let her go, but she had a very bad feeling about this.

* * *

Three days later, Marley sat near the back of the Troubletones' classroom, listening as Mercedes and Sam sang a duet version of _Human Nature_. The group was still on an MJ kick, and Shelby had indulged them by letting them try out whatever Jackson songs they wanted to with a promise to seriously consider them for Regionals. They had a tentative set list, but they could still rework it this early in the game.

Marley's mind wasn't entirely on the performance though. Most of it was busy recounting just how much she had eaten that noon in the cafeteria. She was putting on weight, she knew it, and she had to do something about it or other people besides Kitty would notice.

The rest of the students applauded as the song came to an end, but Marley barely noticed. Suddenly Santana looked at her. "You okay over there? You look like you're going to hurl."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Marley hurriedly put on what was hopefully a convincing smile. She wasn't fine, she'd eaten too much at lunch today and she needed to get it out soon before she swelled up like a balloon. She could feel everyone's eyes on her, and she cleared her throat. "We should keep going."

Several more minutes later she headed for the door, mumbling an excuse for heading to the bathroom. She needed to get it out. Entering a stall, she quickly pushed two fingers down her throat, vomiting up what she had eaten for lunch. After a miserable few minutes, she headed out, rinsing her mouth out with water.

"Been doing that long, have we?"

Marley nearly jumped out of her skin, whirling around to see Quinn Fabray standing in the doorway, arms folded across her chest, and undecipherable look in her eyes. Marley looked around furtively.

"I – I wasn't –"

Quinn glared at her, and Marley could see why people at this school were scared of her. "I'm not blind." She took a breath. "Have you been doing that long?"

Marley fidgeted uncomfortably. "Since Christmas break okay?"

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" she burst out painfully. "You've seen my mom! She said she was like me when she was younger, and now look at her! Kitty's right, it's just a matter of time before genetics run their course and I end up just like her!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Quinn shook her head. "What does Kitty have to do with it?"

"She… she pointed out that I was starting to put on a few pounds," Marley muttered, looking away.

"Did she tell you to stick your fingers down your throat too?"

Marley fidgeted for a moment, not wanting to answer. Yes, Kitty had been the one to tell her that, but she was right, Marley was probably putting on weight. She nodded in response to Quinn's question, catching the angry look on the older girl's face. "She's right," Marley said hurriedly, not wanting to get Kitty in trouble. The small blonde was mostly nice to her after all, other than pointing out that she seemed to be gaining weight. And it was true anyways. Marley was genetically predisposed to be overweight after all. She'd gained two pounds since last week, and that was with the purging.

"No, she's not," Quinn said almost forcefully. "You're going to make yourself sick."

"That's not fair," Marley said. "You're already perfect, you don't have genetics against you!"

"Okay, everyone really needs to stop thinking I'm perfect," Quinn sighed. "You're not the only one worried about body image." She took a deep breath. "You feel fat, don't you?" she asked knowingly. "You feel like you shouldn't eat anymore because you're already overweight. But you can't not eat. So you do, but then you feel like you're practically putting on weight by the second. So you should put a stop to it, right? Which is why you decide to let it all back out." She tilted her head. "Is that what's happening?"

Marley stared at her. Yeah, that was what was happening to her. "How –"

"I was like you too. When I was a kid, I was overweight, I had acne, glasses, braces, the whole nine yards. My real name is Lucy, and the kids at my old school used to call me Lucy Caboosey. I didn't have any friends, and long story short, the summer before I moved here to Lima I decided that I was going to change that. I got contacts, went on Proactiv, and… I practically starved myself to lose the weight. And yes, I did the purging thing too."

Marley stared at the beautiful blonde, almost unable to believe that she'd once been overweight, bullied, and friendless. "I didn't know."

"That's because I try not to shout it from the rooftops," Quinn said wryly. "Anyways, I was miserable the whole time, almost made myself seriously sick. Which is what's going to happen to you if you don't stop what you're doing."

"So what should I do?" Marley asked. Kitty's remarks and suggestions seemed like the quickest way to lose weight, but now she was being told that it was wrong. And she was scared because… "I love my mom… but I don't want to be like her."

Quinn sighed. "You're focusing on being thin, right? Well, don't. You need to focus on being healthy, and happy." She smiled slightly. "It took me years to figure that out and stop with the crazy diets and stuff."

"How did you stop? You know, worrying about what you were eating and everything." She didn't want to, but sometimes she couldn't help it.

"I did it until a couple of months into sophomore year. Then…" The older girl was quiet for a moment. "When I got pregnant… the doctor told me I had to eat better… otherwise I could hurt the baby. And I couldn't let that happen. Then I realized… if I was willing to eat right for my baby, then why couldn't I do it for myself?" Quinn looked at Marley. "If eating right would help your mom, would you do it?"

"Yeah, of course," she answered unhesitatingly.

"It would, you know. Making yourself sick won't help either of you."

"I…" Marley faltered as she took in the truth of those words. They barely had enough to live on, much less for a trip to the hospital. Oh God, what was she doing?

"You need to find something that motivates you to stay healthy." Quinn's hand drifted to her stomach for a second before she straightened up. "Look. As long as you're healthy, you'll be fine. But you're right, you want to look good. Well, you already do."

Marley scoffed. There was no way anyone would think that.

"I'll tell you right now, there is at least one person who I know for a fact thinks you look amazing. And he thought that even before you started throwing up," Quinn informed her. Marley looked up at her in surprise, receiving a small smile. "Just think about it, okay? And maybe… maybe you should talk to someone. Like, a professional. And I'm here if you need to talk or whatever." With one last nod, Quinn exited the bathroom, leaving Marley with her thoughts.

..

Kitty opened her locker as the bell rang. She had free period next, and she started to look through her locker for her history book. She was about to head to the library when she felt a hand on her upper arm. She instinctively stiffened up, panicking for a moment before realizing that it was Quinn. She took a breath, pushing away thoughts of – no. Not going to think about that. She hated it when people touched her without permission. "What is it, Quinn?" she settled on asking.

Quinn didn't answer, simply shutting the locker door and fixing her with an icy glare. Kitty almost stepped back, confused with what was happening. "Okay, I don't know what's going on, but –"

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Kitty's eyes widened at the cold fury in Quinn's voice. "I –"

"You pushed Marley into purging? Are you insane?" the older blonde cut her off. "Do you even know how serious that is? Bulimia isn't a joke, Kitty!"

Finally it registered. Quinn had found out about Marley. Kitty stepped back. She felt bad for what she was doing, but it was just a joke. It happened all the time in high school. Marley would get over it. "I didn't –"

Quinn laughed, and it was almost scary. "Didn't what? Didn't make her think she's overweight when she wasn't? Didn't 'suggest' that she throw up to lose her imaginary extra pounds? What exactly didn't you do, Kitty?"

"It's not like I forced her to –"

"Don't you understand that what you're doing is wrong?" Quinn asked in disbelief. "You can't mess with a person like that! If you keep going at her like this, you're going to push her into having real health problems!"

"Weight gain isn't a permanent problem," Kitty argued uneasily. "You managed to get it in control just fine!"

"And do you know why exactly I did that?"

"You wanted to look prettier –"

"I did it because I wanted people to accept me, because I got teased relentlessly for the way I looked!"

Kitty hadn't known that. When she was younger she'd always idolized her older cousin. Sure, she sort of remembered Quinn had been bigger back then, but Kitty hadn't cared, and eventually Quinn had become head cheerleader and the most popular girl at school. Even now she could still part the halls. It was almost inconceivable that she had been the subject of bullying. "I –"

"You only saw me once, twice a year," Quinn said, her voice lowering. "You didn't see how it was the rest of the time. But you're right, I lost all that weight in one summer. You know how? By starving myself, exercising until I dropped, purging, doing everything to lose that weight."

"And now you're fine," Kitty argued.

"I wasn't fine," Quinn gritted out. "I only started talking to a therapist last year, and she told me that from what I told her, I was close to having anorexia. Cheerios didn't help either, with those crazy shake diets and the endless weight limits." She looked Kitty hard in the eye. "Did you know people can die from eating disorders?"

Kitty shook her head silently. She'd watched the Biggest Loser, no one died there…

"Did you know excessive vomiting can make you dehydrated? Cause heart failure? Do you want to kill her?"

"N-no –" Kitty felt like she was about to throw up herself now. She hadn't even wanted to do it in the first place, but she'd thought it was harmless! "I – I didn't –"

"Didn't what, exactly, hmm?"

"I didn't want to do it, okay?!" Kitty burst out.

"They why?" Quinn challenged. "What made you think it was okay to do that?"

"She said – she said I had to, otherwise I'd be kicked off the Cheerios, and I have to stay, I have to be popular, okay? I can't be a loser, not again, not after –" She clapped a hand over her mouth. "I can't have people talking about me behind my back again. I just can't." Kitty was starting to hyperventilate now, breaths coming faster and faster.

"Kitty?" Quinn anger started to melt away, fading into concern. She'd wanted to shake the younger girl up, but she hadn't been expecting this. "Are you okay?" Kitty didn't answer, and Quinn shook her head, grabbing her cousin around the shoulders and guiding her into the nearest bathroom. She glared angrily at the two freshmen who were in there, and the poor girls let out squeaks of terror before scampering out. Quinn guided Kitty inside, locking the door behind them.

"Hey, I need you to take some deep breaths," she told her cousin. The girl was distraught though, and didn't seem to hear her, continuing to hyperventilate. "Kitty!"

The yell seemed to shake the Cheerio out of her panic, and she looked up at Quinn, before collapsing back against the far wall of the bathroom and bursting into tears. Quinn watched, utterly confused as Kitty slid down the wall onto the floor, hugging her knees to herself as she cried. The older blonde stood there conflicted, before tentatively moving over to sit down next to the younger one. She wasn't heartless, and bitch or no, Kitty was still her cousin and something was definitely wrong.

The pair sat there until Kitty started to calm down, and Quinn finally spoke. "Who told you to do it?"

Kitty looked down. "It was Kenzie. Some of the other Cheerios too, but mostly her. She said… she said it was a thing everyone had to do. Otherwise we'd get kicked off."

Quinn's eyes narrowed as she filed that information away. "Does Santana know?" she checked, relieved when Kitty shook her head. The Cheerios were a big team when you counted the reserves and the JVs, and it split into smaller groups often. It was feasible that Santana didn't know what was going on.

"Kenzie said it was just something all the newbie Cheerios did. It just made sense, I mean, even at my old school the cheerleaders were the biggest bitches around. I had to be on top, because if I was on top it wouldn't happen again, it…" She trailed away, falling ominously silent.

Quinn hesitated for a moment, sensing that there was something else, something deeper. "What happened at your old school?" She had no idea if Kitty had been bullied at her old school. She hadn't thought it possible; her cousin, unlike herself, had always been petite and pretty, built more like Frannie than like Quinn. She had chattered on about her friend Julie or something when Quinn had visited in the past, though now that she thought about it, her cousin hadn't quite been as forthcoming in recent years, more interested in Quinn's career in the Cheerios. "You can tell me," she urged. "No judgement."

Kitty tightened up further, before starting to speak in a low voice. "In seventh grade… I was over at Julie's house for a sleepover. With a few other friends. I…" She took a deep breath, and Quinn's stomach dropped, not liking where this was going. "It was Julie's older brother. Everyone was asleep, and he… climbed into my sleeping bag. I didn't know what was going on, I thought it was a joke at first." She cleared her throat. "But then he started… feeling me in places…" Her voice started to break. She shook her head, coughing. "I left as soon as I could the next morning."

_Oh God. Oh God._ Quinn felt like throwing up herself now. She hadn't been expecting this, this wasn't supposed to happen, this wasn't –

She swallowed unsteadily. "D-do your parents know?"

Kitty nodded miserably. "Mom called his parents… and all I could hear was… was how she couldn't believe a nice kid like him could do something like that… He got a few days of community service and that was it. Then Julie told everyone at school that I was spreading rumors about her brother, and then no one would talk to me and they were all whispering about me and I just can't let that happen here." She shook her head vehemently. "It can't. I won't let it."

Quinn's jaw clenched with rage towards her aunt. How had she not done anything? She didn't bother questioning how it had happened though, because her own mother had stood by and watched Quinn be exiled from the household. She chanced a glance at Kitty, and quickly wrapped her arms around her crying younger cousin. She held the smaller girl for a few minutes until Kitty pulled away, wiping her eyes.

"It wasn't your fault, you know that right?" Quinn asked. "It wasn't."

Kitty drew in a shaky breath. "I just want to go back to how it was before," she cried. "I don't want to remember, I just want it to not have happened." Quinn had no idea what to say to that, because how was that supposed to happen? How were you supposed to forget something like that?

"I switched schools after that," Kitty continued quietly after a moment. "I couldn't… I couldn't take it. But the other school wasn't far, and they found out and it started again… Then Daddy got that transfer here, and I thought… I thought if I was popular, if I was on the Cheerios like you, then it wouldn't happen again."

They fell silent again. Quinn understood. "Look," she sighed. "I get it. You were trying to gain popularity by fitting in with the coolest girls in the school, because being on top means immunity." Kitty nodded. "I tried to do it too," Quinn admitted. It was pretty much exactly what she had done after Lucy Caboosey, and it was probably what she would have tried after Beth if she hadn't had Ryan. She knew herself well enough to know that she would have tried to claw her way back to the top, trying to regain everything that she'd had before getting pregnant.

"And it worked."

"For a while," Quinn conceded. "But honestly? I hated every second. Because I couldn't be myself. I was so busy trying to be perfect… but I was alone. And the problem with being on top is that it's so easy to fall off. One mistake and it's all gone."

"Like what happened with you."

"You don't want to be like me," she told her cousin. "Trust me. I wasn't happy until I figured out that there's more to life than popularity, and until I started to let people in."

"I didn't want to hurt Marley."

"Why did you target her in the first place? What did she do to you?"

"Nothing," Kitty shook her head vehemently. "I just… after Kenzie told me about her mom being the lunch lady, she was an easy target. And she was really nice, she made it too easy." She flushed slightly.

Quinn sat back, seething internally. Looks like she was going to have a talk with a certain soon-to-be ex-Cheerio. First things first though. "You need to apologize to Marley."

Kitty let out a short laugh. "I don't think she even thinks I did anything wrong. It's not like I told her flat out she was fat, it was more like… helping her realize that she's destined to weigh a ton and giving her ideas to keep that from happening."

_Was it possible to swing from feeling sorry for someone to wanting to strangle them in point-five seconds? _Quinn wondered. "I don't care. Fix this, because Marley thinks she's overweight when she's already skinny. _God_, Kitty. Have you actually deluded yourself into thinking she's fat?"

"No!" Kitty defended. "She's nowhere near fat, I think she's really hot, I –"

The two cousins froze. Quinn's eyes widened. "Oh my God. Do you have a crush on her?"

Kitty paled. "No! No, I – no!"

Quinn stared at her for another moment. That would make sense, actually… she shook her head. "Okay. If you say so. I don't mind if you do, just… yeah." She shook her head again. What was happening again? Right. "Just apologize, okay?" She hesitated. "And about… you know." Kitty tensed up. "I think you should talk to somebody about what happened," she said softly. "I'm talking to a therapist, maybe you could find one too."

Kitty scoffed. "I don't think so. I'm just not going to think about it, and it'll go away."

"No it won't," Quinn told her. "Trust me. Look, if you don't want to talk to a therapist, talk to Miss Pillsbury. Or Shelby. Miss Corcoran," she amended. "She was great after everything that happened with Beth… maybe she could help you."

Kitty looked up sharply. "You can't tell anyone."

"Kitty…"

"No," she said vehemently. "You can't. Promise."

Quinn looked at her uncertainly. "I… okay." Kitty's parents already knew, there wasn't really anyone else she could tell. It chafed at her though because she really thought Kitty should get some help. "I won't tell anyone. But you have to promise to think about talking to someone about it. You can't keep this inside forever."

Kitty looked down. "Maybe."

Quinn nodded. "Just think about it. And… you can talk to me too. If you want."

"I… thanks."

"Okay." Quinn stood up, brushing herself off. "Are you going to be okay?" Kitty shrugged morosely, accepting Quinn's proffered hand to help pull her up. "Okay then. Come on, let's get you to class."

And then she had a certain Cheerio to destroy.

* * *

Several days later Quinn was just putting some books in her locker after fourth period when the locker door was slammed shut, almost catching her fingers. Quinn looked up, eyebrow raised at Kenzie Larkin, who was directing a furious gaze at her.

"It was you."

Quinn stared at her in superior amusement. She'd been expecting this after all. "What was me?"

"I was just at Figgins' office," Kenzie snarled. "Someone apparently told him about the test answers I've been selling since sophomore year."

"Well, I did tell you back then that it wasn't a good idea," Quinn told her, folding her arms. It had been going on for a long time. Quinn knew that Kenzie somehow managed to use the Cheerio computers to access the files of several teachers and gain answer keys to various exams, which she then put up for sale to the rest of the student body. When she was captain, Quinn hadn't cared enough to do anything about it, but now the information had suddenly come in handy. "But any one of your customers could have snitched on you."

"You told Figgins about those test answers," the brunette Cheerio seethed. "I know you did. You're the only one who had actual proof." Quinn held back a smirk. There was in fact evidence, accessible only to the Cheerio captain and Sue Sylvester. Since Sue generally turned a blind eye, it was easy to see how Kenzie had come to that conclusion. Quinn stared at the Cheerio icily. Her voice turned deadly serious.

"I told you last year not to piss me off again. Sadly, you seem to be have an IQ of negative ten, since you obviously forgot that I know everything that used to go on behind the scenes at this school."

Kenzie sneered. "I didn't do anything to you."

Quinn stepped into her personal space. "Oh, I know," she assured the other girl. "You're too chicken to try anything on me personally. But you know what I think? I think you specifically messed with Kitty, made her think that she had to be a bitch to stay in the Cheerios, because she's my cousin. I also think you told her to target Marley because of her weight issues. Strange coincidence that it's the same issues you know I used to have."

"Paranoid much? Not everything's about you," Kenzie spat back. "Newsflash, Fabray, you're not the center of this school anymore."

"And I'm perfectly happy about that." Quinn shrugged. "And you know, it doesn't really matter if I'm right or not. Figgins has proof, and now you're suspended pending investigation."

"My dad's on the school board, this isn't the end of this."

"Maybe. But we both know Coach Sylvester absolutely hates it when a Cheerio is caught." Sue pretty much didn't care about them cheating, as long as they didn't get caught. Quinn had never taken advantage of the fact but she knew for a fact that quite a few of the girls on the squad did. "I bet that even if you get back into this school, you're going to be off the squad."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that," Santana suddenly intervened, arms folded coolly across her chest. "I wouldn't mind her staying on the team," she continued, turning on Kenzie with a wicked smile. "Hi, remember me? Captain of the Cheerios? And you just messed with my Troubletone girls, so you can just bet your sweet ass that if you ever get back on the squad, I am going to make your life a living hell."

Kenzie paled at that. Quinn smiled in satisfaction. It seemed that it was finally sinking in. "You messed with my family," she said simply. "I may be different now, but I can still be a bitch if I want to be." She stepped back. "You should get going, wouldn't want Figgins to have you forcibly removed from campus."

"I'd be more than happy to assist," Santana smirked.

Her expression now completely shaken, Kenzie gathered up the last shreds of her dignity before heading towards the exit of the school. Quinn and Santana watched her go as the crowd started to move along. "Thanks," the blonde told her best friend quietly.

Santana shrugged. "Bitch undermined my authority. Plus she's a total bitch, she's not even that good of a Cheerio. Just can't believe I didn't see that coming," she grumbled.

Quinn smiled cockily. "That's why I was the captain."

"Bitch."

"Satan."

There was no ire in either of the girls' voices though, and soon Santana relented and nudged Quinn's shoulder with her own. Quinn smiled, understanding what the Latina didn't say. Santana had been the one to find concrete, current proof of Kenzie's activities at Quinn's request. Santana really was a good friend, even if she pretended not to care. The current Cheerio captain brushed the former away before leaving.

Quinn was just about to head to her own class when she spotted Kitty out of the corner of her eye, talking to Marley, who was wearing a surprised smile. Quinn smiled as well, hoping that the two girls sorted everything out between them.

..

The day wasn't victorious for everyone though. Ryan sat in the empty auditorium that afternoon, gazing broodingly at the open stage, his mood as dark as the theatre he was in. He just wanted to be alone with his thoughts, and this was where he normally went. He hadn't really been here like this in a long time. He had spent a depressingly large amount of time here in freshman and sophomore year. No one was ever in here, and no one followed him.

Today was an exception though.

Quinn settled down in the seat next to him. "Are you okay?"

Ryan nodded, not meeting her eyes. "Yeah. I'm okay."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? It doesn't sound like it." Her voice softened. "I know you come here when you're upset. I want to help you."

He let out a breath, staring fixedly at the stage. After a moment he spoke. "I overheard Kurt earlier. He got his shortlist letter for NYADA."

"Oh." Quinn reached out, taking his hand. "I'm sure yours is on the way too."

Finally he moved, jerking his hand away, shaking his head as he looked up trying to fight back the tears of disappointment. "I didn't get one. I didn't even make it to the finals. I've had a bad feeling all week, and now…" He laughed brokenly. "I have no idea what I'm doing, Quinn. My voice is my only talent, it's the only way I'm ever getting out of here. And… I'm not good enough."

"Ry –"

"I guess they were all right," he continued. "Everyone who ever said that I was a loser, destined to be stuck here in this tiny town forever." He leaned forward, letting his face fall into his hands. "Do you know what it's like to have everyone around you have their plans together? I talked to Mike, he got his early acceptance to UCLA. You're going to Yale. And I don't have anything and I don't know what I'm doing."

Quinn was silent for a minute. "Hey, Ry? I need you to listen to me." She waited until he finally looked her in the eye. "Listen carefully, okay? You are amazingly talented. You're the best singer we've got. You're the one who got the New Directions all the way to Nationals practically single-handedly, with an incompetent teacher to boot." He snorted in amusement. She took his hand, and this time he let her. "You are an awesome person, and you are going to do so many great things, with or without NYADA. Do you understand?"

"But –"

"No buts," Quinn said firmly. "I believe in you, remember? You need to believe in yourself too. Yes, right now we're stuck in this stupid town. But soon, someone is going to see just how talented you are. Maybe it won't be at NYADA. Maybe it'll be NYU, or Julliard, or somewhere else. But it will happen. I know it. You just need to believe it."

"That sounds an awful lot like wishful thinking." Her words were working though, and Ryan could feel his dark mood starting to dissipate.

Quinn smiled slightly. "Didn't you tell me once that you were like Tinkerbell? Just believe that you can do it. The rest will fall into place."

Ryan smiled briefly before it faded. "This is when I find out if I'm actually good enough to get out of here," he said quietly. "Everyone always though that my being on Broadway was a pipe dream. Hiram and Leroy just humored me about it, and we all know what the other kids thought. I just… I'm scared that maybe… maybe they were right."

"They're not. Besides, you've been working with the best vocal coach in the country. Who are you going to listen to, a bunch of cavemen who are going to be stuck bagging groceries forever, or a nationally-ranked choir director?

He had to laugh at that. "Well, when you put it that way…"

Quinn chuckled, leaning her head against his shoulder. "And remember what I said back when you got laryngitis in sophomore year. You're more than your voice. Even if you don't get into NYADA, or Tisch, or Julliard, you will still be the amazing, talented person that I love so much."

Ryan took her hand, bringing it to his lips and pressing a kiss against the back. "I love you too."

"I love you too." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sure your acceptance letters are on their way."

He smiled slightly, feeling much better, buoyed by the knowledge that there was someone who believed in him and his talent, who believed completely so completely that he would make it far. "Okay." He leaned his head against hers. "I just… I hate the thought that I'm letting everyone down. You, my parents… I don't even know what Mom's going to say…"

"She'd say the same thing," Quinn insisted. "That it doesn't matter and that she's proud of you. I bet she'd say it if you went up to her and told her right now." She put a hand on his cheek, and Ryan found himself speechless at the love and pride etched on her face. "You're not letting anyone down."

He took a breath. "Okay. I'm sorry."

"Don't. We all get to break down sometime." She squeezed his hand, standing. She pulled him up, wrapping him in a hug. Ryan leaned into her, basking in the comfort as his emotions settled from the dark place they had been occupying. He couldn't help but compare this to times in the past when he had sought refuge in this very auditorium. Back then he hadn't had anyone, and in freshman year there hadn't been anyone to pull him out of his depression. He'd almost lost himself back then, but that wasn't the case now. He hugged Quinn back tightly, letting out a deep breath as he expelled the memories.

A minute later, Quinn broke the silence. "How about you come over for dinner tonight? My mom's going to be out." She pressed a soft kiss against his cheek. "Maybe get your mind off things."

"You're not doing this because you feel sorry for me, are you?"

"Of course not," she assured him. "Just think of it as… an advanced celebration for when those letters finally do get here."

He smiled gratefully at the sentiment. "I think we can do that."

..

That afternoon Ryan showed up on the Fabrays' porch. He'd gone home first before heading there, ready to take Quinn out for a casual dinner. "Hey," he grinned when Quinn opened the door. "So, where do you want to go? We can probably make it to Breadstix before the dinner rush if you want."

Quinn shook her head. "No, we're staying in tonight." She took his hand, pulling him inside. Ryan nodded.

"Take-out then? Maybe we could…" He trailed off as he sniffed, a delicious smell hitting his nose. "What's that?"

"That would be dinner," Quinn informed him. "I cooked for us. Nothing fancy, we don't that much stuff in the house, but I made a pasta arrabiata. I think it turned out okay."

Ryan cocked his head. "You cooked?"

"Mhmm." She led him into the kitchen, where a couple of pots were simmering on the stove. "Here, make yourself useful and drain the pasta." She thrust a colander at him. Ryan obediently took it. This was quite a surprise, Quinn had never really cooked for him before. She'd helped Shelby out at home occasionally, and had helped him make breakfast once or twice, but nothing like this.

He picked up the pot of pasta, pouring it into the colander. "Who taught you to cook?"

"My mom," Quinn answered absently, stirring the pot of sauce. "One of her various lessons on how to snag a rich husband." She flicked her eyes up at him. "Now that I think about it, a lot of what she taught me and Frannie were geared in that direction." She smiled wryly. "I also know how to iron men's dress shirts, remove silver stains, and get red wine out of cream-colored shag carpets."

"Hmm, I suppose you'd be an excellent trophy wife then," Ryan teased lightly.

"That was the plan," Quinn agreed pensively. "I guess that's why I never did anything like this for Finn when we were dating. It would have been too much like giving in to the idea."

He looked at her, surprised. "Then why –"

"I wanted to," she shrugged, cutting him off. "For you."

Ryan fell silent, touched. He waited until she had turned the gas off before pulling her close to him, wrapping her in a hug. "Thank you," he said sincerely. It meant so much that she would choose to do this for him. He pulled back, still keeping her close as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She gave him a smile, pleased with his appreciation. "You know I wouldn't care if you didn't know how to do any of those things, right?"

She favored him with another smile. "I know." She stepped back, huffing softly as she pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Now, new question. Do you think I should cut my hair again, or let it grow out?"

"Hmm?" Ryan watched as she put the finished sauce into a bowl. "Is this a trick question? Is there a correct answer here?"

"What?"

"Mike and Tina got into an argument about this a few weeks ago. He said he liked it long, and for some reason she took it to mean that he wouldn't like her if she had short hair," he explained. "If I say I like your hair longer, are you going to accuse me of not liking it when you cut it in New Yok?"

"Do you like it longer?"

"The long hair is beautiful," Ryan admitted. "But I think the shorter style was, I don't know… sexy."

Quinn smirked. "Which do you prefer?"

"I don't think they're mutually exclusive," he pointed out. Quinn's smile widened, and Ryan smiled as well, pleased that he had made a good answer.

"Oh, good answer, Mr. Corcoran. Seriously though, do you think I should get a haircut?"

"You go ahead and do whatever you like, because _I love you just the way you are," _he sang the line from the Billy Joel song, making his girlfriend laugh.

"Dork."

He grinned charmingly. "Your dork."

* * *

The next Monday Quinn was stuffing some books in her locker when Kitty appeared. "Yes?" Quinn asked.

Kitty looked down briefly before meeting her eyes. "I talked to Marley."

"And?"

"And… I said I was wrong about all the crap I said before, even if she is kind of predestined to be on the chubby side because of her mom –" Quinn rolled her eyes here. "But in the end, I apologized, and I won't be going ahead with that little scheme I thought up about altering her costume for Regionals."

"I'm going to let that one pass," Quinn said dryly. "But that's good."

"And about that other thing," Kitty hesitated. "I talked to Daddy about it, and he was kind of surprised it was still bothering me. But… we're going to try to find a counselor or something, maybe."

Quinn let out a sigh of relief at that. "Good. That's good." She felt completely out of her depth with that bit of news, and she'd been second-guessing her decision to keep it to herself. She was glad Kitty was taking steps to get help.

Kitty nodded, looking down again. "So I just wanted to say… thank you. I guess I kind of needed a wake-up call."

"Ah," Quinn nodded with a wry smile. "So did I. Mine came with a positive pregnancy test and nine months of crazy, but it all worked out for the best."

"Yeah, I'm kind of glad it didn't come to that. One pregnancy scandal is enough for a family, right?" Kitty smiled brightly before setting off towards her class. Quinn stared at her, once again wondering how it was possible to go so quickly from feeling happy for someone to wanting to murder them in the blink of an eye. She returned to her locker, giving herself a once-over before shutting the door. She looked up just in time to see Ryan coming towards her.

"Hey, you," she smiled, draping her arms around his shoulders and giving him a languid kiss. Ryan kissed her back, before holding up an envelope. Quinn looked down, her eyebrows rising. "What's that?" She suspected she knew what it was though.

"My NYADA letter finally came in the mail," he replied.

Quinn smiled knowingly. "And?"

Her boyfriend broke out into a wide grin. "And I'm a finalist. I'm a finalist, Quinn!" He moved forward, wrapping her in a tight, joyful hug. She hugged him back just as fiercely. She knew he'd get it, and she was so proud of him. Now she knew how he felt when she'd gotten her Yale acceptance letter.

"I told you," she smiled, kissing him again. "I'm so proud of you, Ry." She stepped back. "What did your mom say?"

"That she didn't doubt for a second that I'd get in," he answered, still smiling. Quinn arched an eyebrow.

"So…?"

Ryan sighed theatrically. "So… you were right. I bow to your superior knowledge, O Lady Wisdom."

Quinn laughed, rolling her eyes. "And don't you forget it." She let him take her hand as they headed towards their classroom.

"Oh, before I forget, Mom said to ask Judy you two are free for dinner with us tonight," Ryan remembered. "She said we should get together to celebrate our first of many college acceptance letters. If you ask me she's just trying to schmooze with her future in-laws."

"Confident in our future, aren't we?" Quinn teased. She didn't mind the idea at all. In fact, it appealed to her quite a bit.

"Shouldn't I be?" Ryan grinned. "But anyways, that's for tonight. I thought maybe tomorrow, we could get around to the second part of our celebration," he smiled suggestively.

Quinn smirked at him. "I think we can do that."

* * *

**Hooray for another finished chapter! This part is my version of the **_**Michael **_**episode. Obviously we're not following canon completely, and I've incorporated a bit more of Kitty's and Marley's backstories, which I thought were underused in season 4. **

**Anyways, I am pleased that the previous chapter was good for the most part. I'm happy that people are still enjoying the story which has somehow ballooned to epic proportions. Your reviews motivate me to keep going, so keep leaving them!**

**That's all for now. I hope you liked the chapter. Glee is not mine, but the typos and errors are. I hope to see you next time!**


	86. Chapter 85

"Hey, Hobbit, step aside, I need to borrow your science text book." Santana all but pushed Ryan aside from his locker as she began rummaging through it on Wednesday morning. Ryan stared at her in consternation before moving to stop her.

"Santana, that's my locker and this is pretty inappropriate –"

Santana smirked as she found his stash of condoms. "Wanky."

"Santana!" Ryan managed to push her aside.

Suddenly Santana narrowed her eyes. "Why do you have that?"

Ryan snatched it back, glaring at her. "I would think it's obvious," he told her hotly. "Obviously you and Brittany don't exactly need these, but they're used as a prophylactic method to protect against unwanted pregnancies and transmission of STDs. I'm sure it was covered in health class, demonstrated by Miss Holliday on a cucumber."

"Well, duh," the girl rolled her eyes. "But I know for a fact that Q's on the pill, pretty religiously. And I _know_ you're not getting any on the side. So you don't need that."

"No method is 100% guaranteed, and Quinn and I just want to make doubly sure that we're being safe, and you know what, this is none of your business anyways!"

"Oh please, Hobbit, I live on other people's business. That's why you love me. And besides, I'm guessing it's probably a good thing you're both so anal about this, I mean Quinnie got knocked up the first time, she's obviously the world's most efficient baby-factory."

"Can we talk about something else?"

"What are we talking about?" Quinn asked as she and Brittany came up to the two of them. Santana smiled widely.

"We're talking about –"

"Okay," Ryan said loudly, clapping his hands. "I really think we should all go to class now."

"No, me and Santana always skip third period on Wednesdays," Brittany said conversationally, Ryan breathing a sigh of relief when Santana let their previous topic go. "We usually spend it in the boiler room making out. Or in the janitor's closet making out. Or in the ladies' room –"

"– Making out, I think we get it." Quinn pulled a face.

Ryan shook his head reprovingly. "You know, you shouldn't skip classes," he admonished. "For one, we're going to a public school, and our tuition is paid for by the taxpayers' dollars. It's also highly disrespectful to the teachers, and besides, don't you want the best education you can get?"

"Totally," Santana agreed. "Which is why we always skip Mr. Schue's Wednesday Spanish lessons, which is third period on Mondays and Wednesdays. He sucks so bad it makes my ears bleed. Get this, the other day he was up in front with maracas, singing _La Cucaracha _in a poncho and a fucking _sombrero._"

"I thought the sombrero was cute," Brittany pouted. Santana rolled her eyes indulgently.

"He sang that last year too," Quinn recalled. "Thank God I finished the last of my foreign language credits last year."

"I did too," Ryan nodded. "Why haven't you two?" he asked Santana and Brittany.

"I got distracted drawing sombreros and burritos."

"Because apparently, you have to show up to classes to pass, even if you're completely fluent," Santana groused. "I aced the exams, obviously, but apparently there was this whole 'mandatory attendance' clause which I thought was totally bogus. Which is why I even attend at all now."

Brittany smiled happily. "But San's taught me a lot, like I can say –"

Santana quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. "I don't think they want to hear that, Britts," she said hurriedly. Ryan shook his head, unwilling to think of what Santana could have possibly taught Brittany to say.

Brittany pouted. "But –" Santana leaned in to whisper something in Brittany's ear that had the blonde smiling again. The Latina smirked, tugging Brittany away.

"See ya later, bitches!" she called back. Ryan shook his head again, turning his focus to his girlfriend.

"Hi," he smiled.

"Hey," Quinn responded, a smirk playing on her lips. "Whacha got there?" She nodded at his hand. Ryan immediately looked down, mortified to see that he was still holding the package of condoms. He just sighed in exasperation.

..

Later that afternoon, Shelby was on the way to a Troubletones meeting from her Honors English class. Today, the faculty had been all abuzz at the news that there was a tenured position opening up. Shelby didn't particularly care; she wasn't after a tenure. She wasn't even sure if she'd be staying after this year, since she and James had actually discussed moving to New York with Ryan – into a separate home, of course – because they didn't want to be separated from their son so soon after getting to know him. The Troubletones made her want to stay, but they still hadn't decided yet.

Interestingly, Sue had cynically told her that the teachers were suddenly on their best behavior, adding that Will was probably going to embark on a sudden crash course in Spanish. Apparently he could barely speak a sentence in the language.

Her thoughts were interrupted suddenly when a tall man bumped into her as he rounded the corner, causing her to drop her books in surprise.

"I am so sorry," the man apologized profusely in a distinct Latin accent as he bent down to pick up her things. When he straightened up, Shelby paused for a moment, taking in the fine specimen standing in front of her. He was well muscled and very handsome in an exotic way, Latino to match his accent. He gave her a very charming, extraordinarily white smile, and she felt a bit of a flutter. She was engaged, not dead after all.

"No, no, it's okay," Shelby assured him, smiling a bit distractedly as he returned her books. "I wasn't watching either."

"Well, again, I apologize." He offered his hand. "I'm David. Martinez."

She shook his hand. "Shelby Corcoran."

"Nice to meet you," David gave her a dazzling smile, and Shelby found herself staring at his almost-too-perfect white teeth. "Maybe you could help me, I'm actually looking for Will Schuester. Do you know where I can find him?"

"Hmm, I think he's got a class right now."

"I see. I'll just wait for him then. Are you a teacher here?"

Shelby nodded. "Yes, I teach English, and I coach one of the glee clubs."

David lit up. "Really? That's why I'm here; you see, I teach Spanish classes here at night, and Will's one of my students. We got to talking about his glee club, and he invited me over to watch. He didn't mention that there was another glee club at McKinley though."

"Is that so?" Shelby smirked slightly at that tidbit. It was also interesting to know that Will, a Spanish teacher, was taking Spanish classes by night. Obviously Sue had been spot on once again. "Well, if you're interested in observing, you're welcome to join us for a session as well," she offered. It was a normal practice for her; sometimes she would invited disinterested parties to watch Vocal Adrenaline rehearsals to give a little feedback. It helped her figure out what audiences wanted.

"That would be awesome," David grinned, and Shelby was once again blinded by his smile. "Oh, perfect, here's Will now."

"David," Will smiled clapping him on the shoulder as he approached. "Good, you're here." He turned. "Shelby."

"Will." Shelby offered him a nice smile. "David and I were just talking about your offer to let him watch your glee club. With its full complement of members, I'm sure." She smiled innocently as Will flushed. He had all of five members right now, after all.

David nodded, glancing at Shelby. "Will's the Spanish teacher, right, so we were talking about music as a way of teaching the language. Kids learn better through music, so he thought maybe he could give it a shot."

Shelby kept her face straight as she immediately caught on to Will's train of thought. A seemingly novel idea such as this might give him an edge in getting that tenure. It wasn't that novel, but it was probably new around here. "David was saying that he didn't know there were two glee clubs here."

"Well, uh, it didn't come up," Will fumbled, turning back to David. "Anyways, the glee meeting's in ten minutes, we should get going."

"Right," David nodded, before brightening. "Hey, I've got an idea. Miss Corcoran invited me to watch her glee club too. Maybe if it's okay with the two of you, we could all have a session together?"

Shelby barely managed to keep a diabolical smile off her face. "It's fine by me," she said. Sharing a session with Will wasn't high on the list of things she wanted to do, but she suspected it would be highly entertaining if nothing else. Will looked like he wanted to disagree, but nodded as well.

"Okay. We can use our choir room, since it's bigger."

"Wonderful," David smiled.

..

"What are we doing here again?" Ryan asked skeptically a few minutes later as the Troubletones and the New Directions gathered in the choir room. The Troubletones had commandeered one side of the room, leaving the New Directions clumped together on the other as the two groups glared suspiciously. Shelby and Will stood at the front, facing them.

"Yeah, Mr. Schue, I thought we weren't going to do this anymore after last time," Puck added, shooting a wary look at Ryan.

Will shook his head. "We've got a special guest here today, and Miss Corcoran and I thought that we'd have a joint session."

"And I thought it would be good for us to have a bit of a break from preparing for Sectionals," Shelby added for the Troubletones' benefit. Will had briefly discussed his idea of the week with her, and she didn't mind. The Troubletones had their set list ready to go, with only polishing and final details of choreography to hammer out. They had been working very hard, and she could afford to give them a break and indulge her amusement for a few days. And she was hoping for some feedback from David.

"So I've found us someone who's very interested in how the glee club works, and is willing to give us a few pointers," Will interjected, weakly trying to regain control. Shelby merely nodded, hiding a smile. If Will was so insistent on attempting his show of dominance, she didn't care. She – and all the students – knew who was in power here. It was funnier to let him think he was in charge anyways.

"So anyways," Will continued, "by the year 2030, the reality is that more people will be speaking Spanish than any other language. The world is changing, the culture is changing, and that needs to be reflected in here. So for our next assignment, we're only doing songs written or performed by someone Latin, or of Latin descent. Or English songs performed bilingually."

"Ooh, I'm bilingual," Brittany piped up slyly, drawing a snicker from some of the other students.

Santana folded her arms. "Hold up. While I love that we're getting all Lima Sound Machine up here, why now?"

"Because, Santana, it's long overdue," Will said enthusiastically. "I love all things Latin! Latin food, Latin art, Latin people –"

"You don't know any Latin people."

Just in time, David Martinez made his entry, striding confidently into the room and speaking in quick Spanish. Not being able to speak the language, Shelby didn't catch much of it, but it looked like Will was just as lost. She was however more amused by the sudden alertness of much of the girls and even some of the boys. She could practically taste the teen hormones, and she couldn't even blame them because it really was kind of sexy.

Sugar had a wide, open-mouthed smile. "Cutest –"

"– Smile –" Brittany continued.

"– Ever," Artie concluded, before cocking his head in surprise. Meanwhile the straight boys were looking distinctly unimpressed. Ryan was glaring suspiciously at Quinn, who was clutching hands with Sugar and Brittany as the three girls gazed dreamily at David.

The more the Latino talked, the closer the girls were to drooling, not to mention Blaine and Kurt. Even Shelby was starting to fall into a bit of a trance. "A song sung in Spanish must have _duende,_ or else…" He made a slicing motion at his neck.

"Would you mind showing us?" Santana asked innocently.

"Oh dear God please say yes," Kurt mumbled. David looked questioningly at Will and Shelby, who nodded.

"Okay, I'm not a professional, but I'll give it a go," David smiled easily.

As he spoke to Brad and the band, Will turned to the students. "Guys, remember Mr. Martinez is our guest, so let's make a safe space for him, okay?"

As it turned out though, Will's warning was unnecessary, because David pulled off a wonderful bilingual performance of _I'm Sexy and I Know It,_ which granted may not have been the best song to sing to a bunch of horny teenagers, but everyone enjoyed it. Shelby glanced at Will. "You okay over there?" she questioned sotto voce.

"What? Y-yeah, of course." He tried to play it off, but Shelby could see him pale. "All right, everyone, let's give a round of applause for Mr. Martinez. Thank you, David. So guys, get your Spanish songs ready."

..

"Mr. Schuester didn't look particularly enthused with our presence this afternoon," Ryan commented as he sat eating dinner with Shelby and James that evening. His mother smirked.

"No, he didn't, did he?"

"What's this?" James inquired. "Are you working with Mr. Schuester again? I thought you were finally done with that."

"Mom suddenly decided it would be beneficial to spend a week merged with the New Directions again. Because last time went oh so well," he added sarcastically. He didn't like the fact that they were joining with the New Directions. Shelby had assured them that they could stop anytime, but still.

"Hey, no snark," Shelby admonished. She quickly told James about the afternoon. "It's an interesting assignment. It's certainly not something we considered when we were planning our set list. And it'll present a bit of a challenge for you guys to sing in something other than English for once. You're getting too complacent."

"Well, of course I'm more than up to the challenge," Ryan said haughtily. "In fact, Sam has already requested help from the boys for a group number in Spanish. I didn't actually take Spanish, but it should be interesting."

"What foreign language elective did you take?" James asked curiously.

"French," Ryan answered. "It was either that or Spanish, and I did my research. While Spanish is quickly becoming one of the most common languages in the country, our French teacher spent several years in France and is quite fluent in the language, while according to Santana, who is a fluent speaker, Mr. Schue's Spanish skills are approximately at the level of Dora the Explorer."

His parents both snorted at that. "Then maybe he shouldn't be teaching Spanish," James suggested.

Shelby shook her head. "That's public school for you. Honestly, I have no idea how Figgins chooses teachers; apparently some of the kids are convinced that Germany won the Second World War. Fortunately, Mrs. Halberg, the history teacher, is retiring."

"And I suppose your science teachers still believe in spontaneous generation?" James smirked.

"What language did you guys take?" Ryan asked.

"Italian," Shelby supplied. "It helps with music, and it came in handy when I got my Master's degree in New York, too. French helps too, though more for dancing, I think."

"Can you still speak it?"

"Not much, I'm pretty rusty."

"I took Spanish in high school," James said. "I can still speak it a bit. I picked up some Japanese too, like I can ask directions or where the bathroom is and some other stuff." Ryan smiled at that. "I learned some Italian when I was stationed there, and I picked up a lot of Arabic over the years. I can't speak it too well, but I can understand most of it."

"That's cool," Ryan commented. He shot Shelby a nasty look. "Apparently women go crazy for accents. You should have seen the girls today, they were pretty much ready to jump Mr. Martinez. Even Mom looked like she was ready to swoon." It was kind of disturbing.

"Was not!"

"Were you?" James looked at her suspiciously.

"I was not," Shelby insisted. "David is simply rather attractive, but I was most definitely not swooning."

"Uh-huh." James let it pass though, and Ryan frowned, confused. He'd thought there would have been a bit more reaction at the information that his mom had been rather enamored with the Latino visitor.

His preoccupation lasted until after dinner, when he ventured into the kitchen where James was loading the dishwasher. "Dad?"

James looked up. "Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." James started the dishwasher before turning to Ryan expectantly. "Shoot."

Ryan hesitated. "This is going to sound kind of weird," he started. "But… weren't you… mad… when Mom said she found Mr. Martinez attractive?"

James snorted. "Well, it's not the most pleasant thing to hear, but no, why would that make me mad? And she can look. We're both adults who can appreciate fine form. Besides, I'm pretty sure she's wearing my engagement ring."

"So… you… look at other people… besides Mom?" Ryan winced, highly uncomfortable with the topic, but there was something bothering him.

"I'm not sure I really get what you're asking here…"

"Do you find other people… other women… attractive?"

"Oh. Yeah, of course," James nodded.

"And Mom's okay with that? And you're okay with Mom finding other people attractive too?" Ryan ran a hand through his hair. "Isn't that sort of like cheating?"

"What?" James looked at him in surprise. "No! Look, no matter who you're with, you're going to see people who you think are attractive. Doesn't mean you're going to go hook up with them, or whatever. It's kind of natural to want to look at attractive people. But that doesn't mean you're any less attracted to your partner, or that you're going to be any less faithful." Now his hand swiped over his own hair. "Did it bother you that your Mom found Mr. Martinez attractive?"

"No… well, yes, kind of, it was sort of gross," Ryan admitted. "But… never mind. I just wanted to know if it bothered you. That's all. Thank you for answering my questions."

James offered him a bemused smile. "Okay. Did it help?"

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. "I think so."

* * *

"Are you planning on singing anything for the assignment?" Quinn asked Ryan the next day as they stopped at her locker for some books before class. She knew Sam was up to something, and Mercedes was too. She didn't really have anything in mind, but her boyfriend probably did. His answer surprised her though.

"No."

Quinn quirked an eyebrow at her unusually untalkative boyfriend. "That's it? Just no?"

"I don't speak Spanish," Ryan answered laconically. Quinn glanced up to see a rather put out expression on his face.

"What are you pouting about?"

"How about the huge cartoon hearts in your eyes yesterday when Mr. Martinez was talking?" Ryan finally shot. "You and the rest of the girls were just about ready to eat him alive yesterday!"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "That was nothing. Are you mad?" she asked, confused.

"Then how come when I so much as look at a lingerie magazine you're all over me?"

"Because –" she stopped short, lost for words. Ryan waited expectantly. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" he repeated. "Isn't that sort of a double standard?" He shook his head. "That's disappointing. I think I have the right to expect you to hold yourself to the same standard that you hold me to." He turned sharply, heading in the direction of his next class. Quinn watched him go, too surprised to stop him. She was just about to go after him when the bell rang, and she cursed under her breath as she hurried to Chemistry.

She might as well have not gone to class though, as she spent the entire session distractedly mulling over her conversation with Ryan. So what if she had reacted to Mr. Martinez? Everyone else had too. But now that Ryan had pointed it out, maybe it was unfair of her to expect him to keep his eyes to himself when other girls were around. And looking back on her reaction to Mr. Martinez, she could be honest enough to say that she would have hated it if Ryan had reacted that way to anyone else.

So he was right. It was a double standard. She was well familiar with those; her father had practically invented them after all. A sin was a sin unless Russell Fabray committed it. Then it was okay.

And the thought that she was turning into the same made her sick.

The bell rang again, ending the class and pulling her out of her thoughts. She slowly gathered up her things, one of the last students to leave the room.

"Hi Quinn!"

She glanced up to see Brittany beside her. The two blondes shared the Chemistry class, and Brittany's rather interesting concoctions were quite amusing. The latest one was a vial of pink goo that had given off blue smoke. "Hi Brittany."

"You look sad. How come you're sad?" Brittany asked inquisitively. Quinn didn't really feel like discussing it, but it was kind of hard to tell the bubbly girl so. Brittany looked at her knowingly. "Is he mad 'cause you had a crush on Mr. Martinez today?"

Quinn looked at her strangely. "How did you… never mind." Britts always knew stuff like that. Quinn was pretty sure that she was a lot smarter than she let on. "Yeah. That's pretty much it." After a beat, she continued. "He's sort of mad because I kind of chewed him out for the same thing a couple of months ago."

"He was looking at other girls?"

"More like a magazine."

"Oh. That's okay. Santana doesn't mind me looking, and I don't mind her looking either. Mr. Martinez was hot. Touching's not okay though. And sexytimes with other people are a definite no-no." Brittany tilted her head. "So you got mad at Ryan before?"

"Yeah."

Brittany nodded wisely. "Yeah, then I guess he'd be mad at you now too. I don't like it when Santana does stuff she tells me not to either. You should apologize."

Quinn smiled wryly. "I got that."

"Besides, it's kind of natural to look. I look all the time, especially if people are really pretty, you know? And like, Santana thinks that blonde actress on one of the crime shows is really hot. But I'm her favorite, so it's okay. And you're Ryan's favorite."

"That kind of makes sense." It made her feel doubly horrible now. She was probably the worst girlfriend in history.

"Of course, me and Santana have exceptions, you know, people we agreed on that it would be okay to have sexytimes with if we ever got the chance. For me it's –"

"Okay, I have to talk to Ryan," Quinn said hurriedly. She gave her friend a genuine smile though. "Thank you, Britts."

"Good luck with Ryan, Quinn!"

..

Ryan exited the men's room after school later that afternoon, still out of sorts after Mr. Martinez's arrival yesterday and his conversations with his girlfriend and his father. He wasn't at all pleased with Quinn's obvious crush on the Latino teacher. He knew it was a natural reaction – the man really was hot as all hell – but what rankled was the fact he knew she wouldn't tolerate the same from him. And after his talk with James, he didn't understand _why _she didn't.

"Ryan?"

He looked up, brow furrowing when he saw Quinn. "Yes?"

"Can we talk?" she asked, tone almost pleading. He nodded, and she tentatively took his hand, leading him into an empty classroom. He turned to face her, folding his arms. She sighed, looking down briefly before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

Ryan blinked, slightly surprised. He hadn't been expecting an apology so quickly. "Quinn –"

"Let me finish," she interrupted. "Look, I thought about it, and… you're right. I did hold you to a double standard, and it wasn't fair. I shouldn't have had that reaction this afternoon, and I'm really sorry." She crossed her arms. "I didn't react well when I saw you with that magazine."

"No, you didn't," Ryan answered dryly. He softened though, seeing the sincerity in her apology. "Why didn't you, anyways?" he asked. "Did you… are you worried that I'll cheat on you?" He hadn't been anything but faithful to her, and it stung to think that maybe she didn't trust him as much as he though.

"No, of course not," she declared, putting those thoughts to rest. "I know you wouldn't. It was just… reflex, I guess." She looked down. "That was just the way it always had been, with… Finn. And Puck, when I was pregnant."

"I'm not them."

"I know that." She took his hand again. "I swear. I know it's not an excuse. I messed up, I know that. I'm sorry."

Ryan's lips quirked up in a small smile. He could tell she was sincere, and it had probably been hard for her to apologize. It wasn't really something she did often. And he'd never be able to stay mad at her. "Okay. I forgive you." He pulled her into a hug, and she melted into him. "No more double standards, okay? For either of us."

"Got it." She breathed deeply into his chest. "I so do not deserve you."

"Lucky for you, I love you anyways." He chuckled. "I suppose we can't exactly control our crushes."

Quinn pulled away slightly. "I was talking to Brittany, and she said she and Santana have crushes too, but it's okay because they're… how did she put it… each other's favorites. And I just wanted to say that you're my favorite."

Ryan's smile widened at the words. "You're my favorite too."

"Good." She rocked forward to give him a kiss. Ryan's smile turned mischievous.

"Would now be a bad time to mention my other crushes?"

"Shush, you."

* * *

A couple of days later, Sue appeared in Shelby's office, as she was prone to do when she was bored or simply wanted to talk to someone. Shelby let the coach rant, busy grading a stack of papers.

"How do you even _do_ individual synchronized swimming? It's a complete travesty is what it is. And she actually had the nerve to come and insult my ability to bear a child. Sue Sylvester is in the prime of her life, and nobody, least of all a smart-mouthed bottle-blonde like Roz Washington!"

Shelby looked up in surprise. "You were serious about having a child?" She'd actually chalked Sue's revelation a couple of weeks ago up to one of the cheerleading coach's fits of insanity. Sue glared at her.

"Yes, and I swear if you ask 'with whose vagina?' I will bash your brains out with one of my cheerleading trophies."

The brunette wisely decided to skip that very question which had admittedly formed in her mind. Instead she moved on to the next. "With whom, may I ask? Since I highly doubt that even you have the capacity for parthenogenesis."

Sue relaxed back into the chair, satisfied that her womanhood was not being questioned a third time. Taking the question from Roz Washington and Tits McGee was more than enough. "I just took myself down to the sperm bank and took a look, but I am not impressed." She surveyed Shelby. "I don't suppose you'd want to lend me a bit of your man's baby gravy, would you?"

Shelby's eyes widened in surprise. "What? You don't even know him."

"Sure I do, he's your fiancé."

"Do you even know his name?"

"It escapes me at the moment."

"This is kind of inappropriate."

"Well, it was worth a shot," Sue conceded. "As for not knowing him, I don't think I really need to. After all I did do a full background check on him. But he's good enough to get that rock on your finger, so he must be something."

Shelby smiled, amused. "Did you just compliment my taste in men?"

"You did say that if Loverboy wasn't around you'd give me a shot, so obviously you have excellent taste," Sue replied drolly, and Shelby let out a chuckle.

"Of course you'd remember that little comment."

"I remember everything. But more than that, your kid is not altogether displeasing," the blonde continued. "A bit annoying sometimes, sure, but I guess that's your genes at play. So obviously your fiancé makes good babies."

"Thanks, I think." Shelby tilted her head. "Have you considered adopting instead of having a baby?"

"If this is a dig at my age –"

"No, I'm serious," Shelby interrupted. "I mean, you're going to be trying for IVF. That's expensive, to say the least. And it's not guaranteed to work; I did the procedure several times and it didn't take. And yes, let's face it, you're older than I was. I just think that if you're serious about this, you should at least consider it."

"Hmm. I'll think about it." Sue frowned thoughtfully. "Good thing you're here, otherwise I'd probably be soliciting donations from the students, or worse, asking Brillo-Head. I'll give it some thought. After I figure out just who lodged that formal complaint about my teaching skills."

Shelby looked up, intrigued. "Someone actually filed a complaint?"

"Yep. Kind of flattering, but incredibly inconvenient. It's not just me though, someone's put in a complaint about Butt-Chin. 'Tis the season, apparently." Sue leaned forward, tapping the desk. "I should get going. Kids to torture, man-children to antagonize, you know how it is."

Shelby simply saluted Sue with her pen as the coach saw herself out.

* * *

The rest of the week passed by surprisingly quickly with a flurry of songs in Spanish, with the assignment culminated in today's performances which were a competition of sorts between Mr. Schue and David Martinez. To everyone's surprise, David had sung _La Isla Bonita_ with Santana, accompanied by some very sultry salsa dancing. It practically oozed Latin authenticity, and everyone waited expectantly for Mr. Schue to 'defend his Spanish teacher honor,' as Santana had put it.

Needless to say, when Mr. Schue had gotten up onstage in a shiny matador outfit, everyone was a bit wary, something that proved to be prescient when he performed a bilingual version of _A Little Less Conversation_.

The performance caused Santana to give him a spectacularly brutal dressing down on his perpetuation of stereotypes, and the following Monday, news broke that Will Schuester was no longer teaching Spanish, and that the post had been taken up by David Martinez. Mr. Schue was now teaching History instead, with a lot more aptitude than he did for Spanish. The news wasn't of particular interest to Ryan or Quinn though, and there was a new event coming up.

"Valentine's Day is on Friday," Ryan noted as they headed to glee rehearsals. "Did you have anything special in mind?"

Quinn hummed. "I don't know. Maybe we could just stay in?" she drawled suggestively as he opened the door for her.

Ryan grinned, quickly sitting down and pulling her down onto his lap. "I think we can do that." Quinn smiled back, wrapping her arms around him as she caught his lips in a kiss. Ryan sighed happily as her lips caressed his, and he was more than ready to deepen it when a voice called them back to reality.

"Okay, kids, knock it off before I bring out the spray bottle," Shelby instructed as she strode into the room, throwing a mildly disgusted face at the two of them. It wasn't just Ryan and Quinn though, Mike and Tina were being just as obnoxious, and Santana and Brittany practically eating each other's faces off. Shelby glanced around the room. "Who decorated?"

Ryan looked around the room, which was in fact decorated with paper cut-out hearts and cupids. "Uh, I don't know," he said vaguely as Quinn climbed off his lap, smoothing a hand down his chest with a smirk as she did.

"I think the AV club did the whole school," Tina volunteered.

"No, I hired people to do it," Sugar said brightly, skipping to the front of the room. "V-Day is my fave day ever. So everyone, look under your chairs." She looked at the expectantly, and everyone leaned down to look under their chairs. Ryan and everyone else started pulling out red heart-shaped box of chocolates from under their seats. "You're welcome. And to help me celebrate, my daddy's throwing me a huge, ridic party at Breadstix. Aaaand I'm naming it the Sugar Shack. Aaaand you're all invited!" She paused, and the Troubletones started clapping uncertainly. "But… you have to bring a date. No single people allowed. They're sad, and boring, and they don't exist in my world."

"Aren't you single?" someone pointed out.

"Not for long," Sugar giggled. Ryan glanced at her strangely, shaking his head. He looked to his side, smiling as Quinn shot him a smile of her own. He had no problem whatsoever with Sugar's 'no-singles' rule.

* * *

"Dinner was amazing, Judy," Ryan said sincerely as he finished an early Valentine's Day dinner a few days later with Quinn and her mother. It had been a good V-Day, with Ryan naturally serenading Quinn. He was surprised though when she sang for him as well, making the day perfect in his books. Judy waved him off.

"Oh, stop it," she laughed at him. Quinn rolled her eyes indulgently. Her mom was obviously flattered by the praise. All in all, she was enamored with Ryan, and Quinn suspected that if she and Ryan decided to get married and have a slew of grandchildren right this instant, Judy wouldn't object. "And it wasn't all my doing," the older blonde continued. "Quinnie here helped too."

"Is that right, Quinnie?" Ryan grinned.

Quinn sent him a mock glare. "Only my mother gets to call me that," she informed him. "And Santana, but only because she's the devil."

Ryan laughed. "Well, regardless, it was excellent. Thank you so much for inviting me, Judy."

"I'm the one who invited you," Quinn grumbled.

"It's polite to thank the host, Quinn," Ryan chided playfully before turning back to Judy. "I'll help with the clean-up."

He was really playing it up, Quinn noted, narrowing her eyes as Judy waved him off. She had to wonder what was going on. Suddenly Judy checked her watch. "I almost forgot!" she exclaimed. "Frannie wants to use that Skype thingie, she said she has something to tell us."

"Oh." Quinn nodded. Her relationship with her sister was slowly getting better, and it would be nice to hear from her. "Okay, I'll go set up the laptop." She had it ready to go, and she left it with Judy for a moment, heading to the kitchen to get Ryan, who was putting the dishes in the sink. "Come on," she instructed. "We need to get back before Mom blows the laptop up or something."

Ryan chuckled. "I doubt that."

"Trust me, Mom and technology do not mix." Sure enough, when the two teens got back to Judy, she was sitting with her face about two inches away from the webcam.

"Frannie?" she asked at twice the normal speaking volume. "Can you hear me?"

Ryan stifled a laugh as Quinn rolled her eyes. She tugged her mom back from the webcam. "Mom, you just need to sit in front of the laptop like a normal person," she said patiently, trading an exasperated look with her sister. "Frannie can hear you just fine."

"She's right," Frannie agreed. "Nice to see you, Lucy."

Quinn rolled her eyes again at her sister's stubborn refusal to let go of her old name. She smiled slightly though. "You too. So what's the big news?"

"Well, I just wanted to tell you and Mom that Cooper and I are going to be back in Ohio in a couple of weeks," Frannie said brightly. "And we are holding our engagement party there!"

Judy gasped in delight. "That would be perfect!" she gushed.

Frannie looked at Quinn. "And… I wanted to know if you'd be my maid of honor."

Quinn's eyebrows rose. "I… really?"

"Yeah. Who else would I ask?"

Quinn smiled slowly. "I… yeah. Yeah, okay. Thanks."

Frannie beamed at her. "Perfect." After a few more minutes of chitchat, talk turned to party plans, and Quinn started to zone out. Soon Frannie and Judy shooed her and Ryan both out. "You've got that party to go to, don't you?" Judy reminded. "You go on, I've got this."

"Yeah, go on, Quinn, unless you want to decide on the chairs we're going to use," Frannie teased.

Quinn didn't need to be told twice. She led Ryan up to her room, shutting the door behind them. Judy, bless her heart, hadn't quite had the sense to institute an open-door policy, and Quinn wasn't going to be the one to remind her. Ryan smiled. "I'm happy for your sister."

"So am I," Quinn agreed, before moving on to other matters. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You were buttering up my mother and I want to know why."

"Can't a guy try to win brownie points from his girlfriend's mom?"

"Any more brownie points and she's going to try and marry you herself."

Ryan laughed at her. "Well, she is beautiful," he acknowledged. "I can certainly see where you inherited your looks. But she's a little old for me. Besides," he smiled mischievously, stepping towards Quinn, "I can see someone I like much more right here."

He moved forward again, and Quinn felt her back hit the door. She shivered a bit at how close he was, licking her lips. Having him this close always did things to her, and she couldn't help the spike of arousal that shot through her at his closeness. "That still doesn't explain why you were l-laying it on that thick." She bit her lip as he leaned in, his arms surrounding her.

"Well," he said slowly, hands running idly up and down her bare arms. "I may have neglected to tell you that my parents left this evening on an overnight couple's getaway." He bent his head down, his face brushing against her hair. "So I have the house all to myself until tomorrow afternoon. And I thought that maybe if your mom was in a good mood, she could be convinced to let you spend the evening – and the night, and the morning – with me."

Quinn shuddered, suppressing a moan at the thought of all the lovely things they could do in an empty house. "I'm pretty sure she'd agree regardless," she husked, her hands resting against his waist. "She loves you, after all." She smiled. "And so do I."

His smile widened, turning genuine. "That's good," he whispered. "So, what do you say we head over to Breadstix – I'm sorry, the _Sugar Shack_ – earlier, so we can leave early too?" He smiled at her slyly. "We can get to our own private little V-Day celebration." His voice dropped to a low rumble by the end, his lips dipping down to graze against her neck.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Quinn breathed out, giggling when he pushed a lock of her hair out of the way. "We should –" Her voice hitched as he sucked on her pulse point. "Maybe we should, you know, go – ohh…" Her head fell back against the door with a soft thump as his lips slid lower towards her chest. "Ry – Ry, my mom's outside –"

He didn't respond. Suddenly Quinn let out a moan as his leg pressed between hers, positioned perfectly against her throbbing center. She rocked forward, only to have him pull away entirely, leaving her blinking at him in surprise at the sudden loss.

"You're right," he agreed. "Judy's just outside, and we should really get to the Sugar Shack. You're singing after all; you should get there in time for a quick soundcheck and proper vocalization." He stepped back, eyes glinting mischievously, and Quinn stared at him.

"You are a tease," she accused.

"I learned from the best," Ryan smiled charmingly, and she felt her heart flutter despite herself. "Besides," he leaned forward. "Think of it as a preview for later tonight," he whispered against her ear, nearly melting her into a puddle right there. "So let's get going," he said brightly, leaning back again. He smirked. "Unless you need to change out of your underwear."

Quinn growled at him. "Out." She all but shoved him out of the room. Ryan was laughing as he left, and Quinn shut the door behind him.

She was hardly going to admit to his face that he was right.

..

A fifteen-minute drive later, the two of them pulled up to Breadstix, which proclaimed _Sugar Shack _on a large portable marquee. "Looks like Mr. Motta went all out," Quinn observed as Ryan helped her out of the car.

"Looks like," Ryan agreed, observing the almost-violent red decorations inside the restaurant. There were a few people there already, milling around as they waited for the event to start. "Look, Kurt's here."

"Is that Blaine?" Quinn asked, referring to the person Kurt was sharing a booth with.

"No way, he's too big, and Blaine's still recovering." Ryan squinted. "Is that Dave Karofsky?"

Kurt's companion suddenly stood up, starting to leave the restaurant, and Ryan saw that it was in fact Karofsky. It was a surprise, since the ex-Titan had transferred that year. Karofsky paused to talk to someone near the entrance before hurrying out, brushing past Ryan and Quinn. "That was weird," Quinn commented.

Ryan was about to comment as well when Sugar hurried up to them, squealing happily. "You guys came!" She hugged them both before dragging them to the stage. "We've got everything all set up," she said excitedly. "Tonight's going to be amazing!"

"I'm sure it will be," Ryan said encouragingly, Karofsky quickly forgotten as he glanced at the door. "Look, people are already coming in." He checked his watch. "What time are we starting?"

"In 30 minutes."

"Perfect, that's just enough time for a sound check," Ryan beamed, taking Quinn's hand and pulling her onto the stage.

"And I suppose you're going to sing with me for practice?" Quinn arched an eyebrow in amusement.

"I can't let my gorgeous girlfriend sing alone, even if it's just a rehearsal," Ryan agreed, picking up a microphone.

..

Sugar's party was quite a rousing success. Everyone had a good time, and to everyone's surprise and delight, Blaine had showed up midway through the evening, finally recovered enough to leave the house and sing a lively rendition of _Love Shack_. True to their plans, Ryan and Quinn cut out about an hour early though, giggling their way to Ryan's car. "I thought you guys were awesome," Ryan said animatedly. Quinn had sung with the God Squad, a sort of Chastity Club 2.0 that Mercedes had dragged Quinn into the other day. Sam was in it, as well as another guy. "Who was the new kid with dreadlocks?"

"Oh, that's Joe," Quinn answered. "He just transferred in, I think he's a sophomore." Joe was sort of weird, but nice. And from the way he'd been looking at her, he had a bit of a crush.

"He was pretty good, do you think he'd be interested in joining the Troubletones?"

"I'll ask," Quinn said, amused.

"I of course thought you were the best," Ryan smiled, taking her hand. "Your tendency to go sharp has decreased drastically, due I'm sure to my assistance and insistence on proper vocal technique."

Quinn had to laugh at that. In the past she would have found it obnoxious, but now it was just one of the quirks that made him all the more endearing. "I'm sure." She turned her head, watching him affectionately as he drove.

He looked at her sideways. "What?"

"I just think you're really beautiful, that's all."

His lips quirked up in a small, amused smile, and Quinn let out a quiet sigh knowing he didn't completely believe her, his self-esteem damaged by years of constant derision. It was okay, she'd just have to convince him over time.

Presently they reached Ryan's house, the windows dark except for one in the kitchen. Ryan quickly parked, leading her into the house. "Wait here," he told her, smiling over his shoulder as he hurried up the stairs. Quinn watched him go in bemusement, shaking her head as she went into the kitchen for a quick glass of water. She quickly noticed a note on the fridge.

_Ryan,_

_Don't forget to lock up the house before you and Quinn go to bed. There are leftovers in the fridge. Clean up after yourselves. Love you._

_Mom and Dad_

_PS - e__xtra condoms are in our room ;)_

_Dad_

Quinn couldn't quite figure out whether to smile or blush.

"Quinn?"

"Kitchen," she called back. Ryan quickly appeared, looking at the note.

"What's that?" he questioned. Quinn moved aside to let him read the note, smiling when he blushed. "Oh my God," he hissed, face-palming.

"Mmm," Quinn nodded. "They seem to be embracing the 'embarrassing parent' act pretty well." Ryan groaned, pulling down the note. "At least they're supportive," she noted wryly.

"You know what, never mind," Ryan groused.

Quinn shook her head, putting the note out of her mind. "What were you doing?"

That quickly took his mind off the note, and he smiled. "Nothing," he answered vaguely. "Just tidying up my room." He moved closer, offering her a charming smile. "So," he continued. "What do you want to do? We've got the house all to ourselves."

Quinn smiled back at him innocently. "I don't know, I guess we could play Scrabble or something…"

"What?" He stared at her, and she laughed.

"You are too easy sometimes," she accused, hooking her fingers into his collar and pulling him towards her for a kiss. She felt his lips smile against hers as his hand rose to cup her cheek, the touch warm against her skin. She traced her tongue along his bottom lip before pulling away ever so slightly. "Upstairs?"

He nodded, his smile still etched on his face as he took her hand and led her up the stairs and into his room, where she paused, the light of a small multitude of candles greeted her, decorating most of the room. She turned to Ryan in surprise.

"I wanted to set the mood," he said a bit shyly. "Don't worry, I've made sure to set them away from any possible flammable sources such as paper or curtains, and they're tealights so they'll go out by themselves once they run out. I –"

Quinn shook her head, silencing him with her lips on his again. "Consider the mood completely set," she assured him breathily. She tilted her head back for a second. "I would have thought you'd go for rose petals, actually."

Her boyfriend pouted. "Mom and Dad only told me they were going to be out yesterday, and I didn't have enough time."

She had to laugh at that, running her finger across his lips to smooth his frown out. "Never mind. This is more than sufficient."

"Well, I always aim to please." He smiled mischievously. "Now, I think we should get back to where we were earlier this evening." He moved forward suddenly, pressing her back against the door. She breathed in sharply as he kissed her lightly on the lips before tracing her jawline with his lips, his breath hot on her skin, the heat spreading through her entire body as she pressed against him with a moan.

"You know, the bed's right t-there," she stuttered as he moved to the sensitive spot on her neck. Ryan grinned against her neck.

"You're right," he agreed, before bending down to pick her up, easily depositing her onto the bed on her back. She blinked in surprise as he appeared over her, hovering just on top of her. "Is this better?"

"Much."

He grinned, reaching behind her, struggling with her zipper for a moment, trying futilely to get her dress off. Her shaking wasn't really helping, and he realized she was laughing. "Well, I'm glad you're so amused," he told her, trying and failing to get annoyed. "Quinn," he whined as she laughed. Taking pity on him, she helped him get her dress off, slipping out of it and tossing it to the floor. She looked back at him, blushing slightly as his eyes roved hungrily over her. She never failed to take his breath away, and the sight of her like this was one of his favorites, because he was the only one who got to see her like this.

He resumed his position between her legs, quickly slipping out of his shirt before lowering himself to kiss her again, lips barely brushing against hers. He felt a hand moving to tangle into his hair, the other one snaking up his back, pulling him down. He chuckled. "In a hurry?"

A challenge sparkled in her eyes. "Aren't you?"

While there was a part of him that wanted nothing more than to be inside her right this instant, he kind of wanted to draw this out. After all, "We've got all the time in the world." He leaned down, claiming her mouth with his. Their lips molded against each other's perfectly. He reached behind her as she arched up, fumbling with the clasps. He wasn't nervous, they'd done this too many times for him to be, but every brush of his body against hers had her moaning and it was driving him to distraction. He tugged the bra off completely, smiling at the beautiful sight. "You are so gorgeous," he murmured, angling down to press his lips against her chest, trailing kisses lower and lower until he managed to latch onto one hard nipple.

"Yess," she hissed, arching into him even more. Ryan smiled, swirling around her with his tongue as he dipped his hand into her underwear, making her jerk against him. His smile widened at the wetness he found, and he dipped his finger in slightly before pulling back out, dragging the wetness up his girlfriend's body. Quinn shuddered against him. "Ry, I need you inside," she rasped. "Now."

He contemplated dragging it out a bit more before nodding. "Okay." They had all night after all. He tugged at her underwear, Quinn arching up to help him get it off and rubbing herself against him in the process. She quickly dragged him back up to her lips, pulling him down on top of her as she worked to open his pants. Ryan quickly took them off, along with his own underwear, kicking them off the bed. Never breaking their kiss, he reached out to fumble in the bedside drawer for a condom that he hurriedly put on. Drawing back with a gasp, he positioned himself. "Okay."

She nodded frantically, and he let out a soft moan as he let himself sink into her, slipping deeper and deeper until he was in to the hilt, Quinn gasping and squirming under him. He shut his eyes, basking in the pleasure of being inside her for a moment before pulling out and quickly pushing back in. He hissed as Quinn raked her hand down his back, leaving a stinging trail.

He didn't care though, the slight sting sending his blood roaring louder, and he shivered in pleasure, pulling out before driving back in. Quinn gasped, throwing her head back, and Ryan quickly latched onto her neck, relishing the soft, breathy whimpers she gave as he drove in again and again.

"Ry – I'm so close –"

Ryan redoubled his efforts. He knew she was close, he could feel it, and with one final thrust she came apart around him, screaming his name as her nails dug into his back. "Oh God, Quinn," he groaned, the squeezing of her walls around him too much to handle, and he came as well, spots dancing in his eyes as he lost himself in his pleasure.

Slowly calming down, he gently pulled out of her, absently removing the condom and throwing it in the bin. Quinn's eyes were still shut, her chest heaving, and Ryan reached out, stroking a finger down her chest. She twitched, opening her eyes hazily. He studied her for a moment before smiling a bit mischievously.

"What's that look for?" Her eyes narrowed, only to widen again as he quickly dipped down, latching his mouth onto her clit. "Fuck," she wheezed, head snapping back as she clutched desperately at the sheets. "Ryan – Ryan – God, _fuck_ –"

Smug elation rushed through him at her reaction, and he busied himself with licking up every drop of wetness, an impossible task as she grew wetter and wetter as he continued. That was just fine with him though, and he pushed two fingers into her clenching hole as he sucked at her clit, sending her toppling over the edge again. The screams leaving her lips were absolutely filthy, and Ryan grinned, poking his head up to watch as she shook through her orgasm. He pulsed his fingers into her gently, helping her ride it out. "You have a very filthy mouth, Quinn," he commented idly.

"You – you bring it out in me," she panted out. Ryan chuckled, sliding up her body to give her a kiss.

"Just me?"

"Always."

Ryan smiled, tipping himself onto the bed so that he wasn't crushing her. Instead her slipped an arm around her waist, burying his face into her neck as he breathed her in. He pressed a gently kiss to the column of her neck, in awe as always that he was lucky enough to have this beautiful, intelligent, amazing person to hold.

"That was hot," Quinn breathed out, turning her head to look at him with a lazy, sated smile. Ryan grinned.

"Good." They laid there for several comfortable minutes before Quinn suddenly pushed him onto his back, rolling so that she was on top of him now. Ryan blinked up, heat suddenly rushing through him as she smirked sexily.

"I think I'm up for some more," she purred, reaching down to stroke at him. He gasped quietly, quickly hardening again in her hand. Thank God for teenage recovery time.

..

"Okay, okay, I'm good," Quinn panted, falling back onto the pillows. She was exhausted, having come multiple times already. Ryan slumped back next to her, a happy smile on his face. They were well into the wee hours of the morning, and maybe they should get some rest.

"Okay," he agreed breathlessly. He was tired, absolutely drained, but he was so happy that he was pretty sure his smile was stuck on him by now. Not to mention he was quite pleased with himself or the number of times he'd gotten his girlfriend to come. "Sleep now."

"Mmm." They snuggled together for a moment, each simply basking in the afterglow, lost in each other. "Ry?"

"Yeah?"

"I am so happy right now."

His lips curved up into a smile. "Me too."

"Ry?" she asked again.

"Hmm?"

She was quiet for a moment. "Do you feel like we're too happy? Like… this is too good to be true sometimes?"

He didn't respond, and she almost thought he had fallen asleep when… "I don't know. Maybe. Like everything can't possibly be this good forever, and we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop?"

"Exactly." They both had less-than-ideal pasts, and they'd both had their worlds pulled out from under them at some point. Maybe it was natural to feel like this, and she told him so. They were both silent for a moment, before she felt his hand interlock with hers.

"All I know is that I love you," he said softly. "I am so happy right now; it seems like everything's going right for once. And I know that could change, but…" He squeezed her hand. "I think we can get through it if we're together."

Quinn smiled faintly, moving closer to him. "Okay." She reached up, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Quinn."

* * *

Several days later, everyone was back at school. Ryan was talking to Mike about one of their dance lessons when Santana appeared. "You're taking dance lessons from Asian #2?" she smirked.

"Yeah, why?" Ryan asked defensively. Mike looked just as indignant. Santana shrugged.

"I don't know, but I suppose it makes sense," she conceded. "Better bulk up those guns though, I'm pretty sure you're actually going to have to lift entire people in the air when you take up real dancing."

"I'm pretty sure I have that covered."

"Oh please," Santana scoffed. "Those scrawny little arms of yours wouldn't last ten seconds at the bottom of the Cheerios pyramid." Just in time, Quinn came along, and Santana smirked. "I bet you couldn't even lift Quinnie's skinny little ass."

"Nice to see you too, Santana," Quinn drawled. "What's this about my ass?"

Ryan huffed. "Santana seems to doubt the strength of my 'guns,' by which I assume she means my prowess in performing dance lifts. She doesn't believe that I can in fact lift well over my own body weight if I wanted to."

"No, I don't believe it," Santana interjected. She looked at Quinn. "I told him I bet he couldn't lift you."

"I can too," Ryan insisted. "Watch." With that, he swooped down, lifting Quinn into a bridal hold. Quinn let out a squeak of surprise, clutching at his shoulders in surprise.

Santana nodded. "Well, color me impressed."

"As much as I appreciate being used as a barbell substitute, you can put me down now," Quinn huffed. Ryan quickly obliged, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I've been texting you all morning, didn't you get them?"

Ryan sheepishly ran his hand over his hair. "I silenced my phone yesterday," he admitted. "It kept ringing."

"Your prank caller?"

He nodded. "You'd think he'd find someone else to annoy," he grumbled. He was about to say more when Mercedes and Tina walked up to the group, both looking extremely stricken. "What's up, ladies?"

The two looked at each other, both clutching their phones. "Guys…" Mercedes said slowly. "It's all over social media. Dave Karofsky just tried to commit suicide."

* * *

**And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the latest chapter. It appears that I have been gone for a while, and that is because I have been on a work-related trip which consumed approximately two weeks of my time. But I'm back and I have the next chapter mostly planned out, so it shouldn't take me as long to get it out, fingers crossed. Plus, I've mashed two episodes into this chapter, so hopefully that makes up for my absence.**

**Anyways, glad to see the previous chapter was well-received. I've heard from a few people looking for more conflict and angst. Is the story getting to peaceful? Never fear, I'll probably oblige that request pretty soon, because as everyone probably knows, we're coming up on the episode On My Way. I won't spoil it though ;)**

**Get ready for a bit of angst next chapter as we head into the mess that is OMW. I hope you liked this chapter; ignore any typos. And as always, I'd be delighted to hear your thoughts. That's all for now!**


	87. Chapter 86

_Mercedes and Tina walked up to the group, both looking extremely stricken. "What's up, ladies?"_

_The two looked at each other, both clutching their phones. "Guys…" Mercedes said slowly. "It's all over social media. Dave Karofsky just tried to commit suicide."_

For a second everything was silent. Ryan stood there frozen, reeling from the news. Soon everyone else was on their phones, checking their social media accounts. "W-what happened?" he asked.

Tina shook her head. "They don't know yet. It was… It happened yesterday evening, and they took him to the hospital. He's still there."

Ryan just stood there, numb as the others continued the discussion in hushed voices. He remembered seeing Karofsky at Breadstix just a few short days ago. Sure, he had been acting a bit strangely, but Ryan hadn't paid attention, and he'd forgotten all about Karofsky until right now. He wondered what had happened to push Karofsky to do it.

He suspected he knew though, and it was confirmed a second later by Mercedes.

"He was talking to Kurt on Valentine's Day," she said. "Apparently… Karofsky's gay. And someone from his school overheard and told everybody."

Well, that would do it. Ryan swallowed reflexively, mind automatically imagining just what Karofsky had felt. He'd been on the verge of panicking when Ryan had revealed that he knew his secret last year, and he could imagine the despair Karofsky would have gone through now that he was forcibly outed. Involuntarily his mind cast back to freshman year, when he'd been the one bullied by Karofsky and the rest of the school, remembering just how dark and hopeless it had been. It had been horrible, and he wouldn't wish it on anyone, even Karofsky. He was all too aware though of just how much pain Karofsky had to have been in to have attempted what he did.

He'd almost done it too after all.

"Ryan? Are you okay?"

His eyes refocused at Quinn's voice, and he looked at her in confusion. He hadn't even realized how lost he was in his own thoughts. "What?"

"The bell just rang," Quinn repeated. He looked around, and sure enough, the rest of the group had scattered to their respective homerooms. "What are you doing?"

He glanced down to see his right hand rubbing absently at his left wrist, just brushing over the thin scar that resided there. He pulled his hand away immediately. "Nothing." He shook himself. "We… we should get to class."

Quinn looked at him for a moment before nodding, and they headed to class.

..

Later that day Shelby sighed softly as the bell rang, dismissing her last class. She picked up her things and headed back to her office as soon as the kids left. The whole school was buzzing with the news of Dave Karofsky's attempted suicide. The faculty had been briefed, and the students informed that Miss Pillsbury was available if any of them needed to talk.

She'd overheard quite a bit though, and public sentiment was negative towards Karofsky and his newly revealed sexuality. At its core, this school was still homophobic, and it showed.

More than that though, she was concerned about Ryan. Knowing his history, she wasn't sure how this news had affected him. She'd seen him earlier, but he'd been quiet, and they hadn't had more than a few minutes before they both had to go to class.

She passed Sue Sylvester's office, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the cheerleading coach reclining in front of her desk, looking out the window. Shelby paused, leaning into her office. "You okay in there?"

"Hello, Broadway," Sue acknowledged. She swung her gaze at Shelby, gesturing at the seat opposite her. "Sit a spell."

Shelby paused for a moment before complying, sensing something off with the other teacher. "Sue, are you crying?"

Sue shook her head, though Shelby could clearly see her eyes shimmering. "It's the hormones. I have news. Ready?" She cleared her throat. "I, Sue Sylvester, am with child."

Shelby stared at her in shock. "You actually went through with it? When? Who's the father?"

"I can't tell you that. And right now the bovine hormones I'm on have heightened my sense of smell to supernatural levels, and I am more nauseous than that time I passed by the slaughterhouse on highway 86."

"Okay," Shelby said slowly. "Wow. Um, congratulations, I suppose."

Sue nodded. "I just can't stop thinking," she said quietly. "I knew something was off with Dave Karofsky when we were having that trouble with Porcelain, I knew it. I could have done something, and now I just can't stop thinking of his dad finding him like that…" She rested a hand on her stomach. "I can't imagine that happening to this kid."

Shelby's jaw clenched as she forced herself not to think of it ever happening to Ryan. "We all could have done something last year," she said at last. "It's too late now. All we can do is be more vigilant, to keep this from happening again." She stood up. "I should get going."

"Do you have any advice for the nausea?" Sue questioned. "It's either you or Quinn Fabray, and it's demeaning to ask my ex-student for help. Plus she'd just give me that stupid wide-eyed look and some ridiculous, patronizing advice."

Shelby snorted softly as she exited the office. "Saltines and Seven-Up."

She continued towards her own office, and she opened her door fully intending to go find her son as soon as she put her stuff down, but she didn't need to, as he was already inside, sitting on the couch. "Oh good, you're here," she said, setting her papers on the desk. "I wanted to talk to you." She looked at him when he didn't answer. "Ryan? Ryan, what's wrong?" She quickly sat down next to him, anxiously looking him over. He was trembling almost imperceptibly, and her worry rose. "Ryan?"

Instead of replying, he fumbled with his phone, jabbing at it shakily. Shelby frowned, confused, until a voice call recording started to play, a panicked male voice speaking.

"_Look, man, I know I've been a real dick the past few weeks with all the phone calls, but I just – I couldn't make myself talk. And now – now it's everywhere, and I can't do this! I don't have anyone! I don't know what to do, I need – I need –"_ The speaker cut himself off abruptly, and Shelby thought the recording was over when he spoke again, his voice calmer. _"I know you don't owe me anything, especially – especially after all that crap I did to you. I am so sorry, Ryan." _The voice almost broke. _"I know what I did to you was worse. And I just… I'm sorry."_

The voice recording cut off abruptly, and the automated voice started reciting the usual spiel of whether to save the message or discard it. Shelby looked at Ryan, confused. "Who –"

"It was Dave Karofsky." Shelby froze.

"There were three missed calls before that. He's been calling me for weeks," Ryan said stonily. "He was the one I thought had been leaving prank calls." Shelby's breath caught, remembering what he had told her about his prank caller. "I gave him my number before class started last summer. I told him if he needed someone… But I got so fed up with all those calls that I stopped answering." He swallowed. "If I hadn't left my phone, if I had just picked up –"

"No, no, stop," Shelby cut him off firmly. "Hey, look at me. Look at me." She put a hand on his face, guiding him to look at her. Pained eyes met hers, and she swallowed as well. "This is not your fault," she said fiercely. "Do you understand?"

"You don't know that, maybe I could have –"

"No. This is not your fault." She needed to get that through to him right now. "If you had answered that phone, I don't know what would have happened. Maybe it would have been different. But this was his decision. Not yours. Do you understand?"

She focused intently on him until he nodded shakily, taking in a deep breath. "I understand."

"Good."

"I – I want to go to the hospital. I need to see him. Will you take me?"

Shelby nodded silently, standing to put together her things. The two fell into a silence that followed them to Shelby's car, all the way to Lima Memorial.

..

They sat quietly in the waiting room when the nurse at reception told them that Karofsky was with a doctor, and that they'd have to wait for permission. After several minutes of waiting Shelby said gently, "Maybe we should come back tomorrow, when he's had some more time."

Ryan shook his head adamantly. "I need to see him."

"Why? Is it because you still think it's your fault?"

He shook his head again. "Because I need to know…" He swallowed. "Because if nobody's there for him… you know I almost – I almost –" He shut his eyes, blowing out a breath. "That could have been me. Less than three years ago that could have been me in a hospital bed. And I need someone to care about David, because I would have wanted someone, anyone, to have cared about me."

Wordlessly, Shelby nodded, and they resumed their wait.

"There wouldn't have been anyone, you know."

"Sorry?"

"If I had gone through with it," he said quietly. "There wouldn't have been anyone waiting for me in the hospital. They weren't home that week, and my friends were nonexistent. I probably wouldn't have even made it to the hospital since no one would have come looking, I probably would have –"

"_Stop._" Shelby shut her eyes tightly, the word sharp. "Please. Stop."

Ryan fell silent. "I'm sorry."

"Don't. Don't say you're sorry. It wasn't your fault." _It was mine. I was so stupid to have left you, it's my fault I almost lost you forever. _She didn't know what she would have done if he had gone through with it.

"The bullying hasn't even stopped," Ryan said. "I looked at the social media sites, and people are still posting all these… these _hateful_ comments on his Facebook and Twitter."

Shelby stayed silent, bile rising up in her throat as she wondered how she would have found out if the worst had happened. Social media? Would the Berrys have called her? Would she even have known until December of 2012? She'd had every intention of finding him once he turned 18; would she have found a gravestone instead?

Just then a nurse approached them, saying that Dave Karofsky had agreed to see Ryan. Ryan looked at her questioningly, and she put on a small smile, nodding at him to go. He left, and Shelby drew in a ragged breath, burying her face in her hands.

"Shelby?"

Her head jerked up as she heard her name. James was standing a few feet away, looking at her in concern. She just stared at him for a moment, and he crouched down in front of her. "What happened? Why are you crying? Is Ryan okay?"

The rapid-fire questions yanked her out of her stupor, and she brought a hand to her cheek, realizing that she was crying. She shook her head. "No, no," she got out. "Ryan's fine. It's just…" She drew in another deep breath.

James got up, sitting down next to her. "Are you okay? Are you having an asthma attack?" She shook her head again. "What's going on?"

Shelby swallowed. "Did you hear about the suicide attempt yesterday?" He nodded. "It was Dave Karofsky. You remember, he's the one Ryan got in a fight with, when we all ended up at the principal's office last year?"

"Oh," James realized.

Shelby continued to explain what had happened, about Ryan finally finding out the identity of his mystery caller. "So he asked me to take him here," she said. "Because he wanted to… he wanted Dave to know that there was someone who cared. And then he started talking… about how there wouldn't have been anyone for him if he had tried back then… and how he thought he would have finished the job, because there wasn't anyone who would have stopped him…" She choked back a sob, glancing at James, her devastation mirrored in his face.

He reached out, wrapping her in a hug. She quickly burrowed into him, holding him tight. "It's – it's okay," he managed to get out. "He's fine, he didn't, he's still here. He's okay."

"He said he wouldn't have even made it to the _hospital_," she cried. "He – he would have died alone in that house, and I wouldn't have been able to do anything, and it would have been all my fault, _because I'm the one who left him there_!"

She clung to him as he tightened his hold on her, rubbing a hand against her back. She could feel him shaking though, and she knew he was just as affected as she was. Worse, maybe, because back then, he hadn't even known he _had_ a kid. "He's okay," he repeated, trying to reassure both of them. "He's alive, he's fine. And we're not going to let that happen ever again."

Shelby could hear the absolute promise in his voice, and she nodded into his chest, starting to calm down. They would do everything in their power to make sure their son was healthy, and happy, and that he would have the best life he could possibly have. "Okay." She took one more shuddering breath, clinging to his support. "Okay."

..

Ryan hesitated in front of the door to Karofsky's room before knocking. Maybe it was a bad idea, maybe Karofsky didn't want to see anyone. He had agreed to see Ryan though, so it shouldn't be a problem.

He entered the room, taking in the sight of Karofsky laid out on the hospital bed. It was strange, seeing him there. For most of Ryan's life, Karofsky had been the big, mean bully, first on the playground, then in grade school classrooms, and finally in the halls of McKinley. Now though, he looked smaller than life, pale and defeated against the sterile hospital-issue sheets.

"Are you just going to stand there?"

Ryan blinked, coming to his senses. "I… no," he fumbled, body moving on autopilot to sit down tentatively on a nearby chair. "I… how are you doing?" He flinched. "Obviously not well, I meant…" He trailed off. Now that he was really here, he had no idea what to say.

Karofsky looked away. "Did you come to gloat?"

That snapped him out of his trance. "No. God, of course not." How could he even think that? Karofsky seemed to slump back even further, shame appearing in his eyes.

"Sorry," he said quietly. "That was… sorry."

"It's okay." Ryan fell silent. "I'm the one who's sorry."

"Why?"

"I gave you my number… and I told you to call if you needed to talk. Then I didn't answer." He took a breath, looking up as he blinked back tears. "I saw your calls yesterday… and I didn't pick up. I silenced it because… I thought they were just more prank calls. I didn't think… I should have picked up. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. I was too much of a wuss to talk to you before. I wouldn't have picked up either if I was in your shoes."

"That doesn't make it right." Ryan fell silent, feeling suddenly foolish. He had no clue what to say. "How long are you going to be here?"

"72-hour watch." Karofsky nodded at the glass wall at the nurse's station. "One of them's supposed to be in here whenever I'm alone." He looked at Ryan. "Aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what?"

"Why I did it. That's what everyone asks."

"I know why you did it. I saw the posts and comments on social media. You couldn't handle everything, and you didn't have anyone to turn to for help. Everything was too overwhelming, and you felt like you had nothing to live for anymore. With all that, you saw this as your only option."

Karofsky clenched his jaw. "Sounds so textbook when everyone says it like that. It doesn't compare to how it feels."

Ryan nodded. "I know."

"You do, don't you." Karofsky looked away. "Because of me. Did you ever think of… you know?"

He took his time in answering. "… I did."

"But you didn't."

"No. I almost… No. I found someone who threw me a lifeline." The way he should have for Karofsky.

"Did you listen to my message?" Karofsky asked. Ryan nodded. "I meant it, you know. I'm sorry."

"Thank you. Apology accepted."

Karofsky gave him a bewildered glance. "Just like that? I picked on you since preschool. I don't even know why you're here. You're the last person I'd expect to visit."

Ryan sighed. "You're right. But I almost… did what you did. Back in freshman year. I was so close to doing it. And I know that if I had, and if I ended up in the hospital, that there wouldn't have been anyone to visit me." He took a deep breath. "I was too late in answering your calls yesterday. But I wanted to show you that you're not alone."

The other boy was quiet. "My mom thinks… that I have a disease. My dad hasn't said much yet, he's still in shock. I don't have any more friends. Not after…" He quieted. "I don't even know why I'm still here."

"Look," Ryan said, scooting closer to the bed. "I thought about committing suicide in freshman year, because to be honest, that was pretty much the worst time of my life. No friends, everyone hated me, parents weren't in the picture. I thought that things couldn't get better. To tell you the truth, I thought they would get even worse."

"This isn't exactly helping."

"The point is, I was wrong. Things did get better. That lifeline I told you about, it only helped a little, just enough to pull me through, but eventually, things got so much better. I have a wonderful family now, a great relationship, good friends. And I could have missed all that if I had… if I had killed myself." He didn't even want to think of how close he had come to missing out on his life. "You'll have that too, someday."

"You don't know that." Karofsky's voice was doubtful though, as if he wanted to believe Ryan. Encouraged, Ryan continued.

"Those kids who are posting all that crap on your wall, you won't even know them in three months. But you'll find new people who'll accept you for who you are."

"My parents…"

Ryan faltered. "I can't guarantee that they'll change their minds," he said carefully. "But you can try. Talk to them. And if the worst happens, then someday, you'll have a family of your own. You'll find that special guy, the one who loves you for you." He smiled briefly as he thought of Quinn. "You can build that life. Don't throw it away."

Karofsky looked down, blinking away tears. "Okay. I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask." Ryan smiled. "I stand by what I said last summer. If you need to talk, I'll listen. But don't just stand there and breathe into the speaker, you sound like a creeper that way," he added, trying to lighten the mood. It worked, and Karofsky let out a surprised laugh.

"Okay."

Ryan sat there for another moment before standing up to leave. "I should go."

"Okay," Karofsky repeated. "Ryan… thanks for coming."

He nodded, closing the door gently as he left the room. A nurse quickly took his place, but Ryan started back to where he'd left Shelby. He paused for a second when he saw his father there as well, an arm wrapped around his mother as she leaned sadly against him. James spotted him first, offering him a sad smile before turning to whisper something to Shelby. Ryan immediately realized that she'd been crying. "Mom? What – what happened? Are you okay?"

Shelby gave him a wan smile as he sat down on her other side, reaching out to take his hand. "Yeah, sweetie, I'm… I'm okay."

Ryan looked at her red-rimmed eyes dubiously, looking at James. His dad shook his head though, seeming just as preoccupied. His gaze flicked down at Shelby's hand still holding his, her thumb rubbing gently at the inside of his left wrist, exactly where… oh.

He looked up at his parents, not knowing what to say. He hadn't even thought of how this might affect them, what with the secret he'd told them months ago, and especially with what he had said to Shelby earlier. "Mom – I didn't –" He looked at them helplessly. "I'm sorry."

"No, buddy, no," James said immediately. "Don't – don't. It's okay." Ryan watched them unhappily, pain and fear and regret for what he had almost done in the past jumbled up in his head. James put his hand over Ryan's and Shelby's, covering them both. "It's okay. You… you're here now, and that's what matters."

Shelby nodded at the words. "He's right," she said, voice low. "That's all that matters." She squeezed his hand tight. She looked at him, and Ryan found himself unable to look away. "We love you," she stressed. Ryan swallowed, brushing away tears of his own.

"I love you too."

The three of them sat there in the hospital waiting room, more than content despite the location. All that mattered was that they were together.

* * *

Quinn sat quietly in a classroom with Mercedes, Sam, Ryan, and the new kid Joe the next day. Everyone was still in shock in the aftermath of Karofsky's suicide attempt, prompting Mercedes to call a meeting of the recently-formed God Squad. Ryan had followed Quinn by default. Quinn suspected he didn't really want to be alone, a feeling she shared.

"We should start today's meeting by praying for Karofsky," Mercedes announced somberly. "That he finds peace and that he feels better."

"I think we should start today's meeting by praying for his family," Quinn said. "They could use comfort more than he could." She was a mother, and she couldn't even imagine what she'd feel if Beth ever tried…

"I just don't understand how he could get to such a horrible, dark place," Sam said quietly.

Quinn glanced at Ryan, who was sitting slightly behind her as Mercedes talked. Ryan had been unnaturally quiet since yesterday, even more so after he'd gone to see Karofsky. Quinn knew about how he'd ignored Karofsky's calls, thinking it was another prank. She'd tried to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, of course, but he'd been out of it ever since.

"I feel sorry for Karofsky," she found herself saying. "But what he did was selfish. He didn't just want to hurt himself; he wanted to hurt everyone around him. I went through the wringer, but I never got to that place." She'd never even considered it, not least because hurting herself would have meant hurting her unborn child. It would have meant hurting her mom, and Frannie. It would have hurt too many people.

"Quinn, please." The patronizing words drew everyone's attention to Kurt, who was standing in the doorway, arms folded. "Sure, you had a baby when you were 16, but seriously? The world never stopped loving you. And you're going to Yale. You have no idea what Karofsky was struggling with."

Quinn stared at Kurt in disbelief at his casual dismissal of everything she'd gone through. "You really want to try to compare –"

"The despair, the self-loathing…" Kurt shook his head.

"It doesn't matter," Quinn said, recomposing herself. "I just can't imagine things getting so messed-up that you would consider taking your own life."

"That is so harsh and reductive," Kurt returned, his own voice harsh. "Have some compassion. Do you know what they're still writing on his Facebook? _Better luck next time_, and _try, try again_."

Quinn glanced at Ryan for some support, but her boyfriend was staring out the window, seemingly not even paying attention to the conversation. She turned back to Kurt. "What are you even doing here? I thought you didn't believe in God."

"He asked me if he could come, and I invited him," Joe piped up.

Kurt sat down on a desk. "I feel responsible," he whispered. "He asked me out, and I said no. He kept calling me, and if I'd just answered one of those stupid calls…"

Quinn turned just as Ryan stood up abruptly, walking out of the classroom. She didn't waste any time following him out. "Ryan!" He stopped midstride, but never turned around. She caught up, moving in front of him. "Are… are you okay?" She reached out to touch his cheek in concern, but he turned away.

He shook his head tiredly. "It's… I just don't feel that good right now." He was quiet for a moment. "I… I should get to class." He gave her a small smile. "I'll see you." He turned, heading towards his next class. Quinn watched him go, confused and slightly hurt.

Two classes later Ryan was still avoiding her, and she ended up with Santana instead. "Have you seen Ryan?"

Santana scoffed. "Hobs hightailed it out as soon as the bell rang. You two have a fight?"

"I – no… yes?" Quinn was so distracted she didn't even care that it was Santana she was talking to about it. The Latina wasn't exactly the best at relationship advice. Still, Santana was one of her best friends, and she found herself telling the other girl about what had happened. She hadn't been expecting Santana's reaction though.

"You are a fucking _moron,_ Quinn Fabray," Santana seethed. Quinn stared at her.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Not everyone is like you, how do you think he felt when –" Santana stared back, anger melting into disbelief as she shook her head slowly. "You don't know," she said in shock. "He hasn't told you, has he?"

"What? Who?"

"POTUS, of course," Santana snarked, irritation flaring up at the dumb blonde. "Your boyfriend, who else would I be talking about?"

Quinn bristled angrily. "How should I know?" she shot back. "And what are you talking about?"

Santana stopped, suddenly uncertain. This was so not cool, damn the Midget for putting her in this position! This wasn't her secret to tell, but she thought Quinn needed to know, especially now, and it wasn't like Ryan was going to tell her now.

She took too long, and Quinn let out an angry huff, starting to turn away. "You know what, whatever, keep it to yourself –"

"He thought about doing it too."

That got the blonde to stop short. "What?"

The Latina shut her eyes. _Sorry, Hobbit, this is for your own good._ "When… after Salazar's ad came out, and I told my abuela and she kicked me out, I went over to Ryan's house 'cause Britts was out of town and you were busy. We were talking, and I mentioned that I kind of got why people would… do what Karofsky did… and he started freaking out, saying stuff like how I've got everything else going for me, and I didn't know what I was going to miss if I did it, and… I figured it out."

"Figured _what _out?"

"Come on, Q, don't make me say it. You're smart, you know what." Santana watched her friend closely as an icy mask slid onto Quinn's face. She got it. Santana knew she got it. "Quinn –"

"Save it, Santana," she said coldly. "I'm going to go find Ryan now." She turned sharply, heading in the direction of the exits. Santana sighed unhappily. She had no idea what to do. All she knew was that she really wanted to find Brittany and give her a hug.

..

Ryan sat brooding in the living room, mind unsettled with everything that had happened. Maybe Quinn was right, maybe it had been selfish to even consider taking his own life. But he could still remember the way he felt way back then, the feeling of utter hopelessness and loneliness that made him just want to get out. Was it really so selfish to want to leave it all behind? Of course now he was thankful he hadn't, but –

A sharp knocking pulled him out of his thoughts. Ryan's head jerked up towards the door.

"Ryan, can you get that?" Shelby called from her office.

"Okay." He got up, opening the door to find his girlfriend standing there, an unreadable expression on her face. "Quinn. Hi." He stepped aside, letting her in. She brushed past him, moving into the living room. He followed her in, and she turned to face him.

"Is it true?"

He looked at her in trepidation. She couldn't know. He hadn't told her, who else could have? "Is what true?"

"You know what," Quinn said, her voice sharpening a little before she controlled it. "Santana told me."

So she knew. He ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up. "She shouldn't have." He folded his arms, almost hugging himself. "Are you mad at me?"

"No!" She shut her eyes. "No. of course not. I… I just… why?"

Ryan sighed. "As I told Santana, you can probably guess why. Between the slushies, the dumpster dives, the homophobia and everything else, is it so bad that I thought about making it stop? That I almost did try to make it stop?" A tone of challenge tinged his voice near the end.

Quinn's jaw clenched. She didn't know how to deal with this information. "I just don't understand. I –"

"I heard what you said today," Ryan cut her off abruptly. "And I know you had it hard, I can't imagine being kicked out and pregnant, worrying about bills and where to live and what was going to happen to your baby. And I think Kurt was completely out of line in saying that to you, but what he said had some truth to it. You still had the glee club, you had Mercedes, Finn before Sectionals, even Puck sometimes. I… didn't."

"Does anyone else know? Besides Santana?"

"My parents. I told them a few months ago. And it just slipped out with Santana."

"You could have told me."

"What good would telling people have done?" Ryan asked. "It was a long time ago, and I didn't want to think about it anymore. I don't want to think about it anymore. I didn't go through with it, and I'm fine now, and that's that."

"You could have told someone back then," Quinn argued. Maybe it wouldn't have gotten to the point that it did if he had. Ryan laughed sharply.

"Who would I have told?" His voice was almost harsh. "Parents? No, too busy flitting off to care. Friends? Non-existent." He tilted his head, tone bitter. "Should I have told you? People were very busy throwing me in dumpsters, and calling me names, and tossing slushies in my face. You were one of them. And maybe you're right, maybe doing it would have been _selfish,_" he scoffed. "But you know what, it wouldn't have hurt anybody, because I didn't have anyone _to _hurt. You would have all thrown a fucking party. I never did anything to any of you, but you all made me feel _worthless._ You and Santana and everyone else would have posted the same things on my social media accounts as people are on Karofsky's, and you know it."

Quinn flinched violently, staggering back. He could be just as vicious with his words as she could, she knew that perfectly well. She'd seen it when he'd lashed out during Nationals. He simply chose not to, and it was a shock to hear it turned against her now.

The movement snapped Ryan out of his sudden ire, and his shoulders sagged as he realized what he'd just said, a hand coming up to run down his face. She blinked rapidly, determinedly holding back the tears that filled her eyes as pure self-loathing shot through her. She had done this. Maybe not alone, but she couldn't and wouldn't deny that she had played a part. "I – I have to go."

Ryan looked at her dolefully. "Quinn…"

"Ry, it's okay."

"No, that was out of line –"

"No, it wasn't," Quinn said sharply, before shutting her eyes. God, what kind of person was she? "It's not out of line. You're right." She had in fact played a part in slowly destroying him, and it made her physically ill to think that he had almost – "I have to go, okay?"

"Quinn, you don't have to –"

She stepped back. "I – I just need some time, okay?" She gave him a half-nod before hurrying out of the house. Ryan watched her go forlornly, before sinking down on the sofa, his head in his hands.

..

Shelby found him there minutes later as she came out of her office, and worry spiked as she sat down next to him, placing a hand on his back. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I messed up," he whispered, unable to look at her. "I wasn't going to tell her, I wasn't going to tell any of you, because I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want anyone to feel guilty about what I almost did." With the events of the past few days, it wasn't altogether too hard for Shelby to put things together. He finally looked up at her. "I don't know what to do."

She looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. "Ryan, what happened to you was wrong. It should never have happened. But you need to understand. It was not your fault. It was the fault of the people who bullied you, and it includes not only people like David Karofsky, but also Quinn. It includes the adults who didn't put a stop to it. But you are not a fault."

"She's changed, I know that."

Shelby nodded. "I know that too," she told him. "But it doesn't change the past. And part of growing up is looking at your past and realizing the mistakes you've made. And what defines the person you are now is whether or not you take those mistakes and use them to be better."

"I don't care about it anymore, I know she's past that, and I've forgiven her for it. She knows that."

"Maybe," Shelby allowed. She didn't doubt that he had forgiven Quinn… "But you're not the only one who needs to forgive her. I think she also needs to be able to forgive herself. And believe me… that is so very much harder."

Ryan looked up at her sadly. "Have you forgiven yourself?"

She released a breath, letting out a sad chuckle as she reached out to stroke his hair. "… I'm getting there." She took his hand. "Give her some time, okay? Give both of us some time."

He took a deep breath. "Okay." He leaned his head against her shoulder. "You know, I never thought about it once since we met."

Shelby swallowed, pulling him close. "That's good." The admission eased some of her pain, and she was glad to know that she'd played a part in helping him. "If you ever do, you know we're all right here, right?"

Ryan nodded. "I know. Thank you."

* * *

The next morning Ryan marched up to Santana at her locker. "You shouldn't have told her."

Santana took her time before answering. "You're right." She turned to him. "You should have told her. I think she's got the right to know."

"You don't get to decide that!" Ryan burst out, reining himself in when several students looked at them. "Telling her was my decision to make." He didn't know what to say to Quinn. Not after what he'd said. He'd almost called her several times last night, only to chicken out every time. She hadn't called him either, and he hadn't seen her this morning.

"Well, I'm sorry if I wanted to help you two get your shit together," Santana said sarcastically. "But yeah, no, it's good to know for future reference. I won't bother next time." She shut her locker, marching away from him.

Two classes later, Ryan was at his locker later when Brittany came up to him. He glanced at her. "Look, if Santana sent you to talk to me –"

"No, she didn't send me to do anything," the blonde Cheerio said simply. "I just wanted to say I'm really happy you didn't try to do what Karofsky did," she told him. Ryan stared at her. "San told me."

"Of course she did," Ryan sighed. "Looks like she's telling everybody."

"Well, not everybody. But Santana tells me pretty much everything, and I think Quinn should have known anyways," Brittany reasoned. "You shouldn't be mad at her."

"I didn't want anyone to know."

"We're your friends," the blonde said seriously. "And I wish you hadn't gotten so sad in freshman year. You were really good at hiding it. I didn't notice, and I notice a lot. I mean, I knew you weren't really happy all the time, but I thought you were going to be okay. And I was right, kind of."

Ryan sighed again. "I guess so."

"Quinn's really sad."

"That's why I didn't want her to know. I shouldn't have told anyone in the first place. It's just messing everything up."

Brittany nodded. "News like this makes people really sad. Miss Corcoran's sad too. She's better at hiding it than Q, but I can tell. Quinn's blaming herself."

"I know, but she shouldn't. I've already forgiven her." Ryan shut his locker. "Mom said maybe she needs to forgive herself though."

The Cheerio nodded again. "Yeah. Quinn has a hard time doing that. She was mad at herself about baby Drizzle last year, and about being so mean. But you helped her get over it. You just need to help her with this again."

"I… I don't know how."

Brittany shrugged. "Santana doesn't like talking. She likes actions better, like sexytimes. But for feelings, sometimes talking is better. San's not too good with that. Me either, most of the time people don't get what I'm saying. But me and Sanny, we have like that telephone thingy between our minds."

"Telepathy?"

"Yeah, that," Brittany nodded. "She always knows what I'm trying to say. You and Quinn need to talk, I guess. But don't push. She'll just fly away even more. She's like a butterfly. You just have to wait for her to land on you when she's ready. If you're too noisy you'll scare her away, and you don't want that."

Ryan took a deep breath, nodding. "Okay. You're right." He offered her a smile. "Thank you, Brittany."

She smiled back at him before giving him a hug. "I'm glad you're not sad like Karofsky anymore," she said sincerely. Ryan hugged her back.

"Me too, Britts." He pulled back, giving her a smile, grateful to have friends like her now. Brittany nodded.

"Don't worry, if you mess it up, I'll lend you my time machine so you can fix it."

Ryan stared at her, confused. "… Okay." He just hoped he didn't mess it up.

..

Quinn continued to avoid him for the rest of the day, and Ryan trudged home dejectedly, a million thoughts running through his head as he sat down on his bed. Maybe she was mad because of what he'd said, maybe… maybe she didn't want him anymore.

Suddenly the bed dipped down, and Ryan looked up to see James sitting beside him. "You okay?" his dad asked.

"I… I don't know."

"Hmm." James nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He sighed. "I… Quinn found out about… about how I almost tried… to kill myself in freshman year. Santana told her. She – Quinn – came over yesterday, and I didn't… I didn't react well. Neither of us did. Now she's avoiding me, and I don't know what to do."

"Maybe you should go talk to her."

Ryan shook his head. "I think she needs some space. Maybe we both do." He hesitated. "What if she doesn't want me anymore?" he asked, voicing his fear. He loved her, and he knew she loved him back, but his insecurities were back in full force and he was so afraid that she would think he wasn't good enough anymore.

"I highly doubt that," James told him. "The two of you, you've got something special."

"I was so close to doing it," he said quietly. "If I hadn't gone to see Mr. Hummel that day… or if there had just been one more thing to push me, I would have." He looked down. "Maybe… maybe she's right and I was just selfish, and weak, that's why I considered it."

"No," James said firmly. "No. That's not true. One thing you're not is selfish. Well, you can be selfish sometimes," he allowed. "Like when you take the last donut for yourself." Ryan let out a snort. "But you are incredibly compassionate. That Karofsky kid was one of your worst bullies from what you've told me, and you still want to help him. I don't think I could do that."

"I… I guess."

"You're not weak," James continued. "Just… we all need help sometimes. Trust me."

Ryan looked at him skeptically. "Even you?"

"Even me. It's… hard… to admit sometimes," his dad said. "I think maybe for people like us, who haven't really had a lot of people to care for them, it's harder. Because we sort of learn to rely on ourselves. I think maybe that's how it is for me."

Ryan bit his lip, considering it. Maybe James was right, he'd learned not to rely on other people. So many people had let him down when he was growing up, and it had only been in the past couple of years that he had learned that not everybody was out to get him. "How did you learn to, you know, accept help?"

James glanced at him pensively. "Time. It took a lot of time to start to let people in. Your mom was the first. I liked her a lot, but it still took some time before I really trusted her."

"I trust Quinn. It's just… she doesn't understand. Not really." He sighed almost angrily. "It's selfish, but I wish Karofsky hadn't done this. Not for him, but because it's messing everything up. Quinn wasn't supposed to find out; now Santana's mad at me, you and Mom are both sad and I don't know what to do."

"It's not your job to do anything," James told him. "Your friends will understand, and so will Quinn. Just talk to them."

"What about you and Mom?"

James smiled slightly. "It's not your job to worry about us. We'll be okay. You just need to know that we love you and we're here whenever you need us. Okay?"

"Okay." Ryan gave his dad a hug. "Thank you."

"Anytime, buddy."

Ryan sighed. "I still don't know what to do about Quinn."

"Maybe you're right, and she needs some space. But I don't think she's avoiding you because she doesn't want you anymore. That doesn't sound like her. I think maybe you both need a little time." James smiled comfortingly. "I'm sure it will turn out okay." He wrapped an arm around Ryan. "Let's go help your mom fix dinner, okay."

Ryan nodded, standing up. Maybe his dad was right, and Quinn just needed time. He hoped so. "Okay."

* * *

**Hello everyone! Faster update this time! So here's some of your angst. We're in the _On My Way _episode now, the whole episode was supposed to be in this chapter, but I thought it was getting a bit long so I split it into two. The next part is almost complete and should be up soon, unless I change my mind on the plot.**

**So we find out who Ryan's mystery caller is, and congratulations to I think two reviewers who called it. That's it for now, I can't really think of anything else to say. Typos are all mine of course. Be sure to tell me what you thought, and I'll see you soon, hopefully.**


	88. Chapter 87

Ryan let Quinn have her space, trusting that when she was ready, she'd come talk to him. His patience paid off when late Friday evening, he opened the front door to find her standing there. He offered her a small smile, making no comment about her slightly frazzled hair and teary eyes.

"Do you want to come in?" he asked.

"Actually… can we stay out here?"

He nodded, gesturing at her to sit on the bench on the porch. She did, and he sat down next to her, leaving a bit of space between them. It was a nice night, and they sat there quietly for a moment before Ryan cleared his throat. "Do you… want anything? A drink or something?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm… I'm okay." She took a breath. "I just want to talk. About… you know."

Ryan nodded. "Okay." There was another moment of silence.

Quinn cleared her throat, looking down. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "For the way I reacted when – when I found out." She folded her arms. "I don't react well to things I don't like."

"It's your character flaw," Ryan nodded.

"Yeah, well." She was quiet for a beat. "I got… scared."

Ryan hadn't expected that. "Scared?" He'd been expecting something along the lines of _I don't want to be with someone who thinks suicide is a way out._

"I can't imagine my life without you," she admitted. "You helped me so much two years ago, and a lot of who I am now is because you were there for me. If you had…" She shook her head. "If you hadn't been there, I don't know how I would have dealt with everything. I would have self-destructed eventually. And it scares the hell out of me that I almost lost you before I even really met you."

His face fell in realization, and he felt even more horrified over what he'd said to her. "Quinn…"

She looked up, blinking away tears. "And God, it kills me to think that it was my fault. Maybe not just me, but I played a part. And I wish I could take it back, I wish I had been a better person back then, but I can't, and I don't know how to deal with it."

Ryan gazed down. "I won't deny that I wish that too," he said softly. "But the past is the past, and we can't do anything."

"I know. I just can't believe I almost lost you. And I wouldn't have been the only one who lost you, Shelby and James too, and everyone in glee. The whole world would have been different, because you're so special, and I just know that you're going to make such an impact."

They were silent for a moment. "You know," he said softly. "I remember thinking at one point that… it wouldn't matter if I did it. Because nothing would have changed in any of your lives whether I was there or not. I wouldn't have made any difference."

Quinn shook her head. "That's not true."

Ryan's lips quirked up in a tiny, sad smile. "I know that now," he allowed. "But back then… it was inconceivable that I'd play any part in your lives. And hearing you say that now… I don't even have the words." He fell silent for a second. "You've changed a lot."

"Sometimes it doesn't feel that way," she confessed. "It feels like I'm the same manipulative bitch to you that I was to Finn, and I can't help but feel like you deserve so much more than me."

"You're not perfect. Neither am I. And you _have _changed." He paused. "Do you remember before I got my NYADA acceptance letter? When you found me in the auditorium? In freshman year, that's where I went to hide from everyone. I spent so much time brooding in there, and maybe it's where I first started thinking about… you know. And when I was back in there two weeks ago, I could feel it starting again. The feeling that I wasn't good enough, that no one would want me. But it was different. You know why?"

She shook her head.

"Because you came in after me. You're the one who reminded me that I wasn't alone, that I was worth something, that I'd always have someone who wanted me no matter what. And that's I ever really wanted to hear anyways, even back then. You… you make me feel wanted, and special, and so loved."

They were quiet again for a moment, simply drinking in the peaceful stillness of the evening. It was late February, but it was warmer than usual, the breeze just right. Ryan let out a breath. "I'm sorry for what I said. I was scared too," he admitted. "After… after what you said, I thought maybe you wouldn't want to be with me when you found out. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. I'm sorry."

Quinn stayed silent for a moment before answering. "I'll forgive you… if you forgive me for practically attacking you too. I shouldn't have reacted that way."

Ryan smiled, taking her hand. "You've got a deal." Quinn turned, shuffling closer, and he wrapped his arms around her. She fit into him perfectly, and his breath hitched as he thought again of how he had come so close to missing out on this. "I love you."

"I love you." She stayed close, a hand slipping up his chest, just over his heart.

"Will you… can you tell me what happened back then?"

He was silent for a moment, before nodding. He told her the story in a quiet voice. How he'd started out freshman year hoping for a better experience than he'd had in grade school and middle school, only to be disappointed. How he'd slowly spiraled into a depression, with no support system to turn to, falling so far that he'd actually tried cutting. "I didn't want to stay anymore," he said lowly. "I really think that if Mr. Hummel hadn't intervened, I would have done it."

Quinn took his hand, squeezing it tightly. "I'm glad you didn't," she said fiercely. She pulled away, eyes locking on his. "You are not worthless. You've changed so many lives for the better." She hugged him again. "You made the right choice in staying."

Ryan swallowed against the lump in his throat, his eyes burning as he leaned into her. "I know." God, did he know. "I didn't want to hurt anyone," he said, voice small. "I just wanted it to get better."

She sighed against him. "If you ever feel that way ever again, I need you to tell me. Okay? I want to help you. I'll always want to help you. I can't… I don't want to lose you. I love you so much."

"Okay." His hold on her tightened even more. "I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere. Promise."

Quinn reached up, pressing her lips against his, and he shut his eyes, concentrating on the sensation of her skin against his, her breath melding with his, their hearts beating together. They were both so wonderfully alive.

* * *

The next morning Ryan woke up with his face buried in a mess of gold. He smiled contentedly as he breathed in, nuzzling his nose in Quinn's hair. She stirred a little but went back to sleep, throwing an arm around him haphazardly.

Ryan opened his eyes, his smile widening as he watched her. She really was the prettiest girl he'd ever met, even with her mouth gaping open and a tiny bit of drool running down the side. He reached out absently, brushing a lock of hair from her face. His finger traced lightly down the smooth, pale skin of her cheek, drifting down her neck and over the curve of her breast, slipping down her side.

"That tickles."

"Sorry." He let out a contented sigh as she snuggled closer to him, her body molding against his.

"What time is it?" she mumbled. Ryan checked the clock.

"Almost seven." It was a tiny bit later than he normally woke up, but to be fair to him he'd had an exhausting night, both emotionally and physically. Talking to her about how close he had come to a suicide attempt had been strangely draining. He'd been scared to tell her, partly because he didn't want to worry her, but also partly because he didn't want her to see him as… damaged. He didn't know how he'd react if she started pitying him, or treating him as if he were made of glass. But after last night, he felt reassured that things wouldn't change. It had simply cemented his knowledge that he had a supportive partner who now understood him a little bit better.

Quinn smiled, angling her head to press her lips against his neck. "Still early," she said suggestively, her fingers tracing random patterns on his chest. Ryan shuddered at the combination of the smoky timbre of her voice and the feeling of her hand slipping down, moving to cup his morning erection. "But it looks like you're awake," she observed.

Ryan huffed. "It's a natural occurrence in the m-morning," he told her, stuttering as she started stroking him idly. "And y-you're not helping matters."

She hummed. "Okay." She reached up, with her free hand, pulling him into a lazy kiss as she started to speed up her strokes. Ryan groaned as she continue to pump his length. Suddenly he rolled them both over so that she was flat on her back and he was on top of her. He took a moment to just look at her in awe of how amazing she was and how incredibly lucky he was that she'd chosen him. Slowly he leaned down, pressing his lips against her as he savored every touch of her body against his.

Reaching up, he brushed some her hair out of her face. "You are so beautiful," he told her sincerely, and he had the pleasure of seeing a soft blush spread across her pale skin at the compliment. Instead of answering she reached up, pulling him down into a hard kiss that immediately stoked his want. Slowly, relishing every moment, he slid into the liquid heat of her entrance. Quinn threw her head back as he filled her completely, letting out a hiss of pleasure.

"You're very wet," he gritted out, taking a moment to compose himself. He would never grow tired of the feeling of being inside her, of being so intimately close and yet wanting even more, wanting everything that she was willing to give him.

"Your fault," she panted out, choking back a whimper as he ground into her hard, her words driving his desire even higher. "_God_."

He pressed his mouth against her neck, feeling her pulse fluttering madly against his lips. She let out a whine as he scraped his teeth lightly against her skin, arching up against him as he pushed into her deeply, both of them simply enjoying their connection. "I'm close," he let out in a strained voice.

Quinn nodded, eyes screwed shut. "It's okay. Just – just –" She shuddered as he pushed into her again. "Oh God…"

Ryan sensed she was close and redoubled his efforts. Suddenly she tensed up against him, and the sensation of her clenching tightly around him was enough to push him over the edge as well, moaning out his pleasure against the crook of her neck.

Completely sated, he pushed himself off of his girlfriend, pulling out of her in a rush of mixed fluids as they tried to catch their breaths. Ryan swallowed, attempting to calm his racing heart. He smiled at the blissed out expression on Quinn's face though, ego inflating at having put it there. Not a bad way to start the day.

After a few more moments of quiet bliss, he spoke. "We should get up soon."

"Mmf."

"Come on, breakfast," Ryan coaxed. Quinn let out another huff before nodding. He chuckled, sitting up and stretching. Then he stood, starting to get dressed. A thought occurred to him. "You're on time with your birth control, right? I guess we forgot the condom. Heat of the moment and all that."

"I've got it covered," Quinn assured him, sitting up as well. "For real. Trust me."

"I do," Ryan smiled, leaning down to give her a kiss before excusing himself to the bathroom. After his morning ablutions he reentered his room to find Quinn in one of his shirts. "That looks good on you," he complimented.

"Thanks. I might keep it." Quinn quickly took her turn in the bathroom. Upon her exit, Ryan glanced at her a bit anxiously.

"We have a new problem," he said. "I think my parents are awake."

Her eyes widened. "Then how –"

"I'll distract them, and you can sneak out when they're not looking."

"Awesome plan," Quinn drawled, following him out the door.

"It'll be fine," Ryan said. "If we do it right, we can get out without –"

They froze at the dining room when they were greeted by Shelby, James, and surprisingly Judy, all sitting around the table nursing mugs of coffee.

"Good morning, kids," Shelby greeted, giving them a pleasant smile. "Would you like to have breakfast?" James took a sip of his coffee, hiding a smirk.

Judy smiled as well. "Sleep well?"

Neither teenager could quite summon up the words. "Uhh…"

"The strangest thing happened," Shelby said conversationally. "Judy called me this morning, wondering if I'd seen Quinn since apparently you didn't come home last night. And the answer to that was yes, because when I checked Ryan's room late last night, there you two were, thankfully covered up under the blankets."

"Ah, young love," James interjected.

Ryan winced as Quinn flushed horribly. "Mom…"

"Naturally I was rather worried when I couldn't find you," Judy commented. "But Shelby and James were nice enough to invite me over when they found you two. We were having a pretty nice chat when you came down."

"We didn't bother checking on you this morning," James smirked. "I like your shirt, Quinn." Ryan almost facepalmed, and Shelby shuddered dramatically.

"I don't think even a million dollars would have convinced me to go in your room this morning."

Ryan hadn't thought it was possible to become more embarrassed than he already was, but he was wrong. He blushed all the way to his ears when he thought of what he and Quinn had been up to less than an hour ago.

Shelby gave them a stern look. "Sit." The two teenagers exchanged a look before complying, sitting down on the opposite side of the table. "Look," she started. "I know that you're both almost 18 and past the legal age of consent. We have no issue with you doing whatever it is you do, though personally I'd prefer it if you didn't. But since you're still living under your parents' roofs, we would appreciate knowing where you are, got it?"

She received two nods in return.

"And while you're at it, don't go waving it around in our faces either. We do not want to see or hear anything from you, just like you don't want to see or hear anything from us either."

"Mom!" Ryan let out an embarrassing squeak.

"Oh, don't be shy, honey," Judy told him. "Don't forget we were young too. We know how exciting it is, and you two are so adorable together. We just don't need to see exactly _how _adorable_._"

"Mutual respect is what we're going for," Shelby continued, ignoring Ryan's outburst. "So let's all just try to live harmoniously without scarring other people for life, okay?"

"Okay, okay, we get it," Quinn mumbled, mortified out of her mind.

"And as long as you're being safe," Judy said. "I think we can all wait a few more years for grandkids, but oh, you two are going to make the most adorable grandbabies!" she cooed.

Quinn shut her eyes. "Oh my God."

"I agree with Judy on both points," Shelby said brightly. "We can wait, but we do expect photogenic and intelligent grandchildren out of the both of you. Judy's right, they'll be absolutely adorable. And we expect to have a say in the names."

"Dear God, Mom, please." Ryan flushed, shooting an almost horrified glance at his girlfriend. "Not that I don't want kids with you, I do – I mean – what?" He shook his head. "I mean, we haven't talked about – we're not having –"

Quinn hadn't thought it was possible to blush even more, but apparently it was. "Ry, I really think you should shut up now." Ryan clamped his mouth shut. This was so not cool. Quinn shook her head, trying to maintain the little dignity she had left. "Can we just have breakfast now? Or you know what, Ryan and I just go have it outside."

"But there's a perfectly good breakfast sitting in the kitchen," Judy pointed out. "I had just enough time to stop by the bakery and pick some food up. It seems to be a perfect time for some bonding, doesn't it?"

"No, it really doesn't," Quinn mumbled.

"You just want to tell embarrassing stories again," Ryan said accusingly.

Shelby smiled brightly. "Well, of course. And even better, this time we can break out your pictures!"

"Dad," he whined, turning to James. "Make Mom stop."

James shook his head. "Sorry, buddy, but I've never been able to stop your Mom from doing anything. I usually just go along for the ride. To be honest though, this whole 'embarrassing the heck out of your kids' thing is pretty fun."

"This is so unfair," Ryan complained. Deep down though, he couldn't help feeling relieved at the fact that they weren't treating him any differently. He didn't want them to start walking on eggshells around him. Still, he didn't want them teasing him!

His dad grinned. "You pout just like your mom." Shelby gave him a reproving look.

"See, not so fun when it's you, is it?" Ryan snarked.

"Just for that, you're washing the dishes," Shelby informed him. Judy smiled.

"I'm sure Quinn would love to give you a hand with that."

"What?" Quinn barked. "I didn't do anything!"

"Think of it as practice when you leave home and live in your own apartment," Shelby said dryly. "No one but you to wash the dishes. On the upside, you'll get to have all the loud, obnoxious sex you want to have without burning anyone's ears off."

Ryan groaned, slumping his head onto the table. This was going to be a long breakfast.

* * *

The following Monday, Ryan approached his co-captain, standing off to the side of her locker. "What do you want, Midget?" Santana asked testily as she pushed her books inside. He sighed.

"Santana, I apologize for snapping at you last week when you told Quinn about… well. I realize that you were only trying to be our friend, and I would like to thank you for having our best interests at heart."

Santana turned to face him, pulling her bag open as she looked at him impassively. "So I was right?"

He sighed. "Yes, Santana, you were right." She nodded, digging into her bag and pulling out her phone. He watched her, disappointed at her lack of reaction.

Suddenly she pulled out a tiny tape recorder. She held it out. "Do you mind repeating that for future reference?"

Ryan gaped at her as a smirk played across her lips. "You're so mean," he accused. "I thought you were really mad!"

"Oh please," Santana waved her hand. "Auntie Snixx is always right, even if you people hate it." She turned back to her locker. "So you and Q are good?"

He nodded. "Yeah. We're good."

"And you, you're okay?"

Ryan smiled. "I knew you cared," he teased. "But yes. I'm okay. Promise."

She studied him for a moment. "Good. Can't have your voice cracking at Regionals on Friday, God knows Meerkat-Face is going to be so fucking smug if they win."

"Meerkat-Face… oh, you mean Sebastian?" Ryan shook his head cockily. "We're going to win on Friday. And I resent the notion that you think that I'd let my voice crack."

"Well, there was that time you got laryngitis…"

"Shut up."

Santana snickered as they started the walk to the Troubletones room. This meeting started out differently though when Shelby had them all drag their seats into a circle.

"I know last week was a bit… emotional for some of the people here," the teacher started. "I know that not all of you know Dave Karofsky, but I also know that news like this can make you really think about your lives, no matter who it was." Shelby looked around at the students. "This team is more than just a glee club. It should be a safe place for you to grow, both as a singer and a person, somewhere you can be yourselves. And maybe win a few trophies on the side." The kids laughed. "So," she continued. "If anyone wants to talk about anything, we're here to listen."

Ryan stayed quiet, for once not wanting to draw attention to himself. The mood of the room turned somber as everyone thought of the previous week's news. It was Tina who spoke first. "It's just… weird, you know? To think that someone you know tried to commit suicide."

"I think it's sad that Karofsky thought he didn't have anyone," Brittany said.

"But Miss C, I know we're all a little dramatic," Mercedes pointed out. "But I don't think anyone in here would consider taking their own life. I'd never do that."

Quinn's hand was instantly in Ryan's, and he gave her a tiny smile. Shelby's gaze flicked towards him as well before landing on Mercedes. "I'm glad you won't," she nodded. "But you can't assume that everybody is as secure as you are. Would you have imagined that Dave Karofsky would consider it?"

"I… I guess not. But I didn't know about him being gay."

"Exactly. You don't know what anyone else is going through. Everyone has something that will push them to the limit." Shelby paused. "Would it surprise you to know that I thought about it?"

Ryan's head rose sharply as stunned expressions appeared on the other students' faces. He knew of course, she'd told him. But he hadn't expected her to be able to share something like that.

"It was at a time in my life when I thought I'd lost something – someone – that meant everything to me," Shelby continued, her gaze swiveling to focus on Ryan. "And I thought that I'd never be able to get them back. I couldn't handle it. It felt like nothing was ever going to be right again. I didn't want to live, if I couldn't have him. And I almost did it. I had a bottle of sleeping pills and a bottle of vodka, and I was ready to do it. Then someone stopped me."

"And it worked out, right?" Ryan spoke, his voice strong against the silence. He didn't even want to think about what would have happened if nobody had stopped Shelby. His mom smiled at him softly.

"Yeah. It did. I got my person back, I got my life back. And I'm happy. And I would have missed out on all of it if I had managed to go through with it."

"But there's always something to look forward to, right?" Ryan asked, eyes fixed on Shelby as he held Quinn's hand tight. "Even if… even if it seems like there isn't."

Shelby nodded. "Right." She looked around at the students. "There will be times when you face challenges, times in your lives when you want to give up. And that's okay. Just like it's okay to need help sometimes. You need to remember that there will be something to look forward to. Maybe you can't see it yet, but it will get better." She paused for a moment. "Maybe you could all think of something big that you're looking forward to, and share it with the group."

"I want to earn enough money to buy my folks a new place," Sam volunteered after a moment of deep thinking. "So they don't ever have to worry about losing their home again."

Mercedes smiled slyly at Ryan and Quinn. "I'm looking forward to meeting Ryan and Quinn's kids."

"Oh, me too," Shelby grinned.

"Thanks a lot," Ryan said dryly. He traded a smile with Quinn though.

"I want to see _Sex and the City III,_" Sugar said brightly, earning a laugh.

Santana was next. "I'm looking forward to the day my grandmother loves me again."

"I want Lord Tubbington to kick his ecstasy addiction," Brittany said seriously, causing quite a few to chuckle.

"I'm looking forward to the first time I dance at Carnegie Hall," Mike announced, earning a smile from Tina, who shrugged with a smile.

"I just want a song." Everyone laughed.

"I'm looking forward to marriage equality in all fifty states," Blaine said.

Ryder smiled a bit wistfully. "I'm looking forward to getting into college."

Kitty smirked a bit. "I'm looking forward to finding someone who can put up with all my crap." The other students laughed. Kitty had earned a reputation of being acerbic and very sharp with her tongue when pissed off. Ryan noticed Quinn frown a bit though. He looked at her questioningly, but she shook her head. Kitty then glanced at Marley, who took a deep breath.

"… I'm looking forward to the day I can shake my issues about food." Everyone looked at the brunette questioningly. "Kitty took me with her to the health clinic to talk to someone." She took another deep breath. "I'm bulimic." She shook her head. "But I want to get better. And I will," she said firmly. Kitty smiled slightly.

"Thank you for sharing that, Marley," Shelby said gently. Marley nodded, shooting a small smile with Quinn, who returned it warmly. Ryan also smiled, giving Quinn's hand a squeeze. He knew of her past issues with food, and was sure she'd had something to do with this.

"I'm looking forward to graduating from Yale at the top of my class," Quinn said. Ryan glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. She smirked at him. "And I suppose to being stuck with you forever."

"How romantic," Ryan replied drolly before giving her genuine smile. "I'm looking forward to that too. And to being friends with all of you for the rest of my life," he added, looking around at everyone. He meant it; there was a time in his life when he never would have believed he'd have people around him who actually cared. "But I am also looking forward to that Nationals trophy we're going to be bringing home from Chicago."

"That's more like it," Tina teased as everyone laughed, nodding in agreement.

Ryan grinned instantly. "With that in mind, I'd like to put forward a few suggestions for our set list at Regionals…"

A couple of hours later the Troubletones had hammered out a few changes into their set list, ready for polishing by the competition on Saturday. The students slowly trickled out, leaving Ryan alone with Shelby. He stood next to the piano where she was fixing her notes. "I didn't know you were going to do that," he admitted. "Talking about it, I mean."

Shelby only smiled. "I think we all needed to talk about it," she said. "It's been an emotional week."

"I didn't just mean that," Ryan said meaningfully. Shelby stopped what she was doing, turning to face him. "I… Why did you tell us that?" he asked. "About… you know. I couldn't have done that. Told everyone."

"I've had a lot of time to accept it," Shelby said honestly. "In the past, I wouldn't have told just anyone… but if it could help some of you, then I'm more than willing to share it. We might not the only ones who might be struggling," she said gently.

"I know that." He let out a deep breath. "I'm not ready to tell everyone though."

"That's okay," Shelby told him, pulling him into a hug, and Ryan let himself relax into her.

"You know, I don't need to look forward to anything," he said quietly. "Because I'm already so happy right now."

..

Meanwhile, Quinn found herself looking for Kitty, who looked at her for a second before turning back to her locker. "What?"

Quinn smiled slightly. "That was a good thing you did for Marley."

Kitty shrugged. "I guess. The therapist Daddy found me helped a little. So I thought maybe she could help Marley too. No big deal."

"Hmm." Quinn folded her arms, studying her cousin's nonchalance. "So you and Marley are friends now?"

"I suppose." Kitty pulled her books out.

"You'll find someone."

"What?"

"What you said you were looking forward to," Quinn clarified. "You'll find them. Maybe you already have."

Kitty looked down. "Maybe."

Quinn sighed, thoughts drifting to Kitty's secret. "Are you really okay?"

"I'm… better, I guess." Kitty shut her locker, giving her a small, but genuine, smile. "I did what you said, and I'm talking to someone about… it. Stuff. And Daddy's been great about it." She looked at her phone. "I should go, he's in the parking lot."

"Okay." Quinn watched Kitty leave, glad that things were working out for her cousin. Suddenly she stiffened when someone's arms wrapped around her. Only for instant though, as she immediately realized that it was Ryan. "Hi," she said, looking around to smile at him. "Are you okay?"

"More than okay," he nodded, pressing a kiss to her neck. Her eyes fluttered a little as he sucked gently, burying his nose in her hair. "You smell nice."

She smiled at the randomness. "Good. Do you want to come home with me? Maybe we can continue this," she said suggestively.

He lit up at the offer. "Okay."

When they got home though they were distracted by Frannie and Cooper, who had arrived that morning, intent on staying for about a week. Quinn had been prepared to attend their engagement party sometime during the week, but now there had been a new development.

"I'm sorry, you're _what?_" Quinn gaped at her older sister uncomprehendingly.

"We're having our wedding this week," Frannie said brightly. "I know we said we were having the engagement party, but the plans for the engagement party work great for the reception. Besides, we're getting married anyways, why not do it now?"

"Exactly," Cooper nodded enthusiastically. "We don't really want to put it off, and besides, this way we'll just have to have one big blowout. Both our families are here, and we already told everyone important so they can fly out. It's going to be awesome."

"I suppose that would be more economical," Ryan mused. "It seems very fast though."

"Exactly," Quinn agreed. "When are you getting married, exactly?"

"On Saturday," Frannie answered promptly. "I know, it's right after your Regionals competition, but it's the only slot we could get with the judge. Besides, it's in the afternoon. We can make it in plenty of time after your competition."

"The contest's being held at McKinley, right?" Cooper reasoned. "That gives us loads of time to get ready. As a professional actor, I'm good at quick costume changes after all."

"Right," Ryan grinned. "How's your commercial coming along?"

Cooper smiled broadly. "Actually, we finished it a few weeks ago, want to see the director's cut?"

"That would be awesome!"

Cooper grinned, pulling out his phone. Quinn smiled indulgently as he and Ryan huddled over the video he played on the screen. She sidled up to her sister. "You and your fiancé are insane," she said dryly. Frannie smirked.

"I could say that about you and your boyfriend," she countered. She went into the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee. She raised an eyebrow at Quinn, who nodded at her to pour another cup.

"Thanks," Quinn said, taking the mug and adding some sugar. "And we're not insane," she defended. "We're not the ones getting married without prior notice." She sat down at the table, Frannie following her.

"Yeah, it's kind of insane," the elder blonde agreed. "But it's also exhilarating. And I'm ready."

"That's good. I'm just kind of worried you're going too fast."

Frannie smiled at her. "It's kind of scary," she admitted. "But I've always wanted to be spontaneous like this, do crazy things. And I've found the right person to do them with."

Quinn tilted her head. "How do you know?" she questioned. "I mean… how did you know that Cooper's the one you want to marry?"

"I just… know," Frannie said thoughtfully. "You know, Cooper's got the attention span of a puppy sometimes. And he's overdramatic sometimes. And he can be… intense, and he takes me out of my comfort zone. But he's also charming, and he's there for me when I need him." Frannie smiled softly. "You know what I love about him? He's so… spontaneous. And easygoing, and he makes me laugh. And I can imagine spending the rest of my life with him."

Quinn was quiet. It was a little strange, having an actual conversation like this with her sister. They'd been on frosty terms for so long, and while their relationship was healing, distance made progress slow. She appreciated that Frannie was trying though. "Ryan's kind of insane too," she laughed softly. "I mean, he's obsessed with Broadway, I thought he was gay at one point before we got together. And he can talk _forever, _not to mention he can be a bit arrogant once in a while."

Frannie gave her a knowing look, taking a sip. "But…?"

Quinn smiled into her coffee. "But… he's sweet, and understanding, and he's the best listener. You wouldn't think it, given how much he likes to talk, but he is. And the arrogance is kind of warranted, because he's got the best voice I've ever heard." Even after almost two years of dating hearing him sing still made her tingle. "And… he makes me feel safe."

"I'm glad."

"And he forgives me, even when I've been a complete bitch to him." Her smile turned self-deprecating.

Frannie looked at her pensively. "It looks like we both found people who are… the exact opposite of Dad."

Quinn hadn't really thought of it that way, but it was true. Russell Fabray had always been the stoic type, even when they were younger and their family hadn't yet fallen to pieces. He was distant, and time that he had spent with them had normally been for show, to depict the image of the perfect family. And by the end he'd been cold and unforgiving. In contrast, both Ryan and Cooper were vitally alive, warm and demonstrative, and most importantly, sincere in their affections. "I guess you're right."

"I think we did pretty good," Frannie said, lifting her mug in a toast. Quinn smiled, clinking her own against her sister's.

"I think so too."

* * *

On Saturday afternoon, the Troubletones stood in the backstage of McKinley's auditorium, making final preparations for their Regionals set. The Warblers, led by Sebastian, had gone first, followed by the other team, the Golden Goblets. The Troubletones were going last. Ryan didn't mind, because this way they'd be the freshest in the judges' minds. He didn't really put too much stock in the judges though, as one of them was yet another government employee who likely knew nothing about show choir, and another was a very poor imitation of a vampire.

He gazed at himself in the mirror as he went through one last set of vocalization exercise. Quinn sat next to him, putting the final touches on her makeup. "The Warblers were good," Quinn noted.

Ryan nodded. "They were," he admitted. "But I don't think Sebastian quite has Blaine's level of showmanship. And while the Golden Goblets are technically okay, they don't have any idea how to put on a show. They're boring." He smiled at her. "We've got this."

Quinn smiled, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek as the Golden Goblets filed off the stage. "Your confidence is very attractive."

"Well, keep it in mind for tonight," Ryan grinned. "We'll have our own celebratory party after the wedding."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"And now, McKinley High's very own Troubletones!"

"You're up," Quinn smiled, giving him a final once over. "Break a leg."

"Thanks." He gave her a quick kiss before going up onto the stage, the music starting up. Ryan glanced at Quinn in the wings, then at his family who was sitting in the audience, before starting to sing.

_Life's too short to even care at all, oh_  
_I'm losing my mind losing my mind losing control, oh oh_  
_These fishes in the sea they're staring at me oh oh_  
_Oh oh oh oh_  
_A wet world aches for a beat of a drum_  
_Oh_

Ryan sank into the song, letting the music wash him away. They'd had _Cough Syrup_ in their repertoire, but they hadn't been planning on using it at Regionals. After the events of the past few weeks though, he had asked Shelby if they would be able to work it in.

_If I could find a way to see this straight_  
_I'd run away_  
_To some fortune that I, I should have found by now_  
_I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down, come down._

_Life's too short to even care at all, oh, oh_  
_I'm coming up now, coming up now out of the blue, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh_  
_These zombies in the park they're looking for my heart, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh_  
_A dark world aches for a splash of the sun, oh, oh_

The rest of the Troubletones had joined them on the stage by now, the whole group singing together.

_If I could find a way to see this straight_  
_I'd run away_  
_To some fortune that I, I should have found by now_

_And so I run now to the things they said could restore me_  
_Restore life the way it should be_  
_I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down_

The music faded away, leaving Ryan singing alone once more.

_One more spoon of cough syrup now, whoa_

The auditorium rang with applause as the last note faded, and Ryan smiled softly. The Troubletones had dedicated this song to Karofsky, and to anyone else who felt lost in the dark. Ryan had felt like that for a long time, and he'd found his reason for living. He hoped Karofsky found his as well. The music for the next song started up, and Ryan moved back as the Santana began to lead.

_You know the bed feels warmer_  
_Sleeping here alone_  
_You know I dream in color_  
_And do the things I want_

Brittany moved forward now, exchanging a smile with Santana, taking the next verse.

_You think you got the best of me_  
_Think you've had the last laugh_  
_Bet you think that everything good is gone_  
_Think you left me broken down_  
_Think that I'd come running back_  
_Baby you don't know me, cause you're dead wrong_

The whole group jumped in now, adrenaline rushing at the upbeat song. The audience was on their feet as well, clapping and cheering.

_What doesn't kill you makes you stronger_  
_Stand a little taller_  
_Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone_  
_What doesn't kill you makes a fighter_  
_Footsteps even lighter_  
_Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone_

_What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger_  
_Just me, myself and I_  
_What doesn't kill you makes you stronger_  
_Stand a little taller_  
_Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone_

The song ended to loud applause, and Troubletones moved into formation for their last song, beginning to harmonize. Tina moved forward to sing the solo, and Ryan smiled slightly as he remembered what she'd said about wanting a song.

_Grew up in a small town_  
_And when the rain would fall down_  
_I'd just stare out my window_  
_Dreaming of what could be_  
_And if I'd end up happy_  
_I would pray (I would pray)_

Marley came in on the next verse, blending with Tina as the rest of the Troubletones harmonized in the background.

_Trying hard to reach out_  
_But when I tried to speak out_  
_Felt like no one could hear me_  
_Wanted to belong here_  
_But something felt so wrong here_  
_So I prayed I could break away_

Now the whole group began to sing, and Ryan smiled as they moved in the choreography, proud of what they'd accomplished. He glanced at Quinn, who shot him a smile. His confidence rose as he poured himself into the song.

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly_  
_I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky_  
_And I'll make a wish_  
_Take a chance_  
_Make a change_  
_And breakaway_  
_Out of the darkness and into the sun_  
_But I won't forget all the ones that I love_  
_I'll take a risk_  
_Take a chance_  
_Make a change_  
_And breakaway_

_Buildings with a hundred floors_  
_Swinging 'round revolving doors_  
_Maybe I don't know where they'll take me_  
_But gotta keep moving on, moving on_  
_Fly away, breakaway_

Everyone was singing now, the audience up on their feet as they swayed along to the beat, phones held up and lit as they swayed with the music. Ryan's smile widened as he saw his family in the audience, pride shining on their faces.

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_  
_But I won't forget the place I come from_  
_I gotta take a risk_  
_Take a chance_  
_Make a change_  
_And breakaway_

..

Half an hour later the Troubletones found themselves in their now-familiar position on the stage with the other glee clubs, awaiting the announcement of the winner. Ryan smirked, remembering the clown from Sectionals and his mom's aversion. Today's judge was hardly better though, he thought as the vampire wannabe stepped out of his coffin. The judge quickly awarded third place to the Golden Goblets, and Ryan chanced a look at Sebastian, who gave him a wink.

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for… The 2012 Midwest Regional Champion… from McKinley High, the Troubletones!"

Confetti exploded around them as everyone burst into cheers, Sugar rushing forward to engulf the vampire in a hug. Everyone was yelling themselves hoarse as Quinn grabbed Ryan in a hug before shoving him towards Shelby to get their trophy. Ryan hugged his beaming mom before grinning at Santana as they took the Regionals trophy together.

Soon the Troubletones moved their party backstage. "Congratulations, everyone!" Shelby grinned at them, holding up the large trophy as the teenagers cheered. "You did great. I'm proud of you guys." Thirteen faces smiled back at her in pride. "Now we start preparing for Nationals in Chicago. But for today, I know you're itching to go party, so have at it."

The kids all laughed as they started to disperse. Shelby turned to Ryan, giving him a hug. "I'll see you tonight?" He nodded. His grandparents were going to stay for the night, and they'd have their celebration tomorrow. While the Frannie and Cooper's actual wedding party was limited, Judy had been kind enough to invite Ryan's whole family to the reception. "Okay," Shelby nodded. "Bye."

"Bye," Ryan and Quinn chorused as she left. As soon as they were alone, Ryan laughed, picking Quinn up and spinning her around before capturing her lips, pouring all his love and excitement into the kiss. "Told you we'd win."

A few minutes later Ryan made his way out of the auditorium with Santana, waiting for Quinn to come back from the restroom with Brittany. The co-captains were stopped by Sebastian Smythe however, who sized them up for a moment before nodding, offering a hand. "Congratulations. Great performance."

Ryan smiled, shaking the Warbler captain's hand. "Thank you. You and the Warblers performed wonderfully as well."

"Oh, I know," Sebastian grinned. "You're lucky you and Blaine were both on the team, otherwise I might have tried some of my more underhanded tricks. For example I can think of quite a few ideas involving Finn Hudson and Photoshop."

"Come again?" Ryan narrowed his eyes as Santana let out a sharp bark of laughter.

"Looks like you do have some balls," she acknowledged a bit grudgingly. "I didn't think they dropped."

The Warbler smirked, straightening his blazer. "Well, if you ever want to check that they're really there, I'd be more than happy to show you." Ryan groaned as Santana let out a sly smirk, opening her mouth.

"Okay," he intervened. "As much fun as I'm having listening to you two make very inappropriate innuendos at each other, we have places to be." He made a mental note to never put Sebastian and Santana in a room together ever again.

Sebastian smirked as well. "Anyways, you just had home field advantage this year. Mark my words though, we'll wipe the floor with you guys next year."

"Well, I won't be here, but you're certainly welcome to try," Ryan nodded in amusement. He was sure the remaining members of the Troubletones would live up to this year's batch.

"Good luck at Nationals, you're going to need it." Sebastian sauntered off, and Santana turned to Ryan.

"I'll admit, the meerkat's funny. But anyways, I'm off, I'm having dinner with Britts' family. Have fun at the wedding." She nodded at Quinn and Brittany, who were coming towards them. "See you on Monday." Santana left with Brittany as Quinn stopped in front of Ryan.

"We have a problem," she informed him. "I accidentally left our wedding clothes at home. I told Frannie she should get everyone else to the courthouse while we go back home to pick the clothes up. Blaine left with Cooper already."

"Quinn, that was very irresponsible," Ryan chastised. "We're on a bit of a time limit."

"I know, I know," Quinn grumbled. "You can lecture in the car, let's go."

..

It only took them a few minutes to reach Quinn's house and pick up the clothes. A snag however came in the form of a tractor and a narrow, two-lane road.

"Oh my god, can we get any slower?" Quinn asked irritably, scowling at the tractor that was chugging along in front of them, preventing Ryan, who was driving her car, from speeding up. At times like these, she hated living in a town surrounded mostly by farmland. Once she'd gotten stuck behind a herd of cows.

"Quinn, we're not going to get anywhere any faster even if we get mad," Ryan reasoned, even as he frowned at the tractor himself.

"He's barely going 15 miles per hour!"

Ryan sighed, drumming his fingers anxiously on the steering wheel. "There's a blind curve up ahead, I can't pass him." Finally after what seemed like an eternity, they managed to overtake the tractor on a straightaway, and Ryan gunned the engine. "Happy now?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Ecstatic." Her phone chimed, and she opened the text message.

_4:15 PM From: Frannie Fabray – Where are you?_

She quickly tapped out a reply.

_4:16 PM From: Quinn Fabray – On our way_

Right as she pressed the send button, a loud screech came from the car, and her heart jumped into her throat as she lurched forward violently.

..

Ryan's eyes widened as a large truck blew right across the intersection, barely missing the nose of Quinn's car by mere inches. He sat there frozen in shock, his foot slammed hard against the brake pedal as his heart thundered in his ears. Quinn sat stone-still beside him, just as surprised.

Quinn was first to recover, pulling at her seatbelt that had locked her immediately into place. "What the hell?"

The question tugged him out of his stupor, the shock turning into indignation. "He just blew right past the stop sign!" He had the right of way, there was a stop sign right there. He swallowed, shaking himself. If he'd been even a second late hitting the brakes… "That guy should be arrested!" he steamed. "He was going 80 in a rural area and breaking traffic laws while he was at it!"

Quinn let out a long breath, running a hand through blonde hair. "Okay." Another breath. "Okay. We're good. Let's get going."

After a few more grumbles about reckless drivers, Ryan finally let the car inch forward, carefully looking both ways for incoming cars. Soon enough they were back on their way, and Quinn was back to fidgeting and checking the car clock every ten seconds. "You should really calm down, you know," Ryan commented.

"I know," Quinn sighed. "It's just, I really want to be there. I mean, Frannie and I are just getting our relationship into gear, you know? And it's her wedding, and I want to be there."

Ryan smiled, taking her hand. "And we will be. I will get us there on time."

"Thank you." She squeezed his hand before releasing it to let him shift gears again. "Besides, if we're late it's her fault for springing this on us at the last minute," she grumbled as Ryan laughed.

At last they reached the main road, and Quinn caught sight of the courthouse. "Finally," she said, glancing over at Ryan with a half-smile.

"See?" he told her as they reached the final intersection. "We're almost there."

..

There are moments in life that rush by, and there are moments that seem to freeze. For Ryan, this was one of the latter. Three seconds that seemed to last an absolute eternity.

_One. _

"See? We're almost there." He glanced up at the traffic light, pleased to see that they had the green light. The last thing they needed was another delay. They only had four minutes to get there, just enough time to park and make a mad dash into the building.

_Two._

He drove the car through the intersection, speeding up slightly.

Then he turned his head to the right as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and his heart stopped and his eyes widened as he took in the large delivery van careening towards the passenger side of the car.

_Three._

Zero time to react, zero time for thought. A loud, metallic crunching sound filled his ears and the world seemed to explode around him. For an instant he felt a sensation of flying.

The next instant everything was black.

* * *

**Heh. Don't be too upset. See you!**


	89. Chapter 88

Sirens blared as an ambulance raced through the streets in a frantic dash to Lima Memorial Hospital. The white van swerved around the evening traffic, its paramedics inside focused on one goal: to get their patient to the hospital still breathing.

"How far out are we?" James yelled at his partner.

"Five minutes!" Lisa yelled back, lights and sirens at full blast as the vehicle surged forward, intent on making it to the hospital as soon as possible. James looked back down at his patient. "Ryan? Come on, buddy, hold on, we're almost there," he coaxed desperately. Suddenly the ambulance jerked violently. "What the fuck was that?!"

"Sorry!"

He ignored the apology, instead checking Ryan's stats again, praying that he'd stay stable, that by some miracle he'd wake up.

James didn't understand what had happened, Ryan had been fine, he and Shelby had called him after their competition, totally psyched that they had won. He hadn't been able to make it since he was on shift, but they'd understood. Ryan was supposed to be on their way to a wedding, this wasn't supposed to happen. Everything was going too fast.

..

"_This is unit 12-43, responding to the 911 call from Lincoln Avenue," James spoke into the ambulance radio as his partner Lisa Vance sped them towards their latest target. "On route now, ETA two minutes." He grabbed onto the roof handle when Lisa made a sharp turn. She glanced at him. _

"_What have we got?"_

"_Van T-boned a car at the intersection," James answered tersely. "Looks like two people in the car, one in the truck."_

"_Shit."_

"_Yeah." This was going to be messy. He hoped they didn't have a DOA. The radio blared to life._

"_12-43, we have reports of multiple victims, unit 9-54 is on route to the site, four minutes out, over."_

"_Must be bad," Lisa noted, stepping on the gas. They made it to the scene in 1 minute and 40 seconds, the two paramedics hopping out of the car and taking in the grisly sight of the two mangled cars._

_James saw the van first. He winced as he took in the wrecked bumper and the smashed windshield. Fortunately the door was open and it seemed that the driver had managed to get out by himself. _

_Then his focus shot to the other car, and he felt his breath leave him, feeling like someone had just punched him in the gut. "Oh my God."_

"_What?" _

"_That's my son's girlfriend's car." James surged forward to the red VW, peering into the driver's side window. _

Oh God, no, no, please, no.

_He choked back a sob as he took in the sight of Ryan and Quinn unconscious in the car. The car was crumpled beyond belief, passenger's side was dented in; there was blood everywhere and he didn't know where it was coming from. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think –_

"_You got a pulse?"_

_James' eyes flicked up to his partner, who was on the other side of the car checking on Quinn. The question kickstarted his training, and he automatically reached through the shattered window to search for a pulse on Ryan's neck. Panic spiked as he couldn't find one – wait, there. "I got it."_

"_Good," Lisa nodded. "I've got one too. Faint, but it's there." _

_James nodded as he tried the door. Focus. This was his job, he did this all the time. Focus on the medicine. This was just another patient._

_It wasn't, of course._

_Thankfully the locking mechanism had failed, and it opened easily. He leaned in, looking at his son frantically. "Ryan? Hey, buddy, it's me. Can you open your eyes for me?" _

_There was no response, and he fought down another wave of panic._

_Lisa looked at him in concern, diverting her attention from Quinn. "Do we need to switch?"_

_He shook his head. No. No, he couldn't leave Ryan. "I'm fine." He was fine, Ryan was going to be fine, he wouldn't let anything happen to his son. Focus. He checked the teenager again, relieved to find that he was breathing, if only shallowly. Blood poured from a cut on the side of his head, and James suspected that he had slammed his head on the window at the impact. He quickly applied a compress to try and stop the blood, wincing when he saw a clearly dislocated arm._

"_James, I need some help!"_

_He cursed under his breath, quickly checking Ryan over. He was stable for now, the bleeding starting to slow. He could hear the sirens of the next ambulance in the distance, and he reluctantly let go of Ryan, hurrying around the car to his partner. "What's happening?"_

"_She's coming round," Lisa said tersely, her voice low. James glanced over, and sure enough, Quinn's eyes were fluttering open. "We can't let her move, her back is trapped, possible SCI. If she moves she might make it worse. We need the fire department to cut her out."_

_James paled, leaning over the teenager as Lisa worked to stabilize her. "Quinn? Can you hear me?" The girl's eyes widened as they locked onto his, pupils fully dilated. James could see her panicking, and quickly reached out to try to calm her down. "Quinn, it's me, it's James. I need you to calm down, okay? Can you do that for me?"_

_Her answer was a choked whimper, blood starting to trickle from the corner of her mouth. "W-what –"_

"_You were in a car accident, but it's okay, we're going to get you out, okay?" He could hear the fire department's sirens on the way. _

"_R-Ryan –"_

"_Ryan's going to be fine," he told her soothingly even as his stomach churned at the words. _God, please don't let me be a liar._ "We're going to get you both out, okay, Quinn? I just need you to stay very still, okay?"_

_Another whimper. "Hurts –"_

"_Where does it hurt, Quinn?" Lisa asked, still working._

"_Back –" Her eyes started to glaze over with pain, and she stiffened suddenly with a gasp._

"_James, she's seizing!"_

..

Suddenly the monitors attached to Ryan started beeping wildly, and James' eyes widened as Ryan's BP started to drop drastically. Swearing frantically, he worked to stabilize him again. He fought down his panic as the medical side of his brain realized there was probably an internal bleed. "Lisa, please, _please_ say we're close."

"Almost there, hold on, there's construction on 5th…"

"Come on, buddy, stay with me," he muttered. Ryan hadn't regained consciousness once since James had gotten to him, and James was terrified out of his mind that he wouldn't –

No, he couldn't think like that, he couldn't. He wouldn't let anything happen to Ryan, Ryan was going to be fine; they were going to get him to the hospital and he was going to be fine.

Finally, finally the ambulance came to a rapid stop at the hospital emergency bay. The door opened, and the hospital team rushed forward. The next few minutes went by in a flash, the team quickly wheeling Ryan out of the ambulance, and soon he was whisked off in a flurry of doctors and nurses.

Suddenly James was just standing there in the ER, useless.

He'd been in this position so many times. His job was to stabilize the patient, get them to the hospital, and hand them over to the doctor. His job was done. But this time was different, this time it was _his family_ –

Oh God, Shelby. He had to call Shelby and tell her – oh God, what was he going to tell her?

There was a new commotion as another ambulance arrived. James automatically moved back out of the way. The ER team moved quickly, wheeling the patient into surgery. James caught a glimpse of blonde hair and bloodied pale skin as his son's girlfriend was rushed into the OR.

..

"_All right, she's stable," Lisa said, voice still tense as she checked over Quinn's stats. "For now."_

_James nodded, ignoring the metal of the ruined car pressing against his side as he pushed his sweaty hair out of his face. They'd managed to stabilize Quinn, but he knew how precarious the situation was; they couldn't afford to slow down, they need to get the kids to the hospital right away. The fire department was here, along with another ambulance, and another paramedic was now helping them with Quinn while another pair of EMTs worked on Ryan. "Lisa…"_

"_Go, we've got this," she nodded at him. He didn't need to be told twice as he rushed back to his son's side, where the EMTs – thank God were pulling him out onto a stretcher. _

"_Be careful," he said anxiously. One of them glanced at him in sympathy._

"_Walker –"_

"_Is he stable?" James cut him off, unwilling to let his emotions in right now. If he started now, he'd break down and he'd be useless to Ryan._

_The other EMT nodded, and he and his partner picked up the stretcher. "Yeah, he's stable. We can run him to LMH now –"_

_James shook his head, making a decision. "Take him to our unit."_

"_But –"_

"_Do it!" he bellowed. The other paramedics seemed taken aback by James' outburst, but he didn't care. _

"_He's your kid, there's a conflict of interest –"_

"_They're both mine, there's a conflict either way, so just do as I say!" James commanded angrily. He felt a tiny pang of guilt for leaving Quinn, but he couldn't leave Ryan. He just couldn't. He hoped Ryan would forgive him. The EMT nodded, and he and his partner moved Ryan to James' ambulance. James started to follow him before turning to one of the policemen. "Where's the other driver?"_

"_They took him to the hospital already," he replied. "Guy was drunk off his ass, BAC was at 0.211 percent, the bastard. Witnesses say he ran a red."_

_His blood ran cold as rage coursed through him. A drunk driver had almost killed his kids. He opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off._

"_James, let's go!" Lisa yelled, waving him over. The firemen were cutting the door on the passenger side out, other paramedics standing by to pull Quinn out as soon as they finished. James shook his head, hurrying over to the ambulance. He could deal with the information later, right now he had to make sure Ryan was okay._

..

"Hey. James. James, you okay?"

He vaguely heard his name being called, felt someone pulling him to a chair and pushing him down. He looked up to see one of the nurses looking at him in concern. He shook his head. No. He wasn't anywhere close to okay. His kid and the girl who was practically his daughter were in this hospital fighting for their lives. Nothing about this was kay. "I – I need to call –" He looked down at his hands, covered in blood –

His son's blood.

No. No. this wasn't supposed to happen, this was wrong –

He screwed his eyes shut, fighting off memories of blood on his hands, blood of people who died on his watch – and it was happening again – it was happening to _his child_ –

Dear God, his child could _die_ – James hadn't been able to wake him up. Images of all the death he'd seen assaulted his mind, and he couldn't get them to stop – twenty years' worth of blood and pain and deaths that he hadn't been able to prevent whirled in his mind, haunting voices melding with the image of his own son lying bleeding and unconscious in that car –

_He's gone, I'm sorry. We couldn't save him._

_The damage was too severe, we lost him._

_We did everything we could, but there was nothing else we could do._

No. No, that was wrong. Ryan was still alive, and he was going to be okay. He had to believe that. He couldn't lose Ryan, not now, not after everything. He vaguely felt someone leading him into the staff locker rooms, gently pushing him to sit down. He looked up, confused, to recognize Toni the head nurse looking at him. "James, stay here, okay? You need to take a breather."

"No," he shook his head, trying to get up. "No, I need to be outside – I need to see Ryan –"

"He's still with the doctors," Toni told him, pushing him back down. "You can't see him yet, you know that. He'll be okay, I'll tell you as soon as we know anything, okay? You just stay here, get it together, get yourself cleaned up."

"I need to call Shelby –"

"I've already got Wanda calling her," she said firmly. "I'll send her in here. It'll be okay, got it? Just stay in here until Shelby comes."

* * *

The doors to Lima Memorial Hospital's ER burst open, admitting three desperately anxious people inside. Shelby rushed immediately to the nurse at the reception desk, Sarah and Tom following in her wake.

"I'm looking for Ryan Corcoran," she said, her voice bordering on hysterical. "He was in a car accident. I'm his mother, where is he?" The nurse behind the desk was unfazed, immediately looking for through the records. She waited impatiently, the memory of the heart-stopping call she'd received playing through her mind.

..

"_Your team was very good," Sarah said as she and Tom followed Shelby up the front porch. Shelby grinned as she fitted her key into the lock, opening the house._

"_Well, did you expect any less?" she preened. "Ryan's the most talented kid in the state, and they were coached by the best director in the country, if I do say so myself." She was about to enter the house when her phone rang, and she accepted the call, smiling apologetically at her parents. "Hello?"_

"_Hello? Is this Shelby Corcoran?"_

"_Yes, who is this?"_

"_This is Wanda Forster, I'm a nurse at Lima Memorial Hospital. I'm afraid we need you to come down here right away, your son Ryan's been in a car accident." _

_The world seemed to stop as the words registered, and she couldn't speak for a few seconds. No, that could't be right. She'd been talking to Ryan less than an hour ago. Her parents shot her confused looks, but she ignored them, unable to speak, unable to even breathe. "Car accident? What? Where? Wh –" Shelby stopped, the words choking on their way out. "What happened? Is he all right?" Her mind was racing as she tried to process what to do. James was at the hospital, maybe he could tell her what was going on. "My fiancé, he's a paramedic there –"_

"_Yes, James is here, he's…" A slight hesitation. "He was one of the paramedics who brought Ryan and the car's other passenger in."_

_Oh God. "Other passenger?"_

"_Yes, Quinn Fabray. We're calling her family as well. Ma'am, we really need you to come in as soon as you can. Ryan's in surgery, there's currently no news yet."_

_Surgery? "O-okay. I'm on my way." She blindly ended the call, spinning around to be faced with her parents. She'd forgotten they were there._

"_Shelby, what happened?" Sarah asked urgently._

"_Car accident," Shelby choked out. "Ryan – Ryan and Quinn were in a car accident, I have to get to the hospital –"_

_Tom took the keys from her hand. "I'll drive."_

..

"Shelby?" Her head turned as another nurse caught her attention. She took a moment to recognize her as Toni Andrews, one of James' coworkers that she had met a few times.

"Toni, where's Ryan?" she asked. "Is James here? What happened? I –"

"Wait, wait," Toni said briskly. "Ryan's in surgery, there hasn't been any news yet. James…" She hesitated. "James is in the locker rooms, I think you should go to him. He's not taking it well."

Shelby nodded shakily, pulling in a ragged breath. "Dad, can you guys wait here? I – I'm going to get James. Call me if –" She almost choked. "Call me if there's any news, okay?"

Tom nodded. "We'll be right here, Shelby."

She headed off in the direction of the locker rooms, moving almost on autopilot. Fortunately she'd been here a few times to see James, and she managed to find the locker rooms. The rooms were empty, but she could hear water running somewhere. Following the sound, she finally located her fiancé, who was at one of the sinks scrubbing almost manically at his hands.

"James?"

He whirled immediately, turning to face her with desperate eyes. There was blood on his uniform, the water in the sink tinged pink with it, and Shelby almost threw up when it sank in just whose it was. She shut her eyes, trying to get her stomach under control. Moving towards him, she shut off the sink, taking him by the shoulders to face him towards her.

"James, what happened?"

He shook his head, shaking her off. "There was a drunk driver, the police said he ran a red light – the delivery van T-boned the car – oh God, Shelby – he wouldn't wake up, I tried – I tried –"

Her eyes filled with tears at his disjointed words. "What do you mean he wouldn't wake up?" she asked, her voice pitching higher. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know!" He roared, slamming a fist against one of the lockers with a resounding bang. Shelby flinched at the sound. James suddenly slumped back against the wall, sliding down until he was on the floor, his head in his hands. "I don't know," he gulped out. "I don't know what's going to happen, I don't know if he's going to be okay and I can't – I can't –" His voice cracked, his breath ragged and shallow.

Shelby's chest constricted at the sight of her fiancé collapsing. Everything was falling apart, and she couldn't do anything. She stared at James, unable to move, the horror of knowing that it was their son's blood staining his clothes sinking into her mind.

She shook her head slowly, unwilling to even _think_ that they could lose their son, because if she started to think that she was going to pass out. She dropped down in front of him, grabbing him again by the shoulders. "Stop," she ordered. "Look at me."

Brown eyes locked onto hers, and she almost cried out at how much they reminded her of their son's. She pushed back her own roiling emotions. James needed her now, and she needed to come through. "Ryan's going to be okay, got it?" she said, her voice shaking. "He is. The doctors are going to fix him, and he's going to be okay."

"You don't know that," James rasped out, tears raining down his face. "You didn't – you didn't see –"

"I don't care," Shelby growled fiercely. "Our kid is a fighter, he's going to come back to us, okay?" They needed to believe that.

"I can't lose him, Shelby," he whispered. "We can't lose him."

"We're not going to lose him. We're going to go back out there, the doctor's going to come tell us that Ryan's going to _fine_." She stood up, dragging him up with her. Pulling him towards his locker, she unlocked it and pulled out a fresh shirt, thrusting it into his chest. "Go change." If she had to look at Ryan's blood on his clothes for one more second she was going to scream.

James moved mechanically, removing the bloody uniform and putting on the new shirt without a word of protest. He was shutting down, Shelby could see it, but she didn't know what to do and honestly she didn't know that she could do it even if she did know, because she was inches away from breaking down herself.

_Please God just let him be okay._

_.._

The Fabrays were in the waiting room with Tom and Sarah by the time Shelby and James returned to the waiting room. Tom hadn't formally met them before, but Judy and Frannie Fabray looked too much like Quinn to be related to anyone else. Judy was crying quietly in her chair, while Frannie was pale and silent, sitting like a cold marble statue next to her fiancé.

Tom was still reeling over what was happening. It was hard to believe that just a few short hours ago he'd been at the glee club competition with his family, all of them in the perfect health, and now… now his grandson was on an operating table somewhere, his soon to be son-in-law was on the verge of breaking down, and his distraught daughter was struggling to keep everything together.

Shelby had been close to collapsing when she'd gotten that phone call earlier. No one ever thought that something like this would happen to them. But they did, and this time it had come with no warning, leaving them all dazed, panicked, without any clue what to do.

"Any news?" Shelby asked the group at large. Tom shook his head. It hadn't been that long, really. But to him, it felt like ages as he waited for news of his grandson, and he could only imagine how much worse it felt for Shelby and James. Both their eyes were bloodshot, indescribably worry written across their features, the same worry etched onto Judy Fabray's face.

The worry that they'd never see their child alive again.

"James, what happened?" Judy asked tremulously. "The nurse – the nurse said you were there after –" She held back a sob. "Can you tell me anything? Please."

James flinched, not knowing what to say. He'd seen Quinn, had spoken to her for all of ten seconds before she'd lost consciousness again. But how could he tell Judy that? How was he supposed to relay to a mother the fear and pain he'd seen on her child's face?

Fortunately the paramedic was saved by the appearance of a doctor. "Mrs. Fabray?"

Judy's attention immediately snapped to her as she shot up from her seat, Frannie close behind. "Yes? Is Quinn alright?" she asked, voice imploring for a positive answer.

"Quinn's alive," the female doctor quickly assured her. "But there's a fracture in her lumbar vertebrae, and swelling around the area. We need to operate to reduce chances of damage to her spinal cord."

"When?" Frannie questioned shakily.

"As soon as possible. We're prepping her for surgery right now," the doctor replied. "You can see her, but only for a short while, if you'd like."

"Yes, please," Judy nodded. She looked at Shelby, who nodded.

"Go," she said softly. Judy wasted no more time, following the doctor out of the waiting room with Frannie and Cooper on her heels. Shelby stood up, unable to stay still a second longer, pacing agitatedly as her parents and fiancé sat on the chairs of the waiting room. She couldn't stay still, perpetually on edge, anxious for news, any news about Ryan.

"Sweetheart, maybe you should sit down," Sarah suggested soothingly. "You're wearing a track on the floor."

Shelby nodded ad sat down next to her, only to stand back up after a few minutes. Tom stood up, gently placing his hands on her arms. "They're going to be okay," he said comfortingly, wrapping her in a hug. His daughter nodded jerkily, but he knew that no matter what he said, her worry wouldn't fade until she saw Ryan for herself. He was a parent, he understood how she felt, and was thankful he'd never been in her position before. She pulled away from him, turning to James.

"What –" She cleared her throat when her normally clear voice came out as a weak scratch. "What damage did you see?"

James clenched his jaw, shutting his eyes briefly. "Gash on his forehead, probably a concussion," he answered robotically. "Dislocated arm. His BP dropped when he got here, maybe internal bleeding."

Shelby swallowed. "They can fix all that, right?"

"They should be able to…" He cut off suddenly, his gaze sharpening from their previous dazed expression. Shelby looked at him anxiously as he went stock still.

"James?"

He didn't answer as he stood up. Suddenly he strode forward, intercepting another patient being escorted by a pair of police officers. Without any warning, James drew back, landing a solid right hook on the patient's jaw and knocking him to the ground.

Everyone stared, the police included, shocked into paralysis. The guy yelled out, but James leaned down, grabbing the front of his shirt and slamming his fist into the guy's face again. Everyone was up now.

"Oh my God," Shelby moaned, standing up with her hands on her face. "James, James, stop! Daddy, do something!"

The words came a second too late, Tom had already moved forward, pulling James back with the help of one of the policemen. The other guy was still on the ground, groaning as he clutched his profusely bleeding nose.

"What the fuck?!" He yelled. "That's assault! I'll sue your ass off for that!"

"Just try it," James snarled back, trying to fight off Tom's grip. "You almost fucking killed my son, you bastard!"

Shelby's eyes widened at the accusation, and her gaze immediately snapped back to the man lying on the floor. Tom, taken by surprise, slackened his grip. James pulled away, lunging forward only to be stopped by the policeman. "Take it easy, man," he warned, even as he shot a dirty look at the other guy.

"What the hell were you thinking?" James spat out at the prone man. "I saw you, you couldn't even fucking walk straight! Think it's funny that you almost killed two kids?!" He lunged again, the policeman still blocking him. Tom couldn't blame James; in fact he was ready to beat the drunk driver to a pulp himself.

"Officer, did you see that?!" the man yelped. The two policemen stared at him in disgust. Both of them knew James, he worked plenty of scenes that involved the police, and he didn't deserve this to happen to his kid.

"Did you see anything, Barton?"

"Not a thing, Roberts," Officer Barton replied, hauling the guy up. "Let's get that fixed up, then you're coming with us to the station." He dragged the still complaining man away as Officer Roberts turned to James.

"I'm sorry about your kid, Walker," he said sincerely. James' shoulders slumped, all the fight leaving him. "We'll take care of _him,_" he nodded derisively in the direction his partner had disappeared into with the drunk driver. "He's not going anywhere."

James nodded. "Thank you." The policeman nodded back, following his partner. Shelby moved towards James, tentatively placing a hand on his arm. He clenched his fists before releasing them with a breath. "I can't lose him."

Shelby's hand tightened on his arm for an instant. "We won't."

"We haven't had enough time, we've barely had two years, that's not enough. That's nowhere near enough."

No, it wasn't. Shelby simply stayed silent, guiding him back to the chairs and pulling him down to sit next to her. Tom watched them sadly before returning to his seat next to his wife, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "This isn't fair," he said quietly.

His wife shook her head. "No, it isn't."

* * *

Dr. Santiago Lopez was not having a good day. He'd been on shift in the ER the whole day, meaning that he'd had to miss his daughter's glee club competition. He loved his daughter, and he tried to be there for her school activities, but his job kept him away more often than he'd like.

Then an ambulance had roared into the ER, delivering a patient that he recognized. Ryan Corcoran was one of Santana's friends from school, a good one by all accounts; the glee club's star as Santana grudgingly admitted. The boy had been in a car accident with Quinn Fabray, another of Santana's classmates and a good fried, and Dr. Lopez had had to take a second to compose himself before operating, banishing imaginations of his own daughter being in such an accident.

And now here he was, on his way to deliver news to the parents of his patient. He knew them too – James Walker was one of the hospital's paramedics, a good man with an excellent record ever since he'd joined the hospital two years ago; while Shelby Corcoran was Santana's teacher at school, one who'd taken up for her when she'd been outed on TV and one of the very few adults she respected.

He took another second to center himself before approaching the couple in the waiting room, where they were waiting with two other adults, and – his heart clenched – Judy Fabray and her elder daughter. This was every parent's worst nightmare, the knowledge that something had happened to their child and there was nothing they could do about it.

And he felt no small measure of guilt at the relief that it wasn't his child on the line.

Dr. Lopez cleared his throat, and everyone's heads snapped up as he approached them. "James, Miss Corcoran," he nodded. "I'm Dr. Lopez."

"Is he okay?" James asked immediately as he and Shelby stood up. "What happened?"

Dr. Lopez smiled gently. "He's going to be okay."

They let out a collective sigh of relief, along with the two other adults behind them who were likely Ryan's grandparents. Shelby grabbed James' hand letting out a relieved laugh. "Thank God."

James wasn't as easily mollified though. Dr. Lopez understood; as a medical professional he wouldn't have relaxed until he knew everything. "But?" James probed. "What – how much damage –"

The doctor nodded. "Okay. First of all, he regained consciousness enough for us to do some neurological tests –"

"He's awake?" Shelby cut in hopefully, only for Dr. Lopez to shake his head.

"We had to put him under sedation so we could operate," he said. "The accident caused some internal bleeding, but we managed to fix it up. Now, the neuro tests showed that your son has a grade 3 concussion, and the CT scans show he has some intracranial bleeding."

"What –"

"He's bleeding into his brain," James interpreted, his voice shaking ever so slightly.

Dr. Lopez nodded. "It's small, but we're going to monitor it for a few days to make sure it doesn't get worse. Most clots resolve on their own, but if this one doesn't we'll have to go in and remove it. We also stitched up the cut on his head. He's got extensive bruising, mostly along his chest, where the seatbelt caught him."

"His shoulder was dislocated, did you fix it?"

The doctor nodded, wincing internally at the reminder that James had been the one to collect his son from the accident. He couldn't imagine doing that if it had been Santana, he probably would have collapsed on the spot. "Yes, we put it back into place and braced it for now. We'll give him some painkillers for that. There aren't any fractures according to the X-rays. But that's the worst of it. He's got a few cuts but aside from the one on his head, none of them needed stitches. He's going to be okay," he emphasized. "We did our best to fix him up, and he got the best emergency care on site, too," he nodded at James.

"Can we see him?" Shelby asked anxiously.

"He's still under sedation. He's being brought up to a room, I'll tell the nurse to inform you as soon as he's settled, okay?"

"Actually, he's already in a room," the ER's head nurse interjected, coming up to the group. "He's still under a sedative, but he'll be up in a few hours. You can go see him now if you want."

"I'll take you," Dr. Lopez said. Ryan's family followed him to the elevator, Judy and her daughter staying behind to wait for news on Quinn's surgery. Unfortunately he had nothing new to tell them, since that case was totally out of his hands. "I'd tell you not to worry," he told Shelby and James. "But I know that's useless. So I'll just tell you that we'll give him the best possible care, okay? Ryan will be back up in no time."

"You're Santana's father, aren't you?" Shelby asked suddenly. Dr. Lopez smiled.

"That's right," he confirmed. "I've heard quite a bit about Ryan from her. You too, in fact. Santana admires you very much."

Shelby smiled slightly. "She's a good kid. You should be proud."

He was unable to help his proud smile. "I am, thank you."

They followed Dr. Lopez as he opened the door to a private room, James a step behind Shelby, silent after he'd finished his inquiries of the doctor in the waiting room. She'd never been more thankful that he knew all the medical mumbo-jumbo going on, otherwise she wouldn't have understood a thing.

"He's banged up," Dr. Lopez cautioned. "But for the most part it's not as bad as it looks."

Shelby nodded, but despite the doctor's attempt at reassurance she couldn't help the gasp that escaped her as she laid eyes on her son. Ryan was lying pale and still on the hospital bed, a bandage covering the left side of his forehead, a small cut on his cheek held closed by some tape. His left arm was strapped into place with some sort of sling. An IV line ran from his other hand, various other wires attached to his chest. He looked broken.

But he was alive. The important thing was that Ryan was alive, the fact solidified by the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, by the rhythmic beeping of the machines as his heart continued to beat.

Shelby moved forward to the side of the bed, automatically reaching out only to pause with her hand inches from his skin. "Can I –"

Dr. Lopez nodded, and she gently touched her son's cheek with trembling fingers, choking back a sob at the warmth of his skin.

_He was okay._

Tears started to fall, and she couldn't tell if they were tears of sadness at how much damage there was, or simply tears of pure joy that he was still here. She didn't care. He was alive.

"He should wake up in a couple of hours," Dr. Lopez said. "When he does, find one of the nurses, and I'll be back tomorrow morning to check on him. But based on what I've seen, he's got a high chance of being back to himself in a few weeks."

Shelby nodded. "Thank you," she whispered fervently, unable to tear her eyes away from Ryan. She heard James gruffly echo the sentiment, then the doctor left. Then James was beside her, staring down at Ryan with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Shelby brushed a lock of hair from Ryan's forehead. "He's okay," she whispered.

"Yeah," James nodded, just as quietly, his voice cracking with emotion at the end of the word. "He's okay." He wrapped an arm around her, and she reached down, gently covering Ryan's hand with her own. James laid his own hand on top of theirs.

They were going to be okay.

* * *

It was dark. Really dark.

Where was he? This wasn't his room. It smelled like sanitizer, and what on earth was that incessant beeping sound?

He didn't know where he was, and his head felt like someone had wrapped it in cotton wool and he didn't like it. Now that he thought about it his head hurt, and he brought his hand up to rub his forehead.

Or he tried to at least. As soon as he tried to move, pain bloomed across his shoulder, spreading everywhere, paralyzing him. His breathing started to speed up, causing even more pain to spring up until he couldn't breathe. He was starting to panic, he had no idea what had happened, or where he was –

"Ryan? Ryan?"

Suddenly someone was leaning over him, he could make out the shape. His mom. That was his mom. He tried to speak, but his throat was dry, so dry, and all he could manage was a choked whisper. "M-mom –"

Someone turned on a dim lamp, and finally Ryan was able to see his a figure leaning over him anxiously. "Sweetie, I need you to stay still, okay? Dad went to go get a nurse, I just need you to calm down for me, okay?"

"C-can't move – hurts –" It was like he was swimming in some sort of haze, floating in a thick fog that refused to let him move or even breathe properly.

"It's okay, it's okay, I promise," his mother's voice broke through the haze. He blinked, searching for her frantically. His eyes weren't working right, everything was blurred and he couldn't find her. Suddenly he felt a tight grip on his hand, and he clutched at the lifeline desperately. "I'm right here." Finally he was able to focus, and his gaze locked onto Shelby. She smiled at him. "I'm right here."

He clung to her hand as another whimper escaped his lips. "D-don't leave."

"Never," Shelby promised. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

Reassured, Ryan's breathing started to even out. Then he made the mistake of moving his head and another wave of pain washed over him and he shut his eyes, fighting back the nausea that welled up in his stomach.

"Is he okay?"

He frowned at the new voice, belatedly recognizing it has his father's. Suddenly there was another voice, one he didn't recognize this time. No, that wasn't right, he'd heard it before, but he couldn't place it. It was so hard to think…

"Okay, Ryan, can you open your eyes for me?"

No, why would he do that? He didn't want to do that. He felt like he was floating, and it was making him dizzy and nauseous and –

"Come on, buddy," James coaxed. "We need to take a look, okay?"

Fine. He forced his eyes open, blinking at the light in the room. _Oh God his head hurt._ "Wh – ah!" He let out a pathetic squeak as someone shone a bright light into his eyes.

"Is that really necessary?" Shelby asked. Ryan had to agree with the question.

"Sorry," the other voice apologized. "We just need to check how he's doing. Ryan, I just need you to answer a few questions for me, okay?"

Ryan winced at the almost painfully loud voice. He still wasn't sure what was going on. He couldn't grasp everything the doctor was saying and he screwed his eyes shut as he struggled to fight off the haze enveloping his brain. "I – I can't remember…"

"What can't you remember, buddy?" James asked worriedly.

"Don't – I – what happened?" For the life of him Ryan couldn't remember what had happened for him to end up like… this. _What was wrong with him?_

"What's the last thing you remember?" the doctor asked.

Ryan shut his eyes again, trying to get his brain into order. "I… we won Regionals. Then… then I don't –" He stopped as he fought off a wave of nausea, his headache mounting again. "Mom, what's going on?" The monitor to quicken again, and he tried to move his arm once more, only to gasp at the sudden pain.

"Ryan, try to stay still, okay?" James urged. "You've got a concussion, and you dislocated your arm." He looked at Dr. Lopez, who nodded.

"Okay, Ryan, I'm going to give you something to help with the pain, okay? You need to rest, so try to sleep," the doctor said. Ryan frowned, not liking the idea. He wanted – needed to know what was going on. But at the same time, the idea of sleep, the idea of getting away from this all-encompassing ache, was appealing.

The choice was taken from him as his eyes slowly slipped shut as he drifted away. He tried to fight it, but he was losing. "It's okay, buddy" James said comfortingly. "Go to sleep, okay?"

"Don't go anywhere," Ryan mumbled, starting to slip into sleep. "Don' leave me."

"We're not going anywhere," Shelby assured him, gripping his hand tighter. "We'll be right here when you wake up."

* * *

Shelby woke up first the next morning. Or more accurately, later that same morning. Slowly she straightened up from her position slumped against Ryan's bedside, her back protesting against the awkward position. A glance around the room showed her that Ryan and James were still asleep, James sprawled out on the tiny sofa that came with the room. It had been past midnight by the time she and James had fallen asleep, both of them fighting exhaustion to keep watch over their son.

..

_He didn't remember," Shelby said softly. "He didn't remember the accident."_

"_It happens," James replied, reaching out to smooth Ryan's hair back. "Sometimes people don't recall the actual traumatic event. Some people remember it in razor sharp detail."_

"_He didn't remember he was with Quinn. How are we going to tell him?"_

"_I don't know."_

_They were quiet for some time, the only sound the gentle beeping of the monitors in the background. "How did you do it?"_

"_Do what?"_

_She paused, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. "How did you not just break down when you found him? I can't even look at him now without feeling sick… but you, you even treated him, you got him here." She would never have been able to do it._

"_I… I don't know," James confessed. "I just… I knew I had to do something, I couldn't help him if I froze up, or if I started panicking…" He shut his eyes. "The compartmentalization, it comes with being in the Army for so long, I guess. You see so much, you can't – you can't take it all at once." He paused. "I've seen so many guys in that position, you know?" he said quietly. "Injured, dying… dead. And as the medic, I couldn't… I had to do my job. But seeing Ryan… it was different. He's my kid, he's our kid."_

"_Do you wish you hadn't been the first responder?"_

"_I… no. I think… being there gave me some sort of control, you know? If it had been someone else I would have been wondering, maybe I could have done something if I'd been there…"_

..

Shelby sighed. Yesterday had taken a toll on her fiancé, even if he didn't say so. After all, she'd been out of her mind with worry when she'd gotten the call. How much worse would it have been if she'd actually seen the carnage firsthand?

That was why she'd tried so hard to keep it together yesterday. She'd seen him shutting down. And while she hadn't been able to completely rein her emotions in, she'd done the best she could.

When Ryan had woken up she hadn't been able to stop the tears of relief, even as he heart broke at the pain in her son's face. He'd been so scared and confused, she'd seen it in his eyes and in the way he clung to her hand, never letting go until he'd drifted back into sleep. She let her gaze rove over his form, smiling softly at the rise and fall of his chest. The smile was brief though as she catalogued every last scrap of damage, from the bandaged gash on his hairline and the dark blue brace holding his arm, down to the tiny scrape on the side of his jaw and the bruise on his collarbone.

If she could, she knew she'd transfer all his pain to her own body in a heartbeat.

Her thoughts drifted to Quinn suddenly. Frannie had come to the room last night before Ryan had woken up, bringing news of her sister.

..

"_Is Ryan… How's he doing?" Frannie asked as she entered the room. _

"_The doctor said he'll make a full recovery," Shelby replied. "He hasn't woken up yet, but he should soon. What about Quinn?" she asked. "Is there any news?"_

"_Mom's with her. She got out of surgery maybe half an hour ago," Frannie said quietly, sitting down on the chair James pushed towards her. "She's on a ventilator in the ICU. There was some… some kind of damage to one of her lungs. She's got three broken ribs, and they're keeping on the ventilator until she can breathe on her own. And…"_

"_And?"_

"_She's got, I think they said an incomplete spinal cord injury? It's… it's why they took so long, they had to fix a lot of stuff." _

_James exhaled heavily. "Do they think she's going to be able to walk?"_

_Frannie's eyes filled with tears. Her baby sister might not be able to walk. "They're not sure. They said they have to wait until she wakes up to see." She looked at Ryan, still peacefully unconscious. "They don't know… they don't know when she'll wake up." She shut her eyes. "This is our fault," Frannie said almost inaudibly. "I was rushing them, I wanted Quinn to be there, and now –"_

"_It wasn't your fault." If anyone was at fault it was the other driver. It wasn't Frannie's fault, it wasn't Quinn's fault, and it wasn't Ryan's fault either. Everything was just messed up._

_.._

"M-mom?"

Shelby's gaze instantly snapped to Ryan's face, smiling tremulously when his brown eyes started to blink open. "Hi sweetie," she said softly. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

Ryan tried to speak, only to stop, clearing his throat. "Water…"

She immediately turned to find some, only to be beaten by James, who had woken up as well. He poured a glass of water and produced a straw so that Ryan could take a sip. "Here you go, buddy."

"Thank you," Ryan whispered, voice still weak.

"Are you feeling okay?" Shelby asked anxiously. "How do you feel?"

"Tired," he said quietly. "Sore." He tried to move his left arm, only to meet the resistance of the sling holding his arm in place. "What… what happened?"

"Do you remember anything?" James questioned.

Ryan frowned, trying to remember. Everything was still hazy; he could remember snippets of waking up last night – or was it this morning? – but he couldn't remember how he'd gotten here. "You were in a car accident," his father explained. "A drunk driver ran a red light, and he hit you at an intersection."

_Ohh… _that explained a lot. But… something was missing, there was something else he was forgetting… "We were going somewhere," Ryan remembered. "To the courthouse with…" He fell silent as he figured it out. "Where's Quinn?" _How could he have forgotten about her? _He berated himself.

He saw his parents exchange a glance, and his horror mounted as he realized… "Was she in the car? What happened to her?" Oh God, what had happened? He couldn't remember, what if –

"She was in the car with you," James confirmed gently. "She… the doctors had to operate last night."

"Is she –" No, he couldn't even think of. She had to be alive. He'd know if she wasn't, wouldn't he? "Tell me what happened," he demanded, the request weakened by the tremor in his voice as icy dread trickled up his spine. He couldn't lose her, he couldn't. "Where is she?"

"She's alive, she's here in the hospital," his dad told him, and he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "But…"

"But?"

"Her injuries were more serious than yours," James said. "Her lung collapsed on the way here, and there was some damage to her spinal cord."

Ryan immediately tried to sit up, compelled to leave the room right now. "I need to see her." He attempted to get up, only to be hampered both by the pain in his chest and his parents' restraining hands.

"You can't get up, sweetie," Shelby told him. "You've got a major concussion and you dislocated your arm. You're not going anywhere until the doctor says so."

"But –"

"No," James said sternly. "I'm sorry, buddy, but you can't get up yet until the doc signs off on it. Dr. Lopez will be here soon, I think – speak of the devil," James smiled slightly as the doctor himself entered the room. "Good morning, doc."

"Good morning," the doctor said. "Good, you're awake," he addressed Ryan. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I can get up." He really needed to see Quinn, the worry overpowering the lingering ache in his head. Spinal cord damage? Did that mean she was paralyzed? He had to get to her soon. He didn't need to stay here, he was fine, he just – "Ow!"

"Sorry," Dr. Lopez apologized, drawing his hand back as he finished palpitating Ryan's chest. "Well, nothing seems to be broken, but you've got some sever bruising. It should go away in a couple of weeks. Your arm is going to need to stay that way too, and you might need some physical therapy. Can you tell me what year it is?"

Ryan looked at him as though her were insane. "2012."

"President?"

"Uhh…" For a moment he couldn't remember, then… "Barack Obama." He shut his eyes for a second, trying to will the pain away. He needed to get out of here, he needed to see Quinn. He waited impatiently as the doctor shone a light into his eyes. Dr. Lopez nodded as he clicked the flashlight off. "Looks like your concussion isn't worsening. We'll do another CT scan later today."

"Can I get up? I need to go see…"

Dr. Lopez finished writing a few notes on his clipboard, looking up to study Ryan for a moment. "Does your head still hurt? Any dizziness?"

"No…" Shelby gave Ryan a stern look, and he corrected his answer. "I guess I'm a bit fuzzy… but it doesn't hurt as bad as last night."

Dr. Lopez nodded. "Quinn's in the ICU, but she'll be moved to a private room later this morning. If you're careful, I'll let you go, but you'll have to stay in a wheelchair." Ryan immediately nodded his agreement, only to top as the movement aggravated the pain. "All right. I'll send a nurse in when Quinn's settled. If it's okay with you, you can have some visitors in too. Santana's been itching to see you and Quinn."

"Santana… You're Santana's dad," Ryan belatedly realized. "I… okay."

The doctor smiled. "I'll send her in." He did a final check on all the monitors before leaving the room. Shelby took Ryan's hand. "Are you okay?"

"I… I don't know." He swallowed. "I want to see Quinn."

"I know, sweetie. We'll see her later." She checked the clock. "Your grandparents said they'd be here later. They're worried about you too."

"Okay."

* * *

Santana stood outside Ryan's hospital room a few minutes before visiting hours were supposed to start. Her dad finally given her the go signal to see Ryan. Quinn was still in the ICU, and she couldn't go there, so she had to settle.

Okay, who was she kidding, she was worried about the Hobbit too.

Her father had arrived home past midnight, shutting the front door behind him as quietly as he could so as not to wake his family. It didn't matter though, because Santana had been wide awake, unable to rest until she knew what had happened.

..

"_Daddy, what happened to Quinn and Ryan?" she asked, pouncing on her father as soon has he was in the house. "Blaine texted everyone in glee, he said they were in an accident and the wedding was cancelled, and they were at the hospital! What –"_

"_Santana, calm down, please," her dad requested, sighing. "You know I can't tell you much." Doctor-patient confidentiality was something he took seriously, and Santana knew that. But this was different._

"_They're my friends, Dad, please, you have to tell me –"_

_She was cut off when her father wrapped her in a sudden tight hug. She automatically returned it; there were times when he'd had a difficult day and suddenly pulled her or her mom into an embrace. But after a moment she pulled away. "Daddy…"_

_Her father sighed again, leading her to the living room where they sat down. "Your friends were in a car accident at the intersection on Lincoln. A car t-boned them."_

_Santana's hand covered her mouth in horror. "W-why? Who – was it Quinn? She keeps texting while she drives, she should have just kept her eyes on the road! Stupid moron –"_

"_Ryan was driving. He –"_

_Sudden fury spiked in Santana's chest. "He was driving? That idiot, I'm going to kill him! I told him not to hurt Quinn –"_

"_Santana!"_

_She stopped abruptly at her father's rebuke. "Don't talk about things you know nothing about," he told her forcefully. "For your information, the other driver was drunk when he ran into your friends, and Ryan had the green light. Both Ryan and Quinn were hurt, and neither of them are at fault. Do you understand me?"_

"_I… yeah." Shame replaced the rage, though a good bit of it remained, now directed at the other driver. Still, she shouldn't have blamed Ryan. She knew he was a good driver, but she didn't know what to do about all this emotion she felt. "I'm sorry."_

_Her dad nodded. "I'm the one who treated Ryan, and I can't tell you a lot but I think he'll be okay. Quinn…" He trailed off, and now worry overrode the other emotions. "She took more damage."_

_Santana swallowed. She knew what that meant, it meant he didn't know if her friend was going to be alive, otherwise he would have told her so. "I want to see them tomorrow." The only reason she and the rest of the Troubletones hadn't gone tonight was because it had been too late to visit by the time they found out what was going on._

"_Santana…"_

"_Daddy, please."_

_After a moment her dad nodded. "You can come to the hospital with me. But you cannot go into their rooms without my direct say so. Do you understand?"_

"_But –"_

"_No, Santana. I will ask them or their parents whether you can go in, but until I say so, you will stay in my office, is that clear?"_

"… _Yes sir."_

"_Good. Get some sleep, we'll need to leave early." He reached out again, pulling her into a tight hug. She readily returned it, and he sighed softly, kissing the top of her head. "I love you so much, mija."_

"_I love you too."_

..

Miss Corcoran looked up as Santana entered the room, sending her a small, tired smile. "Hello Santana."

"Hi Miss C, Mr. Walker," she said, before looking at Ryan. "You look like shit," she said unthinkingly. Ryan's dad snorted at that. He stood up, pulling Miss Corcoran with him.

"We'll go get some breakfast, okay?" he said. "Let you two talk."

Ryan nodded tiredly. "Okay." He turned to Santana as his parents left the room. "Have you seen Quinn?"

"No." The anger started bubbling again as she looked at Ryan, his body bandaged to hell and back and with worry in his eyes, and Santana took a deep breath, trying to rein it in. She'd promised her dad, and she didn't want to be thrown out of the hospital. _Stupid fucking asshole drivers who shouldn't be let out among other people._ "Are you…" She didn't know how to do this whole _caring _thing. Brittany was so much better at it than she was. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit, as you pointed out." The monotony of his voice was creeping her out. She was already freaked out in the first place, and this wasn't right.

"What happened?" she demanded. "How – just – what happened?"

"They said a drunk driver hit the car," he mumbled, shutting his eyes. "I… I don't remember."

Santana stared at him, flabbergasted. "You don't… what do you mean you don't remember?" How did you not remember being hit by a fucking car?

"Just that, I don't remember, okay?!" he burst out angrily. "I can't –" His voice trailed off into a pained moan as he screwed his eyes shut. Santana's alarm grew.

"Do I need to get my dad?"

"No." His eyes opened after a moment, dull with suppressed pain. "I just need her to be okay," he whispered so softly that Santana could barely catch it. "They said – they said there was damage to her back, what if she's paralyzed?" His voice rose in panic. "What if –"

"She's gonna be fine, okay?" she said, her voice bordering on desperate. "Q's tough, she's going to make it, and then you two are going to be back at school being nauseatingly in love. That's what's going to happen, so you better not do anything to screw that up, okay?"

A few minutes later Ryan's parents came back, and soon a nurse appeared to take Ryan to get his CT scan. Santana numbly made her way back to her father's office. He was in there looking over some charts when he came in, glancing up at her. "How did it go?"

"It, uh –" Santana choked up as it hit her that she'd almost lost two of her friends yesterday, and she didn't know how to handle it. She couldn't even imagine if this had happened to Brittany. She brushed away a tear just as her dad stood up, coming to wrap her in a hug. Santana just let him hold her as she cried. She hadn't even seen Quinn yet. "Why did this happen?"

"I don't know, mija," her dad said quietly. "But your friends are strong. They'll be better. Just be there for them."

Santana nodded. Of course she'd be there. She wasn't going anywhere else.

..

After the CT scan Ryan had been cleared to see Quinn, so he and his parents headed towards Quinn's room, James pushing the wheelchair as Shelby walked beside them. He was tired, and still processing Santana's visit. In the back of his mind he appreciated it, but his main priority was seeing Quinn right now. Frannie met them at the door. "Hi Ryan, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine. How's – how's Quinn?" he asked. Frannie sighed.

"She… she hasn't woken up yet. But the doctor said she's not critical anymore. They just… don't know when she'll wake up."

Ryan swallowed, nodding. "Can I see her?"

Frannie nodded, letting them in. James pushed the wheelchair into the room, and Ryan finally laid eyes on his girlfriend. "Oh God…" He choked back a sob as he saw Quinn, a mass of wires and tubes attached to her body, the ventilator humming as it caused her chest to rise and fall in a steady rhythm. He almost couldn't breathe himself when it sank in just why the ventilator was there. _She couldn't breathe_.

Except for her breathing, she was still, so still, her already normally pale skin pallid against the hospital sheets. Bruises and small cuts from broken glass marred her skin. But he knew the worst damage was hidden beneath the blankets though – the injury to her spine. His thoughts drifted to Artie. "Is she going to be able to move?" he asked hoarsely.

Frannie cleared her throat. "I… the doctors don't know yet. They said we have to wait for her to wake up so they can… so they can do some tests."

"When is that going to be?"

"They don't know." Frannie excused herself suddenly, exiting the room.

_What good were the doctors if they didn't know anything? _Ryan railed inwardly. _What if she didn't wake up?_ He couldn't do this, he couldn't lose her. They had their whole lives in front of them, and now… now he didn't know what was going to happen. Rage sparked inside him as he thought about the accident and the drunk driver and –

Suddenly there was a burst of clarity, and he remembered a conversation. A conversation with Quinn.

_.._

"_Where's your car?" the blonde asked._

"_At home, I rode with Mom, remember?" Ryan reminded her. "We're taking your car." He held his hand out. "Keys?"_

_Quinn raised an eyebrow. "It's my car, I'm driving."_

"_No, I'm driving," Ryan corrected. "Besides the fact that it's good manners for me to drive you, I think you're too anxious about being late to the wedding to drive properly."_

"_Are you insulting my driving skills?"_

"_No, I'm merely pointing out that you're known to text while driving and it would be irresponsible of me to let you drive. Look, just give me the keys. Besides, if I drive you can text Frannie live updates on where we are." He hesitated. "I don't know, I just think I need to drive, okay? So just give me the keys so we can go already."_

_Quinn rolled her eyes, finally handing him the keys. "Fine."_

_He leaned over, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you."_

..

Oh God. Oh God, he'd been driving. He was the one driving, he was responsible for what had happened.

It was his fault Quinn was –

"Ryan?" James probed. He worked his jaw for a moment, unable to get the words out.

"I need to go," he rasped.

"Go?" His father asked. "We –"

"Please," he begged. "I don't – I can't be here. Please, please, I need to leave." He couldn't spend one more second looking at the damage to Quinn – the damage he had caused. His head spun, and he screwed his eyes shut.

The next thing he knew he was back in his room, throwing up into a trash can James expertly held in front of him as Shelby rubbed his back gently. She handed him a glass of water when he was done, and he took it with a shaking hand, tears streaming down his face. "I was driving."

Shelby and James exchanged a look. "You remember?" James asked hesitantly.

"It's my fault Quinn's hurt."

His mom inhaled sharply. "Sweetie, it wasn't your fault –"

"I was driving!" he exploded. "I was driving, I should have been more careful, I should have seen the truck coming and I should have been able to do something! I'm supposed to take care of her, and now – now –" He doubled over, unable to catch his breath.

His parents continued to talk, trying to reassure him that the accident wasn't his fault, but it was. He'd been driving, he was responsible for keeping Quinn safe.

He'd failed.

And he didn't know if he'd ever be able to forgive himself.

* * *

**And here's part one of the On My Way aftermath! I hope you're not too mad for the cliffhanger last time. Besides, admit it, you probably expected it anyways ;) And it looks like I caught quite a few people out with the twist at the end. **

**I meant for this chapter to be out a few days ago, but real life got in the way, plus I spent a few more days fixing it up. I hope you don't mind, I thought you'd prefer a more edited and coherent chapter that came out a few days late over a half-assed mess. In case you're wondering, the jumping around between flashbacks is intentional.**

**Anyways, this is the first part of the aftermath. We still have Quinn's side to tackle, which will be coming in the next chapter, along with the reactions of the rest of the glee club. For those requesting the angst, well, here it is.**

**So I'll see you next time, I'd be happy to hear what you thought of this chapter. Hopefully it worked out.**


	90. Chapter 89

Three days after the accident, Judy Fabray sat tiredly at her youngest daughter's bedside in room 329 at Lima Memorial Hospital. Quinn hadn't woken up yet. There had been three additional surgeries in the past few days, one for her spine, one for the damaged lung, and one for the intracranial bleed that had popped up. She still hadn't regained consciousness. The doctors were optimistic that she would though, and Judy clung to that.

Frannie was out attending to some things from school, trying to juggle her missed classes. She'd need to return to California soon. Judy's sister and her family had been by to visit, Kitty looking extremely shaken up. Judy knew she pretty much idolized Quinn. Judy's thoughts fluttered briefly to Russell, only to discard him immediately from her mind. He could rot in jail for all she cared.

Quinn's glee cub had visited too, arriving the day after the accident. Santana Lopez had been the first to come, followed by Brittany Pierce. The three girls had been friends ever since the Fabrays had moved to Lima in Quinn's 8th grade. The others had come in twos and threes as the doctors had recommended, not wanting to overwhelm the room with too many visitors at once. Judy hadn't caught all of their names, but she was touched at the concern Quinn's friends had for her. Quinn had touched so many lives, done so much more in her eighteen years than Judy had in her forty-nine.

One person hadn't been by though, the most important person of all. Ryan had only come to see Quinn once, the morning after the accident. Frannie had told Judy that Ryan had come for all of five minutes before abruptly leaving the room. Judy had gone to see him in his room, only to find him despondent, blaming himself for the accident. Judy had done her best to assure him that none of them blamed him, but the poor boy nevertheless blamed himself.

She watched Quinn quietly, the ventilator breathing for her, accompanied by the monitors' steady beeping. Her child was alive, and that was all that mattered right now.

She glanced up at the soft tapping on the door, summoning up a small smile when she saw who it was. "Hello James."

"Hi Judy," he smiled back gently as he entered the room. "How's Quinn doing?"

"The same," Judy sighed. "Ryan?"

"He's ready for discharge. Shelby's getting the paperwork done."

"Good." She looked back at her daughter, wishing that she would wake up as well. "Is he going to be by before you leave?"

James ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know," he murmured. "I don't think so. He still blames himself for the accident. It's like he can't… can't bear to see Quinn like this."

"I've told him it isn't his fault," Judy said, touching Quinn's still hand. There were some awful moments when she was so angry that this had happened, but she'd never once blamed Ryan. By all accounts he was in the clear, and he had enough to deal with without her blaming him as well. And she knew, she just knew he'd never do anything to hurt Quinn, not if he could help it. "But I can see how he would think so."

He nodded, looking at Quinn. "The doctors haven't said anything?"

"The surgeries went well," she replied, smiling a little at the small victory. "They say it's just a matter of when she'll wake up."

"She just needs some time. She's very lucky," he added, almost to himself. Judy shut her eyes briefly, pained at the reminder that her youngest child had almost died. That even with all these injuries, she was lucky to be alive. She paused, steeling herself before looking at James.

"Can you tell me what you saw?" she requested. It had been plaguing her mind ever since the accident. "Please. I need to know." She didn't know why she needed to know, but she did. The police had patched together what had happened, but they had been there after the fact. They hadn't been with her daughter.

James sighed. "The van hit them squarely on Quinn's side," he started. "Mostly on the back seat area, which is lucky because a little forward and… well." He shook his head as though clearing it. "Even so, the whole side of the car was crumpled in, and when we got there…" He took a deep breath. "They were both unconscious." His eyes glazed over, and Judy felt a pang of guilt at making him relive this. But she needed to know. "She woke up while we were treating her."

"She did?"

"For a few moments," James confirmed. "I don't think she'll remember." He paused. "We were trying to stabilize her when she started seizing. Eventually we managed to stabilize her, but we had to hand her off when the fire department came to cut the door off…"

"You weren't in the ambulance with her, were you?" Judy questioned. He shook his head.

"I was in the one with Ryan. I… I couldn't leave him," he whispered, almost ashamed.

"It's okay." Judy wouldn't have left Quinn for anything either.

"She coded on the way back," James continued distantly. "They brought her back, but her lung collapsed. She coded again in the OR. The doctors did their thing, which brings us here."

Judy nodded, tears streaming down her face. Her baby's heart had stopped beating, twice. "Thank you," she said tremulously. "For being there for her."

James nodded, offering her a wan smile. "I should go, Shelby should be about done with the paperwork." He stood up. "You have my number, right? If you need anything, just call. I'll probably be right downstairs. Or get one of the nurses to page me. I'll come right up if I'm not on the field."

Standing up as well, Judy wrapped him in a brief hug. "Thank you so much, James."

"It's not a problem. Ryan would want me to, and anyways Quinn's like my own kid too by now. She hangs around the house often enough," he joked. "But seriously, she's a great girl. I don't think my son could have done any better. You should be proud."

"I think most of who she is is in spite of me, rather than because of me," Judy admitted, with no small amount of pain. She knew perfectly well that she hadn't done right by her daughter. But she tried. And she would be here for her now if it killed her. "But you're right, I'm proud of her."

..

_Of course it wasn't his fault. She knew it wasn't his fault, she'd seen the green light even if she hadn't seen the van hurtling towards them and she wanted nothing more than to get up and find him and tell him so. She wanted to tell him that so badly._

_But she couldn't. Not right now._

..

Meanwhile, Sue Sylvester nonchalantly entered the elevator in Lima Memorial Hospital. She'd just had a visit with her doctor for the baby currently gestating in her womb, and so far all was well. She turned around to face the door, sidling up to the elevator's other occupant. Shelby glanced at her, apparently unsurprised to see her there. "Floor?"

"Well, if it isn't the Wicked Witch herself," Sue noted. "Same floor as you, I'd say." Both Quinn and Ryan were on the same floor.

Shelby sighed. "Sue, I'm not really in the mood."

Sue nodded. "Fair enough. How's your spawn?" She felt for her friend(?), she did. Especially now with this child growing inside her. It was barely a fetus and she was already prepared to kill for it if necessary.

"Physically, he's going to be fine in a few weeks. But he blames himself for the accident."

"Well, of course he does."

Shelby's eyes narrowed. "I hope you're not implying he was at fault," she said dangerously.

"Cool your jets, drama queen," Sue said nonchalantly. "I was merely pointing out the fact that since he was driving, he naturally feels more responsibility for the accident than, say, if he were riding in the backseat." She went quiet. "Unfortunately, the world is colossally unfair, isn't it?"

"Why are you here, Sue?" Shelby questioned as the elevator came to a stop and the two women stepped out.

"Well, if you must know, I'm here for a prenatal," Sue replied, patting her stomach. She wasn't lying, she'd had her appointment just ten minutes ago and it was the primary reason for her visit. But she'd decided she might as well kill two birds with one stone. "Got to make sure the little jellybean in here is hanging on."

"That's on the first floor. We're on the third."

"How astute," Sue nodded. "Since we're now stating the obvious, I will admit that I'm here for another reason. Quinn Fabray was one of my best Cheerios, and once a Cheerio, always a Cheerio."

"I thought you kicked her off."

"Blood in, blood out. She's not dead, ergo she's still a Cheerio."

Shelby let out a mix between a sigh and a laugh. "Just admit it, Sue. You care about her."

Sue nodded. If there was anyone she'd ever admit it to, it was probably Shelby Corcoran. "Out of all the depraved little snots in that inhabit the building that tries to pass itself off as a high school, those two – Q and Barbra Jr. – are the ones that I know are going to make something of themselves."

After a few more moments of chit-chat, Shelby left to attend to her kid, and Sue continued towards Quinn's private room, Judy Fabray waving her in. Sue admitted that she had previously had little use for the woman – what pitiful excuse for a mother would kick her child out just like that? – but she had been here every single day after the accident, watching over her daughter. That put her way above Sue's own parents in any regard.

"Hello, Coach Sylvester," Judy said quietly. "There hasn't been any change."

Sue knew that; she'd given Santana strict instructions to inform her should anything change, but she nodded nevertheless, eyes landing briefly on the flowers lined up against the wall. She'd sent a bunch, anonymously of course. "I just thought I'd swing by, had my own doctor's appointment downstairs."

"I'm sure Quinn would be happy to know that."

"Hmm." Sue studied her former student carefully. She never let it show, but she cared about most of her girls. There were some though that were special, ones who actually had the potential to leave Lima and be something special. And she knew it instinctively as soon as she met them. Sniffing out talent was her own talent. Quinn was one of those special students, and Sue knew she'd go far.

It was devastating to see her like this now. Sue had asked the nurses nicely – some would say terrorized them into submission – and she knew the details of her student's injuries. The thought of Quinn Fabray, the girl who had been able to perform the most difficult cheerleading stunts in existence, not being able to walk – not able to _breathe _– made her sick.

"Well, she'd better hurry along and wake up to tell me that then," Sue noted gruffly. "Rather than snoozing in here and wasting taxpayer dollars in this government-funded hospital." She let out a quiet breath. "Just get better, Q."

..

_She never really knew just where she stood with the cheerleading coach. Sometimes – most of the time – it was like she was out to destroy her life. But then she'd turn around and say something like this._

_Nevertheless, she was touched that Sue had come to visit._

_As for Sue's last statement… she was trying._

* * *

"How are you holding up?" Cooper asked Frannie as he handed her a cup of coffee. Frannie took it from him with a murmur of thanks, taking a sip as she looked back at her sister. Five days after the accident, and Quinn still hadn't regained consciousness. She was breathing on her own though, the ventilator having been removed yesterday.

"I don't know," she admitted. Cooper sat down next to her, entwining his hand with hers. "I just want her to wake up. But…"

"But?"

"I'm scared that when she wakes up… that she'll blame me."

"She won't."

"You don't know that," she said softly. It was the fear that nagged at her ever since her mom had gotten that phone call informing them of the accident. They had been the ones to plan this wedding on the spur of the moment, they'd been the ones rushing the two teens. She'd been the one texting Quinn to hurry. "You know we're still trying to build our relationship. What if this is the thing that breaks it beyond repair? I wasn't there when she needed me, and –"

"This time you will be," Cooper inserted gently. "Your sister's smart. She knows it's not your fault. And this time, you'll be here for her. Okay?"

Frannie took in a deep breath, letting it out in a shaky exhale as she blinked tears out of her eyes. "Okay." Cooper pulled her against him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Okay." She gave him a brief kiss. "Thank you."

She turned back to Quinn, resuming her silent vigil. It wasn't fair, Quinn had so much ahead of her. She was going to _Yale_. And now there were whispers among the doctors of brain trauma, and Frannie couldn't bear the thought of Lucy's mind being damaged.

Suddenly her head turned as she thought she saw something move. Cooper looked at her when she froze. "What is it?"

"I just thought –" Frannie shook her head. "Nothing. I was just imagining it."

Then there was another movement, a pale hand twitching ever so slightly against white sheets, and Frannie was immediately moving closer. "Quinn?"

..

Shelby picked up her phone as it lit up with a text message. Her eyes widened as she saw the contents, and she hurried upstairs to Ryan's room, pushing open the door. "Ryan?"

Ryan looked up at her from his bed as she entered the room. "What?" His voice was tired, the bags under his eyes almost blending in with the motley of healing bruises on his face. He'd been quiet ever since she and James had taken him home from the hospital, guilt eating away at him even though everyone had tried to dissuade it.

"Ryan, Judy just texted me," she said, sitting down next to him. "Quinn's awake."

His breath hitched, a spark of life appearing in his eyes. "What? How is she? Is she okay?"

Shelby hesitated. The text had also included a brief update. "She's going to recover," she said, trying to break it to him gently. "But she's lost sensation from the waist down." The brightness in his eyes was instantly snuffed out. "She still has a chance of recovery," Shelby added, trying to cheer him up. "Do you want to go see her?"

He looked conflicted for a moment, before turning away. "I can't," he said, almost inaudibly.

"Yes you can," Shelby tried to convince him. She'd expected this, but she knew he wanted to, she'd seen the longing in his eyes before he'd looked down. "She would want to see you."

"No she wouldn't."

"Ryan –"

"She's going to blame me, okay?!" He exploded, standing up in agitation. "It's my fault, I was driving and I got us into that stupid accident! She's not going to want to see me! She's paralyzed from the waist down, and it's my fault!" Just as suddenly as he had exploded, he slumped back down onto the bed, eyes clenching shut as he cried.

Shelby took in a shuddering breath as she wrapped him in a gentle hug, mindful of the arm still braced against his chest. She could only imagine how he was feeling right now. She knew the accident wasn't his fault, but she could also imagine how she would feel if he or James were hurt in a car accident while she was driving.

He choked back his sobs. "It's just not fucking fair! She's already had so much crap happen to her, and now – now – It should have been me! I was the one who was driving, that goddamn truck wasn't supposed to hit her! It was supposed to hit me!"

"Don't," Shelby warned him, sick to her stomach at the very idea. "Nothing was supposed to hit either of you, okay?"

Suddenly he slumped back, the energy draining out of him. "I shouldn't have caught the brakes on the first one," he mumbled.

"What?" She frowned.

He looked away. "There was another intersection," he said lowly. "We almost got hit by a truck, you know the intersection with the stop sign? This truck blew past it, and if I hadn't stopped in time it would have… it would have hit us on the driver's side. It would have hit me." He choked back a sob. "And maybe – maybe if it had, maybe I – she wouldn't be –"

Shelby wordlessly pulled him back into a hug as he started to cry, unable to help her own tears. She knew that intersection, it was a popular site for accidents until that stop sign had been erected. She didn't know how to react. She was immensely thankful that Ryan hadn't been hurt worse than he was, but she could imagine the pain and guilt he felt for Quinn's own injuries. "It's not your fault," she murmured, rubbing his back. "It's not."

"It feels like it is. She'll blame me when she wakes up, and I can't –"

"She won't," Shelby said certainly. She was sure Quinn wouldn't. She pulled away, looking him in the eyes. "If it had been you, how do you think Quinn would feel?"

Ryan sniffed as he looked at her. "What?"

"If your places had been reversed, she'd feel the same way you're feeling now. And if they had been reversed, would you blame her?"

He shook his head. "It's not the same," he said softly. "I'm supposed to keep her safe. I don't know if she's going to be okay when she wakes up, and I don't know how to handle it. I can't see her now. I can't. She'll blame me, and I can't handle that."

"She won't," Shelby repeated helplessly. She sighed, holding him close. "Okay. If you're not ready, we won't go. But try to understand that it isn't your fault. She loves you, and she will understand. And she's going to be okay," she tried to assure him. He sniffled softly, curling into her.

"I'd give up my voice if it meant she was going to be okay."

* * *

Two days later, Santana knocked on the door of the Midget's house, Brittany bouncing beside her. They'd just come from the hospital. Shelby opened the door, giving them a small smile. "Hi girls. Do you want to come in?"

Santana shrugged as she followed Shelby and Brittany into the house. This was Brittany's idea. Brittany smiled at their teacher. "Hi Miss C. Where's Ryan?"

"Up in his room," Shelby answered. "I'm not too sure he'll come down though…"

"Oh. San and I were thinking of going to the park, I thought we could bring Ryan if he wanted to come."

"If you can get him to go with you, it'll be fine," Shelby nodded.

"Thanks Miss C!" Brittany chirped, hurrying past the teacher, leaving Santana with Shelby.

"I'm not really betting on your success," the teacher said. "Ryan hasn't even wanted to come down to eat yet."

Santana smiled in mild amusement. "She'll get him to come." She hadn't doubted for a second that Brittany would be able to get Ryan to come with them. Brittany had superpowers. No one could ever say no to her. And if Ryan did, Santana had no problem turning into Snixx and browbeating him into coming. Sure enough, less than ten minutes later, Brittany came downstairs, a reluctant Ryan dragging himself behind her.

"We're going to feed the ducks," Brittany announced.

"Good," Shelby smiled, hiding her slight surprise. "Just call me if you need anything, okay?"

Santana was quiet though, not knowing what to say to Ryan right now. She knew Ryan blamed himself. Maybe she blamed him too, just a little bit. But he was refusing to go see Quinn, which was ridiculous. He needed to man up and go see her, because Quinn was starting to ask questions.

..

"_Do you think she'll wake up?" Brittany asked Santana as they sat on opposite sides of Quinn's bed. Frannie had texted them that Quinn had woken up just two hours ago, and they had hurried over in the hopes of seeing their friend. Frannie had warned them that Quinn was on some strong painkillers, and might not wake up. They'd take their chances. _

"_She'd better," Santana snarked. She'd been worried about Quinn for days now, the least she could do was wake up._

"_Be nice."_

"_I know." She sighed. It was all for show anyways. She'd just be happy to see Quinn. Brittany gave a knowing look, and Santana smiled weakly before focusing back on Quinn, the fragrances of a gajillion flower arrangements from what seemed like everyone in Lima assaulting her nose._

_Then Quinn's eyes started to flutter open, blinking against the afternoon sunlight that filtered in through the windows. She turned her head slightly, hazel eyes landing on Santana. A soft, loopy smile appeared on Quinn's face, and Santana almost burst into tears of relief. Almost, because she was a badass and badasses didn't do that._

"_Hey," the injured blonde slurred, her head turning the other way to see Brittany sitting on the other side. "You're here."_

"_Of course we're here," Brittany said simply, smiling back. "Where else would we be?" She picked up a stuffed duck from her lap, offering it to Quinn. "I got this for you."_

"_Thanks," Quinn smiled slightly, lifting her hand with no small amount of effort. "He's cute." She turned her head back to Santana again. "You're not about to cry over there, right?"_

"_No," Santana said sassily. "Bitch." She heard Quinn give a wheezy, labored chuckle. "You really scared us," she finally said, sobering. She had almost lost her best friends outside of Brittany. _

"_Does it hurt?" Brittany asked._

_Santana watched as Quinn processed the question, hoping that her friend would answer in the negative. She let out a soft breath when Quinn's raspy voice replied, "'M gonna be fine." Pale fingers stroked through the fur on the stuffed duck. The room was quiet for several moments before finally… "Have you seen Ryan?" _

_Santana shut her eyes briefly. "Yeah." She and Brittany had stopped by his house before coming to the hospital, trying to get him to come with. They'd failed. The stupid Dwarf hadn't been by yet because he was too scared to see Quinn, feeling too guilty about the accident._

"_Is he okay?"_

"_He's fine," Santana said shortly. Aside from the lack of balls right now, he was fine._

_Quinn's eyes fell shut, and Santana thought she was going to fall asleep again when she spoke. "He hasn't been here yet. Or maybe I haven't been awake for it." Suddenly tears were leaking from her eyes. "I can't feel my legs."_

_Santana swallowed at the pain in Quinn's voice. She took the blonde's hand, meeting Brittany's eyes as she took the other. "It's okay," Brittany said. "The doctors said it'll come back. You'll be fine in no time."_

"_We're all gonna be fine," Santana promised, squeezing Qunn's hand. "The Unholy Trinity, right? If we could take Sue Sylvester, we can take this."_

_Quinn sniffed before nodding, squeezing their hands weakly. "Thank you," she breathed._

..

Quinn had soon fallen asleep again. That had been two days ago, the afternoon Quinn had woken up. Brittany and Santana skipped school to go back yesterday too, with the rest of the Troubletones – barring Ryan – popping up in twos and threes.

Santana and Brittany had actually just been to the hospital before swinging by the Corcoran house, which was why Santana really needed to get Ryan out of his funk.

..

"_San?"_

_She looked up at Quinn's quiet speech as Brittany left the room for a moment. "Yeah Q?"_

_A breath. "Ryan's not coming, is he?" Santana froze, unable to answer. "'S been three days," Quinn whispered. "He doesn't want to see me, does he?"_

"_Q –" Santana stopped, not knowing what to say. "You know what, I'll call him," she decided. "Or Miss C, so she can get his ass over here –"_

"_No."_

"_Why not?"_

_Quinn took in a breath, Santana waiting patiently for her friend's damaged lungs to catch up. "Don't want him to come just because you called. If he's not here then it's because he doesn't want to be."_

"_Don't be stupid," Santana snipped. She'd fucking known Quinn would start thinking something ridiculous, like that Ryan wouldn't want her anymore because she was damaged, or some shit like that. "He's already being a moron about this, you don't have to join him. One idiot at a time, por favor."_

..

Her friend had drifted off again – those were some _really _nice drugs Quinn was on – but Santana knew if no one stopped these two, they were going to implode and she was going to feel guilty forever. So she needed to figure out a way to get RuPaul to man up and get it together. It wasn't even just for Quinn's sake. Ryan was her – _gag _–friend now, and he needed it too. He was going crazy blaming himself.

But when they got to the park, he just sat there on the bench watching as Brittany and Santana fed the ducks. Santana stayed silent. All she wanted to do was lock him and Quinn into a room to let them hash it out. Or scream at him to get his head out of his ass. And maybe just bang their heads together for good measure. She was so poorly equipped to deal with this that it wasn't even funny.

"Why don't you want to see Quinn?" Brittany asked suddenly, turning around to face Ryan as she brushed breadcrumbs off her hands. Santana stared at her in surprise.

"I…" Ryan stared at her, speechless.

"Why don't you want to talk to her?" the blonde Cheerio pressed. "Is it because she's sick? When I'm sick I like people to visit me 'cause I get totally bored."

"I don't think she wants to see me, Brittany," Ryan finally said.

Santana scoffed. "Well that's a load of crap. I think you're just too chicken to talk to her." Brittany shot her a look as Ryan glared at her venomously.

"You – you have no idea what you're talking about," he hissed.

"Oh, don't I?" Santana shot back. This was probably a bad idea, but she was a straight-up bitch. She couldn't help it. "Yeah, you fucked up getting in that car accident. But you know what? Maybe you should go think about your girlfriend instead of just wallowing around in your own misery! But you're too spineless to go see her 'cause you're scared to see what you did. How am I doing so far?" Ryan stood up threateningly, but she just barked a laugh. "Think you can take me, Munchkin?"

Brittany stepped between the two. "Stop the violence."

Santana maintained her glare for a second before backing down. Maybe she shouldn't have said all that, but Ryan and Quinn needed to get their shit together. Ryan simply slumped back down onto the bench, looking away.

This was all wrong. Santana was freaking out, and it wasn't over the accident, because her friends were going to be relatively okay. No, it was because they weren't themselves anymore. Ryan wasn't supposed to be quiet, he was supposed to be his annoying midget-y self, for God's sake! This Ryan was a sadder, pathetic version of what he used to be, and Santana couldn't deal. "You know what, whatever," she snapped. "I'm going to the car. Just get in when you want to leave."

..

Brittany watched Santana go before sitting down next to Ryan. Her girlfriend never was good at talking about feelings. "She doesn't mean that," she told Ryan. "Everyone knows it's not your fault."

"Well then everyone's wrong, because it is." He looked away. "She's right."

Brittany shook her head. "No she's not." She knew what her friends were thinking. Quinn thought the accident would push Ryan away because she couldn't walk anymore. Ryan thought Quinn would blame him for the accident and want to break up. She also knew that they were both wrong. Santana didn't know what to do, so it was up to her to help her friends. "She's just freaking out because you're not you right now." Ryan looked at her strangely. "Well, you're still you, duh," she explained. "But it's a different you than the one Santana knows, and she doesn't get it. And she wants you to be you again, and she wants Quinn to be Quinn. But it's not always that easy."

He looked at her, confused. "I don't…"

She sighed. It made perfect sense to her. "People sort of have, like, different versions of themselves," she tried again. "Like, Santana at school is different from Santana at home. Or like there's a really bitchy kind of Quinn, and there's another one that's really cuddly." Ryan nodded slowly, and she smiled. "Santana doesn't understand because the Ryan and Quinn now aren't the ones she's used to."

For a moment Ryan was quiet. "What if we can't go back to the ones we were before?"

"That's no big deal," she shrugged. "People change all the time, but they stay the same. You're still Ryan, and Quinn's still Quinn, just different. Santana changed, when she decided not to be scared anymore. She's different, but underneath, she's still Santana. Quinn changed too, because of Beth, and because of you. But she's still Quinn. And it's gonna be the same for you too. The accident changed you and Quinn," she said seriously. "And maybe you can't go back anymore. But you'll still be you."

"I don't know how to handle this," Ryan admitted quietly. "Everything just feels wrong. She might not _walk,_ Brittany. And I'm responsible."

"You know, sometimes the ducks walk around on the grass," Brittany commented, watching as the mother duck led her four ducklings onto the shore of the pond.

"What?"

"Yeah, and the mommy duck is really careful. But once, me and San saw this cat, and he jumped out and caught one of the ducklings."

"That's… horrifying."

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, but it wasn't the mommy duck's fault. She was careful and everything, but she didn't know what was gonna happen, you know?"

Ryan sighed. "I guess. But this is different."

"I guess, maybe." Brittany looked at him thoughtfully. "I think you feel wrong because you miss Q. Everything feels weird when I don't talk to San. You need to talk to Quinn, a real talk with feelings." One of them just needed to approach the other, then it would all work out. Since Quinn was stuck in a hospital bed, it would have to be Ryan.

Ryan shut his eyes. "I know everyone says it's not my fault, and maybe it isn't. But it still feels like it is, and I don't know if I can handle looking at her in the hospital, knowing I had a hand in it. I don't know how. I bet the mommy duck felt terrible too."

"Actually, she flapped her wings and quacked real loud and started biting the cat. She scared the cat off and she got her duckling back," Brittany explained casually. "It was awesome. Maybe you need to be awesome like that too."

Ryan snorted humorlessly. "I can hardly go and chase down the drunk driver, can I?"

"No, but you can be brave and try to take care of Quinn," the Cheerio reasoned. "The mommy duck took care of her duckling, and maybe you need to take care of Quinn too. She's really sad. She's trying to not let people know, but she is."

"I…" Ryan trailed off, lost. Brittany smiled sadly at him.

"I know you're not going to believe just anyone when they say it's not your fault. But I think you'll believe it if Q's the one who says it. You're both sad, and I want you to be happy again, okay? San does too, even if she doesn't say so." She stood up, pulling Ryan up. "We should go back, I need to feed Lord Tubbington soon before he goes to his crackhouse."

..

A rerun of _One Tree Hill_ ran on the tiny TV set in room 329, its occupant drifting in and out of consciousness as various machines kept her alive. Quinn opened her eyes, slowly tracking along the collection of flowers and stuffed animals accumulating in the room from her well-wishers. She took a soft breath, a machine blowing oxygen into her nose through the tubes that ran across her face. Honestly there were so many machines attached to her that she couldn't keep track of what did what anymore. She just knew that everything hurt right now.

The doctors had changed her medication, and she was a bit more lucid today than she had been in the past few days. Unfortunately, less meds meant more pain, and she could feel the ache pervading her whole body. Well, all except her legs of course.

Incomplete spinal cord injury, the doctors had said. She had a chance of recovering function, but the fact that she couldn't even feel anything right now was not a good sign. Three broken ribs and a damaged lung made even something as simple as breathing difficult. Even talking hurt.

The past few days were confusing, blurring together in a haze of pain and medication and various visitors. Santana and Brittany had been by every day after school. Almost everyone on the Troubletones had stopped by too. She couldn't quite remember. She could recall snippets of conversations from when she was unconscious – a visit from James, and one from Coach Sylvester – but everything was blurred.

She knew her mom and Frannie had been here every day. Frannie had been the one there when she'd finally woken up, hovering anxiously as Quinn fought off her disoriented haze. Judy had been the one holding her hand, wiping away her tears as the doctor delivered the news.

She tuned out the drone of the TV, gazing listlessly out the window. Frannie had run out for some errands, and to be honest Quinn was sort of relieved to have a minute alone. She loved her mom and her sister, but it was overwhelming to have them constantly there, inquiring how she was, or if she needed anything, or if anything hurt, or a myriad of other questions. She'd never been an open person to start with, and it was exhausting. And every word out of her mouth cost her so much effort, caused so much pain.

And the person she really wanted wasn't there.

It was pathetic, but she missed Ryan so much. She reached out to touch the duck Brittany had brought the other day as she started to cry, indulging in a self-pity meltdown now that she was alone. No one had told her why he wasn't here, or at least, she couldn't remember if they had. She suspected though. Maybe she was too damaged. It had been almost hard to believe he wanted her before – a former loser, an ex-bullying ice queen who'd slept with the school man-whore and then had a kid with said man-whore. And now a cripple. She knew he loved her, she believed that, but this… this was big.

And he'd been hurt too. Frannie had told her. Quinn shouldn't have rushed him, they wouldn't have gotten into the accident otherwise. Maybe he blamed her. She blamed herself after all.

She still missed him.

Suddenly a soft, hesitant knock startled her from her thoughts. She ignored it, not wanting to see anyone right now. And even if she did, it wasn't as if she could do much to make herself presentable. She was a mess, and she couldn't even pull herself up into a better position. Gently, the door swung open. Looking up, her eyes widened at her visitor.

"Ryan."

Her boyfriend stood uneasily in the doorway, eyes not meeting hers. His arm was in a sling, and she could see a series of fading bruises and healing cuts on his face, but he was okay. She let out a soft sigh of relief, not realizing until then how worried she'd been about him.

"Can… can I come in?" he asked. Quinn nodded, and he entered the room slowly, sitting gingerly in the chair next to the bed. "How are you?" He flinched as soon as he said it. "You don't have to answer that," he said quietly. "I know you're hurt."

"Doesn't feel that bad." She wasn't lying either, not when she remembered the excruciating pain in the immediate aftermath of the accident. "I… what about you?"

"I'm okay. Headaches sometimes, and I need to use his sling until tomorrow, but… I'm okay."

"Good." An awkward silence pervaded the room, broken only be the steady beeping of the monitors. Quinn didn't know what to say. The accident had been her fault, she'd been the one nagging at him to hurry up and now they were both hurt.

"I'm so sorry."

The sudden words were almost inaudible, and she almost didn't believe they were real. "What?"

He finally lifted his head, tear-filled brown eyes staring at her in anguish. "I'm sorry," he swallowed, starting to cry. "The accident… it was my fault, I was driving – I should have seen the van coming, I should have been able to stop, or dodge, or do something –"

Quinn was at a loss. It hadn't been his fault, she remembered it crystal clear, they'd had the green light. Everyone had told her that witnesses said they had the green light. She'd been the one pushing him to go faster, if anything it was her fault. "Ry…"

"… It's my fault you're lying there, and I – I –"

"S'not your fault."

Ryan looked at her despairingly. "How can you say that? I was driving."

She tried to shake her head, pushing the words out of her throat. "I saw the green light. You didn't do anything wrong. I didn't see the van either."

When she'd first woken up, there had been a terrifying instant where she couldn't remember anything. Not her name, not what had happened, not where she was. Then it had all come rushing back.

She remembered the forgotten dress, the delays of their trip, the growing urgency as she checked the clock. She remembered the green light on the final leg of their rush.

Then the metallic screeching, the crunch of breaking glass, the smell of gasoline as the car spun out of control and the darkness that overwhelmed her.

But she'd woken up somehow, completely trapped in her seat as her body screamed in blinding pain. Pain that was undercut by the sight of her boyfriend covered in blood next to her, slumped unconsciously against the door.

"I thought you were gone," she whispered, her voice shaking as she tried to move her hand to touch his, grimacing at the pain. "I thought I lost you. My fault."

Ryan caught her hand, face pained at the realization that they were doing the very same thing – they were both blaming themselves for the accident. "It wasn't your fault," he tried to assure her.

Her breath hitched. "There was so much blood, and you wouldn't wake up."

"You remember?"

She nodded ever so slightly, and he bit his lip, imagining her terror at being conscious in the aftermath of the accident. "And then you weren't here when I woke up," she breathed out. "Then they said you were… okay. So then I thought…" Her breath hitched again. "I thought you didn't want to be here. I thought maybe you didn't want me anymore, because…" She looked dejectedly at her unresponsive legs.

"No, Quinn, no," he said desperately, reaching out to touch her cheek, mentally kicking himself for being such an ass. He should have been here, he shouldn't have left her here like that. He hadn't even imagined that she'd see it that way; he'd been too busy blaming himself. "I don't care if you never walk again. I love you so much, and it's killing me to see you hurt, but I still love you, I love you so much. I still want to be with you."

She swallowed, tears of relief running down her cheeks. "I love you too." She slowly raised her hand to his cheek, ignoring the pain that accompanied any sort of movement. Ryan caught her hand as it pressed clumsily against his cheek, covering it with his as he pressed a kiss to it. She shut her eyes, calming at his warm touch.

"I'm right here," he promised. "I'm… I'm not going anywhere." He wiped back his tears. "I'm sorry I wasn't here. I'm sorry."

She dragged in a pained breath, the air wheezing and rattling in her chest. "I can't walk anymore," she cried brokenly, tears raining down now. "I can't move, I can't even breathe right." She looked up at him, the agony in her eyes mirrored in his. Ryan looked up, blinking as his vision blurred. _It wasn't fair. She had already been through so much, why did this have to happen?_

He bent down, ignoring his dislocated arm's protest as he bent it awkwardly, pressing a kiss against his girlfriend's forehead. "It's okay," he told her, his own voice breaking, aching to pull her into him but prevented by her broken body. He put a hand against her cheek, wiping away the tears as she cried. "It's okay. We'll get through this."

"What if we can't," she whimpered, breathing labored. "What if I can't ever walk again?"

"It's okay," he repeated. "I'll be right here." He wouldn't leave her. "I promise."

..

Outside the room, James turned the corner to find Shelby sitting on a bench, looking over her phone. "Hey," he greeted, sitting down next to her. "Is she asleep?"

Shelby shook her head. "Ryan's inside."

His eyes widened. "You finally got him to come down here?"

She shook her head again. "Santana and Brittany took him to the park. He asked me to bring him here when they came back. I don't know what they said to him, but I'm glad. He needs this. They both do."

James nodded thoughtfully. "I've been up to visit a few times," he mentioned. "But I haven't caught her awake yet. It's good, I suppose. She needs rest. A lot of it." He took Shelby's hand, running his thumb along the engagement ring that rested on her finger. So much had been happening that they hadn't really planned anything yet. It wasn't the time though.

"Do you think he'll ever stop blaming himself?"

"I don't know. But if he does, it'll be Quinn that helps him. He needs to hear it from her." He could only imagine how he'd feel if he and Shelby were ever in that position.

"I suspected as much." She sighed softly. "They've got a rough road ahead of them."

James simply nodded again. "This is either going to bond them together for life," he said softly, "or it's going to break them. I just hope they're strong enough for it."

"They are."

* * *

**Well, this is later than I expected. Real life got in the way for a bit. But anyways, here it is, part 2 of the OMW aftermath. Feedback is more than welcome. To the reviewer hope expressed hopes that the wheelchair plotline wouldn't be included, sorry about that. But I hope to handle it in a better way than canon, so maybe that makes up for it? As for the angst, well, people did ask for it… Anyways, thank you for your reviews from last chapter, every one of them made me happy. So leave more ;) See you!**


	91. Chapter 90

It had been three weeks since the accident a little over two since she'd woken up, and while her condition had improved, she had a long way to go. She was breathing better, but her back was still hurting her. The first week had been difficult, with her barely being able to sit up for ten minutes without the pain becoming too much. There had been some improvement though, and she'd recently been cleared to leave the room for short periods of time in a wheelchair.

A physical therapist had begun to make daily visits to the room, stretching various muscles to prevent atrophy. An occupational therapist had also shown up, making arrangements to help her relearn day to day functions, and to acquaint her with life in a wheelchair. So far, nothing too rigorous had transpired, her broken ribs preventing too much movement at this stage. But everyone, Quinn especially, was slowly coming to realize just how much everything had changed.

She still couldn't feel her legs.

The doctors had told her that it would take some time for sensation to come back; movement even more. But she could hear the unsaid statement. She might never walk again.

Visitors came and went, a continuous cycle of movement in her room – family, classmates, friends – but to be honest she wasn't paying attention.

She didn't want to deal with anything. She didn't want to accept this.

Ryan tried to talk to her. But she couldn't talk about it. He didn't understand. He was getting better. She wasn't.

She was pulled from her thoughts by soft knocking on the door. She looked at the clock. Frannie and Cooper had returned to California last week. Judy was at work, and Ryan wouldn't be here for a while yet. She knew he'd drafted a schedule to make sure she had someone with her most of the time, a gesture so like him that in any other circumstance she would have laughed. She'd sent Kitty away some time ago though, wanting to be by herself today.

The door opened, revealing Artie Abrams. "Hey Quinn," he greeted hesitantly. "I just thought I'd drop by."

Quinn didn't answer. This was the first time she'd seen him since the accident, and looking at him in his wheelchair, she didn't know how to react. When she didn't say anything he winced. "I can go, if you want."

She stared at him for a moment, torn between the prospect of having someone who understood what she was going through, and the fact that seeing him was a stark reminder of the future she could be facing. "Stay," she found herself saying. "It's fine."

Artie nodded, quickly maneuvering himself into the room, and Quinn felt a stab of jealously at the ease with which he did, recalling just minutes ago when she'd been completely dependent on the nurses to propel her around. A mildly uncomfortable silence fell between them. He was a year below her, and Quinn had rarely interacted with Artie when she was in the New Directions, much less since the Troubletones had been formed.

"How are you doing?" he asked eventually.

"Fantastic," she replied, a touch of sarcasm creeping into her voice. Everyone asked that. What was she supposed to say? She wasn't fine, she wasn't anywhere near fine, she felt trapped in her own body and she couldn't do a thing about it. He was aware enough to wince at her frosty reply.

"I guess I deserved that." He nodded in the direction of her legs. "Look, if you need anything, any help, I'm totally here."

"Thanks."

"Do they think you'll get it back?"

"Maybe." The answer was short. She took a careful breath, berating herself. She was going to beat this. She didn't know how to handle it if she didn't. "I will."

Artie looked at her sympathetically. "It's okay to be mad," he said. "I was after… after my accident. I used to think that I'd be able to walk again too."

Quinn bristled. "I'm not you. I am going to walk again." She shut her eyes briefly. "This is only temporary. The doctors say it's just a matter of time before –"

"Look, I've been where you are. I know how it feels. But you're going to have to face the truth eventually, you can't deny –"

"I'm not denying anything! I'm not like you, this isn't my life!" She barely registered the spike in her monitors as her agitation grew. "I'm going to Yale. I'm getting out of Lima. And I'm going to walk again."

"What if you don't?" he asked quietly.

Suddenly a hot, irrational anger swept through her, covered instantly by the icy mask that had served her so well in the past. "Get out." Her voice was deceptively even, cold as ice in its dismissal.

"Quinn –"

"Please. Leave." The words were ground out, the anger threatening to overtake her, combined with fury over not being able to leave this conversation under her own power, unable to walk out on him like she so desperately wanted to. She didn't know how she would handle it if he didn't leave. Fortunately Artie left the room without another word.

She took a deep breath, fighting against the urge to scream. He was wrong, this _wasn't _her life, she _was _going to walk again. This couldn't be her life. It was going to come back. It had to.

Just as quickly as it had appeared, the rage vanished, leaving only a deep sense of loss. She reached down desperately, willing some sort of sensation to come, but there was nothing. She shut her eyes, helpless against the knowledge that this wasn't in fact a fairytale, and that she could very well be stuck like this for the rest of her life and she couldn't do anything about it.

She wasn't really angry with Artie. She was angry with herself.

..

Ryan spent the afternoon in Quinn's room, as he had been doing for the past week after his physical therapy sessions for his arm. Quinn and his parents had practically needed to peel him away from her bedside at first, and he had only agreed after making a schedule that ensured Quinn wouldn't have to spend more than an hour alone at any time.

He frowned as he looked at the mathematic equations in his book, slightly frustrated. Since the accident, some things had been slightly… off. Not with his singing – _thank God_ – but just… off. He was having more trouble than usual with numbers, and sometimes he struggled with finding the right words. The doctors said it was probably an aftereffect of his concussion, but it should go away in time.

He wished he could say the same thing about Quinn.

She was quiet a lot of the time, Ryan noticed. At first he'd thought that it was because of the damage to her lungs, but he'd been with her for almost two years now and this was something else. He was worried that she was becoming depressed, and who could blame her? The doctors had given her a good chance of walking again, but it wouldn't be the same, and she had a long road of recovery ahead.

He set his book down, giving up for now as he looked at his girlfriend. "Hey Quinn?"

There was no response though, as Quinn was staring blankly out the window. Ryan stood up, moving closer. "Quinn? Are you okay?" he asked tentatively. He wasn't entirely sure about her mood today. There were days when she would talk, but then there were days when she barely paid attention to visitors.

Sometimes she seemed okay. She would talk, not much, but not seeming to give much thought to her current condition. But at other times, she would be dark and brooding, sometimes spacing out completely.

She was blocking him out. He didn't know how to help her.

Suddenly she turned to face him. "Can you… can you take me downstairs?"

Ryan blinked in surprise. "Downstairs?" He'd seen her in the wheelchair of course, but she hadn't asked him to take her anywhere before. He shook his head, clearing it. "Yeah, of course. Where?"

"The gift shop."

His brow furrowed, but he nodded, standing and pushing the hospital-issue wheelchair from the corner of the room to the bed. "Okay." He hesitated. "What do I need to do?"

"Just help me into the chair." She motioned him over, and he hovered anxiously as she positioned herself, taking most of her weight as she moved from the bed to the chair. She let out a pained huff of air as she settled down, and Ryan looked at her worriedly.

"Are you –"

"I'm fine." Once she was settled, he helped her with the drip line before moving into position behind her, pushing her out of the room and into the elevator. They were quiet in the elevator, and Ryan pushed the wheelchair out towards the gift shop. Quinn directed him over to the cards section. "Can you get me that one?"

He nodded, obligingly reaching up for the card that was just out of her reach. "Who…" Realization hit him as he took in the soft pink of the 2nd birthday card. "Oh." He'd forgotten, what with everything that had been going on. Quinn hadn't though. Of course not.

"Her birthday is tomorrow," she said quietly. "I guess it'll be late, but she won't mind, right?"

"No, of course not," Ryan assured her gently. "Would you like me to mail it for you?" She nodded. "I'll take it to the post office as soon as your mom comes back." Ryan paid for the card, and soon the couple was back in the room, Ryan assisting Quinn back into the bed. He smoothed the blanket over her legs – he knew she didn't want them on display – before returning the wheelchair to its original location as Quinn wrote in the card.

"Sharon's still helping me get in and out," Quinn said abruptly, referring to the occupational therapist. "Of the wheelchair, I mean."

Ryan knew that. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon."

Quinn looked away. "I don't want to get the hang of it," she said, her voice almost too low to catch. "I just want to be able to walk again."

"Quinn…" Ryan gazed at her helplessly, wishing for the millionth time that this hadn't happened to her, even if it meant that it would have happened to him instead. He reached out, only to have her move away from his touch.

"Can you go?"

He drew back, fighting back the hurt. She'd never asked him to leave before. He could feel her withdrawing from him. And he couldn't do anything, and it hurt. "O-okay." He stood up unsteadily. "I… your mom should be here soon, I… okay." He stumbled out of the room, almost running into Judy in the hallway.

"Ryan," she said in surprise. "Are you okay?" She looked at him in concern.

"I… yeah, I'm…" He swallowed. "I just, I have to go. Can you make sure she's okay? I don't…"

Judy nodded. "I saw your dad, he's on his way up." Ryan nodded jerkily, as he headed toward the elevators, taking a deep breath to compose himself.

_It wasn't his fault. He had to remember that._

He met James, who was just getting off his shift, in the reception area. "Hey buddy," he greeted Ryan with a smile. "You ready to go? I thought we'd go have dinner out, since your mom has that work meeting." He looked at Ryan more closely. "Are you okay?"

Ryan nodded, clearing his throat. He just needed some space. "Can we stop by the post office first?"

James looked surprised but nodded. "Sure."

After their errand, the two of them found themselves in Breadstix, Ryan picking at his dinner moodily. James watched him thoughtfully. "What's up?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "Just… I don't know what to do. I don't… she said she doesn't blame me, but she's just so miserable sometimes, and I can't help her. And sometimes…" He looked down. "Sometimes she doesn't want me to, and it feels like… like I failed somehow."

"She's going to need time," James told him. "This… everything that's happening to her, it's huge. It's going to change everything in her life, at least for now. She needs to come to terms with it, and maybe she needs to do some of it on her own."

"She doesn't have to."

"No, but sometimes she just needs space. And you need to understand that." James looked at him seriously. "You have to be ready. There are going to be times when she's angry, when she's hopeless. And maybe she'll lash out at you. And you need to be careful in how you handle it. Just be there for her."

"I don't know if she'll let me," Ryan said quietly. "I don't think she wants me there. It's like she's pushing me away."

"She's hurt, it's natural." James paused. "Do you want some advice?"

"Please."

"Try not to treat her differently because of the accident. You're going to have to make allowances, yes, but I think you'll make her feel worse if you start feeling sorry for her."

"But…" Ryan trailed off as he thought about it. He knew Quinn was very independent, it was one of the things he loved about her. Maybe his dad was right.

"The best thing you can do is to make her feel as normal as possible," James continued. "Don't give up."

Ryan nodded. "I won't."

..

Back at the hospital Judy watched her daughter, knowing that she was upset. She had always been able to tell when her daughters were upset. Mother's instinct, she supposed, though she hadn't done much with it until the past couple of years. "Quinnie?" she probed gently. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, okay?" Was the response as Quinn turned her head away. Judy frowned.

"Did you have a fight with Ryan?"

"No."

"Okay…" Judy was trying to figure it out when finally Quinn started to talk.

"I just feel so… so – useless!" The teenager burst out. "I can't do anything, nothing works right! I can't stand up, I can't move, I can't do _anything _by myself anymore, and I can't do this!" Tears were streaming by now. "What if I can't get it back this time?" she cried. "What if I can't do any of it ever again?"

"Oh Quinn…" Judy scooted closer, pulling her daughter towards her in a hug. "You will," she said soothingly, trying to calm Quinn's meltdown. "You will, it's… it's just going to take some time."

"I don't want it to take time," the younger blonde sobbed. "I want it to get better now. Why did this have to happen?"

"I don't know, honey," Judy sighed, painfully reminded that for all of Quinn's maturity, she was still just seventeen years old. "Just… I know everything happens for a reason. Even this."

"How could any of this make any sense?"

Judy found herself wondering that as well. "I don't know. But I'm not going anywhere, okay? I'll be right here as long as you need me." She wasn't going to leave her daughter again, not like last time. "You're not alone in this. You've got me, and Frannie, and your friends, and Ryan."

The tears intensified as Quinn clung to her mom. "I told him to go away. I'm pushing him away and I can't stop myself. I'm a bitch and he'll get tired of it and leave."

"That's not true."

"He'll get tired of this. I can't walk, and he won't want to be with me anymore," she cried.

Judy shook her head emphatically. "You are still the amazing person you were before this happened, honey. You're strong, and this… this is just a speedbump. You'll get past this and you are going to do so much with your life." She could feel Quinn calming down a little, still clinging on to her, and Judy didn't mind, happy to know that she could still do something for her daughter, even after everything. "And Ryan's going to be right there."

"Do you really think so?" the teen asked, seeking reassurance.

"Honestly, I don't think we can get rid of him if we tried," she joked. A soft knock sounded on the door. Judy glanced over to see Ryan peeking in hesitantly, and she couldn't help her small smile. "Speak of the devil. Hello Ryan," she smiled, beckoning him inside. Quinn wouldn't quite meet his eyes, so he focused on the older blonde, offering her a small smile.

"Hi Judy. I just thought I'd pop in before visiting hours wrap up."

"That's fine," Judy assured him as she straightened up, patting Quinn's hand. "Actually, I think I'll step out for a bit to get a bite of dinner. I'm sure you wouldn't mind keeping Quinnie company, right?"

She didn't miss Ryan's nervous look, but he nodded gamely. "Of course."

..

Ryan sat down tentatively as Judy left the room, shuffling towards his girlfriend. "I, um, I'll leave in a bit," he said uncertainly, not sure that she wanted him here. "I sent Beth's card off." He gave her the receipt.

Quinn took it, glancing it over. "You sent it express."

"Yeah. They'll get it tomorrow."

"You didn't have to do that, I know it costs more."

"I don't mind."

Quinn nodded. "Thank you." She bit her lip, her fingers folding the receipt. She was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry," she finally said, her voice shaking. "About this afternoon."

Ryan immediately shook his head. "No, don't be. It's okay."

"I just feel so fucking useless," she bit out. "My body doesn't work right. I can't get up, I can't walk, I can't do anything and I just – I just want this to be a nightmare that I'm going to wake up from, but it's not, and –" She took a deep breath, swallowing as she tried to control herself, blinking back tears of frustration.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Ryan quickly tried to reassure her. "It's okay." Carefully he moved her until he had enough space to climb onto the bed beside her, wrapping his arm around her and pressing a kiss to the side of her head as she started to cry again.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed, turning her head to bury it against his neck. "I can't – I just… I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he told her. It wasn't okay. None of this was okay. But she needed to feel better, and he didn't know how, except to attempt to reassure her. "It's okay." Quietly, he started to sing to her, holding her close as her breathing started to even out. She moved into him as much as she could, her fingers twisting into his shirt as he sang to her.

She was asleep by the time Judy returned, exhausted by her emotions and lulled to sleep by his voice. Ryan blinked back his own tears as Judy sat down silently on Quinn's other side, brushing back strands of blonde hair from her daughter's tear-streaked face. "Thank you for coming back," she whispered, looking at Ryan. "She was afraid you wouldn't."

"I wouldn't do that to her."

Judy nodded. "It's so hard to see her like this," she said to herself. Ryan didn't comment as he disentangled himself from his girlfriend, but he understood the sentiment more than he wanted to.

* * *

The next morning Quinn looked up as a knock sounded on the door, James poking his head in. "You okay in there?"

Quinn smiled a bit thinly. "Yeah. I'm good." As good as she was going to get in the foreseeable future anyways. She was still tired and miserable, but that probably wasn't going to change anytime soon.

"Ryan's on his way up, he just had to talk to his physical therapist," James explained, coming into the room and pulling up a chair to her bedside. Quinn nodded. "You sick of this hospital yet?"

"Getting there," she admitted. Ryan and Santana had been bringing her homework to keep her from falling too far behind, but there wasn't a lot.

"I remember that," James smiled. "Hospital stays aren't exactly fun."

"Speaking from experience?"

"I did my share of hospital time when I was in the Army, yes," James said lightly.

"Oh." James had dropped by quite a bit in the past few days, whenever his work schedule had allowed. She wasn't sure if Ryan had forced him into it, but she didn't mind either way. "I remember the accident," she found herself saying. "You were there."

James nodded. "Your mom didn't tell you that before?"

She shook her head slightly. "She doesn't like to talk about it." She looked at him. "I thought you were Ryan at first. Brown eyes."

"Sorry to disappoint."

She shook her head again. "No, it was good. I guess it kept me from freaking out too much."

He smiled lightly. "That's good then." He studied her carefully. "Are you really okay?"

Quinn looked away, the silence more than enough answer. James was quiet for a bit before speaking again. "My last tour was in Afghanistan in 2008," he said casually. Quinn looked at him, unsure of why he was telling her. "It was supposed to be six months, but I came back in under three." He smiled slightly. "I got shot in the leg. Then a bomb went off and I went through a concrete wall."

Quinn's eyes widened. "Oh."

He nodded. "The bullet made a crack in my femur, it got stuck there and the doctors had to dig it out. I spent weeks in the hospital. Then PT, of course. I couldn't walk either."

"But you're better now."

James nodded again. "It's not the same as you, not completely. But I do understand how it feels to have to depend on other people for pretty much everything. Your injury… losing independence isn't easy to accept for anyone. But sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and take the help people are offering. You're so lucky, Quinn, you have so many people here for you."

She looked down. She knew that, she did. But… "It's just feels like… I can't take their pity, I don't want that."

"It's not pity. They love you, and they want to help. But you know the first thing you need to make them stop pitying you?" She shook her head. "You need to stop pitying yourself first."

"I'm not –"

"You are, just a little," he said gently. "And sometimes that's okay. But you need to remember that you're not weak because of the accident. We don't get to pick what happens to us, but you can decide how you deal with it. You can crawl into a corner and cry about it. You can just accept it and let life pass you by. Or you can take it, choose to grow from it, and become a better, stronger version of yourself in spite of it."

Quinn sniffed, wiping at her face. "It's hard," she admitted, voice small.

"I know," James answered. "But it's times like these when you figure out who you are. Don't give up," he urged. "You have a good chance of regaining function."

"Is it ever going to be the way it was before?" she asked softly. "Did it get better for you?"

"It did," James said slowly. "But it's not the same anymore. It still hurts sometimes, when the weather's bad, or when I sleep on it wrong. And it's not as strong as before. That tour in Afghanistan, even if I hadn't retired, it would have been my last. I'm not fit for active duty anymore, not in the Army at least." Quinn nodded. She suspected that even if she did regain the use of her legs, it wouldn't be the same. "Have you talked about how you're feeling to anyone else?" he probed. "Ryan, or maybe one of your friends?"

Quinn deflated, shaking her head. "I… can't." She looked away. "They don't… they don't understand."

"No, but they can help you. They want to help you. Don't push them away."

"I'm making everyone miserable," she said quietly. "He's miserable whenever he's here, I can see it. Well, not see it, I guess, he's too good an actor to let it show. But I think I know him well enough to feel it."

"It's hard for him to not be able to help you," James told her. "I don't know if it's a guy thing, but he feels helpless and he blames himself. Not for the accident," he added when she opened her mouth. "He wants you to get better, but he can't do anything about it." He smiled at her softly as he stood up. "I get that it's hard to let people in. But keep in mind, it's going to be hard to get through this. But it's going to be even harder to do it alone."

* * *

"Here's your homework," Santana huffed as she deposited a small pile of books and papers on Quinn's bedside the next day. "I don't see why the Hobbit couldn't have brought it for you." She looked at the blonde's guilty look. "Oh God, did you have another fight?"

Quinn glared at her, which Santana supposed was an improvement from the apathy of the past week or so. "Whatever, Lopez."

"Brittany's at dance class, thanks for asking," the Latina snarked as she made herself at home on the couch that came with the room. Santana's dad had managed to pull some strings and get Q a pretty swanky room.

She looked furtively at Quinn as she got started on her own homework. She still didn't know how to deal with everything that had happened, so she'd settled for just acting like everything was fine and that Quinn was just going to get up and walk any day now.

"So what really happened?" she asked. "Marital spat?" She wasn't prepared for Quinn's face to fall. "Shit. What happened? Do I have to go Hobbit-Hunting?"

"It's my fault," Quinn said, slumping back as she told Santana what had happened. Santana sighed.

"Look. Let's be real. RuPaul – _Ryan_," she corrected herself at Quinn's look, "is crazy about you. And you know I've got a fantastic BS radar, and a Mexican third eye. If he says he's staying, then that's it. I'm pretty sure it's for real. You know what I think?"

"I have a feeling I'm about to find out."

"I think you need to get your shit together and just talk to him, instead of shoving him away. You're not birthing anyone this time around, so stop pushing." Quinn snorted at her lame attempt at a joke. "Seriously though. Get it together." Santana knew Quinn had a tendency to go crazy sometimes.

Her friend was quiet for a moment. "You know, you're the only one who still treats me the same as before."

Santana shrugged. "Just keeping it real." She studied the blonde. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, it's good. Thank you."

Santana laughed. "You're actually thanking me for being a bitch?"

"Shut up." Quinn looked at her. "It's only happening this once, so savor it." Santana shook her head in amusement, pleased that she was doing the right thing. She wouldn't want anyone babying her either if the positions were switched. "You really think I should talk to him about it?" Quinn asked vulnerably. Santana softened, understanding how hard it was for either of them to talk about feelings.

"Yeah, I do. But don't sweat it, okay? That boy is totally gone for you, Q," Santana chuckled. "You're never shaking him off your leg now."

* * *

Even with all the pep talks she'd been receiving, it was three more days before Quinn finally managed to really talk with Ryan. "I think we need to talk."

The words sent up an immediate alert signal in Ryan's mind, and he swallowed, pushing down the urge to panic. "That doesn't sound good," he said, struggling to keep his voice even.

Quinn's eyes widened and she shook her head quickly. "I didn't mean – not like that. We're not breaking up. Unless you –"

"No!" Ryan interjected, relieved. "I don't. I just… I'm pretty sure that's the start to a rather clichéd break-up," he smiled weakly as he perched himself on the bed.

"No. I… I just want to talk." She looked down for a minute, worrying at her lip. "I've been pushing you away."

"Quinn, if this is about the other day –"

"It's not just about that. It's about ever since the accident." She took a deep, shuddering breath, seemingly unable to get the words out. Ryan reached over, taking her hand.

"Talk to me," he urged. If she wanted to talk, he'd listen. That was the way it had always been for them.

"I – I don't know how," she finally said. "I don't know what to say. I want you here. I do. But I don't know how to handle this, and I know I'm being selfish and bitchy and emotional and I'm pushing you away. I don't want to but I can't help it." She was crying now, wiping tears away in frustration. "I don't know how to do this and I'm – I'm scared you're going to leave, okay?"

Ryan instinctively moved closer, trying to reassure her. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?" he said, desperately wanting her to believe him. "I told you that already, and I mean it."

"Why?" She asked despairingly. "Look at me. I'm broken. I can't leave unless it's in a wheelchair, and maybe it's okay for you now, but I can't do anything by myself anymore. You're going to get tired of it and you're not going to want to be with me anymore –"

She stopped short, unable to continue as Ryan moved in, pressing his lips against hers. He kissed her hard, unwilling to listen to her self-degradation anymore. She resisted for a moment before giving in, and he could feel the need in her movement, just as strong as his.

When he pulled away he met her eyes, her gaze soft. "Listen to me," he said surely. "I am looking at you. And I don't see someone who's broken. I see someone strong, someone who's going to come out of this even stronger, because that's just who you are. You've been through so much, Quinn, and it kills me to see this happen to you, but I know you're not going to break. I believe in you."

"I –"

"And you think I don't know what I'm getting into?" he asked, smiling ever so slightly. "I've been researching everything I can about your condition, and I might even know more than you do by now." Quinn smiled at that too. He probably did; she knew he was nothing if not thorough. "And as to why I'm staying?" He put his hand against the soft skin of her cheek. "I love you. I don't need any more reason than that. I just wish you'd believe me." His smile faded. "Do you not want me to be here?"

"I want you here. I need you here." She was crying again now, but this time from sheer emotion at his words. And she believed him, she believed everything he said.

"I don't –" He swallowed. "I don't know how to help you," he admitted softly. "Are you angry with me?"

"Why would I be angry with you?"

He sighed. "It isn't fair," he said lowly. "I was the one driving, I got us into that accident and now I'm close to recovering while you…" He shut his eyes briefly. "It's not supposed to be like this."

"It's not your fault," Quinn told him firmly. "I told you that already. I'm not angry at you, I'm just…" She looked away again. "Sometimes I'm just angry that it happened. But not at you. And I'm just happy you're okay."

"Sometimes I wished I wasn't," he admitted. "I wish that had happened to me instead, and not to you."

"Don't." She shuddered. "I saw you in the car," she said softly. "You weren't moving and I thought…" She shook her head. "I don't want to see you like that ever again."

Ryan laughed a bit brokenly. "Neither of us knows how to handle this, do we?"

"No." She reached out, touching his hand. "But I…" She took a deep breath. "I can't do this alone," she said, her voice small. "I need you."

Ryan closed his hand over hers. "We'll get through this together. Anything you need, I'm here for you."

"Just…" She shut her eyes briefly. "Don't treat me like I'm going to shatter, okay?" she said quietly. "It's hard enough dealing with it. It… it makes me feel even more broken."

He nodded. "Okay." He looked at her. "I need you to talk to me," he said seriously. "You can't just keep it inside, okay? When we started out I told you I'd listen to you, and that still stands. Even if you don't think I want to hear it."

"Okay."

"I'm serious," he told her. "I… you've been scaring me too," he admitted softly, meeting her hazel gaze. "I think you might be getting depressed, and after what happened with Karofsky –" He cut himself off, voicing his recent fears. He never wanted her to feel that hopeless.

"I won't." Her grip on his hand tightened. "I won't." She swallowed. "If it gets that bad… I'll tell you."

"You promise?"

"I promise." She squeezed his hand before smiling faintly. "You want me to pinky swear?"

He smiled as well. "Okay." He linked his pinky with hers. "Brittany would say that's the most sacred vow ever," he said, face straight.

"I know," Quinn nodded. "Can you give me a hug?" she asked a bit timidly. Ryan took a deep breath, leaning over to wrap her upper body in a hug, careful not to jostle her too much.

"Always."

* * *

"You're getting pretty good at that," Ryan complimented two weeks later as Quinn eased herself into her newly-delivered wheelchair under the supervision of Sharon the occupational therapist.

"I should be," Quinn grumbled, though she smiled a little. "I've been practicing."

"He's right," Sharon offered. "You're improving quite a bit. I'd say you'll be able to function well enough on your own soon so you can go home."

"Great. When is that again?"

Sharon smirked. "Nice try. Let's go."

"I'll see you later," Ryan promised, swooping down to give her a quick kiss.

Sharon had her run through a set of exercises, going to different parts of the hospital to practice before ending up back at the room. Quinn was totally exhausted by the time they returned, having used the last of her energy to heave herself back into the bed. She looked up when she saw Shelby entering the room.

"How was your session?" the brunette asked.

"It was okay." She was getting better at handling herself in the chair. The sooner she learned, the sooner she'd be able to go home. The thought put her in a pretty good mood. "How come you're here? Just visiting?"

"If that's okay," Shelby answered lightly. "Your mom said she'd be here soon, she's just supervising the house rearrangement."

"Yeah." Quinn's mood dampened slightly, the news yet another reminder of how much everything had changed. Their house had needed to be rearranged, and in some parts redone, to accommodate her wheelchair. She shook it off. It wouldn't help to think about that too much. She just needed to focus on getting better. "Shelby?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think I can still be in the Troubletones?"

The teacher hesitated, and Quinn could understand perfectly. True, they'd always accommodated Artie in the New Directions, but it had always made choreography more cumbersome. "You'll always be part of the Troubletones," Shelby said slowly. "But I'll ask you. Do you still want to participate?"

She'd been thinking about that quite a bit. She loved performing, she did. But… "I'm not like Ryan," she said carefully. "I don't need it the way he does. I'd like to… but I can't even get this stupid chair through doors all the time, how am I supposed to sing and dance in it?"

Shelby nodded. 'We'll always have a place for you," she promised. "But you should think about your recovery. I know your lungs aren't up to par yet, and I don't want you straining anything because you pushed too hard."

Quinn looked down. It was hard to admit, and she hated having to make concessions for her condition, but right now she had to be realistic. And honestly, she would have a much harder time dealing with everybody having to cater to her while preparing for Nationals. "Okay."

"How about I make you a deal," Shelby offered. "You sit in on the rehearsals, and you can give us your input. You're just as good a choreographer as Brittany – you weren't head cheerleader for nothing. And if your recovery goes quickly, maybe you can even join us for Nationals."

"… I think I'd like that." She was more of a background person anyways. "Do you think Ryan will be upset that I'm taking myself off?" she asked hesitantly.

"I think he'll agree that you need to focus on getting better right now," Shelby said firmly.

Quinn nodded. They were quiet for a moment before Quinn spoke again. She'd had something she'd wanted to ask Shelby for some time now, something deeply important. "I have another question…"

"Oh?"

She bit her lip before asking. "Ryan… Ryan told me some time ago that… you can't have any more kids."

Shelby took in a breath. "Quinn, did the doctors say –"

"They haven't said anything definite," she cut in. "But this accident… what if I can't either?" Her voice shook. "I always thought I'd be a mom," she confessed. "And I am, but it's not the same, and I wanted…" She choked on the words.

_I wanted them with Ryan._

"Okay, okay," Shelby took Quinn's hand. "First of all, don't drive yourself crazy over it yet. If the doctors haven't said anything, there might be nothing wrong. Second, it's okay. It's not going to be the end of the world. I…" She swallowed. "I regret not being able to have more, especially recently. But it is what it is, and it just makes me treasure Ryan even more. And you may not have Beth," she forestalled Quinn's words, "but that doesn't keep you from being proud of her, right? _You _did that. _You _accomplished that, even if you had to give her up to give her her best chance."

Quinn sniffed, taking a deep breath. "Is James okay that you can't have any more with him?"

Shelby nodded. "Yeah. He's okay." She stroked Quinn's hair back. "Ryan will be too. Have you talked to him about this?"

The blonde shook her head. "I guess I know deep down that this won't change… how he feels," she confided. "But it's not the same. He doesn't really get it."

"I understand," Shelby nodded. "But even if you can't – and we still don't know for sure – it does not make you any less of a woman, understand?"

Quinn dragged in a labored breath. "Okay." The idea that she might not be able to have kids struck hard at her primal core, and it scared her. She didn't know how to talk to her own mom about this, or Frannie, and she was infinitely grateful to have Shelby to talk to, someone who had faced the very thing eating at her now. "Thank you."

"You're going to be okay, Quinn," Shelby told her affectionately, squeezing her hand. "You're probably one of the strongest people I know."

* * *

Another week later, Quinn rested her arms on the wheelchair as she turned it around in the elevator, slowly catching her breath. She was exhausted; Sharon had insisted upon going to the handicap ramps at the other end of the hospital, forcing Quinn to open every single door by herself. They'd ended up traipsing through the entire hospital, and Quinn's arms were on fire. "Remind me again why we had to do this?"

"You need to build up your endurance," Sharon informed her innocently. "It's important for you to be able to function on your own when you get out of here." She checked her watch, which had Quinn rolling her eyes. If the woman was late then it was her own fault.

The elevator deposited them on her floor, and Quinn wheeled herself forward again, more than ready to get back to her room. The lights were off when they got there. Quinn reached up to flip the switch.

"Surprise!"

If she weren't paralyzed she would have jumped out of her chair in shock as people suddenly appeared in the room – her mom, Ryan, his parents, and the Troubletones were all there, wide smiles on their faces as Tina produced a cake from what seemed like thin air. "Happy birthday!" everyone chorused.

Quinn sat there in shock, jaw hanging slack. Ryan grinned, moving forward. "Were you surprised?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm pretty sure I've got white hair now," she drawled, even as a smile spread across her face, touched that he'd organize this for her, in the hospital no less. "I don't know what to say."

"'Thank you' would be good," Sugar said innocently. "That's what Daddy says to say anyways."

"Then thank you," Quinn chuckled. "Really." She looked around at all her family and friends squished inside her hospital room. "I was definitely surprised."

"And I've got another one for you," Sharon announced. "I've talked with your doctors, and they say you can go home the day after tomorrow." Quinn's grin widened even further as everyone started to applaud.

"Can we have the cake now?" Sam wondered. That drew a laugh, prompting everyone to gather around the cake as Quinn wheeled up to it, ready to blow the candles out.

"Make a wish," Brittany said excitedly. Quinn thought for a moment, before blowing. Her lungs still weren't at full capacity, and her first stuttering breath only got half the candles out, but the second managed to finish them. The other kids cheered, Quinn grateful that they didn't comment.

"What did you wish for?" Sugar asked.

"She can't tell us that, otherwise it won't come true," Brittany reasoned.

"Enough yapping, let's eat," Santana butted in. She eyed Quinn. "You can have cake, right?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Yes, Santana, I can have cake."

"Damn. And here I was hoping there'd be more for me." A chuckle rose from the rest of the group. Ryan clapped once.

"So, I think we should get into it," he smiled, presenting Quinn with the cake knife with a flourish. "Would you do the honors?"

"Gladly." Soon everyone was happily eating the cake, chatting to each other about this and that. Santana grinned mischievously at Quinn as she swallowed a bite before shifting her attention to Ryan.

"So, Ryan, how does it feel to be dating a cougar?"

Quinn almost choked on her cake as Ryan blushed slightly. "That's none of your business," the blonde said nastily.

"And it's just a few months," Ryan defended. Santana smirked.

"Wanky."

They were prevented from saying anymore when a knock sounded on the door. Quinn shot a mock nasty look at Santana. "Look, now security's coming for you. You shouldn't upset hospital patients." Ryan glanced at Quinn nervously, and her interest rose. "Who's that?"

"Why don't you go find out?" he asked, his features settling into a smile. Quinn did just that rolling over to the door. Then she almost literally froze in the doorway when she saw who it was.

"Beth," she breathed out as she saw her now two-year-old daughter in the doorway, carried by her adoptive parents.

"Hello, Quinn," Simon Waterson greeted her warmly. "Happy birthday."

His wife Julia smiled as well. "Happy birthday," she echoed, before looking at Beth. "Beth, sweetie, do you want to say something?"

"Happy birfday," Beth repeated obediently, stuffing her fingers in her mouth. Quinn's eyes watered as she wheeled herself toward her baby – she was so big now – and her adoptive parents.

"How –"

"Ryan sent us a letter along with your birthday card for Beth," Julia answered the unspoken question. "He told us about your accident. And he asked us to come today, if it wasn't too much trouble." She glanced at her husband, then back at Quinn. "Do you want to hold her?"

Quinn nodded speechlessly. A second later Simon carefully placed Beth in her lap, and Beth looked up at her, hazel eyes almost identical to Quinn's, before reaching up to pat her on the cheek. And for an instant as she held her daughter, Quinn didn't care that she couldn't walk.

..

"So were you surprised?" Ryan asked later that evening as they laid on Quinn's hospital bed side by side. The party had gone on for most of the afternoon until people had started to trickle out. The Watersons had left last, giving Quinn some time alone with Beth before leaving to go back home. Quinn hummed softly.

"Yeah. Though I suppose it wasn't that hard to plan a surprise party with me basically stuck in the hospital," she teased.

"I'll have you know it took immense planning and preparation to time everything just right so you'd be surprised as soon as you entered the room," Ryan told her, miffed. "Luckily, we pulled it off rather well with Sharon's help."

"Ah, so that's why she insisted on using the ramps at the other end of the hospital." Quinn's smirk turned into a genuine smile a moment later. "Thank you," she said softly. "It was wonderful." She hadn't been looking forward to spending her 18th birthday cooped up in the hospital, and the party had been a great surprise. But her favorite part about it was the fact that nobody made a big deal of her disability. She'd felt normal again for once, and that was almost the best gift she could have gotten.

"Well, it wasn't just me, but you're welcome." He craned his neck forward for a brief kiss. "I love you so much, you know that, right?"

"I know." She kissed him again. "I love you too." She reached out, brushing her fingers against his handsome features. "Thank you."

"You said that already."

She let out a chuckle. "I meant about Beth," she elaborated softly. His gaze flicked towards her.

"It wasn't too much for you?"

She shook her head. "It was perfect." Seeing her had still hurt for a moment, but time had softened the pain. And now she just felt glad that Beth was happy and healthy. She'd made the right decision for her daughter in letting her go. She could be proud of that. Shelby was right. It would hurt like hell if the doctors said she could never have any more children, but she could point to Beth, and say that she'd had a part in creating her. She fell silent. "Ry?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to get better."

He smiled faintly. "Okay." He pressed his lips against the side of her head. "Okay."

* * *

"Ready to go home, Quinnie?" Judy asked brightly two days later as she returned to Quinn's room after organizing the discharge papers.

"Definitely." Quinn smiled up at her as she transferred herself to her wheelchair, Sharon and Ryan watching her. She was in a good mood, and why shouldn't she be? She was finally going home, and after almost seven weeks in the hospital, she was ready.

And best of all, yesterday she'd felt something in her leg. It wasn't much, but it was something, and it gave her solid, tangible hope that she'd recover.

"I'd say so too," Sharon said approvingly as she watched the smooth transfer. "I'm sure you'll be able to handle going to school by next week. Just take it slow," she advised. "Give yourself time to adjust."

"Your shoelace is untied," Ryan observed.

"Can you –"

"Yeah." He bent down, easily tying the laces. Quinn sighed softly. That was one of many things she couldn't exactly do herself anymore. She shook her head though. She'd be able to do it soon. "There," Ryan smiled, straightening up. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

Judy had the Escalade waiting at the hospital entrance by the time they came out. Ryan assisted Quinn into the car, something she was thankful for, as cars weren't exactly something she'd practiced with. The wheelchair was loaded into the back of the SUV, and soon everyone was inside.

Then the car door slammed shut.

Suddenly her mind flashed back, crunching metal ringing in her ears, the acrid smell of gasoline filling her nose. She shut her eyes, trying to fight back her fear. Her breathing quickened as she remembered seeing Ryan unconscious next to her, and being helpless to help him. Then she felt a hand gripping hers.

"Quinn?" Ryan's voice cut through the haze of memories. _He was okay, _she told herself. _He's fine. He's alive._ She managed to get her eyes open, his brown eyes immediately locking into hers. "I'm right here," he promised, sidling up next to her. "You're safe."

She nodded jerkily. "Okay." She knew she was safe. She remembered telling Frannie that Ryan made her feel safe, and it was true. It was still true, and she felt herself starting to calm down. She swallowed as the car started to move, but he smiled at her comfortingly, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Just look at me," he urged. Quinn did so, spending the whole twenty-minute car ride back home staring at him, reminding herself that he was okay. They were okay.

Everyone spent the ride chatting, trying to distract her, but when the car finally came to a stop outside the Fabray house, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Then another one when she was on solid ground. Or her wheelchair was, at least.

She smiled as she finally laid eyes on her house. She hadn't missed it this much even when she'd been homeless in sophomore year. Her smile turned bittersweet though when she saw the ramp that had been attached to the front porch. Her mood lifted again though when she saw Santana and Brittany sitting on the porch swing, Brittany waving as Santana smiled indulgently. "Come on, Fabray, we haven't got all day," the Latina drawled.

"San, be nice," Brittany reprimanded. Santana simply shrugged.

"Careful, San, or I might just run you over with my new wheels," Quinn shot back.

"As if you could catch me," Santana scoffed. "Now get inside. I spent all week helping shuffle your shit downstairs, the least you can do is look." She entered the house. Judy smiled a bit.

"I can never tell what that girl is going to say," she admitted. "Shall we go in?"

"You go ahead," Quinn said. Judy nodded, entering the house and leaving Ryan and Quinn alone on the driveway. Ryan turned to Quinn, smiling a little.

"You ready?"

Quinn nodded, gripping her wheels. "Ready."

* * *

**Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter, I hope you guys liked it. Thanks for your reviews last time, they were all appreciated. I'm happy the angst worked.**

**Here's more angst, because as one reviewer said, it won't all be roses for anybody involved. There are a lot of issues that need to be dealt with, and they won't all go away with one talk. They'll have to deal with everything slowly. I actually tried skipping straight to the next episode, but it was too choppy. They hardly dealt with the accident in canon. It's not possible for Quinn to be that well-adjusted just like that.**

**So that's it for now, let me know what you thought. I'll see you next time!**


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